Xantrex shore power issues

[Jason Foster]

Xantrex turns on and off continuously using 20 amp plug.  It was working fine at Oliver on 30 amp. Any ideas?

[MobileJoy]

Monitor your power source. You can do this easily by looking at the EMS panel. In our Oliver the panel is in the attic and its readout is in red LEDS. If the voltage drops to around 104V, the EMS will cut off shore power. If the Xantrex is drawing a lot of power (as it will by default when charging your batteries), with an unstable shore power source this could bring down the voltage to the point of EMS shutdown. This removes the power drain and allows the voltage to rise. Once it is sufficient, the EMS cuts back in and eventually powers the Xantrex. The resulting battery charging draw will bring down the voltage, etc., etc. I had this happen to our trailer at a campground that had unstable 30A shore power.

Even if your batteries are fully charged, the Xantrex starts off by attempting a full charge and then rapidly changes from Bulk charging to the Absorption stage which draws much less power.

You can also reconfigure the Xantrex to charge batteries at a much slower rate so its power draw is not so severe. May help, may not... We have the Lithium Pro package and Xantrex charging is set by default to 150A.

[Rolind]

I had the same thing happen to me at a nearby campground. We pulled in with the lithiums about 50% discharged and plugged into the 30 amp pedestal. Initially everything was fine but then I could hear the xantrex cooling fan turning on and off every 30 secs.  I also got a communication error with my xantrex remote panel. I later did a software update on my xantrex and the problem never occurred again. I later learned from the campgrounds website that the 30 amp hookup was rated at 20 amps.  I didn’t think it was my ems because it was cycling too quickly. My advice would be to try to reproduce the issue with another power source. Another possible solution would be to decrease the breaker rating on your xantrex phone app to 15 amps from 25 amps.

[Ronbrink]

On 12/24/2023 at 4:04 AM, MobileJoy said:

If the voltage drops to around 104V, the EMS will cut off shore power. If the Xantrex is drawing a lot of power (as it will by default when charging your batteries), with an unstable shore power source this could bring down the voltage to the point of EMS shutdown. This removes the power drain and allows the voltage to rise. Once it is sufficient, the EMS cuts back in and eventually powers the Xantrex. The resulting battery charging draw will bring down the voltage, etc., etc. I had this happen to our trailer at a campground that had unstable 30A shore power.

I recently experienced this at my storage facility, thanks for your explanation of the probable cause!

[Tom and Doreen]

You may also be able to lower your Xantrex charger current limit parameter to lessen the amount of current being supplied for charging the batteries thus reducing the overall electrical load on the system. This will allow for some usable power for other accessories but will of course cause a longer battery recharge time. 

Edited August 7, 2024 by Tom and Doreen