Echo Charger

[Gary Wolfer]

Ed I have been charging the house batteries for about 4 hours at 30 amps and they just read about 12.90 from 11.5 this morning. The green light on the echo charger is solid green at this time so the chassis batteries are charging they are about the same as the house batteries at 12.75. I have been charging with the remote switch turned off as well as the inverter switch. It is plugged into 30 amp shore power though even though it is not charging from there. Each 6v battery is about 6.32v at this time they were about 5.6 this morning.. At least they will not be dead when he comes out tomorrow morning.

[Edward Buker]

Gary,

Looks like they are coming up as they should from a discharged state, see what the voltage is in the morning. We will hope for 13.8V or so. Seems like you will be in a pretty good position with the portable charger to be able to take your time with this. Morning voltages will hopefully confirm that.

Later Ed

[Edward Buker]

Gary,

As a possible back up.....Richard wrote in the night that the name of the individual is Lee Braithwait but he could not find a number. He goes between Newport in the summer and AZ in the winter. He thought that the office at Pacific Shores Resort in Newport (541-265-3750) which opens at around noon - 1PM would have some info given that he works on a lot of RVs there over the summer.

Later Ed

[Gary Wolfer]

Thanks Ed still waiting the tech should be here soon.

[William Brosam]

6v batteries fully charged should read 12.4-12.6volts i believe atleast my Trojan T-105's will

im having trouble charging my batteries also only way i can get mine to charge up is with 2 battery chargers one hooked up to chassis and one hooked up to house. i am plugged into 50amp service but its charge is soo slow the parastatic draw over comes it.

[Gerald Farris]

William,
A fully charged 6 volt battery will read in the 6.3 to 6.4 range after setting for an hour or so after being removed from a charger. However, the 6 volt batteries used in our coaches are wired in a series of 2 batteries to deliver 12.7 volts when charged.

If you are having low battery voltage issues when plugged into 50 amp shore power, you need to have you inverter serviced or replaced.

Gerald  

[Gary Wolfer]

Gerald you were the first to tell me I needed to reset mine or replace it. Today I had Allstart Auto Electric out of Newport Or come here. They do not usually do service calls but did me a favor. After testing circuits the only thing he could find without schematics for the dc system was the inverter was getting both ac and dc current on the input but would not charge nothing on the output side inside the panel at the bottom of the inverter. So I am looking for an inverter now I have  decided since it would most likely cost near as much to repair or replace the old one with the same unit I will purchase a magnum 2812. I looked at the link left in this thread and if they still have one I will buy it however I emailed them yesterday and they do not have a remote unit so I will have to search for one elsewhere. I plan to install my own as I have been with a tech before when we took one out and put it back in in my Safari. There are only 6 connections for the inverter there are two cables one positive and one negative to the batteries. There is a connection point inside the bin near the inverter. Then there are three ac connections on the bottom one for ac in and two ac out. They are Wire Nutted inside the front panel and clearly marked. Then the communication cable for the remote. It is a 6 wire cable and the freedom used only 4 of the 6. I understand the magnum is wired a little different and there may be two different remotes. I need to find one that is the same size as the one for the freedom if possible, I do not really want to adapt in the compartment up front next to the fresh and black gray water remote. If some one could chime in about wiring diagram for the remote that would help and possibly a model number for the remote that would fit in my existing hole. I have a small charger to keep my batteries up while I am waiting to get the new inverter. Any suggestions and help appreciated.

[Karl Welhart]

Gary,

I just installed a Magnum MS2012 (not sure you really need the MS2812) and the ARC-50 remote.  My previous '97 Monterey had the Freedom inverter/charger and the panel was very large compared to the Magnum.  The schematics for this remote is available on-line from Magnum.  I think the Magnum remote is about 3.5"x5".  My old remote (Xantrex) was also slightly larger than the new one, so I took a black piece of Plexiglas and mounted it over the old opening.  Then cut the hole for the new Magnum remote panel.  Looks very profession and no one could tell it had been replaced with a different control panel.

You should only need the one remote unless you are going to add something.  The other issue is the battery temp sensor wire will have to be run to the inverter/charger unit.  The old wire will not work.  My old remote telephone type cable did work for my remote, some folks with that style cable end up replacing that with the twisted pair cable that comes with the new inverter/charger.  

Hope this helps and good luck.

