Lithium Battery Charging With a Magnum Inverter

Our Magnum inverter/charger does not have a factory defined profile that is usable with our Battle Born LiFePO4 batteries, but is has two programmable profiles that can be used. In this video we go step by step for how to set up the necessary parameters. While specific to Battle Born and Magnum, the same principles can be used with other batteries and other chargers.

[@myscargo1]

Excellent video format and presentation very clear, concise and informative. ( no distracting music, distracting video effects just good information) Thank you

[@daninbenson]

What a great video! 1,000 questions answered! I hope I can someday be as clear and well spoken and as intelligent as you!

[@RV4X40com]

Thanks for the kind words!!

[@major_west]

Your video is much better at explaining the charger features than Magnum's documentation. Thanks so much!

[@kenbrown6095]

Thank you so much! I just purchased 4 100amp battle born batteries and the 3000W hybrid Magnum. This will help SOOO MUCH! as I am not real good on the electrical side, and as you stated, this system is way too much money to ruin. I will be watching this video multiple times and taking notes! Thankyou again for taking the time to make this video.

[@davidpalmer5050]

Thanks Jim, This was very helpful to my setup for my lithium batteries. David Palmer

[@davidbrooks5847]

I would like to thank you for your time which becomes more valuable the less we have. I found it very helpful in setting up my battle born batteries

[@RV4X40com]

Glad it was helpful!

[@dstevens7614]

Well said. He was to the point, clear speaking and covered it all.

[@RV4X40com]

thanks

[@tjmooney4181]

Thanks 👍

[@jpbhockey1959]

Great video,I have the same setup,except 2008 tiffin. I am so glad you explained the setup . Perhaps in the future you could go over all settings on me-arc. Thanks again for very informative video

[@RV4X40com]

Great suggestion! I will look at that. Might be a long video.

[@donkisler3538]

Thank you Jim. This was great!

[@RV4X40com]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@HIBAW]

Some jewels in here, especially some of the nomenclature magnum uses, vs what humans use. Thanks for clearing up bulk/cc and absorb/cv.

[@RV4X40com]

Glad it was helpful! I agree that they use some of their own language which takes a magic decoder ring but the product itself is solid.

[@SinanMB]

Great video! Very informative, I have a setup similar to yours and this helped me a lot. Thank you

[@MrJrusselltx]

Glad it helped you out. Love those batteries.

[@dougd9944]

Thank you Jim :)

[@RV4X40com]

You are very welcome

[@timothydecoursey7546]

Thank you. Great technical video.

[@RV4X40com]

Glad it was helpful!

[@PierreMichael2020]

Thank you very much for this excellent video. I just got a new camping trailer and it comes with a Magnum Energy controller, I don't know what exact model yet, but it has the same front panel that you have. I just got the trailer so i have lots of reading to do... Again Thank you for your effort in making this video. Regards.

[@RV4X40com]

Glad it helped

[@markromero930]

I have a 2017 Allegro Bus and just bought 3 Life blue 200A batteries. I have the Magnum MS-2812 inverter and the ME-RC controller along with a go power solar controller. I’m hoping to get my batteries installed tomorrow and hope it goes well.

[@RV4X40com]

My only concern would be the programming in the controllers. I have no idea how that has changed with model years but I did replace (and upgrade) the controller in our 2014 to get compatibility. Last I knew, Magnum was no longer offering to upgrade firmware but that may have changed.

[@kennorris1591]

Excellent thanks. Do you have updated tips and tricks for the latest LFP battery profile?

[@brianforan6833]

Thank you for creating this tutorial. I have a PV system that incorporates an older Magnum inverter/charger (MS4024AE) w/out an LFP battery selection in the remote. I plan to replace my lead/acid batteries w/ LFP batteries, so I was wondering if I would be able to program the Magnum for the LFP batteries. From what you've explained in your video, I should be able to continue to use the Magnum with my system. Time will tell!

[@RV4X40com]

It will depend on just how old the system is. I had to upgrade the controller to get enough functionality for the lithium settings. Prior to Covid you could return a controller for the upgrade but that was suspended and I have no idea if they have ever rescinded that condition. I ended up buying a new controller to get the settings I needed.

[@1pilotsteve]

Great video..very informative.

[@RV4X40com]

Glad it was helpful!

