©
2013 Magnum Energy, Inc.
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Maintenance and Troubleshooting
4.3 Troubleshooting
The MS-PE Series inverter/charger is a fairly simple device to troubleshoot. There are only two
active circuits (AC and DC), as well as a charging circuit. The following chart is designed to help
you quickly pinpoint the most common inverter failures.
Table 4-1, Basic Troubleshooting (remote not available)
Symptom
Possible Cause
Recommended Solution
N o o u t p u t p o w e r.
Inverter LED is OFF.
Inverter is switched OFF.
Switch the inverter ON.
Battery voltage is too low. The battery
voltage level has dropped below the
Low Battery Cut Out (LBCO) set-point
for more than one minute.
Check fuses/circuit breakers and cable connections.
Check battery voltage at the inverter’s terminals. Your
batteries may need to be charged, this fault condition
will automatically clear when the battery voltage exceeds
the LBCI voltage.
The battery voltage is too high. The
inverter automatically resets and
resumes operation when the battery
voltage drops to the HBCI voltage or
lower.
This condition usually occurs only when an additional
charging source (alternator, solar panels, or other
external charging sources) is used to charge the battery
bank. Reduce or turn off any other charger to the inverter
batteries to allow the voltage level to drop.
Over-temperature condition: The
internal temperature of the inverter has
risen above acceptable limits; caused
by loads too great for the inverter to
operate continuously, or by lack of
ventilation to the inverter. When the
unit has cooled, it will automatically
reset and resume operation.
Reduce the number of electrical loads that you are
operating. This will avoid a repeat over-temp shutdown if
the cause was too many loads for the ambient conditions.
Check ventilation around the inverter, ensure cool air
is available to pass through the inverter (refer to the
ventilation requirements in Section 2.1.3).
AC overload condition: The inverter
has turned off because the connected
loads are larger than the inverter’s
output capacity, or the output wires
are shorted.
Reduce the AC loads connected to the inverter, or remove
all AC output wiring and restart the inverter.
Internal fault: This fault occurs when
an internal fault is detected.
To clear this fault, an inverter reset is required. See
Section 4.4 to perform an inverter reset.
N o o u t p u t p o w e r.
Green LED is
fl
ashing
once/second.
Unit is in Search mode, which means
the load is too small for Search mode
circuit detection.
Turn on a load greater than 5 watts to bring the inverter
to full output power.
N o o u t p u t p o w e r.
Green LED is
fl
ashing
quickly—
fl
uttering.
Unit is in continuous reset.
Check that the inverter’s Power ON/OFF switch is not
stuck in the ON position (ensure you can feel a click
when pushing). If not, inverter requires repair/service.
Low output or surge
power. Green LED is
fl
ashing.
Loose or corroded battery cables.
Clean and tighten all cables.
Low batteries.
Recharge or replace batteries.
Loose AC output connections.
Tighten AC output connections.
Battery cables are the wrong length
or gauge.
Verify recommended cable lengths and gauges from the
manual. Replace cables as necessary.
Low charging rate
when connected to AC
power.
Charge rate backing off due to high
temperature inside the inverter.
Provide better inverter ventilation/cooling, or additional
battery chargers needed if battery bank is very large.
Low AC voltage (<170 VAC).
Check AC input wiring.
Low charging rate when
using a generator.
Generator output is too low to power
both the load and charger.
Reduce the load, increase the generator’s RPMs.
C h a r g e r d o e s n ’ t
charge.
Loose or corroded battery cables.
Clean and tighten battery cables.
Defective batteries.
Replace batteries.
Wrong AC input voltage.
Verify proper AC input voltage and frequency.
While charging, the
DC charge voltage is
higher or lower than
expected.
If the Battery Temperature Sensor
(BTS) is installed, the DC voltage will
increase or decrease depending on the
temperature around the BTS.
This is normal; see Section 3.5 (Battery Temperature
Sensor Operation) for more information.
