2018 Wildwood Inverter charger Install

[formerFR]

is your converter on a separate breaker within the panel? or does 120v Shore power run to it before it hits the Main breaker panel?

do your 12v items work?

[jstew]

Originally Posted by CHICKDOE

i fully agree with mr brownstein. just measure at the panel end of the cable coming from the inverter ac output. now if you don't have 120 vac TURN EVERYTHING OFF (SHORE AND BATTERY). take the cover off the inverter and double (even triple) check its ac input and output connections.

i am also assuming the inverter has hardwired ac connections as opposed to a gfci output that you plug a normal power cord into.

Ok great I'll check in a little bit here when I can get out there. Yes they are hardwired connections into the inverter, not a gfci output.

Thank you!

[Splitshaft]

Originally Posted by jstew

Ok I finally got a chance to get some of the install done slowly over the last few nights. I disconnected the shore power from the main breaker and ran it to my inverter ac in. I then ran the ac out from the inverter back to the main 30a breaker and also disconnected the factory converter from its breaker as I just wanted to be able to power everything. So when I connect shore power my inverter detects it and starts charging the batteries, but none of my ac devices power up, I checked the panel with a voltage tester and there is live power being fed to the panel. When I disconnect the shore power the inverter picks that up right away also.

Any ideas on why nothing on the ac side might be functioning? Did I miss something?

I might provide the best information you will find anywhere. Step one: When installing the Freedom X to power an entire coach, the output of the inverter must be connected to the 120V coach electrical panel. The “line” inverter output goes to the screw terminal of the main breaker (the main breaker is feeding the bus bar that all the branch circuit breakers are connected to) of the coach electrical panel. The “ground” inverter output goes to the ground bus bar of the coach electrical panel. And the “neutral” output of the inverter goes to the neutral bus bar of the coach electrical panel. Now output from the inverter, will power the coach.

Step two: Disconnect the converter from the coach electrical panel so it is no longer powered from the coach electrical panel.

Step three: Install a new electrical panel somewhere in the coach to reconnect the shore power cord to or the output from the generator transfer switch if a generator transfer switch is installed. Do not connect the shore power cord or generator output directly to the inverter 120V inputs. This new electrical panel must have two circuit breakers, a separate 30 and separate 15-amp circuit breaker may be used. The shore power cord “line” wire will connect to the line connection in the new electrical panel. The shore power neutral wire will connect to the neutral bus bar in the new electrical panel. And the shore power cord ground wire will be connected to the new electrical panel box (housing) with a green ground screw or a ground bus bar may be added if desired. DO NOT short the ground and neutral connections in this new electrical panel. Every electrical panel in an RV must be treated as a sub panel and all ground and neutral kept separate. When shorting of the ground and neutral conductors are required by electrical code for safety, the device its self, the generator or the inverter will make this connection internally. Never make it in an electrical panel in an RV.

Step four: Connect the output of the new 30-amp circuit breaker from the new electrical panel to the “line” input of the inverter and new 15 amp breaker (Homeline 30's are labeled to be double tapped). Connect a neutral wire from the new electrical panel neutral bus bar to the “neutral” input of the inverter. And connect a new wire from the ground screw of the new electrical panel to the “ground” input of the inverter. The inverter transfer switch is rated at 30 amps surge and 24 amp continuous and the inverter input must have over current protection!

Step five: Lift the neutral wire from the coach neutral bus bar for the converter. Connect and run two new wires from the coach electrical panel for the converter to the new electrical panel. The output of the 15-amp circuit breaker in the new electrical panel will be connected to the “line” of the converter. And a new wire from the neutral of the new electrical panel bus bar will be connected to the neutral wire of the converter. The converter ground can be left as is, as ground, is ground, is ground. Now when plugged into shore power, the converter will be powered through the new 15-amp circuit breaker and not the inverter. And when the inverter is powering the coach, the inverter will not power the converter.

I also moved my electric water heater to my new electrical panel so it wouldn’t accidently be powered by the inverter by connecting it to another 15-amp breaker in the new panel as the converter was done. I chose to replace my main breaker in my coach electrical panel with a 25-amp breaker to better protect the inverter transfer switch since I relocated 22 amps of current draw that would have been supplied by the coach electrical panel. The 25-amp breaker is fine for my AC and microwave. The internal inverter transfer switch is controlled by the inverter, yet it is really a separate device and needs to be treated as such. I also chose to use stranded THHN building wire run in liquid tight conduits rather than solid conductor non-metallic Romex cabling.

