Community Forums

becks · 09-16-2015, 12:51 PM

Just purchased a new Magnum pure sine wave inverter, AGS, remote, and battery monitor to replace my current Magnum modified invertor and remote. How hard will this install be. Is it something I can do myself? Hoping some have done this and can share there thoughts. Thanks in advance for your help.

ronnie_g · 09-16-2015, 02:41 PM

IMO the MFG might be a good source for this info. They should be able to tell you what mods you might have to do. and if all the mounting can be reused etc etc etc...
A word of caution, if you are not comfortable working with 120/240 V and High Current battery sources. You would be better off paying some one to do the work. And the unit might be on the heavy side, could need help mounting it?
Any time you are working with AC or a hefty battery source their is plenty of opportunity for stuff to go dangerously / deadly wrong.

Jim A · 09-16-2015, 03:14 PM

I replaced my Xantrex inverter with the Magnum inverter myself, and did not regret doing it myself. Much of it depends on how your coach manufacturer installed it, and the footprint and connections of both the new inverter and the old one. Mine was in an inside cabinet with plenty of room around it. My new inverter was about an inch wider, so I had to move the wood mounting blocks. Easily done. The cables mounted in about the same place, so no changes needed. The only thing I needed to rework was the chassis ground, which mounted a little too far for the existing wire to reach. The Magnum manual is great.

As Ronnie above said, you MUST be knowledgeable about and comfortable working with both high amperage battery circuits and 120 volt AC circuits, which I am. I did mine with the generator running for A/C in the coach, and didn't disconnect the batteries. But arc those 600+ amp-hour high amp battery cables once, and you will never forget the result!! Ignorance is not bliss in this case.

Wherever possible I like to do my own work. The more I do myself the more I can troubleshoot if something fails while on a trip, away from a repair shop. The Magnum manual goes through the setup using the remote, and I liked doing that myself instead of having some technician tell me it he did it.

becks · 09-16-2015, 04:07 PM

Thanks guys, I'm hoping the footprint and hookups will be close to the same. Plan to get someone, hopefully more in the know than me to help, hold it up while mounting, and two heads when hooking up. Will go slow and give it a shot. I know they do have very good instructions.

dons2346 · 09-16-2015, 09:36 PM

You won't have any trouble with the change out. Pay attention to the control cable for the remote as it might be wired differently than the controller you now have. The AGS might be a problem depending on what you have now. The battery monitor is a no brainer.

You will love the system once you have it up and running

Boostable · 09-16-2015, 10:03 PM

You can do it yourself, just take the necesary precations as prescribed. I change mine without issue.

Sky_Boss · 09-17-2015, 01:43 PM

Have you compared the physical measurements of the old and new ones? If they are the same and the attachment points didn't change, that is more than half the battle for the swap out.

AGS...Did you order any pigtails to integrate with your current AC/HP system or are you going to go the simple route of the remote sensor that come with it? I just opted for the remote sensor that came with it since I'm not needed to use the system like a thermostat to control my environmental systems. Instead I'm using that remote sensor to protect my dog from a total failure of shore power. Location of the sensor tip is up to you and if you can get it snaked to a place next to your main AC thermostat you should get some fairly similar AGS reactions for that zone's sensor. If you opted for the pigtail to tie it into your environmental systems, you should get activity if any zone calls for AC/heat if there has been a loss of shore power. The installation of the AGS can be tricky at the point you tie it into your generator when you need to connect it to it. If you have an ONAN QD you can order the 044-00088 WIRELESS REMOTE Y HARNESS FOR ONAN DIESEL GENERATORS and avoid any splices into your stock wire harness. You will need to splice into the free end of the harness with your control wires to let the AGS work the generator. The nice part is that you can simply remove the Y harness and reconnect the original harnesses back together again in case the AGS fails or simply remove it to ensure no accidental starts when working on the generator. I have a wire diagram for matching the AGS leads to the Y-harness. BTW...if you can obtain a matching plug to the free end, you can wire to it and not even splice anything.