[Dick Simonis]

Gary, I have this remote and it was a drop in replacement for the Xantrex Freedom 480.  Hope his helps.  Yow can also call magnum and they will tell you what replaces what...very good folks.

http://magnumenergy.com/me-arc50-remote/

Dick

[Gary Wolfer]

I called around and searched the internet today Tactical supply had the best buy on the inverter but did not have the remote. I started shopping. I called a couple solar outfits and I called Magnum about the remote I think the 3 1/2" top to bottom was right but it is 5 7/8" across My remote panel is same width but 4" top to bottom so I may have to do the plastic underneath too. I am not sure about the battery temperature sensor I will need help with that. The factory said the remote is a ME-RC50. After all the calling I called Guaranty RV in Junction City They had the remote in stock but wanted 2200 for the inverter but I told them I could buy one for just over 1500 and the parts man got ahold of the parts manager and he called me back told me he knew I could buy it cheaper on Amazon or somewhere but shot me a price of 1950.00 and another 215.00 for the remote and the remote was in stock and the inverter would be there tomorrow. So No freight I can be there in about an hour and a half. I will be able to install it sooner. I am concerned about the temp sensor though. May need help with that.

[William Brosam]

for anyone else lookign this is where i plan to orer from: http://www.imarineusa.com/magnumenergyms28122800watt12v100atruesinewaveinvertercharger-1-2.aspx

[Karl Welhart]

The ME-ARC50 is the advanced model of the ME-RC50 for just a few dollars more.  

Do not worry about running the battery temp sensor wire.  You just need to fish a stiff wire inside the chassis rail up to the basement to the area that you plan to mount the inverter/charger.  Carefully tape the phone plug to the end of the fish wire and pull it through the foam insulation that seals the basement from the outside.  

If you have a sensor now and it uses a telephone style wire, you can also cut the end and put a connector back on that end, then using a phone wire union connect to the new sensor wire and reconnect to the new inverter/charger.  This can be a little tricky, because you have to get the wires in the proper order in the connector.  

[Edward Buker]

Gary,

This is a day late but Richard did pass along Lee Braithwait's phone number (208-880-0634) from a friend at Pacific Shores. If you find you need a hand for the install he may be more available and most likely knowledgeable given it seems he has been doing RV work for awhile.

Sounds like you are getting there. Here is the link to the MS 2812 Manual. A couple of things, the DC current is not protected in the Magnum charger and they call for a 400amp fuse and 4GA cable. That 400 amp fuse is a max size and as long as your current DC fuse is less then that value you should be fine given it was sized to the wire, the coach demand, and the current inverter size. The existing small AC breaker box in the bay should be 30 amps or less and that is compatible with the MS2812 for AC protection at the output. The main AC breaker panel should have a 30amp AC breaker for the 120V AC feed to the inverter and that is fine also. The temperature sense sensor at the battery is not critical and the unit will run fine without it. It adjusts the absorb and float voltages a little if the battery gets too warm and that will not happen on the coast of Oregon. It is a good idea but can be installed a bit later if you need to get back online with a charger sooner. Be sure all the DC and AC wires are disconnected from voltage sources during the install. Don't assume that if you have a battery switch that it disconnects the inverter. You may want to remove the battery cable, or DC fuse if need be. Hope this helps.

http://www.magnumenergy.com/Literature/Manuals/Inverters/64-0007%20Rev%20D%20(MS%20Series)_Web.pdf

Later Ed

[Gary Wolfer]

IThanks ED
I will be making my trip to the valley this morning to pick up the inverter and a merc50 remote. My batteries are holding full charge because of the charger I bought day before yesterday. I left it on 2A trickle charge while I am gone. I had a good talk with the tech when he was here. He cannot do the install because he does not have an electrician license for AC. He told me just to disconnect all the ground cables to the batteries and make sure the shore power is disconnected. My only concern now is if it is possible to have residual current in the old inverter when I disconnect the wires. From what I see on the install I will only have to deal with positive and negative cables to the house batteries. I will install later an additional 300 amp fuse in the battery cabinet between the positive house battery and the existing cable. I cannot see the existing fuse but the tech told me it has to be there because I still have AC and DC inside the coach. Then there is one AC input set of wires and two output wires to move to the other unit that are wire nutted behind the acess panel at the bottom of the freedom charger and of course ground the new inverter to a ground lug. I am sure there is a ground already in the bin for the old one then the temp sensor and I intend to use the phone wire to the old remote. Not sure if it is a 6 or 4 wire as I have not had it out yet but the instruction manual should get me there. I think I may have to trim the hole for the remote . I do not see any circuit breakers on the magnum like I had on the freedom but will know more when I get the inverter this afternoon. Thanks to all for the help. I will take some photos and try to document some of the work during the change.

[Jerry Emert]

The instructions in the manual are pretty good.  I used the phone cable from the old xantrex when I installed the 2812 battery temp sensor and remote.  You just have to remember to change the wiring of the plug on one end.  The magnum wiring diagram is in there and for some unknown reason they reversed the wires from one end of the cable to the other.  I had the same issue with the remote being slightly smaller from top to bottom.  I bought a new piece of Luan (I think thats what it's called) to cut down to size to fit.  then I will experiment to get the color right.  Anyway good luck.
Jerry