We’ve had a Xantrex Freedom SW 3012 on our Hansen style houseboat for the last several years. It went out on us today so is time for a replacement if warranty doesn’t cover it. Any recommendations for makes and models of inverter chargers you have on your houseboat and love? I’ve heard positive things about Magnum but not sure what model would be the best. Thanks!
Inverter Charger Recommendations
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Hoskm01
Well-Known Member
Victron would be my choice. Have on RV and some aspects of houseboat. You get what you pay for and they're not the cheapest.
Chillindacove#21
Active Member
Both manufactures posted above are respected companies. May I suggest looking at ExelTech out of Texas. Our business has used their products in the field since the mid 90’s. Customizable for your needs. Call and talk with their engineers on your needs and systems they offer for a US manufacturer.
there is AIMS out of Las Vegas.......I have two of their units, both a 2k & 3k inverter/charger models. I've used them at Lake Powell for 5 years. They are reasonably priced and plenty of features. I had one warranty issue & they stood behind their warranty. I think they can be purchased directly, or through the "Inverter Store" where I bought one of mine. They seem to be responsive to both e/mail & phone calls for customer service.
Marina Bum
Well-Known Member
I have a Xantrex on my boat, same as yours , it's been good to me, love it. Have you tried resetting it, check your fuse etc? Inverted can be finicky, needs to be reat with a load on it from time to time in my experience. Also voltage is important, How old are you batteries? (Just checking) I think Xantrex was bought out too? Maybe no longer made under that name? Victron or Outback are good, Victron seems to be very user friendly, lots of options. There are more options now than ever. Some inverters are now made with built in solar controllers, they communicate and are compatible. So to me it depends on if you have solar now or not and if you want to add some?
The most esoteric, most supported and best made stuff is Midnight Solar, made in America. I have a charge controller made by them, I needed help, I called the number on the box and an engineer, in California, one who helped design the equipment picked up the call. What? He spent a lot of time on the phone with me, knew his stuff and there was no language barrier. But you get what you pay for, most of the rest of it is made in China or India. The Principal owner at Midnight, he's been around. He used to own some of Heart. Then was involved in ownership at Xantrex, then he started outback. He sold his shares when they moved production to India after a buyout. Then he started Midnight. They support what the sell, they only build the best stuff only in America, no compromises. For that reason alone, if you can afford it, buy Midnight stuff. If not, if your sometimes n a budget like me Victron
is a close second.
The most esoteric, most supported and best made stuff is Midnight Solar, made in America. I have a charge controller made by them, I needed help, I called the number on the box and an engineer, in California, one who helped design the equipment picked up the call. What? He spent a lot of time on the phone with me, knew his stuff and there was no language barrier. But you get what you pay for, most of the rest of it is made in China or India. The Principal owner at Midnight, he's been around. He used to own some of Heart. Then was involved in ownership at Xantrex, then he started outback. He sold his shares when they moved production to India after a buyout. Then he started Midnight. They support what the sell, they only build the best stuff only in America, no compromises. For that reason alone, if you can afford it, buy Midnight stuff. If not, if your sometimes n a budget like me Victron
is a close second.
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lakepowellnut
Well-Known Member
I completely agree. We have a fairly elaborate system on our boat and the smaller charge controllers won’t cut it. Darfon is what we use for our 12.5 kWh battery. What I do know, is that good local technical support in critical. The engineer I talk to on occasion is also in California and is always willing to answer and assist. Don’t go cheap and make sure their customer support is domestic and reliable.
Thanks for the insight. I think Xantrex makes a good product, just not necessarily what we are looking for. I've got 2 main issues. The first issue is the settings are too easy to change for users who don't know what they are doing. ie- the PS setting is on the home screen and easily changed. Ours should be set to 30 amps but owners unknowingly touch buttons and accidently change it to 5 or 10 amps. I get calls from owners a couple times a year wondering why the batteries aren't charging and this is always the culprit. The system needs to be dumbed down where you can only turn on and off the inverter and charger. Any other settings should show up in the advanced settings. The second issue I have is with the Auto Generator Start. We installed this for 2 reasons- the first for the auto start functionality to automatically charge the batteries when they get low, and the second was to be able to add switches in the houseboat to turn on and off the houseboat from downstairs (we are running a Honda EU7000is generator upstairs so used to have to go upstairs to turn it on). Anytime you turn on or off the generator with the switch, it sends an error/fault code to the inverter letting you know the generator was manually started or stopped (in reality who cares). Once this fault shows up, it has to be manually cleared. If the fault is not cleared, the AGS will not work to automatically turn on the generator when the voltage gets low thus completely negating the initial purpose of the AGS.
The SW 3012 that just failed was made in the middle of COVID so I'm wondering if that's a large reason for the premature failure.