[@1pilotsteve]

Do you think going Lithium was worth it? The hole conversion must have been thousands.

[@RV4X40com]

In my case, yes it was worth it. There are two components involved in the cost: the batteries and the solar panels. First, I've done the analysis as well as others and if you plan on keeping an RV for a long period (10years or more) then the life cycle cost of the batteries is less because lithium lasts so much longer, and you can move them if you change RVs. We did just that. Solar on the other hand is not really cost effective. Fuel for a generator (if you already have one anyway) is much less expensive, but generators are noisy and at least somewhat smelly, so the solar is a convenience option for being off grid that I think is worth the money. Our current system would be roughly $9-10K to build from scratch with 1610 Watts of solar and 600 A-Hr of LiFePO4 battery. One could build your own battery bank and save a few thousand but I didn't want to do that so I paid extra (maybe) for someone else to put the battery bank together. I did all the installation work so there was no cash outlay but some time spent doing that.

[@1pilotsteve]

So did you just flash your Magnum for Lithium profile? And added solar? You must have put an MPPT controller and did you buy the blue power solar controller?

[@RV4X40com]

Magnum doesn't have a way to flash their controller in the field, and they no longer (as far as I know but that could have changed) offer to send controllers back to be updated. So I replaced the controller in order to get one that could be programmed for lithium. In the video I cover the two ways to set up a Magnum system for solar. And yes I have bought several solar controllers. The first one was too small, the second one that replaced it was fine but we traded RVs and I left that controller with the RV and moved the batteries to the new one. Then I added the 8 solar panels to this RV and added two separate Victron solar controllers to handle the power as two separate solar systems into the battery.

[@sajohnson33]

Hi Jim, Great job on the video, very informative. In fact, the information you provided was more complete than I got from a tech I spoke with at Magnum Energy/Sensata. My wife and I have a Winnebago View, with the same inverter/charger and remote that you have. Batteries are 2 Lion UT1300 LFP. I have the ME-ARC programmed the way you and Magnum recommend, but I keep getting high battery voltage fault codes when the BMS opens. I can see the spikes on the phone app for our Victron SmartShunt -- they are 17 to 18 volts. I am concerned that the spikes will damage the MS2000 inverter (if they haven't already). A few times the ATS in the MS2000 opened up (AC pass-through was shut off) -- all 120V loads were off for maybe 15 seconds. Needless to say, that's not normal behavior. Is it common to see the red LED on the ME-ARC flash and have a fault code created every time the BMS opens up? Do people routinely rely on the BMS to terminate charging? Another question is -- while Lion says each UT1300 can accept a 100A charge, and 50A each is ideal, when I set the MS2000 charger for 100A (50A each), the BMS opens almost immediately. They are nowhere near 100% SOC, and the garage the View is in is at about 50*F. Also, I found that the charge current displayed on the ME-ARC is always higher than the current shown by the SmartShunt -- unless I lower the charge rate to 50% (~50A). At that point the readings are the same. My theory is that maybe the BMS units have a way to shunt current around the cells -- that would be current flow that the SmartShunt cannot see. Ideally the MS2000 charger would behave the same with LiFePO4 batteries as it does with lead-acid -- pretty much set it and forget it. I gather there is no way to do that -- it is essentially a manual process with LFP batteries. Is that correct? Thank you!

[@RV4X40com]

You have a lot o questions but it sounds like something isn't right. All I have used are the Battle Born batteries but that shouldn't be any different. The behavior you are seeing is not what I see, at all. First, I am not sure what you mean about the "BMS opens". With the BB batteries I never see the internal BMS open the connection but I would guess that if the BMS in the battery is opening the circuit there would be an inductive "kick" in the charger that would cause a voltage spike. The BMS should only be opening if there is either a high input voltage or a current greater than the safety setting. Neither of those should occur in normal operation but would represent some form of fault and the BMS is trying to protect the battery from either a high input voltage or an excessive load current. My BB batteries have never shown me that operation in about 4 years of using them. As to the current readings, you have to take into account the inherent accuracy of the shunt and the metering system. Shunts are usually 1% but can be different and the meters are typically 2% but can be different. So if the readings are within something like 4-5% that can just be meter error. If they are much out of that range, I would check for a wiring error. The shunt for the load current should be between the negative of the battery and the chassis connection. But recognize that there are often loads that can be powered by the charger and the net energy to the battery will be less by whatever the external loads are. So if anything is on, then that current can be supplied by the charger and never get to the batteries. So it is common for the current reading on the Magnum to be higher by several amperes or even more due to the current going into the batteries is less than the total current coming out of the Magnum. My system is pretty much set and forget. I check it when running on solar just to keep an eye on it but when plugged in I rarely look at the display. From what you are saying, something isn't right with your system but it isn't obvious from what you have described. I would say start with a wiring diagram that shows all of the battery connections and see if that shows you something. Good luck. Jim

