Community Forums

Lukeaa · 02-29-2008, 07:11 PM

My Magnum inverter died after three months, so Monaco gave me a new one today. It is nice to have lights that don't go on and off.

Has anyone else had to have their Magnum inverter (ME2012) replaced?

Lukeaa · 02-29-2008, 07:11 PM

My Magnum inverter died after three months, so Monaco gave me a new one today. It is nice to have lights that don't go on and off.

Has anyone else had to have their Magnum inverter (ME2012) replaced?

UPS 34 · 03-01-2008, 12:11 AM

Ours was replaced at 2 Months. Works great now.

Robin_M · 03-01-2008, 04:01 AM

I had two fail during the first 3 months I owned the coach. The third one they sent was not new but a rebuilt one. That suited me just fine because I figured maybe somebody thoroughly tested it before they sent it out. Whether they did or not, it's been fine so far.

You hear a lot about Magnum inverter failures, but you never hear many complaints from owners of Xantrex equipment. Why should that be?

It's one of the reasons that I figured an after-market extended warranty was worth the bucks.

Lukeaa · 03-01-2008, 05:56 PM

Robin,

Now I don't feel so bad about mine. I do have 10 dead flourescent tubes that Monaco refuses to replace under warranty, but I am so happy to have clean 12V again, that I will let it go.

William Willard · 03-02-2008, 05:43 AM

Lukeaa -- I have a 07 Camelot & sometimes,(not offen)some of my 12v lights will come on, & when I turn a lite off, another will come on -- This only happens when I have an air conditioner/heat pump going -- When I turn off the air/heat pump the problem goes away -- I was at the Monaco Service Center in Harrisburg, & they attempted a fix, but it didn`t go away -- I know it`s tuff to fix a problem such as this, when you can`t replicate the problen in the shop -- Did you have this problem? Bill Willard

Max Hubrich · 03-02-2008, 11:39 AM

Luke,

You can go to wal-Mart or Lowes to buy new 12V flourescent bulbs. Just measure the tube length and find a match at these stores-- at about half the price from an RV dealer. I personally like the "cool white" best. The "daylight" ones have a pink tint to them.

Lorna · 03-03-2008, 05:35 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Max Hubrich:
...You can go to wal-Mart or Lowes to buy new 12V floresent bulbs... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

It's the fixture that is 12VDC (ballast) not the flourescent tubes themselves. The AC and DC fixtures use the same flourescent tubes. And I prefer the "warm" or "daylight" tubes. They are much easier on your eyes too.

Lukeaa · 03-03-2008, 07:03 PM

What a coincidence, we are camping at Wal-Mart tomorrow night. I ended up with surgical room cold blue tubes at the last RV dealer. I will replace them tomorrow. I did not know that the voltage is determined by the ballast and not the tube. That will make life easier, as I was always looking for 12V tubes and could only find them at RV dealers or Camping World, where they are pricey.

ronboc · 03-07-2008, 03:25 AM

I figured I'd piggy-back my question onto this discussion since it's still about the inverters.

Having been doing a lot of hospital dry-camping and back-and-forth driving for awhile now, I've noticed that 2 of my electric clocks will often (but not always) gain time very quickly while the other one stays right-on when using the inverter. They all keep good time when on gen-set or plugged into shore-power.

Our inverters put out 'dirty' 120vac (ie, it's more of a modified square-wave than a sine-wave, and is loaded with harmonics and hash) so I'm guessing they are triggering off something on the waveform that causes them to go bonkers, but I don't remember them doing this a year or so ago. I haven't been able to get the time to put a scope on it, but wondered if anyone else has noticed this phenomenon?

Either that, or I drive so fast I am close to proving Einstein's Theory Of Relativity ("the closer one gets to the speed of light, the more time slows down").

Robin_M · 03-07-2008, 05:16 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Either that, or I drive so fast I am close to proving Einstein's Theory Of Relativity. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>I'm pretty sure it's just that.

Lukeaa · 03-07-2008, 07:28 PM

Your clocks run faster on a Modified Sine Wave inverter because the clock sees multiple rises from the square segments of the "sine" wave.

Lukeaa · 03-10-2008, 05:43 PM

Just a follow up on the free inverter. Two nights ago, the relay that cuts off the house 12V died overnight. I wired around it to get the lights, heater and water heater going again. I suspect that the low 12V from the bad inverter slowly killed it. It is a $35 part, so I will probably just buy a new one and replace it myself, rather than going through the warranty hassle to have a dealer replace it. It is getting so that a warranty repair has to be over a $100 or more before I will waste the time and burn the diesel to take my coach in.

Robin_M · 03-10-2008, 07:38 PM

Luke,

On a warranty part that you can replace yourself, Monaco customer service will often authorize the Parts Dept. to ship the part to you directly. They enter an authorization number in the computer, under your coach number. Then you call the Parts Dept. and they'll ship it out. I've done that two or three times. It saves them labor costs, and saves the owner the hassle of going to the shop.