Chillindacove#21
Active Member
Just guessing here but it seems that if you are turning on and off the generator at intervals that do not correlate to the settings chosen in the setup for when to turn on the AGS then it seems it would latch a fault as it didn't need the generator running if the battery voltage was higher than what the AGS turn on setting is. The same seems reasonable for shutting the generator off manually. The inverter sees this and is triggered that its control circuitry is not in control and wants a manual reset to operate back to its preset parameters.
Yes, the AGS only wants to initiate when the voltage drops below a certain threshold for a certain amount of time. We prefer to turn on the generator when operating things like the air conditioning or microwave to not strain the batteries. We turn the generator on before we start these devices and turn it off when we are done with these devices. As I've spoke with Xantrex Tech Support, there is no way to disable the fault that this causes on their inverter/charger. Really dumb in my opinion.
Chillindacove#21
Active Member
Should be some timed settings to delay the AGS for just what you are speaking of, firing up a microwave, oven, etc. Are the times not long enough in the menu. I do not own one but have seen them in action. Agreed, to much monitoring / feedback can be a pain. Have a look at the ExelTech systems. Pure sine, simple operation on the units we have had them design for us. They have hot swap able modules in the event you loose one. I believe they are 1000 watt each and then stackable for desired needs. If one fails you can pull it but the system still works with the other modules at a reduced capacity until the missing module is repaired. We have never had any of these modules fail for our customers but I believe that was the design idea behind that series.
Thanks for the insight. When I installed the AGS, I had the thought to do that, but worried that would interfere with the quiet hours (realizing now it's not as big of a deal as I previously thought and a great idea). Currently, I believe the quiet hours are set from 10 PM to 8 AM with the assumption that most people are awake by 8:00 am (which is usually when most people in our group roll out of bed). If there was another group that woke up at 7 am and turned on the Microwave, the generator would not automatically kick on because it's within the quiet hours. They would still have to manually turn on the generator with the toggle switch I installed in the kitchen then later go back and reset the fault code on the inverter screen. But after 8 AM, the generator would just kick on automatically when there is a high load (ie microwave or AC turns on) and I believe I could automatically have the generator turn back off when the load drops off. I'll have to search the settings for that.
I'm looking at the ExcelTech systems. Are these inverters only or is there a charger option as well? The only inverter/charger I'm seeing on their website doesn't appear to be stackable and is 2000 watts.
Chillindacove#21
Active Member
I would give them a call if you are interested. Our needs have never required the charging function but I know they offer alarm conditions that likely operate a relay that can serve the same funtion with other outboard equipment to connect to a generator or solar panels. Me personally I would like all the differnt equipment in the event a problem occurs with the inverter or the charger then you are not out the entire system if one or the other goes down. More flexibitly, some probably like the all in one approach. They are a good company with reliable products. I was just relaying that we have used them for a long time without issues on hundereds of installs and sales combined. Good luck shopping!
Xantrex is a VERY solid company with excellent quality and even more impressive customer service. I have several of their products and am 100% happy.
Make sure that any system you go with can manage Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries as this is the next step to salt.
Do NOT use any non lithium rated charger on lithium batteries. Put a smoke alarm next to the battery cage and have a rated extinguisher nearby. Lithium has runaway tendencies.
Lithium Iron Phosphate has about 400% greater life than traditional Lithiums.
Lead acid is way old school (think rotary phone and Glen and Waylon and Loretta 8 track tapes)
AGM is awesome for the money if you are not ready for the lithium step.
Lithium Iron Phosphate is unbeatable for power / weight and life cycle and recharge rates.
Victron is a top pick for sure.
Make sure that any system you go with can manage Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries as this is the next step to salt.
Do NOT use any non lithium rated charger on lithium batteries. Put a smoke alarm next to the battery cage and have a rated extinguisher nearby. Lithium has runaway tendencies.
Lithium Iron Phosphate has about 400% greater life than traditional Lithiums.
Lead acid is way old school (think rotary phone and Glen and Waylon and Loretta 8 track tapes)
AGM is awesome for the money if you are not ready for the lithium step.
Lithium Iron Phosphate is unbeatable for power / weight and life cycle and recharge rates.
Victron is a top pick for sure.
nzaugg
Escalante-Class Member
I will be strongly encouraging our group to make the switch when our charger goes bad. Getting everyone to properly maintain lead acid batteries has been a chore on every boat we have been on.
Michael Pyle
Well-Known Member
I have had many charger and inverter products over my 30 years of boating.
The Victron stuff is amazing. I have maybe 15 Victron devices on my boats now and they are perfect never missing a beat.
They have a huge line of products and integrate very well. The remote Managment is amazing.
You can’t go wrong with Victron. And there are dealers that will really help you set them up. We did all of ours ourselves with their help.
Mike
The Victron stuff is amazing. I have maybe 15 Victron devices on my boats now and they are perfect never missing a beat.
They have a huge line of products and integrate very well. The remote Managment is amazing.
You can’t go wrong with Victron. And there are dealers that will really help you set them up. We did all of ours ourselves with their help.
Mike
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