Magnum Inverter Fire

[NealC]

It would be cool to have a remote activated battery cutoff. For those of us with NEST systems we get alerts on our smartphones and some of us have always online coaches (Internet). If you get an alert by a smoke/heat detector it would be neat to remote kill all power to the coach with an automatic cutoff switch.

[redbaron73]

Nealc, there is a very simple way to do this.

You need a 600amp continous duty solenoid installed in between the battery bank and inverter on the positive side.

For ground, connect to the frame rail. For signal run a fire protected wire up to the inverter area, then use a very small gauge signal wire that is routed over the inverter, creating a path way that encompasses all sides.

Return the signal wire back to the battery bank and connect it.

This design will count on the fact that this wire will sacrifice /burn during an inverter fire and disrupt the source for energy.

To enhance this install another solenoid, like you use for your wetbay, can be wireless controlled.

[NealC]

Ahhh yeah, relays again like I learned in my Sanicon config controlled by the Intellitec controller and momentary switches inside the coach and wet bay for my recent wet bay project. A low voltage signal can control the relay....interesting.

[redbaron73]

If you do go this route, buy at least 2 of the 600amp Continous duty relays. It is not a matter of "if" but "when" it will go out. Guaranteed to be at the worst possible time.

[NealC]

I'm not planning to do this at this time. Just brainstorming. I think a battery cutoff switch on the Inverter line is higher priority, I'm not sure why there isn't one quite frankly. I wonder if Entegra does this They have all those cutoff switches in the video in that other thread.

This would have to go through the Ventana Electrical Engineering Department Florida Office - C.Martin before it ever got installed.

[Dutch Star Don]

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

The Protneg is a one and done unit that basically explodes and knocks the fire out. I will mount it within inches of the Magnum, above it. A very good point was brought up that you must eliminate the source of the fire, especially in an electrical fire, turn off the power. Well....you can't do that until after you know there is a fire, which may be too late. For that reason, I feel comfortable using the Proteng. If we're in the coach or nearby, we may hear the smoke detector, but we will definitely hear the Proteng go off, as it sounds like a shotgun firing. If the Proteng doesn't do the trick, I will at least know there is an issue and can try and turn off power and possibly fight the fire with an additional extinguisher. If we're not near the coach, our lives are not in danger.

I have spent about $900.00 in fire fighting equipment to protect the coach and more importantly protect us. I feel that I've spent a reasonable amount for protection without being obsessive, especially since my coach has the escape door, a huge part of the personal protection.

NealC…...Thanks Neal for letting me know I made a poor choice and wasted my money. Maybe if you had read my previous post in this thread, (above) you would have seen that I had no expectations of grandeur in what the Proteng could do. If we're in the coach, and we hear the shotgun blast, we'll be up and moving, possibly giving us time to attack the fire from different fronts. It also gives me more piece of mind than just talking about it and what phone APP that might extinguish the fire!

[NealC]

Don, I've read as much as this less than beneficial thread on an over exaggerated concern of the Magnum Inverter with people even changing charge rates to try and mitigate a failure (wrong). As CGizmo stated it's gone full circle, at least once. You have a suppression system ceiling mounted that will gravity drop around your inverter, the inverter will burn through the roof where it's mounted. Common sense says what it would take to extinguish this. Buy what you want, what anyone here wants for YOUR peace of mind. Just don't expect it to do something and be surprised it completely failed.

I would much rather have a nozzle that I could turn and dump my 105 gal of fresh water on it via a poor mans sprinkler system than paying for gimmicks (my $.02). I just hope this doesn't happen to anyone, I think the OASIS electrical fire is far more likely but no one is putting any protection around that system.

Good luck, hoping all keep the coaches in motion. This thread is done. Over 200 replies on this topic - amazing.

P.S. I did learn that a battery cutoff switch needs to be on the pos inverter line to the battery. Parts ordered, I will be installing that. That is a Newmar shortfall as well as no smoke detectors in the basement I hope someday they will correct.

[Dutch Star Don]

Yeah....I'm guess I'm just more realistic about depending on something mechanical to extinguish a fire than some electronic valve that will turn on my water pump. Since this would be an electrical fire, I certainly don't want the response to the fire to be 12 volt powered. Kind of like ceiling mounted mechanical sprinkler systems in a building, fire activated.

I'm glad to se that you made the decision that the post should end with your ideas only!

[tnedator]

Damn, I miss the good ole days of Spartan sucks and Freightliner is the greatest ever. There was a bit less insulting in the past condescension.

