MrWizard
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0.3v drop at 77 amps, to me that is not a problem
what is the voltage drop at 10amps
this is when the batteries will be at or near full charge and need full voltage to get topped off
you are unlikely to run the generator long enough to do topping off any way, unless you do an 'all day' run once a week
yes I too prefer full amperage from my converter, and yes the generator's slightly low voltage might be the reason for the false reading, you won't know until you try a shore power connection
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SCVJeff
Santa Clarita, CA.
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Bob,
I found THIS chart in the manual. All things being equal it appears that you should be seeing just a tad north of 90A, if the 2012 is really seeing 114VAC on it's input.
Jeff - WA6EQU
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mena661
Southern California
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SCVJeff wrote:Bob,
I found THIS chart in the manual. All things being equal it appears that you should be seeing just a tad north of 90A, if the 2012 is really seeing 114VAC on it's input. Does it make a difference that he has a ME and not a MS?
2009 Newmar Canyon Star 3205, Ford F53 V10
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SCVJeff
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Dunno.. I'd suspect the charge circuits are similar. Gary?
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GBaxter
Arlington WA
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sorry for the late reply guys, just got back from a solar show in Europe.
If the gen ac voltage is 113.9 vac then yes this will definitely make the dc meter farther off. Also the waveform of the generator itself can skew the meter as we won't get as accurate a reading on distorted waveforms. Yes we could make a better DC meter but in some market (ok RV)it comes down to price. One thing that makes this meter readidng stand out is that on the old Heart Interface, Statpower and Trace brands the remotes usually displayed in anywhere from 10-50A increments so the meters weren't any more accurate but since we display in 1 amp increments it definitley shows up more.
If you want really accurate DC volts and amps the ME-BMK Battery Meter uses a 500 mv shunt and is very accurate for both voltage and amperage.
All the Magnum chargers are the same regardless of model but more importantly all the ac circuit boards are the same with the same voltage and current sense transformers. The only exception to this is the new (not yet available) MSH hybrid models that use all digital processing of the ac and dc voltage and current so it's very accurate. Of course this is a more expensive model so it has better metering.
CA Travler,
to answer your question about the software being available for the "custom battery" settings the answer is "soon". We haven't done a software upgrade for the ME units for almost 5 years which is I guess a testament to the software for not having any bugs to fix. We are just finishing v5.4 for all ME models which will allow the "custom battery" settings (this has been available on other models for several years). The remote will also need to be upgraded in order to include the new menus. The new software should be availble next month as I know all the qual testing is done it just needs to be signed off and offically released. You do have to change the control board in the unit for the upgrade so if you want to PM me or call one of our techs they can set you up for what you need.
Gary
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CA Traveler
The Western States
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Thanks Gary and wish I had been at that solar show!
Starting Fri I'll have 3 days on utility power and so will know more. Then a week on gen followed by lots of unility power as I head up the coast to Redmond in Aug. So more evaluation and then possible upgrades. Will let you know.
Q's for the new MSH models. Is is pure sine wave? Does it have voltage sense? What is the idle current?
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Bob
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GBaxter
Arlington WA
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There are two models of MSH mobile units. MSH4024M (4k, 24v) and MSH2812M (might be 3k when done but not sure). Basically the same inverter charger unit as we have now with the ability to "load support" from the batteries from the ac source. These won't have a sense wire but if the battery cables are kept in spec then a separate sense wire usually isn't required.
We know RV OEMs use longer cables than what is optimal but we also understand that they have other higher priority installation issues mostly weight distribution and storage space. If every component manufacture had to OEM meet every requirement for thier installation then I don't think they would sucessfully build a coach anyone would buy. There are always compromises to make things work.
Gary
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CA Traveler
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Wiring measurements on the ME2012 using the inverter and no battery house loads. - This is the combined voltage drop for both the + and - wires from the battery to the inverter. These measurements include all wire, connectors, fuse, 500A battery monitor shunt and disconnect switch. These values would also apply to the charger.
4.3A - 0.033V
71.6A - 0.368V
87.0A - 0.434V
155.5A - 0.826V
The first measurement indicates about 0.008 ohms while the next three indicate 0.005 ohms for the 2 battery to inverter connections.
Following these measurements I turned on the charger and for about 2 minutes got a charge rate of 90A on shore power at 116VAC. This may indicate that on shore power of 120VAC the charger can produce 100A. And this would suggest that at a charge rate of 100A the voltage drop would be about 0.5A.
The measurements contain some inaccuracies: The voltage is accurate while the amps were measured on an inexpensive clampon ammeter. Plus I had to switch the equipment from one wire to the other during which the charging rate probably was subject to some change. But hopefully the measurements are in the ballpark.
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BFL13
Victoria, BC
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The converter and Vectors work better on the Honda's 124v input than from house shore power in the teens, too. The thing is, at home who cares how long charging takes? But while camping on gen, you want fast charging.
So what to do when your camping gen is that funny wave form gen slowing down your charger?
A. Get a Honda that will run the charger, or
B. Use two chargers to get more amps where the big gen has enough watts (VA) to run both chargers.
eg, run a VEC1093DBD (40a) with the 2012 (does 80a) and get 120a at least for a while --you would have to see how each tapers and follow the total amps ( which is what counts)
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CA Traveler
The Western States
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A second charger is a possibility. Increasing gen voltage is another.
Tomorrow we'll be dry docked on the CA coast and this will be the first opportunity to find out just how much power we use with the new Trimetric. In fact the entire summer becomes the test to understand the pros and cons of solar for our usage.
In addition I just set up the ability to measure the battery voltage inside the rig with a more accurate Fluke. So charge rate, charging at the correct battery voltage for the AGMs and the charger/battery voltage drop with the Magnums lack of voltage sense are all under consideration. As Gary said above the installation may not be optimal.
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