Foretravel Owners' Forum

Does anyone know of a provider for the Power Monitor modification shown on the forum ? To shakey any more to do it myself.

Are you talking about the green bulb replacement?  If so, where are you located?  There might be a Fofum in your area who's familiar/has done theirs and might be able to help out.

I am in the process of having mine done in  Georgetown TX  http://www.georgetowntvandaudio.com (http://www.georgetowntvandaudio.com)  I took all the info on the forum and copies of the pictures to the guy and he said he would be glad to do it. I am waiting on the bulbs now. I will post an update when it i complete

Thanks for the replies, looking forward to the update.

I'm located at the SKP park in Livingston, TX

Well bad news, all spectrum electronics called this afternoon and said they do not have any more green bulbs and did not expect to have any in the future. So I have decided to order white bulbs and see how they do. More updates to follow.

Neon Lamp, NE-2G, 6x12, 60mm leads, GREEN NE-2G-6x12x60 - All Spectrum (http://www.allspectrum.com/store/neon-lamp-ne-2g-6x12-60mm-leads-green-p-127.html)

Are these the ones they say are discontinued? I ordered some not long ago and they had plenty.

Mark

Yes that is the one. I ordered some two weeks ago and by mistake ordered one instead of four and it came right away. I as ordering the other three and that's what they called about. I'm going to reorder today and see what happens

Over on Barry Beam's site Dick Mason reported in the link to his blog...

"AC Power Monitor

Foretravel supplies an AC monitor panel in all their motorhomes.  This panel contains two digital AC voltmeters and two sets of neon bulbs to verify correct connections to the campground pedestal.  In normal usage, where all connections are correct, each bank displays 2 green lights and no red lights.  By the time the rig was about 2 1/2 years old, the green neon lights were flickering fairly badly, and would not light at all at low line voltages.  Foretravel replaced the monitor on warranty, but warned that "they all tend to do that".

Not wanting to have them fail again, I opened the monitor and replaced the light bulb series resistors with ones 10 times the resistance.  If I remember correctly, they were 47k and I changed them to 470k.  This reduced the intensity somewhat, but they are still plenty bright.  Their life should now be extended by a large factor.  It is now over two years after making this change and the lights are still rock solid.

Note of 3/25/12

It is now almost 10 years since replacing the resistors in the monitor and the lights are still bright and flikker free.  I highly recommend increasing these resistor values as most other Foretravel owners are reporting failure of these light in less than 3 years!  The ForeForums had a very extensive thread on this subject a couple years ago.  I have included a couple of my posts on this subject here:  Both were written on June 15, 2010.

First Post:

Hi all,

I finally found a source for the ne-2g bulbs for our power line monitors!  It is All Spectrum Electronics in Van Nuys, CA (http://www.allspectrum.com (http://www.allspectrum.com)).  Under the topic of NEON LAMPS they list about 10 different size and lead length combinations of the green bulbs.  I would have to open my monitor and measure the existing bulbs to verify the correct one.  Prices run around $0.50 each, varying a little by exact bulb.

Dick


Seacond Post:
OK,  I went out and pulled my monitor out and opened it up.

The steps to open it are:
1  Remove front panel from electrical box - 4 screws
2  Unplug 2 cables from front panel to power supplies
3  Remove 4 hex nuts and remove board from front panel

The 4  NE-2G green bulbs are 6 x 12 mm.  There are also 2 plain NE-2 (amber) 6 x 12 mm bulbs for the open ground indication.  I didn't touch the circuit of these 2 bulbs as they are almost never (hopefully!) lit, and should last forever.

I replaced the original series resistors with 470k for long life and not too dim a bulb for the 4 green bulbs.  Before you change these resistors, you should follow the traces and verify that your board layout is the same as mine (2000 U-270).

The attached photo shows these as well as the adjusting pots to calibrate your volt meters.  Just be careful of the high voltage, both as for shorting anything while it is hot, and coming into personal contact with any high voltages!

Dick"

I checked the link for buls and they have the green ones.

http://www.allspectrum.com (http://www.allspectrum.com)

All Spectrum Electronics - Hobby Kits and Electronics Supply (http://www.allspectrum.com/store/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=Ne-2g&x=0&y=0)

Good idea to change resistors as well for long life.

Thanks Dick.

Out of stock.

Here's a link to the original thread Dick references.  He has a couple of other possible bulb options in the thread

Power Line Monitor Is On The Fritz (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=9866.msg44592#msg44592)

Bulbs in Dick's link have a 1 week lead time but they still carry them.

Thanks Michelle for the original link, I couldn't find it.

Roger

OK, I reordered the green bulbs and they just called and said again that they are not available and they don't think they will carry them anymore.. I asked about the one week lead time shown on their web site and was told that it was wrong that it should show discontinued as several of the others do.  I am replacing mine with white ones which they do have in stock.

white bulbs and some green nail polish may do the trick.

Daft as it may sound they make paint to put on light bulbs.  I believe craft stores carry it.

Years ago it was impossible to find PAR bulbs that were green.  Here around Chicago fire apparatus has one green and one red light on the front.  It come from a tradition long ago when Albert Goodrich, who's family operated the Goodrich steamship line, became Fire Commissioner.  He equipped each piece with port and starboard running lights.  All our apparatus followed the tradition.  I had to find green bulbs to keep them happy.  That's how I know.

Keith

Don't see a problem using white bulbs. I understand the open grnd, & common, what do the green indicate ?

