Inverter Swap

The next step in our electrical system upgrade was the replacement of the inverter/charger. When we bought Circe there was an original US built (1998, pre-Xantrex), Heart Interface Freedom 10 inverter/charger installed. It performed flawlessly ever since we got the boat, unlike some of the newer ones built offshore! The only drawbacks with it were that it is only 1000 Watt capacity and it generates modified, not  pure, sine wave AC output.

The shot above shows the remote control/status panel (centre right) for the Freedom 10. The actual transformer was mounted in the starboard side cabinet, forward of the sofa, in the main cabin. The louvre door in that cabinet helped a lot with ventilation and cooling so we wanted the replacement to go in the same place. We also wanted an inverter that had more capacity and, more importantly, could deliver pure sine wave AC that would cause fewer problems with sensitive and 'smart' devices that we might run from it. 

After some research, the replacement unit we chose was the Sterling Pro Combi  S (above). It is a pure sine wave inverter/charger of 2500 Watt capacity, it's similar in size and weight and has a remote control/status panel like the Freedom 10. The only big difference from the installation standpoint was the fact that the cables on the DC side of the Freedom were secured directly in screw clamps while the Combi S uses studs, meaning the cables must have lugs fitted.

The Freedom 10 came out quickly and easily after we cut the cables on the DC side Here it is ready to go to Blue Pelican marine consignment chandlery in Alameda. It still works perfectly so, with a bit of luck, it should fetch a couple of hundred bucks.

http://www.bluepelicanmarine.com/

Here is the Combi S ready for installation.

Here we are getting ready to crimp new lugs onto the DC cables....

.....and here it is in place. We had originally considered turning this cabinet into a 'mini bar and booze cupboard' but we'll have to revisit that idea now.

The Combi S remote panel is much smaller than the old Freedom one........

.....so we ran to TAP plastics and got a piece of 1/4" textured ABS sheet and made an adapter plate. The only downside we see is that we now have to open the cabinet to see the  LEDs on the Combi S and know exactly what it's doing. The Freedom showed everything on the remote panel.

Here is a shot of the electrical panels showing the new Combi S controller and Xantrex battery monitor. They will both be relocated when we finish building our new 'hinge down' panels with new breakers and a re-wire. In the meantime we are moving on towards wind and solar charging!