Xantrex RS2000 throwing F8 Fault Code

[Craig_R]

Our Xantrex RS2000 charger/inverter is throwing an F8 Fault Code which states that it, "has lost input neutral connection". This fault will not clear and keeps the RS2000 in inverter mode. I have checked voltages from the pedestal all the way to the AC input on the RS2000 and they appear to be fine. This is also the case under generator power.

Does anyone have any other ideas or suggestions before I start looking for a repair service.

["007"]

Have you checked all ground screw connections in load center,converter or battery connections to frame of chassis?

[puttin]

Craig, do you remember what was happening in your rig just prior this?

["007"]

Here is a link that may help.

[Craig_R]

I apologize for the lack of followup/disposition of this thread but it got a wee bit complicated and I wanted the entire story before continuing.

This is a rather long story. The synopsis is this. The Xantrex RS2000 is no longer manufactured and if you have other Xantrex components (System Control Panel and/or Auto Gen Start) the Xantrex SW2000 is not a direct replacement for it. Don't let anyone tell you it is. If you want to hear the whole ugly story then by all means, read on.

Just a little over two weeks ago, while camped in southwestern Wyoming, our Xantrex RS2000 Charger/Inverter stopped charging the house batteries and began sending F8 fault codes to the System Control Panel. The F8 fault code says that there is an open circuit in the neutral wire on the AC input to the inverter. I got out my trusty volt meter, popped the front panel off the RS2000 and proceeded to measure all of the voltages on the AC input cable. All voltages were within spec which led me to suspect that the innards of the inverter were malfunctioning.

Now, according to my extended warranty agreement all repairs must be diagnosed and made by a licensed repair facility. Not wanting to violate my warranty I decided to let the warranty company tell me where to have it repaired. The first place they sent me in Evanston, WY, was more than willing to diagnose and make the needed repairs but they were dealing with some sort of a flood in their shop and didn't have any idea when they could get to it. However they recommended a place in Sandy, UT but couldn't remember the name of it.

I called the the warranty company back and told them of the recommendation and they sent me to one place in Sandy, UT with another as backup. (Please keep in mind that this is all along the route we were taking, so it's not like we were running all over creation.) It turns out that both these places had gone out of business sometime over the past 12 months.

We were then sent to an RV shop in Salt Lake City and finally they agree to look at it that day and make any repairs deemed necessary. Feeling confident that we were in good hands, the wife and I spent the day on Antelope Island doing what we're out here to do. Enjoy this beautiful country. We had a great day on the island and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. We dropped back by the RV shop more to pickup some overnight things than anything else, because we really did not expect them to have it fixed that day. We were right it wasn't fixed. It wasn't even diagnosed. Why? Because this "licensed repair facility" did not have a technician on staff that knew what he was looking at when it came to the Xantrex RS2000. They only had one who "thought" he could fix it and that is what our warranty company went with.

It is then decided that I should drop by Camping World in Draper, UT the next day. Wow! What a difference. After relating our plight to the Service Writer and Dave, one of their techs. Dave came right out and started running tests on the RS2000 and determined that the main circuit board had fried. At this point Pat Hunt, the store manager, got involved. A replacement inverter was located and Pat talked with my warranty company and they agreed to cover everything but the deductible over the phone.

Now, I said a replacement inverter was located, but it had to be shipped in from another store and it was already Tuesday. This meant that the inverter would arrive Thursday, at the earliest. Pat offered us a spot out back with electric & water. If we needed to dump, there was a Cabela's about 6 miles south in Lehi. It was decided that the installation would take place first thing on Friday morning. I checked Thursday and the brand new Xantrex SW2000 was in and ready to be installed the next day.

Now it seems that the RS2000 is no longer manufactured by Xantrex and supposedly the SW2000 is a direct replacement for it. At least that is what Xantrex literature and on line information would have you believe. Well it's not! My motorhome has a Xantrex System Control Panel and the Auto Gen Start module but evidently the SW2000 does not have the cat5 connector required by both of these components to make the SW2000 part of the network. This left a few techs and at least one service writer scratching their collective noggins. After a phone call to Xantrex it was learned that the SW2000 is considered to be a "base level inverter" and does not feature any means of networking with the exisiting System Control Panel or Auto Gen Start components. However, the SW3000 does have the required cat5 network connector, so for an additional $130 we now have a 3000 watt inverter instead of the original 2000 watt unit and CW has two new fans.

[Dave78Chief]

While on the surface it appears nice that Xantrex upgraded you to a 3000W system through attrition you also need to remember that you were trained to limit your inverter use based on the battery capacity of a 2000W system. You now have a 3000W system but the battery bank itself is still at the 2000W system size. You could easily get greedy by using that extra 1000W of power available. If you do use the xtra capacity, don't forget you will also use the battery capacity (1000w = 80ah) faster than the 2000W unit did.

Dave

[Craig_R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave78Chief While on the surface it appears nice that Xantrex upgraded you to a 3000W system through attrition you also need to remember that you were trained to limit your inverter use based on the battery capacity of a 2000W system. You now have a 3000W system but the battery bank itself is still at the 2000W system size. You could easily get greedy by using that extra 1000W of power available. If you do use the xtra capacity, don't forget you will also use the battery capacity (1000w = 80ah) faster than the 2000W unit did. Dave

Yup, I understand what you're saying Dave. We tended to be very careful about our power usage anyway, even before all this happened. After, almost two weeks of having no way to recharge the house batteries except for a 10 Watt external charger we got pretty adept at conserving electricity.