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Old 11-15-2020, 08:34 PM   #1
Vfontan
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Default Magnum Remote Control "Unknown Fault"

Last night I noticed my Magnum remote control giving me an "Unknown Fault" message. Details are fuzzy for it was close to midnight and I was a few drinks in but I'll do my best to remember. This is on a 07 Tour Master T40C, hooked up to shore power, 2000W Magnum Inverter. As I noticed the fault, I took a picture before pressing any buttons, I pressed the inverter's on/off button, and the refrigerator, microwave, and TV turned off which surprised me because I am hooked to shore power. I tested around, lights turned on, A/C turned on, etc.
I checked the fuses in the outside compartments, all looked good. Checked the batteries, not overheating. Checked the inverter, not overheating, and turned it on. Checked the inside breakers, none were tripped and turned the inverter's and converter's breakers off and back on and that seemed to do it. The fault message went away and back to normal. I read the inverter's owner's manual and the remedy for an "unknown Fault" is to call customer service. Before I do, has anyone had any similar issues? Any ideas of possible cause?

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Old 11-22-2020, 03:18 PM   #2
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The Magnum is an inverter/charger combo "correct?" You might have a house battery that is acting up. It could be a shorted out battery creating a fault because it does say DC fault. Just a thought you might want to test each of your house batteries.
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Old 11-22-2020, 04:47 PM   #3
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I had a fault starting to happen more and more often several years ago, turned out that one of the internal parts of the Inverter was going...so I replaced it with another same make model with 3 year warranty - no issues since.

now, that's not necessarily your problem, and I dont' really think it's actually any 'DC' fault since that DC is simply referring to the Voltage reading of the batteries, while being charged by shore power.

as to 'why' things went off when you turned the Inverter OFF, you are correct that they should not if you are on shore power, as leaving the inverter ON is simply allowing for the inverter to 'react' if shore power is lost, and start providing power to those outlets. If you lose power to your pass-thru powered outlets, then yes, it is not acting correctly.

If you simply reset everything and it's back to working correctly, especially if the pass-thru powered outlets are working from shore power even with the inverter OFF, then you solved the issue, at least temporarily, like 'rebooting' a computer that just starts doing something strange, for no reason.
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Old 11-23-2020, 08:21 PM   #4
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After several days of checking about every electric component trying to diagnose the root of the problem, it came down to the simplest thing. Apparently, the neutral prong on the main cable was not making a good connection with the surge protector and melted the surge protector to the point that it also melted the male plug on my cable. My concern is that the surge protector never showed a fault light/code. Got the shore power pedestal checked by the RV park's electrician to ensure it wasn't the pedestal and replaced the cable plug. Problem fixed!
Silver lining - I learned even more about my coach these past few days, which is always a good thing.
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Old 11-24-2020, 11:09 AM   #5
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Glad you got it figured out and found the root cause. I have always been skeptical of the in-line surge protectors and the added cascade of high current plugs and connectors, so when I replaced my coach's transfer switch I elected to use one with an integral surge protector. Not only does this simplify the connection at the park pedestal, but there is no risk of the accessory and separate surge protector being left off the connection or even worse being stolen...


My coach also had the upgrade to the Magnum inverter to replace the factory original Xantrex...and like yours, my coach was a 2007 T40C.


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Old 11-24-2020, 02:34 PM   #6
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I am looking into hardwired surge protectors.

This situation had me thinking hard. I took the inverter to get tested and after two days, the techs just couldn't make it fail. The "Unknown Fault" returned shortly after re-installing the inverter. I ran the generator for about four hours with no issues and that had me thinking maybe it had to be a shore power issue or at least before the inverter, but I trusted the stupid surge protector LED (it bothers me that the surge protector never showed a fault light/code) and moved on to check the ATS and breakers, all seemed fine. Thought about bypassing the ATS but decided to just plug into the 30A outlet first to see if the problem persisted and that is when I discovered the damaged surge protector. Very annoying, but all is good now.
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Old 11-24-2020, 03:48 PM   #7
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Victor,

I noticed that you called the park outlet a "30 amp" socket and wanted to point out it is a 50 amp RV connection on your coach in case that 30 was not a typo.

An RV 30 amp 3 prong service is a single leg of 30 amps for a maximum of 3600 watts of power, whereas the 50 amp RV service is TWO LEGS of 50 amps each for a total power capability of 12,000 watts.

When you use a 30 amp 'dog-bone' adapter to allow a coach like your to connect to a 30 amp RV service it internally bridges the two legs so they each get some power, but the 30 amp breaker limits everything to a total of 3600 watts -- and under that arrangement you likely can not run both air conditioners, for example.

When your coach is running on the on-board generator which is 7,500 watts then each leg of the service is fed from the 35 amp per leg breaker on that generator and both air conditioners should run fine in that case.

As you likely know by now, the Inverter is limited to 2000 watts and it has a secondary transfer switch built in such that if neither shore power nor generator power is available it can run a selected number of loads...most notably the residential refrigerator and the TV. To keep things sorted out on the AC load side of the coach wiring, there are two breaker panels under the refrigerator -- one has the larger loads that only the generator and the shore power can handle like the air conditioners, the engine block heater, etc. and then a secondary panel that supplies the refrigerator, TV and a few convenience outlets that can remain powered when only the inverter is active.

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Old 11-24-2020, 10:11 PM   #8
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Thanks, Chuck for the explanation. I understand the difference between 30 and 50 amps(not to the extent you do, though). At the time I was not sure if the root of my problem was at the shore power pedestal so I was unplugging from 50A and plugging into 30A just in case there was an issue with the 50 amp socket at the pedestal until the RV park's electrician would stop and check the pedestal. Fortunately for me, that is when I noticed the problem with the surge protector.
Your willingness to share your knowledge is greatly appreciated.
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