Green = OK.  The locations of the green bulbs are the "everything's ok" you WANT to see lit up, so a quick glance over to see the 4 green lights on the right side let's you know it's ok.

The other locations use amber lights to indicate "warning" because they correspond to problems (although the green ones may also be lit at the same time, depending on the issue being indicated).

Wonder if these could substitute for the NE-2G ?

LED - 120V AC Green - Blue Sea Systems (https://www.bluesea.com/products/8034/LED_-_120V_AC_Green)

I too have considered using leds. The main difference is that neon lamps will only glow if the voltage is approximately correct. Leds will emit light at low levels with voltages far below normal. This st probably a moot point since there are voltmeter on the same monitor.

I think I have talked myself into switching to leds.

Great idea, keep us posted on the details.

Michelle's picture of her Powerline Monitor Display reminded me that hers is different than mine. The monitor is the same, but when I am plugged into a 50 amp shore connection, my display only shows line 2, which is about 125 volts. There is no display for line 1; I do not remember what the parity displays showed.
 
I suspect that Line 1 and Line 2 are the two 120 volt circuits that make up the two legs of the 50 amp circuit. Furthermore, I assume that they have some relationship to the Leg 1 and Leg 2 circuits shown on the wiring diagrams. At first, I thought that only one of those circuits is getting through my power cord, but that cannot be. I am getting power to some of the systems that are on each of the legs.
 
The recent discussions in this thread talked about opening up the display showed the internal wiring. My thinking now is that maybe one of those wires to the monitor display has come loose (always an optimist). Before I go the the trouble of removing the monitor panel, are there any particular tests I could run to verify that should be my next step?
 
I have now owned this coach for almost four months. It is stored (outside) for the winter and I have a lot of things to take care of. One of the first is to provide a 50 amp outlet to plug into. Would like to get this monitor discrepancy fixed first.

I appreciate any guidance that anyone is willing to provide.
 
Thanks,
 
Trent

 

Yes,  line 1 and line 2 are the two legs of the 50A service,  and connect individually to the two receptacles in a duplex outlet behind the power monitor. If both sockets are hot and both plugs from the monitor are plugged in,  then something is not working within the monitor itself or one of its plugs or cords.

If all checks out as Tom suggests (making sure both Powerline monitor plugs are plugged in), check the breakers in the main box at the foot of the bed.  There are 2 circuits, one on each leg, that have the Powerline monitor connections (in addition to other things).  Make sure they are both on.  If one is off, the display for that leg will be blank.

ETA - one of our legs is on the block heater breaker and nothing else is on that breaker.

One other possibility is that the connection inside the Powerline monitor has come unplugged, but check the other things first.

Final up date on bulb replacement on power line monitor panel. I re installed my panel today and am very happy with the white bulbs. They are actually a light bluish color often seen in "white" LED bulbs. I found that there is a small shield around each bulb and I was unable to get a couple of them centered as well as I would have liked but time and the going feeling that I was going to break something else made me stop. You can see in the pics that they appear irregularly shaped but the overall results were positive. Also there was a lot extra wire coiled behind the panel which made it very to get the entire assembly out where you can work on it. Thanks FOT.

Whoops wrong pics stand by

These my work better. Any way, it was a really easy project Detleff Knoll at Georgetown TV did the hard part, removing and soldering them in for $25. Dropped them off Monday afternoon and picked them up Tuesday morning. That's great service in my book.

Actually, they are totally consistent with the parity legend, which uses white dots!
 
Trent

Where can I go online to buy a new powerline monitor?  Mine shows line 1 & line 2

Why do you think you need a new one?  As you can see in the previous threads you can replace the green lights and the voltage readings are adjustable via pots on the board inside the Powerline module.  I just replaced my green lights in January and adjusted the voltage readouts.  It was very easy to do.  Powerline has been working great since.

I removed OEM Powerline monitor and it went to another Forum member.  The correctness of the landline connection is probably better checked by an  Progressive Industries 50 amp EMS Either internal or external or a similar one This will prevent hooking up to a miswired post.

Getting a handle on power use, battery state, volts, amps in and out is much more accurate with a Victron BMV 712 or s similar one.

I added two adjustable digital voltmeters plugged into line one and two To keep track of line voltage.

Lots of ways to do this.

My understanding is that the monitor was only on one line. 

Installed a blue seas M2 gauge instead and ran the second line from the bathroom plug then in the China cabinet bottom then to the monitor panel location. 

Shows both lines voltage, amps and hertz.  Adjustable audible alarms

M2 AC Multimeter - Blue Sea Systems (https://www.bluesea.com/products/1838)

There is a duplex outlet (in my coach) behind where the powerline was located. One recepticle was line 1, the other was line 2.  The digital volt meters are about $10 each.  $350 for the Blue Sea solution above.  If you have a progressive dynamics EMS you know what you need to know and are protected as well.  Lots of ways to do this.

my 97 had only one line in the area.  Powerwatch only read one line.  Wanted the audible alarms and the hertz to help adjust the gens rpms and as a diagnostic tool.

Seems Foretravel ran both circuits into the area by 2001.

OLED screen is adjustable and can be set to auto off to save its 1 watt at full brightness and .3 watt at the lowest  brightness

Visible in direct sunlight as the digits are yellow on a black background although I think that is reversible.

For sure marine grade quality is more money.  Assembled in USA also

For the frugal this store has the unit at $249 with free shipping

M2 AC Digital Multimeter (https://www.marinepartssource.com/monitor-1838)

Seems cheap enough especially for those who have near $10CB's power  systems?