Looking for thoughts about Magnum Energy MM1012 Inverter/Charger

Looking to upgrade the charging aspects of my soon to be new battery bank. I have 6 year old 6 volt batteries that are toasted. I believe this is from being recharged during the season from the supplied charger. Also figured that I would add the inverter portion to power the TV and other smaller devices while at the tracks boon docking. This would allow us to use the generator less and save money on the gasoline usage. The upgraded charging ability means that the batteries will get charged faster and more complete when we do run the generator or find shore power. I started out thinking about a complete solar project but I just can not justify that cost as we are not full timers or even close to that. As a working stiff, I just can not use the trailer often enough to justify that cost. I plan on getting crown 260 - 6 volt replacements and adding a good battery monitor. Still not sure about 2 or 4 batteries yet. I'll add one double gang outlet to the entertainment wall and leave all other existing wiring alone. Looking for any experienced thoughts.

This is a modified sine wave device but after doing much reading I have decided that this will work for us. The pure sine is another 200 bucks or so.

I see a ton of posts about solar but not to much about the inverter/charger devices.

Hi, I am currently using an Xantra 2000w PSW inverter/charger 100a charger with 3 12v AGM batteries(315 ah). I use it to power 2-TVs,sattelite, refigerator and a couple of outlets. When I first looked into inverters the info I found said to use PSW if running electronics. Without solar it takes about 3hrs of generator to charge batteries after a full day of use.

The Crown batteries are rated at 260 amp hours each so I'll double that with the pair and I am only looking at a 1200 watt unit. Does your landmark have a residential fridge and what size TVs are you using and how much time to you use average. I have the TV, satellite receiver, carryout antenna(12 volt device), and charging of phones and laptop in mind. If I opt for the PSW it will be a 1000 watt output. Where did you opt to mount your device? I have not researched the Xantra due to issues I have heard about since they moved production overseas. Do you have a remote to turn it on/off and any monitoring? I really believe that this upgrade will work well for us. Especially when at the tracks.

The tv are a 36" and a 20" I think,Traveler dish,fridge is 18 cu ft residential. Not promoting Xantra just trying to give info on system.They all have plus and minus. With the batteries if you are using 6v in series the amps would be 260 for 2 batteries rated at 260. I removed factory battery box and have batteries and inveter in same location with AGM batteries not necessary to vent or isolate batteries. I do have a remote monitor for inverter turn on or off also have Bogart battery monitor. Usage 6hrs +/- for tv also phones and computer try not to let batteries get below 60% before charging.

Thanks for the info. I meant to state that I would get double the 260 amp hours by using pairs of 6 volt batteries, the s did not get typed. I was not inferring that your unit isn't a good one, but rather just stating fact that I had not research that brand. Therefore, I was unsure if the had remote options with it. I was thinking of hanging my unit upside down on the roof of the underbelly directly behind the battery compartment. Then I can run the remote to the master control area with the rest of the controls and run the AC output line to the area near the TV. While I am at it, I also want to add a 12 volt outlet to the UDC compartment outside. That seems like a logical place for the factory to have one installed but my unit didn't come with one.

Does your charging system let you determine the different charging levels and are you using a temperature sensor to compensate for cold battery charging? You might want to look into this concept.

Went looking on the web, but could not find a MM1012 model, I found a MMS1012 (pure sine wave) and chatted with my brother who just installed the MM1212 (modified sine wave). He is very happy with the unit and chose it for similar reasons as yourself. He installed a small sub panel after the inverter/charger to power the plugs he uses for his TV, entertainment unit, and microwave (he has a small microwave).

The MM1212 is a 70A charger with battery temperature compensation. If your battery bank gets too large (i.e. 4-6 volts in series parallel) you need to confirm the max continuous charge rate from the charger meets the recommended charge rate for your batteries. For the Discover Energy Batteries I had installed, they required a charge rate of 0.3 times the battery bank capacity. For these Discover Energy EVGC6A-A 6 volts (mine) that equated to a recommended continuous charge rate of 120A in bulk mode (I had 4-6 volt batteries). Something to consider.

Hope this helps,
Brian

EDIT - Found this link to the Crown 260 Battery pdf spec sheet. Shows that each bank (2-6volts) needs a minimum of 25A and a maximum of 60A in bulk mode; double that for 4-6volts, i.e. two banks of two 6 volts.

Thanks for that info on charging amperage. I had not given thought to that portion of the charging yet. I guess I was more worried about how much AC power to have. So I will be staying with the 2 6 volt batteries. My only decision left to make is the MMS1012 pure or the MM1212 modified. Those are the 2 that I have been looking at.

John - at 6 years your batteries just wore out. That is a decent service life for the way you are using them. I'm about in the same boat with my 6 year old AGM's.

Keep in mind with inverters, the very best of them are only about 90% efficient. If you build your system thinking on average of about 80% I think you will be happier in the long run. Better to have the inverter coasting along with a good reserve then outputting near max. And the efficiency ratings are under ideal conditions. Temperature and supply voltage will change that %.

Personally I would consider a 2K model. Then with a decent battery bank you could also run the coffee pot without firing up the genny.

Magnum is one of the better inverters out there.

I don't use AGM, I use 2 6 volt wired in series. but they are flooded batteries. I check the fluid level and replace distilled water as needed. Any lengthy storage time gets them put on a tender and when they stay in the unit I kill the batteries with the master switch. I have gotten more years out of 6 volt batteries than this. The only thing that changed was I went from running a Honda 3000 with my SOB unit to running the Onan in my current unit. I din't by the best this time as things were tight but I won't make that mistake again. It is so difficult to get a grasp on this stuff because you have so many opinions bing brown out about batteries, modified or pure, what size to put in. As soon as I make up my mind and create the shopping list, I find another opinion that makes me question my decision. I want to stay with the Magnum line and I am torn between the 2 mentioned the MMS 1012 pure sine 1000 watts or the MM 1212 modified 1200 watts with two crown 260 as the battery bank. Not sure I can justify any more money.

As for coffee, neither of us drink it but we both enjoy toast with our breakfast. But we have discussed this and our main issue is entertainment at night. So we might use those morning hours to recharge the batteries anyway.