I installed a MultiPlus 12/3000/120-50 a little over a year ago in my RV, connected to a 315AH Lithionics battery. It has worked flawlessly in that time.
However, very recently, I noticed a strong "hot PC board" smell but ONLY when charging the battery, NOT when supplying a greater AC load through the inverter.
The conditions in my tests were:
- approx. 1600W of AC current through the inverter - no smell.
- 1200W of DC current when charging the battery - smell
- Those loads were applied separately for my test (well below the 2400W spec).
- The charge current is set to 90A (my shunt showed 87-89)
- The smell was ONLY emitted for the charging load and came from behind the PC board (out the top of the unit).
- There were no abnormally high temps obvserved externally (as measured with an IR gun), nor was there any smoke whatsoever, just a strong "hot PC board" smell.
As I said, the system only started this recently after a year+ of similar conditions, so it isn't a coating 'burning off' that a new unit might exhibit.
Has anyone else observed this smell? The unit is still working flawlessly...charging and going through the 3 charge phases as it always has, inverting when needed, and transferring shore power when connected, and assisting shore power when needed. Once the charging has completed, the smell subsides.
Thank you for any guidance or insight.
- Jim