This only covers the 120V side of the Freedom X inverter. The low voltage 12V side must be handled as outlined in the Freedom X installation manual.

[jstew]

Well it turns out that there was a loose connection on the one side of things. I tested the panel with my volt meter and there was nothing coming up so I started checking all the connections and something did come loose. I put a new butt connector on the one wire and everything works perfect now!

Thank you everyone for your help and insight on things.

[CHICKDOE]

yippee, glad you found it.

i read post #23 several times and there is good info in it. the biggest thing i see is that in your current configuration you now have the shore power cord going directly into the inverter without any circuit breaker in the line to limit excess power going into the inverter. you can say there will be a 30 amp breaker on the pedestal, but what if you connect to a 50 amp pedestal using an adapter? the other thing is that the post describes how to relocate the power going into the converter so that it can only be powered from shore power. in you configuration you could have an endless loop: batteries supplying inverter supplying converter supplying batteries. i know you intend to turn of the converter breaker when using the inverter, but the method in the post prevents an accidental mental oversite.

i learned a lot and i wish to thank splitshaft for his post.

[jstew]

Originally Posted by CHICKDOE

yippee, glad you found it.

i read post #23 several times and there is good info in it. the biggest thing i see is that in your current configuration you now have the shore power cord going directly into the inverter without any circuit breaker in the line to limit excess power going into the inverter. you can say there will be a 30 amp breaker on the pedestal, but what if you connect to a 50 amp pedestal using an adapter? the other thing is that the post describes how to relocate the power going into the converter so that it can only be powered from shore power. in you configuration you could have an endless loop: batteries supplying inverter supplying converter supplying batteries. i know you intend to turn of the converter breaker when using the inverter, but the method in the post prevents an accidental mental oversite.

i learned a lot and i wish to thank splitshaft for his post.

I agree post 23 has really good info, I have also read it several times, more since I got things going. I think I'll throw in a 30amp breaker in a small panel right before the inverter, then I won't have to worry about It. The converter is totally removed from the system now, I actually removed it right out of there and plan to mount my solar charger unit down there.

Do you think it is best to put a small panel in with two 30amp breakers? One with the shore power going into it, and then one going into the inverter?

Thank you!

[ScottBrownstein]

My assumption based on the OP was that the converter was being replaced by an inverter/charger, with an internal transfer switch. Presuming that the transfer switch is rated for the full 30 amps, when in converter mode, you will effectively have a device hooked directly to the pedestal with no over current protection. Frankly I do not know it this is a code violation. Normally there is no over current protection with a standard transfer switch, so it might be OK. You could put a 30 amp cartridge fuse in the line to the unit to be completely safe, or a 30 amp disconnect.

I am not concerned about the transfer switch since it is totally passive, but the converter section of the unit is not passive.

[CHICKDOE]

first i am not an electrician, so do not take anything i say as gospel. i've been rereading post #23 and while i understand the concepts i have a question about it.

to start with, i am assuming this is a 30 amp shore powered trailer. the shore power cable currently comes into the existing panel and looks like it connects to a 30 amp breaker. this would be the main breaker. it passes power from the incoming hot lead to the backplane that the other breakers connect to (may not be the proper term).

in post 23 it was stated to install and new panel with a 30 amp and 15 amp breaker. in step 3 of the post it says to connect the incoming shore power line hot lead to the 'line' input of the panel. i take this as a connection on the panel itself, not the 30 amp breaker in the panel. further it says to connect the output from the 30 amp breaker to the converter input. i get this and how it works, but am i missing something? there does not seems to be a master breaker that can now be used to shut off all power to the trailer. if you flip the new 30 amp breaker in the sub panel you will shut off everything except the water heater on the 15 amp breaker. also, if the water heater was running suppose it took 10 amps. suppose the converter wanted 25 amps (either to charge batteries or pass through to the existing branch circuits. that would be a total of 35 amps yest neither the new 30 or 15 amp breaker would be exceeded.

doesn't there need to be a 30 amp master breaker somewhere? as jstew questioned, how about installing two 30 amp breakers in the sub panel. one would connect to the shore power hot lead and it would be the master breaker. it would feed the backplane. the other 30 amp (or maybe downgrade to a 25 amp) breaker would pick up power from the backplane and feed it to the converter.

i'm still learning and i may be all wet. but you can see what i am thinking about. if i have missed something i would appreciate somebody telling me what it is.