Magnum Charger/Inverter

[hereandnow]

Hi folks, I am looking for some of your experience with Magnum Charger/Inverters. I am considering to purchase the Magnum MS2012 charger/inverter - 100amp charger and 2000W pure sine wave inverter.

If you have had good or difficult experience with the unit or the manufacturer for service, would love to here from you.

Follow the link if your curious for more information.

Mobile Power Inverter/Chargers

[mitiempo]

No experience in use but I have installed a Magnum ME-2512 and was impressed with it. The pure sine wave you are looking at should be a good unit.

[hereandnow]

Thanks mitiempo. Did you install any of the networking components, Remote Control Monitor or Battery Combiner ? Any further thoughts to share ?

Much appreciated

[FarCry]

As the Xantrex systems are failing on a charter fleet locally, they are being replaced with Magnum products. Nothing but positive results with them thus far. Don't know the model numbers off the top of my head but recall them being 2500 watt inverter/chargers

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by hereandnow

Thanks mitiempo. Did you install any of the networking components, Remote Control Monitor or Battery Combiner ? Any further thoughts to share ?

Much appreciated

Just the remote control/monitor - pretty standard with large inverters.

[hellosailor]

Never met one, but I've always felt any company bragging about a FIVE stage charger was trying to blow smoke up my, ahem.

Fifth stage, a "battery saver", gee, the folks who make the batteries never asked for that. If you count "off" I bet it would be a six stage charger.

Then there's the lead paragraph one their page that says they are ETL tested to a UL spec, and the UL spec actually says "These converters are intended for use within land vehicles where not directly exposed to outdoor conditions, " right up top.

The certification is for LAND VEHICLES as I read it, not boats. Dunno why or if that makes a difference. Inverter/charger design shouldn't be rocket science these days. Made in the USA is of course appealing. But I tend to back away when there's that much sizzle with my steak.

[Stu Jackson]

Actually the fifth stage is a pretty good idea. Many folks leave their boats connected to shorepower all the time, and constant float is not good for batteries.

A remote panel is almost necessary 'cuz the unit is rarely in easy reach or easy to see if it has its own indicators. Ours is located in an easy to reach spot, but it sure got tiresome to reach down to get to the button until i installed the Link 2000 controller to our Freedom 15 combined inverter charger.

You'll also need the remote to access a lot of the features of the I/c, like equalization if you have wet cell batteries.

That said, Maine Sail has repeatedly made the point that if one side of a combined unit "goes" you're stuck. When i bought ours in 1998, I did a cost comparison of separate vs. combined units. Including all the wiring and connectors, it was pretty much a wash.

I've heard nothing bad about Magnum.

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

That said, Maine Sail has repeatedly made the point that if one side of a combined unit "goes" you're stuck. When i bought ours in 1998, I did a cost comparison of separate vs. combined units. Including all the wiring and connectors, it was pretty much a wash.

True but when you get to serious inverter size - 2000 watts and above - they are almost all combined units - the Freedom series from Xantrex being a good example. Xantrex to my knowledge never produced an inverter that size without a built in charger. Also the charger on an inverter of 2000 watts is usually 100 amps or more. (1 or 2 Echo Charge built in was a nice bonus)

I often find them on boats that have a stand alone charger as well.

[Stu Jackson]

Good points, Brian. I keep forgetting about the built in echo charger on the Xantrex units because I bought mine before they did that feature.

I don't know if the magnum has that.

[mitiempo]

I don't believe the Magnum has an Echo built-in - it is a Xantrex product so probably unique to Xantrex large inverters.