I have searched the forums old archives and never found out if the voltage monitor that displays line 1 and line 2 is anything more than a voltage gauge. The one thats in the coach we just bought has not worked in that the voltages just float around on one and read zero on the other. I removed the face an can see it had lights at one time that are all burned out. There is plenty of information on the forum about changing resisters and the bulbs, but nothing about what the monitor does other than show line voltages and light up bulbs if there is a problem. I could not find a replacement board on the internet nor anything that showed both lines voltages. What has anyone done to replace this device?
The motorhome is a 1999 U320
If yours is like mine then behind that voltage monitor panet there is a duplex outlet.. Leg 1 is plugged into one outlet and leg 2 into the other. When mine went a bit wonky I unplugged them for a bit and plugged them back in. Then they worked. If one leg is on and one is off then check your circuit bepreakers at the foot of the bed. Right side bottom breaker powers leg 2 to the meter.
I Added a couple of panel volt meters in the same area that connect to the same outlets. They now all work.
Roger, I read about that plug on the search I did. It stopped the random numbers but now both lines read one. Reading the voltage behind the face shows 124 volts on both lines. The circuit board shows signs of the transformers inside getting very hot at one time. Everything works on the coach now the Xantrex reads fine also. I was hoping to find something that would show both lines as this one did at one time and fit in the cabinet.
Thank's to Krush for the information, I had mine rebuilt at Generator & RV Controls Repair and Replacements, Engine Monitoring, Idle... (http://www.flightsystems.com) they troubleshot the unit for no charge and completely rebuilt the unit for $150.00. Now I have all the LED'S working again. If it is electronic they can fix it. David
Early analog 120 VAC monitors are very different from the digital "two hots" monitors on later coaches.
And, Mike, your battery monitor on forward wall of refrigerator is custom to your coach.
These monitors are for my a/c inputs The Xantrex monitor reads the house batteries and my dash volt meter is the only thing that reads the starter batteries.
Did you have to send them the whole assembly or just the circuit board with the led's
It is the control panel of the Xantrex 3000 inverter charger.
I unplugged removed 4 screws and sent the entire unit wrapped in bubble plastic. As I recall turnaround time was 10 days or so. David
Xantrex is the manufacturer of your smart charger and monitor: http://www.xantrex.com/documents/Discontinued-Products/TC20_40%28445-0050-01-01_Rev-A%29.pdf
You should have the manual on it.
I am confused. Did Mike delete one or more posts? The picture of his monitor is not in the list of recent attachments anymore, either (although that might be a system function when a message is deleted?).
I was interested because I thought I had seen one of those monitors on eBay, but not associated with Foretravel IIRC.
Trent
Craneman, Trent,
I ran out to the barn, well "ran" might not exactly describe it, but here are pictures of my power monitor and the two digital volt meters I installed. This was after my original meters started reading in the 140-160 range. So I pulled the panel, added the two new meters, plugged everything back in and original meters started reading in the range they should and the new meters worked as well. The actual voltage (DVM) is always between the two sets, both of which are adjustable so that if I needed to I could make them read what the DVM voltage but why. Terrible pictures, sorry
Volt meters came from China, $10-$12 each.
The panel to the left of the Powerline Monitor is the Inverter/Charger control and display panel.
Those bulbs have been problematic. On mine, the center column (important in seeing a "Correct" indicator) are very dim and seem to be blinking rapidly. They look different in a photograph. The attachment shows a picture of mine from some time ago. The right column shows as white in the picture but looks green in person. The middle column shows as dim green in the photo; in person, it looks like a very dim, rapidly flashing green.
The best fix I have seen is replacing the bulbs with LED's. There may be a write-up about it in an old message thread or on Barry Beam's sight, but I am not sure. I do not recall who posted the article and pictures. The second picture shows the PLM after replacing the bulbs with LED.s; the owner is invited to identify themselves.
Hope this helps explain the problem and some clues to the fix.
Trent
Thanks, Mike -- color me no longer confused. Well no more than usual, anyway. :)
Trent
Prior to LEDs, there was Dick Mason who posted years ago and here are our photos following his method
Power Line Monitor Is On The Fritz (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=9866.msg49711#msg49711)
One owner of the LED version is falconguy
FT Power Monitor (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=23208.msg180745#msg180745)
When they rebuilt mine all bulbs were replaced with LED'S. David
These lights are just indicating correct polarity or what part of the connection is wrong. If you have an Progressive Industries EMS power line connection protection any of those faults will prevent connection and be shown on the ems panel and if these small lights on the PowerLine Monitor don't work or don't work well it really doesn't matter.
If the volt meter part doesn't work then a good set of voltmeters will tell you the same thing.