BMK...There are a couple threads on that on the best way/place to install the shunt. Depending on how you install it, you may only get a proper reading of SOC along with amps in and out when on shore power. Proper installation of the shunt will also account for amps in and out when the batteries are being charged by the coach alternator system. To do that, I think you will need to tie ALL ground connections from the batteries to the shunt and not just the negative cable to/from the inverter. I opted for the later and don't have any real problems accepting that it might not be optimal but am considering relocating it into my battery bay where I can tie all the negative leads to it.

ME-ARC...If you didn't get it, consider doing so. The features of the ME-ARC vs the ME-RC are significant. I'm glad I did. BTW...I am assuming that you have the ME-RC already. If so, the swap out is a no-brainer. If not then I am not sure what it might entail.

I need to leave but when I get a chance I will include the diagrams and information I have on the AGS wiring to the Y-Harness.

becks · 09-17-2015, 03:48 PM

Don, thanks so much for all your detailed info. I have the y-harness, as I have the Onan EC30W now, and I did order the ME-ARC. Hoping a friend who is more savy than I am can help me.

Sky_Boss · 09-17-2015, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by becks

Don, thanks so much for all your detailed info. I have the y-harness, as I have the Onan EC30W now, and I did order the ME-ARC. Hoping a friend who is more savy than I am can help me.

I went the same route...you are a step a head then. I'll try to dig up the exact wire colors to use on the harness. I opted to order my wire to connect between the AGS and the generator so all colors matched from start to finish. My AGS module is 30' behind the generator on the back basement wall next to my awning controller and BMK module.

rmcb · 09-17-2015, 08:09 PM

becks,

The Magnum PSW inverter and accessories are a direct wire-for-wire swap for the Magnum MSW inverter. The two units are also the same size so everything fits nicely. I just did that swap on my coach. You can use the same control wire (phone cable) for the remote display unit and everything will work like it did before except that you will get a boat load of new capabilities for monitoring your batteries. Another great add on would be the Magnum Energy Smart Battery Combiner. It is an easy installation and works great.

wa8yxm · 09-18-2015, 09:55 AM

Since you are replacing an existing inverter with a new-improved one there are two parts to the job.. The first is easy.. Replacement

If the existing inverter is an "inline" type (Also charges batteries if shore/generator power present) you have two power (120 volt type) wires (Romex) using a Sharpie pen label them IN and OUT according to the terminals they are connected to.
WITH THE RV UNPLUGGED and generator off disconnect and move aside.

Disconnect 12 volt wires
Remove unit (NOTE you may need to change the order of these according to how it is installed)

Re-install is reverse procedure make sure you connect IN to IN and OUT to OUT.

Part 2.. The remote.. That's the hard part as you need to figure out how to run the wires.

becks · 10-02-2015, 06:47 PM

Update on install. I did not feel comfortable doing the install, so had a local shop do it. All went well, but the AGS does not work and they can't seem to figure it out. The AGS seems to be set up correct, and shows ready on the unit. Remote seems to be set correct also, however when genny tries to start it fires but does not start. I'm not sure what to try next. Anyone have any ideas?

sdlowe11 · 10-03-2015, 05:59 AM

You are doing a much more complicated job than I did, but your last update triggered a thought. I had my EC30 software upgraded by Cummins in July, and when I re-installed it into my coach it displayed a strange status reading. The generator acted as you described when I tried to start it - fired but no start, and it started fine when I disconnected the EC30. It was like something got out of sync during the update. I was able to take the EC30 apart (thankfully I watched the tech during the update) and reset it. Everything worked fine after that. Just wondering if your EC30 might have gotten "confused" during your install.
Good luck!

becks · 10-03-2015, 07:17 AM

Steve, thank you for your thoughts, however in my case I removed the EC30 and had the Magnum hard wired AGS installed. That is what I can not get to work.