Newbie to Inverter

Question

Hello Everyone,My wife and myself recently purchased a new class A Fleetwood Bounder.  We have rented before but the rigs we rented never had an inverter on it.  Our new coach has an inverter with a Magnum ME-MR remote by the door.  We had our walk through and still don't understand what we need to do.Here are a few of my questions, if anyone can help it would be appreciated.1.  They told us when we store for a period of time we should turn the red knob to off.  Do we always need to turn it back on when we take the rv out?2.  The remote has an on/off button.  When I pushed it I noticed the INV light turned green.  Do I always need it on green when using RV?  When will I not need it on?3.  I think the setting are set to 30amp and we have a 50 amp rig.  Should I leave it on 30 or change it?4.  Lastly, I sometimes see it read float or floating or something like that.  Is this OK?I am sorry for all of the questions, for some reason I can not get a hold of this inverter thing other then what it is for.

gatorcq · Answer

Congrads,Since you have internet, the first thing would be to locate the inverter itself. Get the model number then download the manual. I could write a book,but it is better that you read the manual.As for shore power, the inverter is only on 1 leg of the AC power. So leave it on 30 amps, unless you are hooked to less then 30 amp service.The Magnum is a 4 stage charger AND inverter. Charging the batteries and produces AC power when NOT on shore power or running the generator. UNDERSTAND this, if you run the microwave while on inverter power only. Your batteries will be dead within 15 minutes. Did you get manuals for your Rig? they are important, as they will tell you how many Chassis, coach and inverter batteries you have.Example:I have:2 chassis batteries (Diesel engine)6, 6 volt batteries, they are for the coach (house) and inverter.See my signature for my rig and equipment

bill_satellite · Answer

dgodinez wrote:Hello Everyone,My wife and myself recently purchased a new class A Fleetwood Bounder.  We have rented before but the rigs we rented never had an inverter on it.  Our new coach has an inverter with a Magnum ME-MR remote by the door.  We had our walk through and still don't understand what we need to do.Here are a few of my questions, if anyone can help it would be appreciated.1.  They told us when we store for a period of time we should turn the red knob to off.  Do we always need to turn it back on when we take the rv out?I recommend the inverter always be on when in the RV as it not only "inverts" but it also charges your household batteries which will always be necessary.  The only slight drawback would be the campground losing power while you were gone, you might run your batteries down as the inverter keeps all 120V things running.2.  The remote has an on/off button.  When I pushed it I noticed the INV light turned green.  Do I always need it on green when using RV?  When will I not need it on?You will need to check what setting is on and off but see the post above.  Leave it on while in the RV and off when not.3.  I think the setting are set to 30amp and we have a 50 amp rig.  Should I leave it on 30 or change it?Again, check the manual but I suspect 30 is the highest setting and moving to lower settings would be when you are on a limited shore connection or plan to run many electrics (a couple of A/C's plus water heater and microwave, etc).  Turning this to a lower setting will likely only reduce the amps produced to charge your batteries.4.  Lastly, I sometimes see it read float or floating or something like that.  Is this OK?Most advanced chargers (in this case built into your inverter) are 3 stage.  Bulk, Absorption and float.  Your batteries are indicating they are fully charged, the charger is montioring the batteries but will only kick the charger back in if the voltage drops enough to require a topping off.I am sorry for all of the questions, for some reason I can not get a hold of this inverter thing other then what it is for.https://www.google.com/search?q=Magnum+ME-MR+manual&amp;ie=utf-8&amp;oe=utf-8&amp;aq=t&amp;rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&amp;client=firefox-a&amp;channel=fflbFind out, if you can, what version you have (A or C) and get the manual and information on the remote.

dgodinez · Answer

Thanks you guys this helped a lot.  Our RV came with a briefcase type thing was about 50 manuals for everything on the coach, but for some reason there was not anything on the converter/inverter.  Between your help and downloading the manual I think I have a bead on it.

fire_up · Answer

dgodinez wrote:Hello Everyone,My wife and myself recently purchased a new class A Fleetwood Bounder.  We have rented before but the rigs we rented never had an inverter on it.  Our new coach has an inverter with a Magnum ME-MR remote by the door.  We had our walk through and still don't understand what we need to do.Here are a few of my questions, if anyone can help it would be appreciated.1.  They told us when we store for a period of time we should turn the red knob to off.  Do we always need to turn it back on when we take the rv out?2.  The remote has an on/off button.  When I pushed it I noticed the INV light turned green.  Do I always need it on green when using RV?  When will I not need it on?3.  I think the setting are set to 30amp and we have a 50 amp rig.  Should I leave it on 30 or change it?4.  Lastly, I sometimes see it read float or floating or something like that.  Is this OK?I am sorry for all of the questions, for some reason I can not get a hold of this inverter thing other then what it is for.Well Sir,  What you have there is the very basic remote control, for your Magnum inverter. If you look them up, you'll see the exact picture of yours, the ME-MR version. And, if I recall, there's not much control over many functions of your inverter/charger in that remote. The more expensive (by quite a bit) ME-ARC50 OR, ME-RC50 versions, have much more control over multiple functions of your inverter. Now, some don't care about that much control over the inverter/charger and it's functions and, some do. It's a preference thing. Now, as for "leaving it on" while camping, there's absolutely no need to do that. An inverter, GIVES you 110VAC power from your house batteries WHEN YOU NEED IT, PERIOD! And, it does use some power from them, (the house batteries) if it's on, and not being used. The newer models of inverter use less than the older ones. But, again, if you have no need for 110VAC power, i.e. micro wave, hair drier, coffee maker, TV-VCR-DVD, and any other 110VAC driven accessory, then there's no need to turn it on, at all. As for the Magnum inverter/charger charging your house batteries, it will do that WITHOUT THE INVERTER BEING ON, unless Magnum has changed some parameters of it's inverter/charger lineup and, remote controls since I purchased mine, about 7 months ago.  The Magnum Inverter/Charger, does have a minimum of three charging levels of your house batteries. I has a fourth but, it must be used manually. The three automatic ones are "Bulk" (for heaving charging after heavy use of the batteries in a dry camping status) then, there's the "Acceptance" charge which is, a medium charge level to get them to the final stage which is, "float". That stage is, just what it says, a float charger to keep the batteries at maximum level while not delivering a heavy charge, because it's already done that stage previously.  Now, I could be way off in this information but, after replacing my Dimensions 2000 Watt Inverter/Charger due to the charger section going south, with a 7 month  old, Magnum 2012 version, I did a ton of research and found the information I just laid out. Good luck.Scott.P.S. Do look up both your model of inverter/charger and, the model of the remote and read all you can about both. We NEVER turn that inverter on, unless we need 110VAC power for appliances that need it. And, unless I'm reading something wrong in one of the posts above, the Inverter/charger WILL NOT CHARGE THE HOUSE BATTERIES when the coach is  NOT plugged into shore power or, on generator status. Obviously, it can't because it's not being supplied by outside source power, to use to charge the batteries.

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