Community Forums

JT-RV · 01-25-2017, 11:54 AM

Hooked up to 50 amp service. At Magnum panel I turn on inverter & charger. All green LEDs light up w/ charging light flashing. Thoughout the day, I live in RV using AC, appliances, overhead lights, etc. I assume I am using shore power only (Power Control Monitor confirms 50 amp shore power).

Eventually, through no action on my part, all Magnum green LEDs turn off & panel says "Charger Standby". Does this mean the controller is "off", or is it still monitoring battery condition? If all green LEDs off mean Controller/Inverter is off, why does it turn off by itself?

All seems OK, appliances, AC, lights, etc works but I notice "HSE Battery" slowly drops from 12.7V to 11.9V . . .

Since I'm hooked up to Shore power, 1) Should HSE Battery voltage be declining? 2) Shouldn't the Charge Control automatically/continuously trickle charge house batteries? Doesn't seem right that I have to manually turn the Charger/Inverter on? THX!

jzeurcher · 01-25-2017, 05:26 PM

You do not want the magnum to be inverting when you are plugged into shore power. Only the charger should be on. You only want to be inverting when you are offline and not hooked up to shore power or using the generator.

Kiawah · 01-25-2017, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jzeurcher

You do not want the magnum to be inverting when you are plugged into shore power. Only the charger should be on. You only want to be inverting when you are offline and not hooked up to shore power or using the generator.

You can leave the inverter turned ON at all times, I leave it on all year long (except for winter storage). If there is shorepower, it will shift automatically into standby mode and if power ever drops it will instantly step in and never drop power to the devices.

Quote:

Eventually, through no action on my part, all Magnum green LEDs turn off & panel says "Charger Standby". Does this mean the controller is "off", or is it still monitoring battery condition? If all green LEDs off mean Controller/Inverter is off, why does it turn off by itself?

All seems OK, appliances, AC, lights, etc works but I notice "HSE Battery" slowly drops from 12.7V to 11.9V . . .

Since I'm hooked up to Shore power, 1) Should HSE Battery voltage be declining? 2) Shouldn't the Charge Control automatically/continuously trickle charge house batteries? Doesn't seem right that I have to manually turn the Charger/Inverter on? THX!

That's not right. Do you know for sure that you are not dropping shorepower, or dropping one leg of shorepower? I would recheck your Magnum configuration settings. Do you have a voltmeter, that you can start checking some key voltages to narrow down where the problem might be?

Plugged into shorepower, your batteries should get to 100% charged and stay there.

Look at page 56, to start.

http://www.magnum-dimensions.com/sit...ies%29_Web.pdf

jzeurcher · 01-25-2017, 10:02 PM

I think the question here is the terminology being stated. Yes your Magnum is an inverter. But on your Magnum control panel you can turn on your charger and put in inverter mode also when you are hooked up to shore power. When you do this the charge light will flash and will not charge the battery because you are trying to put the Magnum in an inverter position and not using the shore power. I don't think it will allow that because the shore power or generator are should be the priority modes. I think this is correct. But anyway if I am hooked up to shore power and on the remote If I push on the Invert mode and the charge mode at the same time the charge light just flashes. The Magnum cannot be inverting from the battery and also charging it at the same time. From what the OP says, it sounds like this is what he is doing wrong.

MisterT · 01-26-2017, 06:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JT-RV

Hooked up to 50 amp service. At Magnum panel I turn on inverter & charger. All green LEDs light up w/ charging light flashing. Thoughout the day, I live in RV using AC, appliances, overhead lights, etc. I assume I am using shore power only (Power Control Monitor confirms 50 amp shore power).

Eventually, through no action on my part, all Magnum green LEDs turn off & panel says "Charger Standby". Does this mean the controller is "off", or is it still monitoring battery condition? If all green LEDs off mean Controller/Inverter is off, why does it turn off by itself?

All seems OK, appliances, AC, lights, etc works but I notice "HSE Battery" slowly drops from 12.7V to 11.9V . . .

Since I'm hooked up to Shore power, 1) Should HSE Battery voltage be declining? 2) Shouldn't the Charge Control automatically/continuously trickle charge house batteries? Doesn't seem right that I have to manually turn the Charger/Inverter on? THX!

let's discuss your 'process', so we can better answer this:

- you say 'hooked up to shore power', but are you saying that you are always on shore power, or are you saying that you just now plugged it in?
- you say you 'turned on the inverter and charger', but you didn't say WHY you are just now turning them ON - you don't you leave them on all the time?
- are you sure you turned the Charger ON and not just put it into 'Standby' mode? Standby mode means that the Charger will come on only when the batteries need charging. If you are on shore power, then it would rarely need to come on, and will probably be 'blinking' to show you that it is in Standby mode, but the panel itself turns the LED lights off after a few minutes, and only the panel READOUT stays active.

We full time and leave the Inverter/Charger ON always - in 2 1/2 years we have never turned either off. There is no need to, especially if, like us, you have a residential fridge on 120v power. Even when we leave our coach for several days, everything stays on as normal. If we lose shore power, the Inverter will continue providing power. If the inverter draws down too much battery power, then the AGS will crank the generator and allow the Charger to recharge the batteries. It's a great power backup system.

