Inverters may be suffering a bit from the pandemic and chip shortages, because I understand they and their parts are hard to come by.
Just to relate my recent and ongoing inverter story, and perhaps to make a long story too long:
After a squirrel invaded our bay late last fall and tore up a table cloth that apparently then got sucked up over the inverter’s cooling vents, I tried a reset but didn’t realize it’s ill-advised to do that while plugged into AC. Oops. It blew the 300amp fuse, which as it turns out was a “fast blow” that the factory shouldn’t have installed. A big shout out to Fred Brooks here who helped me track down the failed fuse, as it doesn’t look like the ANL ones, or a regular fuse at all for that matter. After some effort I got the correct “slow blow” fuse, but the Magnum MS2012 was dead.
https://smile.amazon.com/Magnum-T300-300-Class-Fuse/dp/B00B2JSG8Q/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=xs6J1&pf_rd_p=a654ad73-af1c-40d7-8dbb-00cce9c459f1&pf_rd_r=RNWHGMT0452H7DX7F4MA&pd_rd_r=56128998-2d4a-4602-8755-7b28070b54a0&pd_rd_wg=VpeEa&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_atf_mFortunately there is a certified repair shop, ASE Supply, 15 miles away in NE Portland and they thought they’d have the inverter fixed by yesterday, but turns out after having it 5 days they haven’t even started on it. Hopefully next week… but I fret that if one of the boards needs replacing as I suspect, its rarity may keep me stymied for the rest of the spring if not longer. If I was more experienced testing and replacing circuit board components, I’d go that route. I’ve done some c.b. work, but these particular boards are complex. I’ve yet to find a local shop for circuit board repair. In a pinch if ASE finds a “bad” board, I might consider mailing it off to M&M Electronics
https://www.mmrvelectronics.com/ .
I gotta add that getting that upside-down inverter dismounted and out of the bay was a bugger. Apart from it weighing 43+ pounds, the factory had stripped the Phillips heads on two of the four screws holding the 12v posts’ plastic covers on. Just getting my Fluke’s test probes in place was a bear until I got those screws out the hard way. I spent last week trying to find replacement screws as they are rare stainless 10X16’s, but again got lucky with a local outlet, Oregon Bolt, Inc.
While laying on my back alongside, I used a wheeled floor jack on the bay slideout tray with a plywood board on top to hold the inverter in place while removing the four retaining nuts; then carefully released the jack fluid, slowly lowering the inverter while keeping the board level with the other hand. Rather than keep wrenching old muscles trying to get in and out of the bay a dozen times, I devised that I could ingress and egress more easily using an awning hook/rod, looping its circular handle over the bay slide’s outside release lever from deep inside the bay, and moving myself in and out sans squeezing under the opening. Enjoyable project (not!)
, but other than a couple old guy’s pains afterward, it worked fine, and I could just wheel the inverter out on the jack afterward. It’ll eventually go back in similarly, but lining up the 4 mounting studs outta be fun.
Incidentally, the top of the unit was covered in varmint droppings and old urine, so it may be that that was it’s original malady more than a wayward tablecloth. Some of it could’ve been there since 2015 when a Chinchilla snuck in the open bay at Unity State Park and accompanied us for a week. No wonder I could never completely get the smell out despite multiple bay cleanings, Febreze, and an ozone machine. Word to the wise, keep your bay doors closed when you aren’t present… not even for a few minutes!
Joel
