Resetting the Magnum Inverter
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away. After spending five hours to resolve a problem that only required the press of a button.
Such is the state of the technology within our coaches. Documentation is either missing or incomplete. And that was the case in dealing with our inverter issue.
After the “AC Overload” issue happened, I immediately referenced the manual that came with the Magnum inverter. Nothing to be found there on an AC Overload. I called Magnum. They were closed and they would not be open for another 4 hours.
I consulted my good friend, Google. There were so many people that had run into issues with their inverter. Although I did not find a specific reference to our situation, a consistent theme around resetting the inverter as a potential solution emerged.
I consulted the manual again. Here is what it said:
4.4 Performing an Inverter Reset
Certain faults require that the inverter be reset. To perform an inverter reset (also known as a soft reset), press and hold the Power ON/OFF button (see Figure 4-1) for approximately fifteen (15) seconds until the Charging/Inverting Status LED comes on and flashes rapidly. Once the rapid flashing has begun, release the Power ON/OFF button. The Status LED will go off after the button is released.
“Certain faults”? They might be certain but they are not documented in the manual. Perhaps our AC Overload was one of those certain faults? I decided to perform the inverter reset.
Our Magnum inverter is located in the basement of our coach. It is mounted, upside down, between the main support rails of the chassis, in one of our slide out bays. The only way to get in there is to empty out the contents of the slide out and go in, back down, and attempt to work in a highly constricted area. I could barely get my hand into this area of the inverter. Newmar: why oh why did you put the inverter in this location?
It turns out that the reset process may require another button to be pressed. I did not find that out until 5 hours later. It cost me roughly $200 USD to learn that lesson.
I had little recourse but to bring in a mobile RV technician.
He followed all the same steps that I had already performed.
His conclusion? A bad inverter.
My suggestion? Let’s get Magnum on the line and make sure that we haven’t missed anything.
We called them and when we finally got Magnum support on the call, they told us about a second button on the unit. This one, an AC Input Circuit Breaker, marked number 16 in the manual:
When I had first reset the inverter, I had seen this knob sticking out on the other side of the unit. The markings were similar, CB INPUT 30A. It never crossed my mind that I needed to press that button. There is nothing documented in the manual about this circuit breaker. There is nothing to indicate that it needs be reset.
If I had pressed this button, it would have restored the functionality of our inverter immediately.
There are some steps to troubleshoot the inverter problem that I haven’t covered. They involve using a voltmeter to confirm DC power to the inverter and to confirm AC power from the circuit breaker box down to the inverter. I also reset the main controller by unplugging and replugging that component.
When the inverter sensed an AC overload, it somehow lost its way and it needed a reboot including a reset of the 30 Amp circuit breaker. Turns out that there are two circuit breakers for this system. One in the main fuse box and one on the inverter.
To resolve our issue required two button presses. One to reset the AC Input Circuit Breaker on the unit and the other to reset the inverter.
What was the root cause of the issue? I do not know. What created the AC overload issue to occur was the simultaneous use of a Microwave, kettle and toaster being run off the same 15 Amp circuit. That action should only have tripped a circuit breaker. I have no idea why or how it wound up causing an AC overload issue on the inverter.
If something like this happens to you, check with Magnum first. Your inverter may be fine.
Our inverter was fine and everything is now operating as before.
We won’t be running the microwave oven with the kettle and the toaster at the same time on the same circuit in the future.
I will be happy not to see an AC Overload issue again.
We just had the exact same issue. Ours was an electric skillet, toaster and microwave. Fortunately we found the reset button with other Tiffin owners. I too do not understand why the circuit breaker didn’t just pop
This article just saved our life and hours of frustration! Same deal…microwave, coffee pot, and toaster at the same time. Been living off of battery the entire day and didn’t know the inverter was disabled. The reset button did nothing alone!
Thanks for posting gang!…This happened to me Friday and have been scratching my head for two days! Hopefully i can cancel the service call when I get back to the lake!
Thanks for posting this! It happened to me as well, and I was able to fix things within the same day by following your instructions. Great post!
Are the buttons labeled 15-17 on the top if the inverter? If so that would explain why it’s mounted up-side-down.
Our Dynamax is mounted up-side-down as well.
I may have the same problem and will be going out to check it shortly. I have a Magnum ME2012-20B inverter/charger which per the manual looks as if it has the same CB, 16 & 17 as you have shown above. This is in my 2017 Thor Palazzo 33. When driving I am not getting AC power to my refrigerator, but I do get it when plugged in and with the generator running.
I do have another issue that may or may not be related and maybe someone can answer. I just had to replace all four of my 6 volt batteries. I have been out in the desert for 4 months and did not check the water in the batteries and suppose that may have caused them to go bad. The mechanic that replaced them said that I am getting a battery charge from the inverter with the generator running and when connected to ground power, however I am not getting a charge with the engine running. Do you know if there is an external relay, or something in the inverter/charger that is preventing the charge? I can’t seem to find any info in the Magnum manual that references that.
I had the same problem with my American eagle it was not charging when running found out there’s a five amp fuse under the steps cost me $370 to have a fuse replaced. Check the five amp fuse under the steps for the charging system
What a life saver it was to find your post. And that on a cold 32 degree Sunday morning. I froze my butt of trying the reset button on my Magnum inverter. I know I tripped it by plugging in three appliances. My Tiffin manual didn’t say anything about a reset, and certainly nothing about the hidden 30amp breaker hidden on the side of the inverter. Looks like this is quite a common occurrence and I am surprised that Tiffin or the other RV makers didn’t come up with a better system. Also, crawling into the service bay on a dark cold winter morning to reset an inverter is not what I would call “Hi Tech” how about having all resets inside the coach, you dummies!
