AC Power Failure on Freedom 2500. Ideas?

[Guest]

Freedom 2500

Hi Rick, whew! Any explanation as to what caused the AC circuit board to fail? I replaced our original Heart 1600 with a Freedom 2500 a few years ago. I later installed a Link 1000. Our boat has a shore power fuse at the boat socket, then wired directly to the Freedom. Charging and inverter functions must be manually activated, which I prefer. So far the system works flawlessly.

When we purchased our 1991 P42 in 2002 there were some electrical issues. As I recall the original Heart 1600 was wired so that the invert function came on automatically when shore power was lost; not good IMHO. Also, something hit the DC side pretty hard, enough to melt the DC analog amp meter.

Anyway, I've cleaned all that stuff up. However, I am puzzled as to why your board failed. Your boat should have a fuse at the shore power socket and I believe the Freedom 2500 is protected at the front end of the AC input.

Terry Cox

 

[Rick D]

Re: Freedom 2500

You are correct in that the shore power is protected at the power post and the Heart at the unit. It failed after it had been running for several days with us aboard and no unusual loads. The repair guy offered no reason. I once had a DC board failure that was repaired. In that case it was moisture. I think it was my old boat washer who also killed my radar scanner. He and his crew loved to use full water pressure with a jet nozzle, the consequences of which are obvious. I now only let them use a garden spray nozzle. Just to be safe, I took a dish washing drain board and put it on top of the Freedom in case any moisture should find itself in. Works fine. So, nothing I can pinpoint for the failure. There was another in the shop at the same time. In that case, it was a rodent.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Hi Rick, whew! Any explanation as to what caused the AC circuit board to fail? ... However, I am puzzled as to why your board failed. Your boat should have a fuse at the shore power socket and I believe the Freedom 2500 is protected at the front end of the AC input.

Terry and Rick,

C'mon, don't boards fail, and sometimes there don't have to be "reasons." I do like the rodents, though... Is anybody actually putting these huge boxes someplace where water would get to them???

The shorepower fuse is usually at the panel, which is downstream of the AC inlet AND the inverter output. Think about the way it's wired on the AC side: AC in, to Freedom, then to panel. And, yes, the Freedoms have circuit breakers built in.

Added - Terry, many older boats do not have fuses "behind" the incoming shorepower receptacle. Those fuses only serve to "protect" the wiring from the receptacle to the boat's electrical panel main AC breaker (or in this case, the Freedom inverter with it's built in internal transfer switch) and the wiring from it to the AC main panel breaker. That fuse is overkill, IMHO. Doesn't hurt to have it, though. I completely agree with you on the starting of the invert function, and with our Freedoms and our Links everything can be controlled manually, I like that setup, too.

Sorry it fried on you, and thanks for getting back to us on this long-time-ago topic. I'd saved it and printed it out for my "Freedom file." Sure beats the stupidity of those who brought us Freedom fries...

 

[sailingdog]

You are correct in that the shore power is protected at the power post and the Heart at the unit. It failed after it had been running for several days with us aboard and no unusual loads. The repair guy offered no reason. I once had a DC board failure that was repaired. In that case it was moisture. I think it was my old boat washer who also killed my radar scanner. He and his crew loved to use full water pressure with a jet nozzle, the consequences of which are obvious. I now only let them use a garden spray nozzle. Just to be safe, I took a dish washing drain board and put it on top of the Freedom in case any moisture should find itself in. Works fine. So, nothing I can pinpoint for the failure. There was another in the shop at the same time. In that case, it was a rodent.

Just curious, why is your Freedom mounted someplace that water intrusion is that strong a possibility???

 

[Rick D]

It is in an aft locker which would otherwise be water tight except when someone uses 60 pounds of water pressure with a jet spray nozzle. Same for my older Furuno scanner, the one that had the overlapping joint on the cover. It was watertight too, except under the same circumstances. The locker where the Freedom resides is the same one housing the AC plug and house battery switch.