Magnum 2000 Failure - Now What?

[Kim (skyking4ar2) Bertram]

2017 - the year of catastrophe - it was Alaska or Bust and we have done our share of busting.

Very long story shortened - We are in a 2012 Thor Tuscany 42RQ with a Magnum 2000 pure sine wave inverter. Last night, we heard a pop as we went to bed, a 15 amp circuit breaker was blown, the breaker would not reset, we pulled everything out of the circuit, and it reset. The culprit is possibly a six way to one Belkin power outlet, but that is immaterial at the moment.

All of our 120vac outlets run off the inverter and while looking for another problem unrelated with the 50 shore power disconnected, I realized we were not inverting. Could not get a response from the Magnum ME-RMC panel and a local RV tech helped me determine the inverter died. It does allow power to pass through but will not invert.

I can find that inverter for around $1500 online but an RV dealer in ABQ who specializes in such things wants ~$2500 installed and out the door.

I am not sidelined but it is inconvenient to keep using the generator if I need stop along the road overnight without services.

Also, I am not an electrician, but I can follow instructions well,  can test with a test protocol, and I am smart enough to keep my fingers and tools away from hot circuits.

Bottom line - Is this replacement something I want to tackle on my own? The inverter is a sealed unit and I feel sure a $2 part failed. I went through this with Directv where I only needed a wire that snapped and they would not sell me that piece of wire. Once bitten, twice shy. (And I don't have any reservation about breaking into the old one and have a bench genius repair it afterwards.)

Thoughts?

Kim

[Willandgiselarv]

Kim I have replaced inverters/charger on my boat and few times. If replacing with the same model it is not difficult .
You can match the wiring usually there is input AC power from AC power source , output ac to your RV could be a single ac circuit or of a larger inverter 2 ac output toward the RV outlets or appliances, then the DC connection to your batteries. And then the rj45 (looks like phone wire to control panel.
There inverter sits between the input AC and output ac, if inverter does not detect shore power it will use the batteries to inverter the ac voltage ..this is a simple explanation , if it's also a charger it will take the shore power ac to charge the batteries (DC).
I never work on a magnum inverter but logic is the same. Usually the inverter is modular there are a few boards in there usually each board has a function and then there is the control board. In your case it may be the inverter board or just a fuse..on a heart inverter there is an AC breaker towards the RV on the magnum if there is a breaker I would check it, there may also be a microfuse on the board .
Have they reset the inverter? Resetting may be tricky as you may have to disconnect the battery leads to do a proper reset, I would do this first .
If the inverter is letting the AC power pass through but not invert I would check the batteries if batteries are weak it will not invert

[Kim (skyking4ar2) Bertram]

No fuses tripped. The batteries are fully charged and float charge as expected.

The status indicator light indicates an internal failure according to the manual. Since the box is a riveted case, that precludes a more thorough investigation.

If there's some formal reset sequence, I have not found it yet.

[Willandgiselarv]

Did you remove the 12v from the inverter?
If not then the inverter never resetted.
The battery needs to be disconnected for the inverter to reset. If the reset doesn't work then it would be an internal error . I googled the magnum2000 and the controller or brains runs off the 12v DC. Is the green LED on?

[Gary RV_Wizard]

If you can get the same model of inverter, the change-out is technically easy, just a bit painstaking to make all the connections. If not the same model, there MAY be concerns about compatibility of the remote display/control panel and also possible wiring differences. research those carefully before buying.

The RV dealer charges list price for the part and enough labor to cover any wrinkles they may encounter. Sadly, it's entire possible the tech assigned to do it may be 'learning on the job' just as you would be.

[SargeW]

Dang Kim, you must have upset the RV gods. I think you have had your share of bumps this year so far. I wonder if Magnum would repair yours, and if so how much?

[Kim (skyking4ar2) Bertram]

If you can get the same model of inverter, the change-out is technically easy, just a bit painstaking to make all the connections.

That would be my thought. Lots of pictures as I go. 

Still researching.

Hoping to catch someone here who has actually R&R'd this model.

[Ken & Sheila]

Kim,

Replacing is relatively easy. But have you called Magnum techs? Get past the CS rep and try to get to a tech rep. Maybe there is a fix. First have you tried a full reset. I think you need to turn off the circuit breaker(s) that feed the inverter and remove the 12 volt.

