Replacing Xantrex Freedom XC Pro 3000W Inverter

[Steve Morris]

3 hours ago, Ollie-Haus said:

This may be a consideration if you choose to go that route.

Great minds, and all that. I had just gone to McMaster-Carr to find the link for those flanged button head screws, as I've used them a lot on other applications. They are great where you want to spread the load, have a nicer appearance, and also for sealing, as it is easier to seal one large surface instead of between the surface and a washer and the washer and a screw. I used them on all exterior holes on my Hiker.

[Patriot]

On 4/24/2023 at 10:49 AM, topgun2 said:

Also, place some painters tape or masking tape on the gelcoat.

 

Unfortunately with this mod you have to drill from the inside of the hull out through the fiberglass wall using the existing mounting holes as a template. Then slowly drill through the gelcoat hoping it does not ship or shatter. I don’t believe tape will prevent chipping of the gelcoat as the drill cuts/pushes through. Will it be a chip the size or a pea or a quarter? Then you will need to countersink the holes for the new SS fasteners. The other concern is now you have the entire weight of the inverter hanging by the four SS fasteners on the fiberglass wall. Once the SS fasteners are hand tightened enough to hold the inverter, will the weight of the inverter cause any spidering or worse cracking in the fiber glass or gelcoat with the Olive under way on a rough road? 
I have decided I am in a holding pattern on this mod for now. 
 

Any thoughts?

Patriot🇺🇸

[Ollie-Haus]

A good choice for drilling a clean hole on the fiberglass would be a sharp brad point drill bit. Pilot with a very small one from the back side and then finish with the final size from the outside. Use a high rpm on the drill and very little pressure. Here's a good example:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-High-Speed-Steel-Brad-Point-Drill-Bit-Set-6-Piece-DW1720/202279646

[Geronimo John]

On 4/23/2023 at 3:58 PM, ScubaRx said:

2 - Place your SS bolt into the hole from the outside and put a washer and nylock nut on the inside and tighten it down.

I recommend adding a 1" fender washer to the bolt before inserting it back through the fiberglass bunk wall.  I used 1/4 - 20 bolts (4 Sets).  The fender washers on the outside are to spread the load against the fiberglass wall.  The white plastic OEM mounting plate stiffens the wall and spreads the load as well.  Especially since I used a LOT of JB Weld between them! 

Sadly for my 3000 watt Renogy inverter there are only four locations to mount, so each is critical.

The bolts and fender washers are the easy (by comparison) to get in the holes.  But the washer, lock washer, and Nylock nuts on the back side are a real PITA to get to.  It takes patience and focus.  But if my size 4XL hands got it done, you can too.    

[Geronimo John]

On 4/23/2023 at 4:28 PM, ScubaRx said:

didn't mention this, but probably should have. I'd use 1/4" SS button head machine screws. They look pretty good. And you will be able to see them on the aisle wall. I would try to make them line up vertically and horizontally so they create a box or rectangle shape, just for aesthetics.

I really like those machine screws WITH polished SS fender washers under their heads.  I would have concern that they would damage the fiberglass over time with out the fender washer.  

GJ

[mossemi]

My inverter is still attached in it original position.  That being said and I was going to re-attach the mounting board or just being proactive trying to prevent the mounting board from breaking loose, I think replacing the just top 2 screws holding the inverter to the mounting board with the through bolts of your choice, would prevent the inverter and board from falling.  But the other choice is to hide the bolt heads.  This is where Krunch keeps 4 or 5 pairs of sandals, slippers or 🩴’s under her port bed overhang.  I’m sure no one would be able to see the bolt heads unless they wanted to borrow a pair of her shoes.  We won’t even discuss where the other 15 pairs of her shoes go!

Mossey

 

[John E Davies]

On 4/24/2023 at 8:16 AM, Patriot said:

Unfortunately with this mod you have to drill from the inside of the hull out through the fiberglass wall using the existing mounting holes as a template. Then slowly drill through the gelcoat hoping it does not ship or shatter. I don’t believe tape will prevent chipping of the gelcoat as the drill cuts/pushes through. Will it be a chip the size or a pea or a quarter? Then you will need to countersink the holes for the new SS fasteners. The other concern is now you have the entire weight of the inverter hanging by the four SS fasteners on the fiberglass wall. Once the SS fasteners are hand tightened enough to hold the inverter, will the weight of the inverter cause any spidering or worse cracking in the fiber glass or gelcoat with the Olive under way on a rough road? 
I have decided I am in a holding pattern on this mod for now. 
 

Any thoughts?

Patriot🇺🇸

The screws or bolts are SUPPLEMENTARY, you must use epoxy or 3M 5200 to secure the white mounting plate, so that there are no vertical shear loads on the fiberglass. It is only 1/8” thick and it was manufactured with a chopper gun, not hand laid, so it is not especially strong by itself.

If your white pad has fallen off completely, you must bond it back properly and let the epoxy cure before you install the screws, or you risk having those become immobilized. You could coat the threads with silicone grease, but that does not always work. One step at a time! Fix the board. Wait 24 hours. Fix the screws.

When drilling from the inside outward, use the same size bit as the hole briefly to mark (“center punch”) its center. Then drill out using a 1/8” or smaller bit. Finish from the outside. It’s tight in there, a right angle drill attachment is necessary.