[@mtgjax]

Hi Jim! Great Video! We have similar systems, but I'm using 6 Briter Lithium Batteries. On your rig, what in the circuit does Chassis Ground tie into the Battery (- negative) side? At some point the negative side of your battery connects to Chassis Ground. My installer tied the Chassis Ground to one side the the BMK Shunt. and I'm wondering if that may be causing some oddities in my install. I also have 1200 watts of solar up on the roof. THanks for your time and thanks for making an awesome and concise video.

[@RV4X40com]

Sorry to be so late replying. For the BMK to read ALL of the vehicle grounds for the battery must be tied to the shunt and all of the other "grounds" tied to the chassis. That puts the small resistance of the shunt in the right place to give an accurate reading. Think of it as a channel for the electricity flowing into or out of the battery. The battery is on one side of the channel and everything else is on the other side so what the channel measures is flow into or out of the battery. There is a small drop due to the shunt, yes, but it is small enough to not be a problem if you use the right size shunt.

[@Auztone]

Very informative video. Thanks. One question: Any reason why you went with the Magnum ME-ARC50 over the ME-RC50? Did you need the functionality of the advance menus?

[@RV4X40com]

Two reasons: first the older version of the ME-RC50 would not work for the features I needed and upgrading the firmware is no longer an option. Second, while not essential the additional features are nice to have and the cost difference between the two isn't that much. I had to replace it anyway, so why not just spend the extra and get the better controller? At least, that was my thinking. Glad you liked the video,

[@Auztone]

@@RV4X40com Good points. I'm currently researching my Lithium setup and was told by Magnum that my current remote firmware version did not allow the use of Lithium batteries and that I would need to upgrade to at least the ME-RC50. But I agree with you. Not much difference in price and it's the better remote. Thanks!

[@coreybabcock2023]

I have to use the gel setting to get my 3p4s lifpo4 setup to charge 600 ah 12 cells total all for 480.00 and daly BMS and the magnum me2012 Jan 06 model

[@howardleonhard3064]

Which profile do you use the CC/CV or the Custom? Thanks

[@RV4X40com]

Both! Either way can be set up to work OK with lithium batteries.

[@BradLoehr]

Can I ask what version your inverter and controller are? Magnum has told me that I cannot charge LiFePO4 batteries with versions 5.8 and below for the inverter even though I have a custom setting on my version 3.4.

[@RV4X40com]

I don't remember the details, but I did have to swap out something on the Magnum device to bring it up to speed and I replaced the controller itself. Sorry I can't be more specific but it was a while back.

[@larrycoker3600]

Hello Jim, excellent video... I have the me-rc50 & ms2810inv/chg along with tri-metric tm2030 & sc2030 charger. I have always used 6v lead acid batteries but am in the process of going Litheum. [Your video explained a lot to me & it looks like I can program my ms2810 ok with what I’ve got. Please let me know what you think. Larry Coker & thanks again.

[@RV4X40com]

Should be able to. I've used two different Magnum inverter/chargers with Battle Born and no trouble.

[@larrycoker3600]

Thanks Jim

[@scottedwards2349]

Hi Jim, Our MS-2012 is version 3.7 firmware, so level 3......can you advise what version your unit is? The reason I ask is that some of the lithium functionality is not available until v 4 and above...... our controller is a ME-RC, I think this is part of my issue not being able to have proper settings. If you have V3.7 or lower firmware, i'll buy the ME-ARC and hopefully have better luck programming my unit. Right now, it will not maintain a set voltage.....I have to unplug the unit to reset it......frustrating. Thanks for your video. Scott

[@RV4X40com]

I don't remember all of the details, but I had to replace the controller in order to get all of the functionality. The limitations of using the older profiles was that it could get close to a full charge but not quite use the full capacity of the Lithium batteries.

