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Battery Balance
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Now you have me scratching my head. I have to look at my monitor to see if a power light is on.
Keeping up with these coaches is getting to be a challenge and when I can’t remember stuff it makes it worse.
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Jerry,
My 70D has light off with key off and on with key on, so maybe the power light coming on with key off is an indication the monitor is bad.
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I’m going to check that on mine. With the key off there should be no power to the monitor if it works as I suspect. If there is no power to it then there should be no light, and no way to light a dash indicator light. I will check the 12 and 24 volt inputs and report back.
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First, understand that in all my years of having coaches with the Vanner EM70 monitor I do not remember seeing or paying attention to an indicator light when the ignition was on or the engine was running. I looked at it today with the key off and the key on and in neither condition I had no power indicator light.
That does not mean my coach is the way things should be. It just means if I have a light it does not come on when the monitor should indicate power.
The PDF owners manual file shows an LED light so either mine does not work or something else is going on. http://www.vanner.com/manuals/EM70D.pdf
But I did take some checks. The 24 volt ignition circuit is hot when the key is on, and has no voltage when the key is off. That makes sense because that lets the monitor function and light dash indicator lights as necessary but only when the key is on.
If you get a power on light when the key is off, check to verify you have voltage or no voltage at the ignition input. If your ignition input is at zero volts with the key off, but the power light is on I do believe you have a problem with the monitor. If you do have input voltage, even with the key off the problem lies elsewhere, possibly at the ignition on relay in the rear electrical box. I would check that for continuity with the key off. The contact points may not be fully opening. Also check the coil for input voltage and if that does have power the problem could be in a number of places, including the key switch.
BTW, the most reliable of the monitors seems to have been the EM70D version, earlier models, especially the EM70A were not as reliable.
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Jon I have an easy solution to the fact that we count on you for all the Bus Knowledge that we need to know and concerning the different brands of conversions, just buy a different converstion every year that way we will all be covered and you can answer every possible question we could come up with. Right
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Sorry Buddy………..my role has been clearly defined. I am supposed to be the long term owner and Tom is the one that has a new Dodge in his garage annually.
I heard his bus garage is wide enough in the new house for him to extend the slides and still be able to walk around the coach. Stay tuned.
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That way if Nancy kicks him out of the house he can go to the dog house.
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I verified again, LED power light is off when the key is off, and on with the key on. This also matches the other monitor for the House batteries. It operates the same way. So, my switch is working to produce 24v or not.
Jon, hoping your LED power light may be just burned out, or, you may not have a properly working monitor. My faulty one was definitely not working properly, and with the Power light on all the time.
Do you have one for the house batteries, if so, does the light work on that one?
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FYI – the little LED light is impossible to see unless you have a good view of the side of the monitor. It’s also recessed making it even harder to see.
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My monitor is mounted vertically and if it has a light it points down. I specifically looked for the light and could see none. If my other coach had one I never saw that one either. But on the last coach I never looked for one.
I am sure if the light was on your monitor when the key was off it is definiitely a sign of a defective monitor because only with 24 volt ignition input should that light be on.
FWIW, if I get any indicator light on the dash such as balance or hi or lo voltage my first response is to look at the gauges. If the gauges do not show an issue I pull into the first safe stopping spot and using my tester I check all input voltages. If they are within the proper range I disconnect the output wire to turn off the indicator light and at my earliest opportunity I order a new monitor.
If on the other hand the monitor is showing a true problem then the next action will be to deal with the issue. I will not drive without knowing if I have a problem and without determining if I can safely drive or if I have to deal with the problem.
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Jerry,
If I have a monitor for the house electrical system I am not aware of it. I do have a 12/24 volt house and one serious shortcoming is I really do not have a good way to verify I have battery balance. It uses a Vanner equalizer which is not safely accessible on the side of the road. I have only the ability to measure voltages at the electric buss bars for the house DC electrical system, but I just don’t do that routinely, and likely never will unless a problem emerges.
I just don’t know how I will be aware of a problem unless something pukes unless I add some gauges or digital readouts of the 12 and 24 volt systems at the house batteries. Sounds like a good project for my bus bucket list.
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I couldn’t see my power light either, at first, the only way I saw it, was, I unbolted the monitor from the wall before I unplugged the wires so I could get to them easier. When I turned it around, I saw the light on. Then I looked at the one for my house batteries with a mirror, and it was off. Like Tom said, it is very hard to see even when it is on, unless it is right in front of you.
Below in the picture, you can see on the top left of my panel, Featherlite installed a “BAT LOW, BAT BAL, and BAT HIGH” light in the annunciator panel, for the House batteries.
I didn’t know what those were for until I read in the Featherlite/Vantare manual one day.
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