Community Forums

spinn · 04-10-2013, 03:40 PM

Although a newbie to the RV world I have been deeply involved with computer technology for many, many years and am quite accustomed to loosing "magic smoke", sudden failure of components, etc. So when I finally ask my question I will be very understanding of a "... Happens" answer

My dealer called me today to tell me that my inverter (Magnum 2418) has ceased to function, or at least the charger portion of it. It was, of course, working 2 weeks ago when I dropped it off for some maintenance work.

Getting a bit frustrating as we bought the coach 3 months ago (used 2008 Newmar Essex) and have only had it in our possession for 3 weeks grrrr.

This is an all electric coach, any ideas as to what might be the culprit of this failure?

Thanks - Steve

sparkydog · 04-10-2013, 04:01 PM

Steve, I am at American Coach this week for warranty work. My chassis batteries were going dead, dealer couldn't figure it out, not a lot of confidence in them. I think the factory techs have it fixed, but I didn't get a chance to talk to them today to see what the problem was. As soon as I find out Ill let you know. I don't think inv/chg go just that quickly. Bear with me I'm a terrible cynic when it comes to experts. These guys here were talking fuses,grounds, and breakers. Hope this helps

gbaxter · 04-10-2013, 05:55 PM

Steve,
I believe your Essex has a Magnum MS2812 pure sine wave inverter/charger. Also I believe you have an E-Plex multiplex system for the coach. If you do then the remote panel over the driver seat controls the inverter/charger but is not from Magnum. If this is the case then the E-Plex system should be unplugged at the inverter/charger and a Magnum remote plugged in for troubleshooting. If you do have a Magnum panel then the system should be easy to troubleshoot. Maybe have the dealer call Magnum and have them troubleshoot the unit.

Gary

spinn · 04-10-2013, 06:05 PM

Thank you both Garys! GaryB my bad yes it is a 2812 I would blame fat fingers but it was a total recall issue on my part (organic failure). The system is managed by the ePlex system, your suggestion to use the Magnum remote is a great one, I will suggest that to the dealer. Fortunately I have an extended warranty and it seems that GoodSam will cover the replacement (rebuild).

My major concern is there anything that I could have done to cause/accelerate this failure? I have asked the dealer to change the battery charge profile to match my battery type. None of the default profiles matched the protocol that the battery manufacturer recommended.

Thanks again for your suggestions, Gary(sparky) hope your repair goes smoothly

Steve

ChasA · 04-10-2013, 07:17 PM

I have read this thread 4 times and have not yet seen any description of a problem. "Dealer says it is bad" is not a symptom. What is the point here?
Why did you take it for service? Another contributor has his in to the manufacturer for service, tech thinks he has it fixed, what is it? Maybe my browser is hosed up and I'm only getting part of this.

Gary RVRoamer · 04-11-2013, 07:58 AM

I gotta agree with ChasA - "bad" doesn't give us much to go on. But if some or all of the batteries are not charging (as is implied), there are other possibilities besides the inverter itself and the dealer techs are not necessarily expert diagnosticians. And you don't even know if a tech has actually looked at it - they may have just noticed a dead battery and leaped to a conclusion about the inverter.

Yes, inverter/chargers can fail, but typically 5 years would be considered an "early" failure. However, the Xantrex RV2512 in my coach also died about that time, so it does happen. Never did find a solid reason for it. About the only thing you could do to hasten its demise would be inadequate ventilation, e.g. stuff piled around it and blocking air flow, or simple lack of ventilation in the compartment (a design flaw). Heat kills electronics. So does excessive moisture. Good ventilation reduces the risk of both of those.

gbaxter · 04-11-2013, 08:43 AM

Steve,
without knowing what they find wrong it's hard to say what the issue is. As several here have mentioned there could be several causes of not charging the batteries and it may not even be the inverter/charger. I would ask for the symtoms and what was repaired and then you could make a better judgement of what failed.

There isn't anything you could have done to cause the issue I am sure. I would suggest making sure you have a surge protector on the coach ideally located at the transfer switch so both the shore power and generator power input are protected from power surges. You might ask the dealer if your coach has one and if not consider installing one.

Gary

Jim_HiTek · 04-11-2013, 10:17 AM

Since converters are really quite simple brute force devices, I'd want to check it myself before allowing a shop to convince me it's dead. One of the things that can kill them, IMO, is a tech forgetting to unplug it while working in the battery compartment and shorting out or sparking the power cable to the batteries.

Then, bad power can cause damage to the input circuitry too. But that should show up with other AC devices mysteriously gone bad.

sparkydog · 04-11-2013, 02:31 PM

A I said yesterday I would let you know what the problem was with my inv/ chg The 300amp fuse somewhere in the system was blown. They replaced it, this morning I had 12.75 volts on the chassis batteries, which I've never had. I'm with another poster, how did they determine it was bad, versus proper systematic diagnosis. There is nothing you could have to done to cause this. Also to clear up an issue with ChasA, who must have not understood the post. I returned to my coach after the techs had left for the day and I didn't talk to them to know what they did to fix charger. I assumed it was fixed due to the fact that the state of battery charge was better than I had seen in the past two months, but I didn't know what the fix was. My post was merely to make a fellow member feel that his situation was not unique and that dealers are not always acting in your best interest

"007" · 04-11-2013, 03:25 PM

In this link QT's #3 there are links to every inverter/converter that Newmar dealed with.
In QT's 1 & 2 E-PLEX System links.

Your in the wrong forum.

spinn · 04-11-2013, 10:34 PM

Thanks all for your replies and guidance.

ChasA sorry if the post was somewhat ambiguous but that was all the information I had. The coach is in being serviced for unrelated issues (bad windshield seal; trip tek not overlaying video). I received a call from the service agent saying that while the mechanic was working on the coach he found the batteries were not charging. My question was really to see if there is something that I had done that could have caused the problem.

GaryB, great advice, I do indeed have a surge protector installed at the transfer switch.

"007" thank you for the link, I have been scouring those links since I started on IRV2 have found some great information.

Sparky great news that they diagnosed the issue quickly.

Once again appreciate the guidance and suggestions, looks like this just may have been a component failure.

Best regards - S