cannesdo

Presently in Encinitas, CA

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I have a Freedom combi inverter/converter unit. 21 years old. I pushed the wiring too hard with some outdoor greehouse heaters and it fried the connections near it. This time the inverter didn't come back to life. I feel like finding someone who likes to tinker with these things to see if it can be easily fixed. What would you do? I'm on the Oregon Coast. Any suggestions of who I could consult or how I could find someone to look at it? Would it be worth it? We bypassed it today (rv tech) and installed a converter and a plug (for the converter) I'm not traveling now an may never move my rig again so I don't really need it but I'd like to see if I can get some money out of the thing as it's a really nice unit.
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MEXICOWANDERER

las peñas, michoacan, mexico

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Joined: 06/01/2007

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All the FETs have to match. And there may be 20 of them. And the front end ICs may be unmarked as well as well as borderline bulged capacitors in the power section.
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Ed_Gee

Central Oregon coast

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I'm a retired electronics tech and in my opinion that thing is not worth the effort to spent time on. A 21 year old piece of junk. Probably cost more in parts to fix than a new one, which are pretty cheap now. Good luck.
Ed - on the Central Oregon coast
2018 Winnebago Fuse 23A
Scion xA toad
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cannesdo

Presently in Encinitas, CA

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Should I try selling it for parts? If so, how much?
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MEXICOWANDERER

las peñas, michoacan, mexico

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Worth $10 if stripped down to bare fin heat sinks otherwise the remainder is a liability for disposal.
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wa8yxm

Davison Michigan (East of Flint)

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My Xantrex Freedom was under 1000 dollars. (As I recall in the 700's) labor to fix is like 100-150/hr it's gonna take a few hours... I'd junk it..
My older prosine is headed to a recycler soon as I get some ... personal... Repairs made (It's a bit of a drive and I need to go past the recyclers to get some other stuff done (paperwork) and I'm waiting till I'm back to 100% first. One of the reasons I was NOT upset when the insurance declared my Motor home "Totaled" is the repair work on ME (My Body) 1hr drive to hosp beats 3 days.
Home was where I park it. but alas the.
2005 Damon Intruder 377 Alas declared a total loss
after a semi "nicked" it. Still have the radios
Kenwood TS-2000, ICOM ID-5100, ID-51A+2, ID-880 REF030C most times
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Gdetrailer

PA

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cannesdo wrote: Should I try selling it for parts? If so, how much?
There is very little "value" in broken electronics.
You have at the most $5 worth of possible usable used parts IF they are actually good.
I used to be able to sell used 1000W UPS units at Hamfests that where in working order other than needing new batteries which would cost $50 to replace.. It was a stretch 20 yrs ago to get $10-15 out of those units.
Fast forward 20 yrs and I would bet that those same units with same dead batteries would fetch $5 or less or not sell at all.
Now days, the market has been flooded by extremely low cost China made inverters folks would rather take a chance on a new low cost import inverter. So, even if you paid someone to fix yours, you most likely will not recoup the repair cost by fixing it and then selling it.
In a nutshell, not worth trying to sell if you have to pay to fix or list it.
Sadly, it is a sign of the times.
Options as I see it.
No cost to you, post on Craigslist in the free section, clearly explain that unit needs repairs and is given "as is" for repair or parts.
OR
No cost to you, post on Craigslist in electronics section for $10 for repair or parts and explain it is not in working order.
No cost to you, post of face book one of the two options above.
Minimal cost to you (donation fee), haul it to a local Hamfest and try selling for $10(if there is any this yr as many were canceled last yr due to health concerns).
No cost to you, donate to a local Amateur (Ham) club for their Hamfest table (they may or may not take it as they don't want to have to pay disposal fees either if it doesn't sell).
No cost to you, give it to a local electronic repair shop (if you can even find one now days, most have gone out of business due to cheap electronics flooding the market).
No to minimal cost to you, drop off at your local electronic scrap drive. Some counties around my area offer electronic scrap recycling drives to collect broken or unwanted obsolete electronic equipment like TVs and other equipment. They sometimes do it for free or ask for $5-$10 per item.
As a Electronics Tech of over 35 yrs I have seen the decline of value consumer electronic repairs.
Often when something burns or melts parts of circuit boards, it does a lot of upstream damage along the way, so fixing burnt traces often ends up repairing more than damaged traces and often ends up replacing other parts along the way.
Unless you are planning to keep and use it, it will not be worth the cost of repairs to resell and not a lot of folks will be willing to buy a broken item and then fix it or use the used parts for other projects.
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cannesdo

Presently in Encinitas, CA

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Gdetrailer wrote: cannesdo wrote: Should I try selling it for parts? If so, how much?
There is very little "value" in broken electronics.
Responded to the wrong person....
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Lwiddis

Near Bishop, California

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After 21 years of service bouncing around in an RV...replace.
Winnebago 2101DS TT & 2020 Chevy Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71, WindyNation 300 watt solar-Lossigy 200 AMP Lithium battery. Prefer boondocking, USFS, COE, BLM, NPS, TVA, state camps. Bicyclist. 14 yr. Army -11B40 then 11A - (MOS 1542 & 1560) IOBC & IOAC grad
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theoldwizard1

SE MI

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21 years old. Technology has changed a LOT ! Newer inverters should be much more efficient.
You should check into a combination inverter/charger/automatic transfer switch. Get rid of your converter and simplify you wiring.
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