Well, the last few days have been a bit sparse here on the Forum, so I'll step up with a little something hopefully of interest to some:
A few here may know that I've had issues with critters and our Magnum MS2012 inverter. It cost $935 to replace the two circuit boards in it damaged according to the tech either by (1) the Chinchilla that snuck into the bay 6-7 years ago at Unity Lake and toured with us for a week or two before exiting, or (2) by a local squirrel or rat that recently got in while the rig is parked here at home.
Rule of experience: never leave bay doors open unattended, not even for a few minutes, if the rig is outdoors. I am presently at odds with neighbors that think the squirrels in our local greenway should be fed and are "cute". And I've lately found droppings and liquid ingredients atop the engine and batteries. So the war is on. At least they haven't chewed their way inside (the critters, not the neighbors... although sometimes I wonder). There’s minor chewed damage to a standard plastic wiring cover in the waste bay adjacent to the inverter's bay, but that's all I could find and the wires themselves were fine.
I did find a somewhat hidden "nest" of chewed up cotton/paper bootie covers that were in the bay, along with other shredded paper and plastic sheeting. I use the throw away hospital shoe covers at messy diesel stations. The nest was up behind the inverter mounts atop a mid-coach rail. Always wanted to use my portable vacuum while on my back in a cramped bay cleaning such messes. I had to clip a wire tie on several bundles of wires and hoses nearby in order to get at feces and such atop them... so much fun, cr** raining near my face. Hopefully now the odor, after pet chemical treatment and a few hours of ozone machine will finally clear that bay; all the bays adjoin, though, at their tops, so we'll see. There was some "stuff" atop the waste tanks, the next bay over, but hopefully I got most of it vacuumed and sprayed.
That all said, I finally got the inverter reinstalled and battery banks wired back up. Properly done, at least there was no dreaded "spark". Much to my initial chagrin yesterday the Magnum Remote didn't register anything. Well, not immediately. But after a bit of patience I opted to ascribe to myself, sure enough, up came the Remote with "Absorb Charge 14.+ volts", but 0 amps. Hmmm. O amps? Okay, at least the green lamp on the inverter is flashing once every second like it's supposed to under Absorb Charge, Joel. Patience. Year-old House batteries (4 Full River 6v AGM's) read 12.7v on my Fluke, year-old 12v Interstate Chassis read 12.3v. Hmmm... will the BIRD have the chance to switch over at 13.4v and charge the chassis set? Fingers crossed last night.
This a.m. all is well!! YAY! Remote says "Float Charge" 13.8v (still 0 amps...?), House set at 13.1v on the Fluke and Chassis at 12.5v. I can handle that, though I'd like to see a tad more on the chassis set; we'll see.
Don't you just love updates? These are the best kind
Thank you to Fred Brooks and others who helped along the way!
Joel
