The MS2012 inverter charger by Magnum Energy is a โpureโ sine wave inverter, making it compatible with all A/C devices. These units were built to meet the most demanding environments. Whether it be in a mobile application, off-grid, or a power backup installation, the Magnum inverter charger can handle the job. This unit is arguably the most popular inverter charger used in RVs, so we decided to test it out with our Battle Born LiFePO4 batteries.
The Magnum MS2012 inverter charger will constantly monitor your battery banks voltage to ensure you are never without power. When first connected to a battery bank, the unit will go straight into a bulk charge which will rapidly bring the banks voltage up to 14.4 V. If using the optional Magnum remote, the user will be able to adjust to the desired voltage. Once the programmed voltage is reached, the charging will switch to an absorption stage to finish the charging cycle.
A main benefit of this charger is the remote, because it gives you complete control over the unit. As a user, you are able to set float voltage, low voltage cut offs, and many more parameters to ensure your battery is maintained in the best way possible.
The inverter side of the Magnum 2012 is as straight forward as it gets: connect your A/C line to the main distribution panel of the unit, and you are ready to go! Being a pure sine inverter, you have nothing to worry about when it comes to your electrical devices.
At Battle Born Batteries, we ran the unit numerous ways to fully understand how the inverter charger would work with our batteries. Our initial test was to simply turn the inverter on and see how low it would drain the batteries in its default settings.
In this test, we saw the voltage drop to 9.1 V before our BMS kicked off and interrupted the circuit. When using the charger side of this unit, we learned that if your battery bank falls below 5 v, the unit will detect a fault and not charge because a battery is not detected. To fix this issue, we recommend setting the low voltage cut off on the inverter to 11.5 volts or higher to ensure the inverter cuts off before the BMS activates in the battery.
If by chance your battery bank cuts off at low voltage and the inverter charger wonโt recharge, there are 2 simple fixes.
This issue does not exist in a system when a converter is used for charging. Keep in mind that when you set the low voltage cut off of the inverter charger to 11.5 volts (the point when your LiFePO4 batteries are empty), you will prevent this issue.
In our test, we saw the charger bring our batteries voltage up to 14.56 V, delivering roughly 38 A of current. Once it reached this point it dropped into a float mode slowly delivering less and less current.
Overall, this inverter charger works well with our batteries! However, we do highly recommend that the remote is purchased with the unit so the charging rates and battery status can be easily monitored and adjusted. Without the remote there is no other way to adjust the charging values or low voltage cut off.
Suggested adjustments
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37 thoughts on “Can I use a Magnum MS2012 with a Battle Born LiFePO4 Battery Bank?”
I have the auto generator start module (AGS) for my Magnum MS-2812.
What do you recommend the voltage setting be programmed to start the generator?
Thanks,
Ron
Ron,
Great question. We recommend that you start the generator between 11.5 and 11.8 volts. At this point you have drawn most of the power from the battery and you will not run into issues of your battery getting low enough for the BMS to shutdown. Please email us anytime [email protected] with more questions.
On the generator start question, can the battery bank be used to start the generator?
If so, is there a practical low voltage cut off that can be used and still allow the generator to start?
Duane,
Great question. As mentioned before, we recommend that you start the generator between 11.5 and 11.8 volts. At this point you have drawn most of the power from the battery and you will not run into issues of your battery getting low enough for the Battery Management System to shutdown. Please email us anytime [email protected] or call us at 855-292-2831 with more questions.
Thank you for a great product. As I prepare my 2018 Canyon Star with the MS2012 inverter for the Battle Born batteries by adding the ME-RC controller, is there anything else that is required before I install 4 of the 100 amp GC2 size batteries? Will the engine alternator be adequate for charging these batteries when on the road? The coach came with six 225 amp 6v batteries but two are in the engine compartment. I’ll forgo replacing the two in the engine compartment and just replace the four in the house battery tray. 400 amps should be adequate.
Hi Joe,
This all seems good but it would also be a good idea to add a Battery Isolation Manager (BIM) to your setup so the batteries aren’t pulling all the power from the alternator. This device regulates that by connecting for 15 minutes, and disconnecting for 20 minutes. It then repeats this cycle until the coach battery is charged. I will include a link to the BIM we have made for Lithium: https://battlebornbatteries.com/product/lifepo4-battery-isolation-manager/
If you have any other questions please let us know through here or give us a call: 855-292-2831.
Thank you!
Hello,
Back top my generator start question, not a low voltage start.
The batteries are not recommend for automotive engine starting purposes. What about RV generators?
Can I use a 5 x 100ah battery bank ( to start my RV generator (Onan 8KW QD) or do I need to supply a separate starting battery for the gen?
Was there an answer to this? I also start my gen from the house batteries, can the BB start the generator? It’s only a 400cc motor so I can’t think it would draw too much but I haven’t tested it.
