Bob Nodine Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 (edited) I like the Oral-B rechargeable toothbrush so purchased one for the motorhome in December. We have been in Florida for a week now and Friday the red LED illuminated indicating the battery needed to be charged. I was surprised since I leave the toothbrush on the charger all the time. I assumed the charger was bad and Saturday we purchased another toothbrush just to get a charger. Sure enough the toothbrush started to charge on the new charger. I was reminded that when the toothbrush is placed on the charger it illuminates for a few seconds. Problem solved - NOT. We were at the Florida Super Show camping at the fairgrounds and left this morning. We stopped at a rest area on I-4 to make lunch and wait a little since we could not check into our next campground until 12 noon. I noticed the toothbrush was no longer charging and it hit me that the MSW inverter was killing the chargers. So be warned that if you have a MSW inverter and a charger like the one in the photo below, only plug it in when you need to charge the toothbrush and are on the generator or shore power. Edited January 17, 2021 by Bob Nodine 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr4Film Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Good information Bob. I use a Cyber Sonic Tooth Brush system and it has worked flawlessly on our Xantrex/Trace MSW Inverter for years without crapping out. I have one charger at home and one in the coach. https://tinyurl.com/yyvf7ng7 One thing that I purchased recently that did not like the MSW Inverter was a 120 VAC Remote Control Switch which I use to turn a Swag lamp on/off that sits over the dining table but is plugged into the duplex at the front of the coach. https://tinyurl.com/y5axe79n Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Toscano Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 Was that the only item that was drawing power from the inverter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onthego Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 NO problem, we have the same toothbrush’s and charger. Are inverter is a PSW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Babb Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 This happens when a manufacturer "cheaps out" on the design of the charger by using a Capacitive dropping circuit. While extremely cheap to make they are overloaded by pulsed or square wave power (as is produced by MSW inverters). I'm surprised that a major brand like Oral-B would do such a thing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Nodine Posted January 18, 2021 Author Share Posted January 18, 2021 (edited) 7 hours ago, Vince Toscano said: Was that the only item that was drawing power from the inverter? Heavens no, we leave the inverter on 24/7 and things like the Winegard Traveler, Wally, Channel Master, Samsung computer, and Samsung frig never miss a beat and don't notice when we change power sources to the motorhome. Just found that I can order replacement chargers for $9.95 from Amazon and one is on the way. Edited January 18, 2021 by Bob Nodine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
granvillebarker Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 My Phillips sonicare chargers work in the coach, and they will charge the Braun toothbrushes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Nodine Posted January 21, 2021 Author Share Posted January 21, 2021 On 1/19/2021 at 4:09 PM, granvillebarker said: My Phillips sonicare chargers work in the coach, and they will charge the Braun toothbrushes. Do you have a Pure Sine Wave inverter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
granvillebarker Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, Bob Nodine said: Do you have a Pure Sine Wave inverter? No, it’s the Xantech MSW that came with the coach. In my 16 years with the coach, the only problem I can recall related to the MSW was an old Dyson vacuum cleaner dying. So if your not trying to run a residential fridge, it doesn’t seem to matter much for the most part. I wonder if it was an issue with your Braun charger. — Granville Barker 05’ Dynasty Countess Edited January 21, 2021 by granvillebarker Added more info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Nodine Posted January 22, 2021 Author Share Posted January 22, 2021 19 hours ago, granvillebarker said: No, it’s the Xantech MSW that came with the coach. In my 16 years with the coach, the only problem I can recall related to the MSW was an old Dyson vacuum cleaner dying. So if your not trying to run a residential fridge, it doesn’t seem to matter much for the most part. I wonder if it was an issue with your Braun charger. — Granville Barker 05’ Dynasty Countess Thanks for the info on the other charger. No it was not just a bad Braun charger because I blew two before I realized what was going on. The only other thing we have had a problem with on the MSW was a fancy electric portable heater. Years ago when the coach was still parked outside we kept an electric heater on in the winter. It had an electronic control with a display and while getting ready for a trip one morning I unplugged the 50 amp shore power which caused the outlets to switch over to the inverter. I had forgotten to turn off the heater first and going inside smelled the tell tell odor of a burned electronic component and the heater was dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dl_racing427 Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 My wife and I have Braun Oral-B toothbrushes, which use inductively coupled wireless chargers. On a cruise, I noticed that though the charger did work, it charged extremely slowly. We ended up swapping them back and forth each night, where we usually only have to charge about once a week. My theory was that their generators were 50hz instead of 60, which could reduce the coupling efficiency between the charger and toothbrush. It didn't seem to have any ill-effects on the charger itself though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
granvillebarker Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Now I do recall my wife having issues with a heating pad not getting hot on the inverter, and I think it was a Braun product too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erperry_44 Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 Bummer. I was wondering why my charger isn't working anymore 😒 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcl285 Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 Years ago, I learned this lesson with some ultrasonic mouse repellers that were plugged into my coach. It was normally parked in my driveway connected to 110 Vac with a power cord. When I unplugged it, the inverter came on and the mouse repeller fried. The other day, I bought an electric heating throw and there was an insert in the package that said “Do not use with an MSW inverter.” Dick L. ‘04Imperial Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandick66 Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 I’m wondering if a small UPS would solve the problem. I know they have ones that have PSW output, but I don’t know if they would be happy with MSW input. There are all different types of UPS, some switch over when power is lost, others constantly “clean” the power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyTools Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 It took me 2 heating-blanket controllers to learn that same lesson (I'm kinda slow at times). I was told by one of the engineers at the 'old' Monaco factory (may it R.I.P.) that is the reason why they did not wire the bedroom outlets into the inverter circuit, but instead made them active only when on shore or genset power. CPAP machines and the like are also sensitive to MSW power and were the main reason for doing that, he explained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dl_racing427 Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 I suspect that items that need to vary the power to a device are more susceptible to damage from MSW power. Most of these power supplies don't actually reduce the voltage output, but chop the sinewave up to reduce the AVERAGE voltage to the device. The shape of the MSW source can cause huge transients in this type of power supply, leading to damage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pulsarjab Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 Had the same thing, Braun charger quit. Also had the inverter boil the batteries, so after 18 years, inverter was replaced with a full sine wave. Now, no worries, batteries are good, Whirlpool microwave and Frigidaire refrigerator work great. along with Keurig coffee pot, although, coffee and microwave are serious drains. Refer could run for several days. It was a good upgrade. 2000 Diplomat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
granvillebarker Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 Which new inverter / charger did you go with? I’m about ready to upgrade, but the new units appear to be bigger than my current one. Electronics should get much smaller over 18 years, not larger, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pulsarjab Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 I installed the Xantrex Freedon, 2,000 watt unit. I was able to use the remote cable from the old unit so no need to run additional wiring. I did have to install a small box for the two circuit breakers, but no big deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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