Magnum Inverter DEAD!!

[D Lindy]

Have a 2012 Journey with the Magnum MS2812 Inverter. The charging portion WORKS FINE, but the Inverter can not be turned on at all. We've done a soft reset using the on/off button on the inverter it's self - No Go. Unplugged the remote control unit - No go. LED light on the inverter is doing the 8 second flash cycle which means Inverter is in stand-by mode. Here's the screwy part, tried a Hard Reset by turning off the Coach batteries at the master switch, which should have killed ALL 12volt power to the Inverter, BUT it didn't, the remote display stayed lit indicating that the inverter was still getting 12volts from some place. The chassis batteries were also disconnected and the MH was NOT plugged into shore power. My first thought was that there might be an issue with the Solenoid Battery Isolation Manager (Other coach's call this the BIRD).

[YC1]

Do you have a solar panel? If so try the test after dark.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by D Lindy

Have a 2012 Journey with the Magnum MS2812 Inverter. The charging portion WORKS FINE, but the Inverter can not be turned on at all. We've done a soft reset using the on/off button on the inverter it's self - No Go. Unplugged the remote control unit - No go. LED light on the inverter is doing the 8 second flash cycle which means Inverter is in stand-by mode. Here's the screwy part, tried a Hard Reset by turning off the Coach batteries at the master switch, which should have killed ALL 12volt power to the Inverter, BUT it didn't, the remote display stayed lit indicating that the inverter was still getting 12volts from some place. The chassis batteries were also disconnected and the MH was NOT plugged into shore power. My first thought was that there might be an issue with the Solenoid Battery Isolation Manager (Other coach's call this the BIRD).

D Lindy,
When my Dimensions 2000 watt Inverter/Charger died, I found a Magnum ME2012 for a replacement. It pretty much wired up, directly like the Dimensions was. Almost wire for wire. And that meant, that there is two, 1GA cables, one red one black, direct from the house batteries, to the Inverter/Charger.
There is an ultra large fuse type thing that is in line with the red cable. But, what I'm getting to is, if your Magnum is wired similar to mine, the cables go direct to the Inverter which, means there is no disconnect switch that shuts down the 12V power to the inverter.

The coach battery disconnect, as I understand it, shuts down the power from the house batteries to all the 12VDC powered equipment and components but, not to the Inverter. For that, you'd have to manually remove either the cables at the Inverter or, find out which one from your positive connections on the house batteries, leads to the inverter and, disconnect it there, at the batteries. Just some info for ya.
Scott

[RW8804]

Sounds more like a problem with the transfer switch.

[D Lindy]

RW8804; how could it be the transfer switch 1) the transfer switch's function is to switch between shore or generator power only. 2) the inverter is down stream from the transfer switch. 3) the issue I'm having is with stray 12 volts going to the inverter when the coach and chassis batteries are disconnected thus I can not do a hard reset of the inverter.

[tomsm]

What FIRE UP said... Our units are older than yours, but I think Winnie wires all the DPs with a big inverter this way (direct connect from batteries to inverter).

I looked at your wiring on the Winnie website. They no longer provide an actual wiring diagram, just a drawing of the physical installation. On the "Battery Installation" topic, it shows one set of 12V cables going through the disconnect switch and supplying 12V to the entire MH, EXCEPT the inverter which is supplied by a separate set of cables. The positive inverter feed goes through a 400A fuse.

It looks like you need to either disconnect a cable at the battery, the fuse, or the inverter, whichever is most convenient.

A call to Winnie should verify all this.

Hope the reset helps,

[DancinCampers]

If the light on the inverter remote is blinking, you might try defeating the Search mode.

[Scottybdivin]

I agree. It's SOP to wire the inverter directly to the batteries with a large fuse near the battery. The 12V switch should only cut off power to the 12V circuit. The inverter should be independent from the 12V circuit.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by D Lindy

RW8804; how could it be the transfer switch 1) the transfer switch's function is to switch between shore or generator power only. 2) the inverter is down stream from the transfer switch. 3) the issue I'm having is with stray 12 volts going to the inverter when the coach and chassis batteries are disconnected thus I can not do a hard reset of the inverter.

Mr Lindy,
As we've been telling you, it's not STRAY 12V going to your inverter. It's direct wiring (in the form of heavy duty cables) direct from your coach batteries, through a large fuse, to your inverter. You CAN do an attempt at a reset HARD reset by disconnecting the heavy duty cable from one of the points that have been stated in these last posts. Whether it will do any good or not, remains to be seen. Please report back on your findings.
Scott

[D Lindy]

Looked on line at the chassis wiring diagrams and I saw where the Inverter is wired directly to the chassis battery bank. I was going on what the Magnum Teck was telling we as we were trouble shooting the system. So it looks like I'll disconnect the negative cable for 15 minutes to do a Hard Reset of the Inverter. A hard reset is the last possible solution to getting the inverter working. If that doesn't work looks like it into the shop for them to pull the inverter and sent it out to Ohio for repair. I could do it myself and take it to Ohio easy enough, but then the extended warranty won't cover the cost of the repair to the inverter.

[ernieh]

The MS2812 has an internal transfer switch that changes from charging to inverting. It sounds like yours might have failed.

As far as your disconnects are concerned, the inverter/charger is normally connected directly to the batteries with no disconnect. The reason is so that the batteries will be charged any time that the coach is plugged in.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by ernieh

The MS2812 has an internal transfer switch that changes from charging to inverting. It sounds like yours might have failed.

As far as your disconnects are concerned, the inverter/charger is normally connected directly to the batteries with no disconnect. The reason is so that the batteries will be charged any time that the coach is plugged in.

ernieh,
Your description of the "internal transfer switch" is just a tad off. If you look in the owners manual of the MS series Inverter/Chargers, you'll see the section in the beginning, "How an Inverter Works". In that section, it describes the basic operation of the Inverter and, different phases of operation. It specifically states that, when external A/C power is applied, i.e. from shore power or, generator power, an "Internal A/C Transfer relay is closed to allow the incoming A/C power right to the Inverters output to allow all A/C components to continue to operate.

It does say that it's (The Inverter) is charging the batteries, at the same time the transfer relay is closed, while in the "Standby Mode" (not Inverting).

Now, if this is what you meant, then I stand corrected.
Scott

[pmgia]

I had the same thing happen in my 08 Journey, I had to finally disconnect the battery cable to the house battery bank at the batteries to get the inverter/charger fan to stop running. I didn't know there was a fuse or I may have tried to pull that.

Long story short, new inverter

[spinn]

There are several places which will rebuild a magnum inverter at a much more reasonable amount than a new one

[D Lindy]

The more I email with Magnum the more I get the feeling that the issue might be just a simple one "My On/Off Button on the remote panel is not working". I've got friends coming up here that should have the same remote on their unit and I'll try swapping them out and see what happens.

[D Lindy]

Well, did a hard reset, per Magnums instruction (Disconnect the + battery cable) yea I know that seems back wards, but it worked and my inverter is once more on line as should be.

[spinn]

Thanks for the follow up