As I mentioned on the first page, cut out the two bottom holes on the inverter flange, make slots so that you can pre-install nylock nuts and washers onto the screws, and simply lower the inverter onto them. You can reach the nuts easily enough to tighten them, but installing them with the inverter blocking the way would make you swear.

Wouldn’t it be nice if Oliver did this at the factory…? File a service report.

5200 is great stuff but once opened it cannot be stored, it will harden inside the tube in a day... For the same price as a 3 ounce tube, you can get a 10 ounce JB Weld Pro pack, it will last for years,

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

[CRM]

34 minutes ago, John E Davies said:

5200 is great stuff but once opened it cannot be stored, it will harden inside the tube in a day...

 

If you put 5200 into a ziplock bag and store in your fridge it will last more than 6 months without hardening.

[Rivernerd]

6 minutes ago, CRM said:

If you put 5200 into a ziplock bag and store in your fridge it will last more than 6 months without hardening.

Fridge or freezer?  I periodically use Aquaseal (which is urethane) to attach drysuit gaskets.  I store it in our freezer between uses, which keeps it usable for years.

[CRM]

21 minutes ago, Rivernerd said:

Fridge or freezer?  I periodically use Aquaseal (which is urethane) to attach drysuit gaskets.  I store it in our freezer between uses, which keeps it usable for years.

I've only used the fridge to store it since I'm worried it might affect the quality of the 5200 if it's frozen. I've heard others say it lasts indefinitely in the freezer though.. Edit- I also do the same with Dicor Lap Sealant and have one in my shop fridge that's over a year old now and still usable.

[John E Davies]

The huge issue with storing opened 5200 is that you can never know for sure if it will work later. Do you want to risk screwing up a critical job to save a little cash? Just because the stuff flows out of the tube a year from now does not mean it will cure correctly. Or at all.

2 part epoxies are a MUCH safer bet!

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

[CRM]

43 minutes ago, John E Davies said:

The huge issue with storing opened 5200 is that you can never know for sure if it will work later. Do you want to risk screwing up a critical job to save a little cash? Just because the stuff flows out of the tube a year from now does not mean it will cure correctly. Or at all.

2 part epoxies are a MUCH safer bet!

John Davies

Spokane WA

 

You should try it next time you have some leftover from a project. I think you'll find that once brought back to room temp it sets just as fast  and bonds just as strong as new from the tube does. It's an old marine industry trick that's been used for decades. I still don't feel comfortable using it after freezing, though I think I'll try it with one of the tubes I have now just for kicks. Personally, even if I had to toss the leftover, I would still use 5200 over JB Weld to bond something to fiberglass in one of our trailers. JB cures way too brittle when applied thin for my taste and I'd be worried if it would stand up long term to all the vibrations, flexing and jolts it will receive from going down the road

[BBL]

On 10/18/2022 at 2:16 PM, Sak said:

Trip the 200 or 300A Inverter Breaker located under the street side bed access panel area. The breaker is located up & under next to the side of the battery box.

Just wanted to share with everyone that Oliver’s labeling has improved over the years. This is a picture of the circuit breakers for the inverter in our trailer. Clear labeling really helps.

[Patriot]

 

My inverter is still in its original location and after checking it last evening is still mounted solidly. In the past few years we have traveled over some really rough roads mostly in the Northeast. All good thoughts and recommendations in this thread on a solutions to preempt a possible failure or a fix IF the inverter mounting board fails. 
After a conversation with Oliver Service yesterday, the failure rate of the present inverter mounting location is extremely low. I did see one reported failure on the Oliver Owners FB page which was posted in 2021. I don’t recall reading about any failures here on the forum, but I may have missed it. If anyone has had a failure please consider posting up.
According to Oliver Service the very few rare cases they have seen have been attributed to running max tire air pressure and traversing extremely rough roads. 

Patriot🇺🇸

 

[ScubaRx]

42 minutes ago, Patriot said:

According to Oliver Service the very few rare cases they have seen have been attributed to running max tire air pressure and traversing extremely rough roads. 

Patriot🇺🇸

 

I can personally attest that driving the 40 mile washboard gravel road into Chico Culture with 80psi in the Oliver tires is both stupid and detrimental to the Oliver. I'm not completely convinced that it didn't slightly alter the earth's orbit around the sun as well.

[Rivernerd]

4 hours ago, Brian and Brandelyne said:

Clear labeling really helps.

Oliver must have started doing that labeling with the 2023 model year.  Our late 2022 doesn't have the labeling.  But, now that  I've seen yours, I think I'll grab our label maker and add some of my own.

Thanks for posting!

[MAX Burner]

On 4/25/2023 at 3:06 PM, ScubaRx said:

driving the 40 mile washboard gravel road into Chico Culture with 80psi in the Oliver tires is both stupid and detrimental to the Oliver.

We made the same run into Chaco Canyon WITH our AS tires aired-down to 20psi - we spent a half-day replacing popped rivets.  We would not consider either the north or south approach to Chaco in the OTT without airing WAY down and keeping the speed below 15-20MPH.

[Wandering Sagebrush]

22 minutes ago, MAX Burner said:

We made the same run into Chaco Canyon WITH our AS tires aired-down to 20psi - we spent a half-day replacing popped rivets.  We would not consider either the north or south approach to Chaco in the OTT without airing WAY down and keeping the speed below 15-20MPH.

You took an Airstream into Chaco?  You’re a braver man than I.