Mark,
You will need to check the cranking requirements of your generator to see if it fits into the battle born discharge rates, they are(for 1 battery):
100 amps continuous
200 amps 30 second surge
higher loads for 1/2 second
Many customers have generators that require 450 cold cranking amps and they typically use 3 of our batteries for this.
Thank you,
While the 2012 efficiently chargers BB batteries when connected to shore power or when the generator is running my understanding is when driving the batteries are charged by the engine alternator. Is the charging profile of the alternator appropriate today BB batteries?
Hello Tayler,
You can set up the batteries to charge via the engine’s alternator, but you will need to consider some other components it doesn’t just automatically happen. What components we suggest would be based off of how many batteries you have. If you were to be charging 3 or more batteries off the alternator, they could pull too much power and cause the alternator to overheat. In that case we would recommend a battery isolation manager. We have one on our website that is specifically made for lithium batteries, it works on a duty cycle and will charge your lithium battery bank for 15 minutes then take 20 minutes off of charging. It is called the Li-Bim and is on our website under accessories if you would like to check it out.
When charging one or 2 batteries off of the alternator you want to be careful with how many amps your alternator is charging the battery with. For one battery you wouldn’t want anything over 50 amps for 2 batteries you wouldn’t want anything over 100amps, in this case we would recommend a battery to battery charger that limits the amps when charging your batteries. It also has a lithium setting so it will charge your batteries with the correct charging profile. We recommend the Sterling battery to battery chargers, those are on our website under battery chargers.
If you have any further questions, it might be easier to give us a call you can reach us at 855-292-2831.
Thank you!
Jodi
Hello Battle Born – I have 2 – 12v 100AH batteries in my RV which I purchased 1 1/2 years ago from you, they have been and continue to work great! I am charging with a Magnum MS2012 with the remote and have absorb set to 14.4V, float at 13.6V and equalize at 14.4V. I have not seen any discussion on the Absorb time setting for these chargers, can you please tell me the correct setting for this? Thank You
Hello Todd,
For absorption time you will want to set one half hour per battery. For example, if you had two batteries you would set your absorption time for one hour.
Jodi
I have 6- 100ah BBs. Do I need to worry about charging with the TV alternator if I’m full-time and running solar while driving? What about cloudy days?
Hi Lance,
Thanks for reaching out to us, we appreciate it.
Your alternator has the ability to charge the batteries at the right voltage. Weather or not you get a good charge is dependent on the wiring back to the lithium bank and possibly the existing isolator. Typically the mix of charging with alternator and solar at the same time is not a problem. The amperage from either source is ramped back when the battery gets close to full. On cloudy days you will get less amperage coming into the battery bank and alternator charging may become a better means of bringing the lithium batteries up to a full charge.
I hope this helps but please dont hesitate to get in touch with us by phone or email if we can help any further.
Thank you
Looking at programming my Magnum 2012 charger with ME-RC remote for my new 2×100 AH battle born batteries, I see there is a constant charge/ constant voltage (CC /CV) setting available. This mode allows for setting 1. Maxamps 2.Charge volts 3.End charge (either time or amps) , essentially turning off charger 4. Recharge (voltage low limit that will trigger charger to begin a new charge. Would there be an advantage to use these settings vs your recommended custom Absorb, Float and Equalize settings?
Hello John,
Both of the settings(custom or CC/CV) will get you the desired effect. For using the CC/CV settings: 1. Max amps will be the maximum you want the charger to supply(refer to the .5c charge rate), for your 200 AH bank it will be 100 amps. 2. Charged Volts should be 14.4 v. 3. End Charge, set this to 20 minutes per battery(40 minutes for your bank). 4. Recharge, you can set this to 13.4 volts and this will be when the bank reaches 90% SOC. If you would like the Recharge set lower you could go with 70% SOC with the voltage at 13.2v. With these settings you will not need to address the Float or equalize as they are disabled.
Thank you,
Thanks Dianne, Sorry, I forgot to ask; in the cc/cv setting ; what would you recommend for Max Time. Thanks
I’m using the magnum 1200 with the older remote and can’t set up a custom charge profile. Some folks are saying that I can use the Equalization for a couple of hours to get the batteries up to full charge. I have 2 100amp Battleborn LiFe04 batteries. Can I use the equalization mode to bring the batteries up to full charge and if so, for how long?
Hello Brian,
I haven’t seen this work around used for the 1000 watt series Magnums so I couldn’t tell you if it works properly. It would make sense that if the equalization is set to 14.4V then the batteries will charge. I spoke with Magnum recently and they confirmed that the MM series of 1000 watt inverters are not compatible with lithium charging as they don’t have the “brain power” in their boards to customize this, even when you have the remote. Just remember our parameters whenever you are attempting to charge these batteries:
Bulk/absorb 14.2V – 14.6V
float 13.6V or lower
No equalization(or set it to 14.4v), no temperature compensation and absorption time is 20 minutes per battery(if its an option).