[Bounder3]

Originally Posted by Stuart W

Today I was talking about this incident with a friend that for years owned and operated a mobile RV repair business. He actually performed warranty repair work on Magnum inverters and is very familiar their operation. He said that running the “Max Charge rate at 100% causes the inverter to run very hot. Basically the difference between the default setting of 80% and the 100% that several members have changed to is @ 80% the inverter will take longer to reach a full charge but at the same time run cooler. It’s like driving a car at full throttle @ 100%

I have a 2018 Fleetwood Bounder 35K with a Magnum MS2000 Inverted/Charger. Have 4 6v deep cycle house batteries. I have been checking them every 3 or 4 months. I have noticed some corrosion on the - and + Leads on the batteries. Also noticed some dark grey gooy sticky crap when I removed the plastic screw caps on the underside of the caps. Cleaned off this gooy crap on the caps, but it continues to come back. Maybe this grey crap is hydrogen sulfate sort of from over charging? Anyway on my ME-RE remote I changed the AC-IN value from 50amp to 30 amp (I don't know how it got chaged to 50amp as 30 amp is factory default) also changed MAX CHG RATE from 100% to 50%. Only choices are 100% 50% 10%.
I will see if the new setting get rid of the dark grey gooy crap on the battery water/cell inspection caps.

[DDMO]

Update:

I followed Dutch Star Don’s advice (post 14) and wrote a letter to the president of Sensata (who owns Magnum). They contacted me directly via phone and said they would make this right and wanted the burned inverter for analysis. So we packaged up the inverter and dropped it at UPS, fully paid for by Magnum. After about a month, we received reimbursement for the new inverter and installation costs.

It took us awhile and needed to get company management involved instead of just technical support, but they did eventually stand behind their product.

When I got home, I installed an aluminum sheet above the inverter to help protect the floor underlayment. I also installed a few more smoke alarms and bought more fire extinguisher’s to place around the rig.

[757driver]

Originally Posted by Bounder3

I have a 2018 Fleetwood Bounder 35K with a Magnum MS2000 Inverted/Charger. Have 4 6v deep cycle house batteries. I have been checking them every 3 or 4 months. I have noticed some corrosion on the - and + Leads on the batteries. Also noticed some dark grey gooy sticky crap when I removed the plastic screw caps on the underside of the caps. Cleaned off this gooy crap on the caps, but it continues to come back. Maybe this grey crap is hydrogen sulfate sort of from over charging? Anyway on my ME-RE remote I changed the AC-IN value from 50amp to 30 amp (I don't know how it got chaged to 50amp as 30 amp is factory default) also changed MAX CHG RATE from 100% to 50%. Only choices are 100% 50% 10%.
I will see if the new setting get rid of the dark grey gooy crap on the battery water/cell inspection caps.

Your Magnum inverter has a 100 amp charger in it. If your 4 6v batteries total around 440 AH then at a 100% charge rate you are charging at 22% of your “C” rating. For flooded batteries this is generally too high, it should be 10-12% of “C”. Reducing your charge rate from 100% to 50% should help a lot with corrosion and overall battery longevity.

[Dutch Star Don]

Thanks for the update. This is an old post, but it brought up a disagreement that Neal and I had about combatting an inverter fire. I went with an automatic extinguisher directly above the inverter. I know that a while later, Neal added a mechanical switch (battery cutoff) inline with the large positive cable running between the inverter and batteries. It wasn't an automatic or electrically controlled disconnect as we had disagreed about, but a mechanical disconnect. I liked that idea, as long as it was mounted near the edge of the battery bay door where you could reach it without getting burned in the initial stages of a fire. I ordered the switch, but haven't installed it yet as I was dealing with a defective BMK module that first needed to be resolved.

About three weeks ago, I was looking for some information in a Magnum manual and found a standard wiring setup for a Magnum inverter. That STANDARD setup included a mechanical switch (battery cutoff) between the battery and inverter. In reality, Newmar should have installed a switch as a standard installation per Magnum.

As a retired fire investigator, I still believe the automatic fire extinguisher will work and gives piece of mind. The Proteng extinguisher makes a noise as loud as a gunshot when it operates, and should tell occupants there is an issue.

Lastly, I've added the Magnum battery monitoring kit (BMK) and upgraded Magnum panel inside the coach. Anytime you do anything with the batteries, they want you to disconnect the positive side first. By adding the mechanical switch, you can simply turn off the hot side by turning the switch.

[DDMO]

Thanks for your insights Dutch Star Don.

I have the BMK and added mechanical switch on positive side near battery door a few years ago. Strange, I did not think of shutting the batteries off first. When I saw the flame, I immediately grabbed the fire extinguisher and blasted the inverter. Not sure what the outcome would have been if I ran to the other side of rig and turned off the power from the batteries.