My coach came with a 2000 Magnum with 2-20 circuit breaker outputs and one 30 amp input.  I upgraded to the 2800 with 2-30amp input and outputs. The tech saved me some bucks by telling me that there were factory reconditioned units at a good saving and assured me that they were thoroughly reconditioned. I had called the tech rep about another issue, but that's a long story.

Which Magnum unit do you have? The 2000s were made with one 30amp input and either a single 30 amp out or 2 circuit breaker protected outs (20/20). The was also a model that 2-30 inputs and 2-30amp outputs.

ken

[Bob Maxwell]

Sounds like Ken had some good advice. Are you in NM for the Balloon Fiesta?

[Ken & Sheila]

Kim,
If its the model with 2-20 amp circuit breakers the only hard part is the wiring is connected with wire nuts and not a wire block like some of the other models. Not hard, just a pain in my case because my inverter is mount on the "ceiling" of a storage bay. Physically getting to the Magnum wire box and sitting to be able to use both hands was a PITA. When I'm working overhead my arms tend to get tired (old age??).

Do you have the Magnum manual? it's really good. I can send you a copy as an email attachment. Let me know.
ken

[Ken & Sheila]

Kim,

I feel your pain. This has been a rough trip for us also. The latest was a dented (damaged) driveshaft. Discovered during an all wheel alignment. The shaft was removed by a truckshop this morning and sent to a machineshop that specializies in driveshafts. On inspection they called and said it couldn't just be balanced, but needed to be rebuilt. Looked brand new when it was returned including new Universals.
Also waiting for our replacement DS window shade (sun screen/solid). Replacement being made by Unitedshade in Elkhart (owned by MCD). Hopefully tomorrow.

The joys of fulltime motorhoming.

[Kim (skyking4ar2) Bertram]

Ken,

Mine is the MS 2000, not any of the other 2000-series. Magnum has a new website when I went looking for a contact point because I feel sure there is some technical support somewhere.

I have not started on the documented resets, soft or hard, because of the weather, but fortunately mine is mounted flat to the wall, but all the connections are right against the wall in a corner. I feel sure the box was wired first and then mounted. If I have to pull it, it won't be fun, but I won't have to stand on my head.

I am waiting to hear from some folks on the East Coast who do refurbish the units just to see what that involves and tomorrow I really want to make contact with an experienced tech if I can. The last thing I need to do at this point is arc something.

Your feedback is valuable. I want to totally understand what I am getting into with something this sophisticated and outside my experience. Thanks!

Kim

[Ken & Sheila]

Ken,

Mine is the MS 2000, not any of the other 2000-series. Magnum has a new website when I went looking for a contact point because I feel sure there is some technical support somewhere.

I have not started on the documented resets, soft or hard, because of the weather, but fortunately mine is mounted flat to the wall, but all the connections are right against the wall in a corner. I feel sure the box was wired first and then mounted. If I have to pull it, it won't be fun, but I won't have to stand on my head.

I am waiting to hear from some folks on the East Coast who do refurbish the units just to see what that involves and tomorrow I really want to make contact with an experienced tech if I can. The last thing I need to do at this point is arc something.

Your feedback is valuable. I want to totally understand what I am getting into with something this sophisticated and outside my experience. Thanks!

Kim

If you pull it, I'll warn you that puppy is HEAVY. Most of the weight is in the charging unit.

[Kim (skyking4ar2) Bertram]

That's all I need - a fat puppy!

After thoroughly reading the documentation, I did the soft reset and while the unit reset, that lasted about five seconds and it went back to a fail indicator.

After reading the documentation more thoroughly, I see the hard reset, which requires the 12v power to be disconnected, might be simple since the 12v connection is just a lug on the box. I thought it might be internal, so that seems easy enough.

Interestingly, I believe my unit has a five year warranty - but since that five years was up 90 days ago, no help.

Factory refurbs are almost half the ~$1500 new on the Internet cost, but their warranty is 30 days, not unusual, but ....

Have a line on a dealer on the way to our wintering location, waiting for a quote, and that might be how this gets resolved.