CAROLYN.RON@LIVE.COM Report post Posted June 14, 2017 Got call from RV shop that while my 2016 Holiday Rambler Scepter model 43sf was in there service bay that the Magnum Inverter caught on fire! Dealer stated they didn't even have the Motor Home plugged in. I know Inverters are pretty much Bullet Proof and in 30 years of owning Motor Homes I never had or heard of this happening. Any comments will be appreciated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
desertdeals69 Report post Posted June 14, 2017 What does the factory say about it? I have never used a Magnum as I have always used Xantrex although they still have issues. We are starting our 41 year motorhoming using about 10 different motorhomes. In the 70s the inverters didn't have chargers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillAdams Report post Posted June 14, 2017 Sounds like they had the coach unplugged and the inverter running. If it was powering a lot of stuff for a long time it could easily burn up, especially if there was not good ventilation. You will never be able to prove anything so this might be a good time to buy a better inverter. That's complete speculation as I know nothing about the Magnum brand. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hermanmullins Report post Posted June 14, 2017 Carolyn & Ron, Was there an actual fire? If so was there more damage? Herman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CAROLYN.RON@LIVE.COM Report post Posted June 15, 2017 Thanks for the replies the charger is a Magnum Energy MS2812 2800 Watt 125A pure sine wave Inverter/charger. Seems to me it should be heavy duty enough to handle total electric Motor Home. Yes it did catch fire the dealer had to use fire extinguishers to put it out. Thanks goodness they seen smoke coming out of compartment! Left message with Holiday Rambler have not heard back from them yet Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manholt Report post Posted June 15, 2017 I have 2 Magnum 2,800 on my all electric coach! Never had a problem.. One 2,800 with 4 AGM 6V is for my residential fridge, electric stove and micro/convection oven. The other for Clothes dryer, Aqua Hot, TV's etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dickandlois Report post Posted June 15, 2017 13 hours ago, CAROLYN.RON@LIVE.COM said: Got call from RV shop that while my 2016 Holiday Rambler Scepter model 43sf was in there service bay that the Magnum Inverter caught on fire! Dealer stated they didn't even have the Motor Home plugged in. I know Inverters are pretty much Bullet Proof and in 30 years of owning Motor Homes I never had or heard of this happening. Any comments will be appreciated. Is the service center an authorized Magnum dealer / service center? Most of there authorized outlets are located in central / eastern part of the US or Ontario Canada. Link -- http://www.magnum-dimensions.com/contact-magnum-energy-and-dimensions-teams What portion of the system failed? Charger or Inverter ? Do you get an Error code(s) As mentioned in previous posts regarding a burned up unit, When properly trained tech's work on coach's an need to disable or turn off an inverter these units rarely fail and you mentioned that the coach was not connected to ac power. That would tend to indicate something happened - while some one was working on the coach with the inverter running or the chassis and or coach batteries where being serviced and something went very wrong. With no AC power connection at the time, the charger portion would not be running ! For the members of the forum to offer some good thoughts regarding the problem we need more information, just what burned up or failed and what the coach was in the shop to be serviced. Rich. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kaypsmith Report post Posted June 15, 2017 All inverter/converters that I have had any dealings with have built in overload protection, and will shutdown automatically with an overload condition, or a battery low condition. If battery drops below a predetermined voltage it will usually start sounding an alarm, then another lower voltage will auto shutdown. With the unit not plugged in, or the motor running on the MH this should have happened unless it is a faulty unit. The only other condition that might have happened that comes to mind, is a loose wire connection either on the 12 volt side, or the 110 volt side, especially on the 12 volt side might have caused enough overheating to start a fire. These are all reasons why at least an annual inspection of all wire connections should be in place, starting with the transfer switch, then all the way through the RV. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tbutler Report post Posted June 15, 2017 I'm with Rich, wondering what was being done, servicing the coach. Might something they were working on caused a short or an overload condition. Loose wires in the vicinity of the inverter may have been shorted somehow and caused a fire near the inverter that could be mistaken for an inverter fire. If not plugged in, the batteries would have been discharging and the inverter would have been underpowered if unplugged for an extended time. It should have shut down when the battery power dropped below a certain level. There are many electrical components within an inverter, it could have been a failure of a single component. A qualified technician (not necessarily a Magnum tech) should examine the unit to determine the cause if the inverter did indeed cause the fire. In most cases, the burn pattern of the debris can indicate where a fire started. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