Had same problem but could not find the Inverter in my Leisure Unity RV, 2014. Finally located it in bathroom wall behind two storage drawers. What a hideout? Also, remember, the CONVERTER only converts 110Volt into 12 Volt DC for battery charging and 12 V. lights, etc. Now I own a $155 Spare converter box because I mixed it up with an inverter! Two separate devices! Hope you don’t have my experience but I did avoid a $165.00 service charge, when I located the inverter and reset the button. HAPPY CAMPING from Texas. Don
I had the same problem when I connected 2 electric heaters and then used the microwave. Checked all circuit breakers and everything was working except the batteries weren’t charging. Did a soft reset of inverter and still. 30 degrees out and 2 neighbors helping. We found nothing. The next morning another neighbor came over and he found the other reset button hidden on the right side of the inverter. After he pressed it, the batteries started charging! Problem solved!
Inverter trouble – Tiffin 2017 Phaeton
Inverter goes off & on…causing TV, Microwave, & fridge to go off & on…unplugged TVs, & microwave, plugged fridge to 110 on an electric pedestal. Resets did not change.
Line status
L1-zero volts 65 amps
L2- 119 volts 0 amps
Both. 66 amps
Magnum inverter panel shows inverting DC 12.3v =0A chg lamp flashing, then recycles to now power on Line 1.
Any help would be greatly appreciated…no tech emer # for Tiffin or Magnum has been found. We have been like this since a storm came thru. No one opens due to holidays until Jan 4th.
Got an RV tech to come out, know it is inverter.
HELP!
Amazing!! You are the Man! Saved us just like the rest of the commentors. We had the fault on the inverter. I think it happened because I still had shore power set to 15amps from being plugged into the house. But thats just my theory. We will pass this knowledge one to other RVers.
Same exact issue as everyone else who commented, except pressing the reset button on the inverter doesn’t fix. Any other ideas? So far we’ve replaced all 4 batteries, soft reset the inverter, pressed the 30a button on inverter, checked all fuses, manually reset all breakers, and checked reset all GFI outlets. No luck. Help?!
Thank you for all the great responses to this problem. We were using a hotplate and the microwave and tripped the AC circuit in a Magnum Energy Charger/Inverter. I spent 2 1/2 days trying to locate the problem. The Inverter reset did not fix the problem.
Magnum’s troubleshooting manual does not mention the AC Overload circuit breaker on the top of the Charger/Inverter (not very visible in my motorhome). I was checking the circuits for a burned connection all the time researching on the internet for ideas. I was removing the charger/inverter when I came across this article. I found the AC overload circuit breaker where this article said it was. Depressed the breaker. Problem solved. Great information. Should have been a 2 minute fix at the campground.
Your blog post saved us SO MUCH headache at 17 degrees tonight, in the dark. Thank you!
Wow…RV service told me after checking entire system. “Magnum ME2013 is not working . Get a new one” on my 2008 Monaco Diplomat. Yes microwave and instant coffee pod use blew inverter breaker pop out and GFCI. 4 days later lost battery 4-6v etc. Showed 11.8 volts. Reset found near dead green led. Reset per this posting very good info. Saved me $1800. Thank You Sir.
My problem is similar but quite the same.
Picked up a used ME 2012 .. bench tested two days ago. hooked it up everything operated as it should.
Connect 120 volt service unit passed power to a a 120 volt panel with Light bulb
Unit charger worked charges a 12 volt deep cycle battery,
disconnected the 120 volt source, switched over to inverter and powered the panel and light bulb.
Yesterday went out to run through the process again and check out the functions on the controller. that came with it.
Unit did not seem to passing 120 volt power to the breaker panel.
Charger works, will send charge to battery.
Inverter works, the unit will send power to the breaker panel and light bulb lights up.
the only thing not working is the 120 volt power that should be passing through when not in inverter mode. Checked the little pop out fuses on the unit itself as indicated in the manual, also did a reset procedure as indicated in the manual.
NO PASS THROUGH POWER, charger works, inverter mode works.
All of my batteries had to be replaced so I did now the magnum energy is showing dead battery I reset the breaker which wasn’t blown I reset the inverter and reset the breaker on the side of the inverter number 16. The magnum energy is still reflecting dead battery 6 volt any ides out there please
I have a Magnum ME-3112, my issue is as follows.
For NO OBVIOUS REASON, the inverter while plugged into ac shore power would shut off, red light was on, and message was,
AC Backfeed
DC 12.6V 0A
After resetting low voltage drop out to 60 Volts, this has helped.
Now, I am 99% sure that the AC voltage coming into my RV did not drop as my Surge suppressor has a low voltage indicator, as does my ATS that has additional diognostic lights. So setting the drop out down has made this better, but there is still a problem ay time I Start my gen. the inverter drops out, and yes the voltage had gone down do a transfer from shore to gen, but should there not be circuitry to delay the sensor circuit while the transfer from shore to gen occurs, maby 30 seconds. Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you for posting this article. First, we had no idea where to find the inverter. Your instructions on the reset were spot on.
I just replaced my ATS after my neighbor accidentally unplugged me and i was unaware and plugged my tea kettle in.. I am getting a red fault light on the power board. Of course its a long weekend with everything closed.
I have magnum model ms2012.My problem is when gen is running my bulk charging readings are dc 14.4v 86a and shut down the gen with nothing on,does the same with shore power but dont leave on long enough to blow breaker.Whats your thoughts on this
problem. any help would be appreciated.
thank you
Brian
My display shows red fault and says “overtemp” when bulk charging and shuts down whether or not my magnum inverter/converter is on or not in my 2008 FW Bounder 38F. Anyone know why this happens?