About five years ago, I also did the Dick Mason upgrade/repair, change some resisters, all lamps, and calibrate the 2 voltage LCD.
Worked like a champ ever since, is very easy if you do small printed circuit boards, solder sucker/wick etc.
When you say the entire unit are you referring to just the board that unplugs from the part that is wired into the square box? It has two plugs.
CM, I think they are talking about the panel labeled Power Line Monitor as shown in the pictures. In your 1999 there may be something different. If your voltage displays are not working they may not be repairable, the character displays are built into the circuit boards.
Mine is the same as in your picture and Tulsa Trents. I am just trying to find out how much of the monitor has to be removed to send in for the repair. There is the display board which is easy to remove and the whole assembly with the transformers which requires removing hard wires and removing the conduit box. The voltage display is only showing one on both lines and if that cannot be repaired, just getting the polarity lights to work would not be worth it. I will call the company suggested on Monday and get more information. I guess the one question that remains is, does this device do anything else other than show voltage and polarity?
CM, I do not think it does anything else other than indicate correct (or incorrect) polarity on each leg and the voltage on each leg. Panel mount volt meters will show voltage.
My question, as well. Right now, with only three overheads on, ours shows 13.4/13.7 on both sides. The middle shows the total charge current at 10, variable. I can observe the up and down movement as we run more lights and see it wiggle around charging, also after we've been off shore power. We've a another monitor that shows incoming & polarity. I sure hope everyone has this sort of lash-up, it's more fun watching it than t.v.!
Mike,
Left one is monitor for both batteries (should have paperwork showing which is battery one and which is battery two). If not, turn off breaker for charger and use 12 VDC for a couple of hours. Turn it back on. The house bank will read less initial voltage.
Middle one is 120 VAC polarity/ground and voltage
Right one is your smart charger
Update, monitor repaired by Flight Systems in and working
Funny that should come up again today.
I happened to be out in Ducky and checked the PLM. Line 1 read "1" as usual. Line 2, which is usually between 124-126 was jumping between 167 and 174. After several seconds of observation and it kept on jumping like that, I went and turned off the circuit breaker in the house.
What next?
Thanks for any guidance,
Trent
The obvious, use a voltmeter to check the accuracy of the line monitor
How much dough at Flight Systems?
Thanks.
I'll be on it when get back to home base, or stop in Mechanicsburg, PA on our way to New England this summer.
Glad to hear they helped another FT family member. They've always been great to me.
I checked both main breaker panels and got about 121 volts on all four lines on the left panel, and all four lines on the right panel. (Two separate panels at the foot of the bed with a 50 amp "main breaker."
I did the check after turning the circuit breaker to my 50 amp shore power plug back on. While doing these checks the PLM output for my line 2 remained at 167 volts. Sounds like I better be giving Flight Systems a call.
Anybody got any other things I should check?
Thanks,
Trent
Mine was showing very high voltage too on one leg. 1 on the other, then 1 on both legs. From searches on the forum I found Flight Systems. Other members had similar issues and used Flight Systems to do the repair.
Trent, my voltage readings went way high one day, kind of scary. Read the same on generator or landline. Tested voltages with the DVM. About 120 where expected. The problem did not go away until I removed the panel so that I could install two new panel mounted volt meters. I had to unplug the line monitor from the duplex outlet. When I plugged them back in they read back in the 120 range. Simple fix with no reason why it worked but it did. Did you try this?
Line monitor reads about 2 volts more than the DVM which reads about 2 volts more than the two new panel meters. They are all adjustable but which is more accurate? Fine as is. More cool lights to impress visitors.
I've always used one of these in the past;
(https://1510365blog.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/how-to-check-electrical-receptacle-polarity-2.jpg)
I have a couple of these, they give no voltage information but they do help detecting with wiring errors. They only tell you about polarity on the leg that the outlet you plug it into is connected to. Find an outlet on each leg and check them both.
Roger,
No, but I definitely will tomorrow.
(Sounds like Alt-Ctrl-Delete on my computer, or a Power-Off-Reset on my DVR or my router.)
Some times you just need hit the electrons with a virtual 2" x 4"!
Thanks,
Trent
This is the same as our home-made inexpensive RV electric hookup checker. We use it before every hookup. It also lets us know our 50-amp outlet is 220-volts or just the same 110-volt leg.
This month we are plugged into a campground 50-amp outlet that is not 220-volts. Both 50-amp breakers must be cabled to the same underground hot wire. Voltages are good and our neutral will not be overloaded if we keep our total coach load below 50 amps, which is quite easy for us.
Good news. I have been very satisfied with their work and customer communication. David