[Archived]

Hang on Thad, we’ll get Andre to jump in here..

[Archived]

Thad, A huge help would be if you were specific as to what voltage you don’t see. I ask because our coaches all have 120V AC power, the house has 12 or 24 VDC and the chassis has 12 and 24VDC.

Is there no voltage, or do you have voltage and it just is not being displayed? And is it strictly chassis, or does the chassis provide house voltage via the same alternator?

Have you checked with a meter?

The reason I ask is not because I can answer the questions (I have no Royale knowledge) but because specific information is required to help zero in on the answer.

[Gerald]

Thad,

Not sure which gauge you are referencing. There are 2 DC gauges above the driver seat on my coach. Number 1 only shows anything when the generator is running, which shows the alternator on the generator charging the generator start battery. Number 2 shows 14 volts all the time, which I think is the 12 volt side of the chassis battery bank. There is also an AMP meter that shows either a postive or negative number based on whether amps are going into or out of the house battery bank.

[Brady]

Ok, I will try to provide more information.

Per my owners manual information:

1. Prevost 12V/300 AMP 50 DN alternator. This alternator appears to be wired directly to the coach inverter system.

2. Additional 24V/75 AMP alternator for charging the coach engine batteries.

3. The gage that is not reading voltage is the far left overhead voltage gage, that I believe should read coach voltage (being a 12v gage I am not sure on this though). The generator gage does read correctly when the generator is running.

Last night I checked voltage on the 12V/300A alteranator and it showed 12.67V. The 24V/75A alternator showed zero. Also, the 24V lead going to the Vanner electrical monitor also showed zero, while the 12v lead did read 12.6V. I don’t know if this tells me anything, since the alternator may have to be excited in order to produce voltage.

Also, the voltage regulator led lights were blinking. The red light stayed on 3 sec, off for 1 sec. According to the literatature, this error indicated “Bat. Volts disconnected”. The green led light on 3sec, off 3sec. This indicates “On/Off inputs, Off”.

I am thinking that I have a definite chasis charging issue, possibly the alternator or regulator?

Hope this information helps. Thanks for the help.

Thad

[Archived]

Thad,

Output from both alternators should go to the batteries. But regardless of how Royale set your coach up here are some things you can check. With the engine running on high idle (be careful not to get tangled in the belts) the output on each alternator should be around 14 volts on the 50DN if it is a 12 volt alternator, and around 28 on the smaller 75 amp alternator.

Measure the voltage at the batteries if you are concerned about risk of entanglement..

If you want to go further you can check chassis voltages at the terminals on the Vanner but since you said nothing about a battery symbol lit on the dash, or a battery balance light my guess is your chassis alternator is working and the Vanner equalizer is also working.

Once you know what is really going on with your voltages at the batteries then you can shift the focus to determine what if anything is going on at the gauges.

[Archived]

Ok, when I turn the key on (before cranking the engine) the battery indicator light on the dash panel is lit, as well as the check engine light. After starting, they both turn off. I started the coach and set the RPM to high idle, turned on lights and A/C. I am reading zero voltage from the 24V/75A alternator. The the coach batteries show 26.6V at the jumpstart leads while runing. It seems to me that my alternator may be bad? That would also be why the Vanner 24V lead is also zero, maybe? My question would be, if the alternator is bad, then why does the coach start? Is there a 24V charger somewher powered by the shorepower that is keeping the batteries charged?

Thanks

Thad

[Archived]

If you’re getting 26.6 at the chassis batteries or jump lug, your alternator is working, but the voltage should be a little higher, maybe a regulator issue.

[AL]

my 2000 Royale has just two volt meters in the overhead panel just like Andres. One is shows the house battery voltage which his always in the 13 to14 volt range unless there is problem with the house battery bank. The other is the charging system for the gen start battery. My chassis voltage is the gauge in the dash from Prevost. I keep one inverter in the meter actual battery voltage mode so the house battery voltage shows the voltage in 1/10 of a volt. This allows me to monitor voltage very close. You have 2 alternators. One is 12 volt for the house batteries the other is 24 volt for the chassis. My Royale does not charge the chassis batteries unless the engine is running. I do have a Royale installed chassis battery charger that works from shore power or from the inverters. Royale says it is for emergency use only

[tom]

The key to the chassis voltage is not what it is reading as much as the reading prior to engine start and with the engine running.

If the voltage does not change from the not running to the running voltage then there is an issue.

What has me really, really confused is exactly what systems are you looking at? It sounds like you are not reading house voltage at a gauge, but then talk about chassis voltage. One very important thing an owner needs to know is what the gauges and warning lights are telling him and exactly what they are monitoring.

Please differentiate the voltages at each system, engine running and engine off so the first thing that can be determined is if the alternators are working. From the description of the warning lights on the dash it sounds like the chassis system is functioning as expected, but that likely has nothing to do with the gauge you described.

[Chris]

I am not an expert, but a past experience leads me to suggest that you check the chassis breakers (red pushbuttons in the right rear outside electrical cabinet and second/third bay left (on an H3, anyway). Push each and all in to assure yourself that they are closed and haven’t tripped. This can take a healthy push in some cases.

For what it’s worth, possibly less than two cents. Good luck.

[Archived]

Thanks Kenneth, I did check the circuit breakers, and found none tripped. After doing some more investigation, hopefully I can properly explain what I am experiencing to help determine the problem.

The gage that is not reading any voltage, is directly overheasd of the driver’s left shoulder (see pic below). None of the owner/operator information that I have say what voltage the gage is designed to read. So, I know that the engine voltage (24V) is shown on the drivers dash, the generator voltage is also above the driver (it is working), so that leaves the coach 12V gage that I am talking about that is not working. The 12V/300A alternator feeds directly to the coach battery/inverter compartment, to supply voltage to the coach systems while driving.

When I start the coach, this gage should show 12+ volts, but it does not. What I am trying to determine is why. Is it the gage itself? The 12v/300A alternator? A switch or fuse issue?

Here is a picture of the voltage gage (far left) in the picture below. This was taken with the gerator running.

Thanks once again for the help.

Thad

[Archived]

Thad,

I had a 97 Royale and I believe that gauge is house battery. It should come alive when you hit the master switch. Peter, do you remember?

So, if your inverters are on float, you should have 13.3 or close to that which would be your house battery voltage. If the engine is running and the alternator/regulator is working properly, that voltage may be high 13’s or low 14’s. If both of those are working, checked at the batteries, you have a gauge problem.

[Archived]

the gauge not showing anything should go active with starting the gen….the one showing voltage is the house and the gen reading does not go active until gen start.

[Archived]

Found the problem! I decided that there must be a problem with the gage. I traced the yellow wire feeding the coach voltage gage through the bundle of wires feeding all of the gages in the previous picture It fed into a plastic junction connector (not proper term i’m sure). The yellow wire had come out of the connector, and two others were very loose. I removed the connector pins on the loose wires and refastened them. Plugged it back in and everything worked correctly. I learned a lot about how my electrical system is wired and how it works during this process. I know I should have already had a better understanding of it, but better late than never.

Thanks for all of the help and insight from everyone that posted.

Thad

[Robert]

Jeff,

The one showing voltage was the gen, he had it running. Did you lose your glasses?