Thank you,
I have the Ms 2012 inverter, me arc-50 remote, BMK and ags in my coach. With my current bank of 4 6v deep cycle batteries, I use SOC for stop and start parameters of ags. Start at 65%, stop at 90%. Can I use SOC with your batteries and if so, how low can I set the Start SOC.?
Hi David,
You can use the auto generator start parameters on the magnum inverter with our batteries. You can use all of the available amps in the battle born batteries without damaging the batteries. This means you can set the ags very low if you desire, 11.5 volts is about 3-5% full and 100% full is 13.6 volts.
I hope this helps, thanks!
I just replaced a Magnum ME2012 inverter charger for 4 Trojan 105s that are about 5 years old and probably near their ends of life. I use the remote for the Magnum. The Trojans are in the standard parallel-series arrangement and are 225 AH, for a total of about 400, or 200 for a 50% discharge. If buying the 100AH BBs, I would think that 2 would be adequate. Would I need to upgrade to the Magnum MS2012, too? Thank you.
Hi Jay,
Your ME2012 should have the available custom mode through the remote. If you set it to 14.4 volts for bulk/absorption and 13.6 for float, then it will work very well with our batteries.
Thanks,
Hi, I have 4 100 amp hour batteries (400 amps) and would like to use the CC/CV setting. I just called Magnum and they recommended it actually.
I have it set to charge at 14.4 and recharge/rebulk at 13.4. What I’m confused about is what the best method is for the “set CV charge done” setting. You can choose amps (and I’d have no idea what to set that at), time (you have said 20 minutes per battery, but Magnum thought it should be .1 hours or whatever the lowest setting is, and you can also choose “hold CV charge” and I have no idea what that means. I’d like to use the CC/CV setting but this step is tripping me up.
Thank you!
Hello Tyler,
If you would like to use the CC/CV setting for “set CV charge done” then you will want to set the “time” for 20 -30 minutes per battery. In your case 80 minutes is great.
Hope this helps, thanks!
Planning a small cabin system. Using a Outback FM60/150, Magnum MS2012, panals 2 x 330W (may add a 3rd), and 4 x 100 BB batteries. Do the BB batteries need to be fully charged before connecting in parallel or can the Outback FM60 or Magmun 2012 be used to charge them after they have been installled? IF the battery BMS should ever shut down the battery … what needs to be done to be able to reset / initiate charging.
Hi Stan, the batteries do not need to be fully charged when wired in parallel. With the properly programmed voltages the Magnum inverter and Outback solar charge controller can full charge and balance the newly installed batteries. If the BMS shuts the battery down it will in most cases need to be connected to a 12 volt source to jump the batteries back to a higher voltage.
“…. in most cases need to be connected to a 12 volt source to jump the batteries back to a higher voltage.” Is that as simple as attaching a charger to each battery to bring up the voltage and then let the MPPT finish the charge?
Hello – I have a Magnum ME2012 Inverter that is monitored through the RV’s interior LED control panel via the 2018 year Magnum RVC Bridge model ME-RVC. Magnum has a new 2020 release upgraded RVC Bridge that includes Lithium battery profiles. I have ordered a new set of Battle Born 4 battery install, do you recommend this an an upgrade that helps me keep the accessory controls intact such as AGS & BMK (Battery Monitor Kit)? If so, does this help the system in a worthwhile way? It appears the new RVC Bridge would be an easy plug & play swap.
Hi Robert, thank you for reaching out. The RVC bridge incorporates a CAN bus communication protocol and our batteries do not have CAN bus ports. You can reach out to Magnum to verify compatibility. Please let us know if you have any additional questions and have a great rest of your day.
We have A 24 volt Magnum 4024 with 2 x 50 Ah 24 volt Battle Borns. What settings would you suggest for this?
Hi Andrew, thanks for reaching out. I have passed along your contact information to our sales and tech team as they would like to make sure that you have a CSL in your system to ensure that your batteries do not get damaged from the high start up current needed.
Hello, I am in the process of swapping out my 4x6v Lead acid batteries as they are now end of life. My total bank was ~250 AH. If I understand the profile of your batteries, and the fact that I can use much more of the energy (in terms of SOC, down to 5%), is there way to calculate a comparable equivilent i.e. 2 12v 100AH batteries vs 3 12v 100AH batteries?
I am using the Magnum 2812 Inverter with ARC-50 controller, AGS and BMK shunt. Also, a BIM 225 (not the Li-BIM)
Hi Scott, our team always suggests sizing up with a battery bank. As your previous bank total was 250 AH, we suggest going with the 3 12V 100ah batteries that you suggested in your example. If you have any additional questions you can give our sales and tech team a call at 855-292-2831.
at one time you had the suggested settings for a Magnum with an ME-ARC/RC but now there is just a video…. it sure would be nice to have a chart that I can print out and have next to my Magnum for those times I am out of cell coverage… its far easier looking at a piece of paper in hand compared to a tiny phone and having to scroll…
Hi JR, thanks for your feedback. We strive to make sure that our information is best presented in a way that’s accessible to all. Our team can certainly look into creating a graphic that helps.