I guess it's normal for most folks new in RVing to think that things are treated differently in their coach than in their house, but few people turn off the power to their house when going on vacation, or turn off the fridge, or even the water heater, etc. A great extra benefit with coaches versus homes is the built in 'backup' battery power and 'backup' generator power that most homes certainly don't have.

luvlabs · 01-26-2017, 08:24 AM

Dive into your big blue bag and pull out the Magnum manual. It would be helpful if you spent the time reading through it.

I never turn off the charger or the inverter except when I know I will be disconnected from AC power for an extended time. The only thing I turn off then is the inverter.

Your Magnum has an LCD display panel that tells you exactly what it is doing. So, let's start at the beginning.
1. Unplug from shore power and do not start the generator. Your display should switch to Inverting. If it doesn't, your inverter has been switched off (which is OK).

2. Turn your inverter on. Your display should now read Inverting and display your battery voltage.

3. Plug yourself back into shore power. Your display should change to Charging and the type of charge being done - bulk, float, absorb for example. You could also get a Full Charge message. If you don't get anything, push the Charger switch and turn it on. The LED lights on the buttons will shut off after a few minutes - normal operation.

Have you ever checked the water level in your batteries? If not, now's the time to do it. Fill to the split ring with distilled water. Get into the habit of doing this monthly.

Things should be working as expected but if still have problems, write back. Do not turn off anything on your Magnum panels. You can fine tune operation, turn on the generator start, and customize other things but you will need the manual and understand what you are doing before you implement things.

Do you have a Progressive Industries EMS/Surge protection system yet? They can protect the coach and all the electronics from a host of bad electrical problems found at campgrounds. Get yourself either a HW50 or a PT50 before you go too much further. Both are available on Amazon.

MisterT · 01-26-2017, 05:01 PM

here's info directly from the Magnum manual about the 'CHARGER' green/blinking light:

"BLINKING - display says “Full Charge” or “Silent”:
The charger is in Battery Saver mode. This mode
monitors battery voltage level and only charges
if the battery voltage decreases to a low level."
[if this is the case, you may have your CHARGE
RATE setting low enough that it is not yet needing
to charge the batteries - if you increase this setting
then you may see the charger stay ON and in
"FLOAT" mode most of the time]

or

"BLINKING - display does not show any charge status:
The inverter is detecting AC voltage (from shore power
or generator) on the inverter’s AC input terminals."

and,

"LEDs and backlight are off:
Remote may be in the Power Saver mode.
Press any button to reactivate the remote
(or turn Power Saver mode OFF)."
[mine is set to Power Save at about 1 minute, which means
the LEDs are no longer on or blinking, and the backlight for
the panel goes off. The readout is still there, just harder to
read without the backlight]

JT-RV · 01-31-2017, 10:53 PM

Thx all for helpful info. Yes, I do simply leave charger & inverter on all the time when hooked to shore power. The question is whether there is ever a situation where the charger turns itself off? Charger (& inverter) were both on when I went to bed, but charger was off in morning (inverter was still on).

luvlabs · 02-01-2017, 10:41 AM

I have had instances on shower power that the charger has turned itself off due to power line issues. Between my Progressive Industries HW50C and my EMS system the power line experienced an under voltage on one leg and an over voltage on the other. Protective circuits dumped the power and shut down the charger. The inverter kicked in, as designed, and maintained house current.

JT-RV · 02-06-2017, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiawah

You can leave the inverter turned ON at all times, I leave it on all year long (except for winter storage). If there is shorepower, it will shift automatically into standby mode and if power ever drops it will instantly step in and never drop power to the devices.

That's not right. Do you know for sure that you are not dropping shorepower, or dropping one leg of shorepower? I would recheck your Magnum configuration settings. Do you have a voltmeter, that you can start checking some key voltages to narrow down where the problem might be?

Plugged into shorepower, your batteries should get to 100% charged and stay there.

Look at page 56, to start.

http://www.magnum-dimensions.com/sit...ies%29_Web.pdf

Thx for tip. Didn't get inverter instructions w/coach, so I just got off internet. Thx..

JT-RV · 02-06-2017, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luvlabs

Dive into your big blue bag and pull out the Magnum manual. It would be helpful if you spent the time reading through it.

I never turn off the charger or the inverter except when I know I will be disconnected from AC power for an extended time. The only thing I turn off then is the inverter.

Your Magnum has an LCD display panel that tells you exactly what it is doing. So, let's start at the beginning.
1. Unplug from shore power and do not start the generator. Your display should switch to Inverting. If it doesn't, your inverter has been switched off (which is OK).

2. Turn your inverter on. Your display should now read Inverting and display your battery voltage.

3. Plug yourself back into shore power. Your display should change to Charging and the type of charge being done - bulk, float, absorb for example. You could also get a Full Charge message. If you don't get anything, push the Charger switch and turn it on. The LED lights on the buttons will shut off after a few minutes - normal operation.

Have you ever checked the water level in your batteries? If not, now's the time to do it. Fill to the split ring with distilled water. Get into the habit of doing this monthly.

Things should be working as expected but if still have problems, write back. Do not turn off anything on your Magnum panels. You can fine tune operation, turn on the generator start, and customize other things but you will need the manual and understand what you are doing before you implement things.

Do you have a Progressive Industries EMS/Surge protection system yet? They can protect the coach and all the electronics from a host of bad electrical problems found at campgrounds. Get yourself either a HW50 or a PT50 before you go too much further. Both are available on Amazon.

Got manual off internet & thx for battery water reminder.