nyrngrz Posted April 22, 2022 Share Posted April 22, 2022 I have a 2003 Holiday Rambler Vacationer - Gas with a Magnum MS2012 2000 Watt Pure Sine Inverter. When I bring the coach into the shop for maintenance my concern is keeping the Inverter on. I know I can shut off the AGS (Automatic Generator Start) but my concern is, will keeping the Inverter on run down my batteries especially if the coach is in the shop for multiple days? According to Magnum Energy, the only way to avoid running down the batteries is to disconnect the positive battery cable. I don't have a clue how to do that but I guess turning off the Inverter using the On/Off button on the ARC remote will not accomplish this. I am sure everyone at some point has had this occur. What do you do? Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigNick Posted April 22, 2022 Share Posted April 22, 2022 I have a Xantrex Freedom 4k, in the remote mounted inside there a place in the menu to select the inverter off. I don't know abut the Magnums. I would think it would be the same with a place to shut it down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96 EVO Posted April 22, 2022 Share Posted April 22, 2022 Yep, just press the inverter off button on the remote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandick66 Posted April 23, 2022 Share Posted April 23, 2022 Turn the inverter off at the remote panel. Also, you can raise the low battery cut off (LBCO) to 12.2, that way the batteries won’t drain and they should hold the charge until you get it back from the shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigNick Posted April 23, 2022 Share Posted April 23, 2022 10 minutes ago, dandick66 said: Turn the inverter off at the remote panel. Also, you can raise the low battery cut off (LBCO) to 12.2, that way the batteries won’t drain and they should hold the charge until you get it back from the shop. Im going to muddy the water just a tad so sorry to hijack your thread in advance. What is a good value to set the LBCO to if the AGS is activated for example in a primitive camping scenario? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandick66 Posted April 23, 2022 Share Posted April 23, 2022 52 minutes ago, BigNick said: Im going to muddy the water just a tad so sorry to hijack your thread in advance. What is a good value to set the LBCO to if the AGS is activated for example in a primitive camping scenario? As the politicians say, “That’s a very good question “. The default setting is 10.0 volts. However, that doesn’t work for me. I have an Aquahot, and it shuts down if the voltage drops below 12.0 volts. Also, my generator uses the house batteries for starting and because of the length of the cable run from the batteries to the generator, it won’t start below 12.2 volts. So, that’s where I have my LBCO set. As a side note, I will be installing an auxiliary battery up near the generator, just for starting the generator. Then I will probably lower the LBCO. As long as it’s summer and I’m not using the Aquahot, I can lower the LBCO below 12 volts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigNick Posted April 23, 2022 Share Posted April 23, 2022 34 minutes ago, dandick66 said: As the politicians say, “That’s a very good question “. The default setting is 10.0 volts. However, that doesn’t work for me. I have an Aquahot, and it shuts down if the voltage drops below 12.0 volts. Also, my generator uses the house batteries for starting and because of the length of the cable run from the batteries to the generator, it won’t start below 12.2 volts. So, that’s where I have my LBCO set. As a side note, I will be installing an auxiliary battery up near the generator, just for starting the generator. Then I will probably lower the LBCO. As long as it’s summer and I’m not using the Aquahot, I can lower the LBCO below 12 volts. Interesting, I think I'm set at 12.2 now but I'll verify today. I'm not sure about the low voltage for genset start, my cable run is front to back as well. As far as hydrohot fire up, I've spent so much time and $ just getting that system back into shape, I've never experienced it not starting due to low volts yet, that's a new one I didn't realize even could happen. Thanks for the post, informative... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacwjames Posted April 23, 2022 Share Posted April 23, 2022 OP, question How long will the rig be in the shop, will it be plugged in? If you don't have access to any power I would shut off the battery disconnects. On my coach there is a parasitic draw. I have 325 watt solar which can keep up on sunny days and if I'm not it the shade, that is with the inverter off, with the inverter on with no real power draw it is harder to keep up and I have to monitor it. I now keep mine plugged in all the time but have the inverter off. Getting ready for a trip I'll turn the inverter on so I can cool the refrigerator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan K Posted April 23, 2022 Share Posted April 23, 2022 2 hours ago, BigNick said: Im going to muddy the water just a tad so sorry to hijack your thread in advance. What is a good value to set the LBCO to if the AGS is activated for example in a primitive camping scenario? My Trace RC7GS has LBCO set to ON which corresponds to 10.9v. The only other value option is OFF, which equals to 8.5v cutoff, way too low. It should however never come to it as AGS is set to 12.0v, which in my case corresponds to 12.2v measured at the batteries with inverter ON. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96 EVO Posted April 23, 2022 Share Posted April 23, 2022 I have the AGS set at 11.7v. It prevents my coffee maker firing up the generator in the morning. Usually after the carafe is full of coffee, my house batteries bounce back to 12.3 or 12.4v after the load is removed, so it wasn't essential for the gen to run. I also re-wired my coach so the gen get's it's cranking power from the chassis bank. Some came that way from the factory, some didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan K Posted April 23, 2022 Share Posted April 23, 2022 19 minutes ago, 96 EVO said: I also re-wired my coach so the gen get's it's cranking power from the chassis bank. Some came that way from the factory, some didn't. Outside of the original subject but I never understood why some generators would be started from house batteries, batteries that aren't even starting batteries and are the primary reason for the generator run when weak and depleted. Maybe there's a reason I missed. I could see an argument about preserving chassis power for the engine but if they got too weak to even start a generator, they certainly would not turn the big motor. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96 EVO Posted April 23, 2022 Share Posted April 23, 2022 Yeah, made little sense to me as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garage Monster Posted April 24, 2022 Share Posted April 24, 2022 With generator connected to house batteries imagine the scenario. House batteries are low and you can't start generator, but you can use the chassis batteries to start the coach which will charge the house batteries and enable you to start the generator. If the coach batteries are low and you can't start the coach the generator can be started using the house batteries and it will charge the coach batteries. Either way you're not dead in the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivylog Posted April 24, 2022 Share Posted April 24, 2022 Unless you can plug-in at the shop, you need to remove everything from the residential refrigerator and turn the inverter off. Often there is a big difference in displayed voltage and voltage at the batteries. Plus as 96evo said, the voltage will increase once the load cuts off complicating what lbco you set and Lithiums can be drawn down even lower. When dry camping my rule of thumb is crank the generator whenever you are going to draw a lot of amps, like making coffee in the morning, assuming quite hours allow. If not allowed I’ll get out the propane single burner and make coffee the old gas way instead of further depleting the battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimc99999 Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 On 4/24/2022 at 9:13 AM, Garage Monster said: With generator connected to house batteries imagine the scenario. House batteries are low and you can't start generator, but you can use the chassis batteries to start the coach which will charge the house batteries and enable you to start the generator. If the coach batteries are low and you can't start the coach the generator can be started using the house batteries and it will charge the coach batteries. Either way you're not dead in the water. If your coach batteries can start the massive coach motor, they can start the tiny generator. There is no scenario where using the house batteries for generator start makes more sense than using the coach batteries. My generator is started from the house batteries and it's a dumb setup. The block heater outlet is also powered by the inverter which is extra dumb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96 EVO Posted April 26, 2022 Share Posted April 26, 2022 3 hours ago, jimc99999 said: If your coach batteries can start the massive coach motor, they can start the tiny generator. There is no scenario where using the house batteries for generator start makes more sense than using the coach batteries. My generator is started from the house batteries and it's a dumb setup. The block heater outlet is also powered by the inverter which is extra dumb. Long positive cable running from the rear run bay to the generator. My Cummins ISL starts faster than the 3cyl Kubota engine in my generator! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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