[@mickielubic5152]

I can't seem to find a solid answer: Will four 12V Battleborn batteries wired in series work for my Magnum 4400W inverter/charger? I've been told not to wire lithium in series & the only way is to purchase a 48V battery. Please help! Thanks

[@MrJrusselltx]

My understanding is that limitation applies to SOME makes of lithium batteries. Also, my understanding is that Battleborn batteries can be used in series, but you should contact them directly to confirm this is still the case. Do not rely on just what I think but contact the manufacturer to be sure. Good luck.

[@chesleyrenater6158]

Thanks for the video ! Can the inverter be reset ? ours is showing it drawing amps and with nothing running ! I plan on calling Magnum manufacturer today.

[@RV4X40com]

Yes you can. Hold the ON/OFF button on the inverter for about 15 seconds. The green LED should start flashing rapidly and then you can release the button. Good luck.

[@chesleyrenater6158]

@@RV4X40com thanks 😊

[@juantellez7858]

Jim, how do I trigger a bulk charge cycle? It seems to.stay in float all the time.

[@RV4X40com]

If you look at the video at around 14:30 I cover how to use the Silent mode to let the batteries cycle down and then get into a recharge mode. Otherwise, if the float voltage is at 13.6 or so, it is above the output of the batteries and the system will never sense the need to recharge the batteries. The only other way is to cycle the AC input to the inverter. That always triggers a bulk charge cycle but isn't very convenient. Hope this helps

[@donboettcher8900]

@@RV4X40com unplugging to trigger a Bulk charge cycle only works with the newer revision Magnum remotes (revision 2.8 or above). The older remotes will only come back on in Float if the voltage is higher than approx. 12.6v.

[@brianbiggar144]

Is there a "set and forget" setup with LFP since I get the feeling that if I just let them charge up to 100% I might be doing potential damage to their lifespan.

[@RV4X40com]

The best I have found with the Magnum is to let it go into the rest state at the end of a charge cycle as described in the video. Then set the rebulk voltage to some level of discharge on the batteries. So long as the charger is in float mode I can't think of a way to do that and the batteries will sit there at what ever charge they have until they self discharge but you have no way of managing that.

[@brianbiggar144]

@@RV4X40com I should probably invest in a battery monitor to see what my battery draw and SOC is like with or off shore power. Help help me understand better what is going on. Still new at this though it is not rocket science to me. Still trying to figure what equipment I need before I decide on brands or models of the various pieces involved.

[@chesleyrenater6158]

Hey Jim, is it normal to have to reset your inverter?

[@RV4X40com]

Not that I have seen, but Magnum provides it as a function, so it shouldn't hurt it. It is possible that the settings will all revert to the defaults, so I would check that carefully after the reset.

[@chesleyrenater6158]

@@RV4X40com thanks , newbies in this RV world but we'll get it :-)

[@codyrod]

The new controllers have a preset for lithium, but the magnum is only charging to 13.6v. They need to be 14.4. Anyone have the same issue? What is the lfpo preset voltage supposed to be?? Can't get any help from magnum.

[@rodcoles]

I have the 2012-20b Inverter and I just bought the ME-ARC. I used the custom setting as the Lithium preset didn't appear. I set the Bulk to 14.4 and the float to 13.6. I let the rig discharge to below 50% and started charging. Gradually the voltage went up starting lower and it reached 14.2, not sure if it got to 14.4 as watch a battery charge is like watching paint dry. My limited understanding is that even though you are charging at 14.4 the final voltage will not be that, but more like 13.6.

[@wsgriffi]

Hey Jim, My Magnum Battery Monitor must not be the latest version. I have been using the lead acid setting and setting the voltage to the highest option available. It seems to work ok but I may need to but the latest version. Thanks for the info.

[@RV4X40com]

Yes, versions can be a problem. When I looked at the original Battle Born installation (there's an earlier video on that), I had the ME-RC controller (probably the most common since it is the lowest cost), I needed to update the control board in the inverter itself because it took a hardware upgrade but they were still updating firmware in the controllers. At the time it was going to cost about half the price of a new ME-ARC controller so I opted just to replace the controller. When I started digging into this for the video I found I also needed an update to the controller (2014 Phaeton built in 2013) but they no longer even offered that option due to Covid measures, so I just bought the ME-ARC, again (we traded RVs in November).