[Dick]

I bought one a while back and cannot remember where. The internet is a good place to start. I’m sure Prevost will sell one, but you need to check prices.

[Archived]

Jon wrote: “I think your vintage will have a fuse on the bottom of the equalizer.”

If that is the case, it will be in a position that is almost impossible to get at without taking thing off the bulkhead. Just looked, don’t look like there is a fuse on the thing.

Didn’t think about the DDEC.

Vanner Voltmaster, Mod 65-100 Rev C, Serial Number 01122-065508

Help me understand how this thing works. The 24 volt DN50 alternator (or maybe the voltage regulator) on the engine provide 24 volts of power into chassis battery bank. According to the numbers I’m gettting from the bottom of the Equalizer and the connections to the Vanner Monitor, the 24 volt is “OK”.

Then does the Equalizer step-down the voltage from 24volts to 12 volts for the 12 volt components on the chassis? If that is the case, the numbers I’ve getting from the bottom of the Equalizer for the 12 volt side are not correct, hence there is a problem with the Equalizer and it needs to be replaced?

Do I have this right?

[Archived]

If you’re looking for a Vanner Monitor, I bought one this past spring from the Inverter Service Center in Tennessee. I think it was $93 plus tax and shipping. They advertise on PC web site.

That said … I realize the monitor on our coach was probably original from 1997 or 1998 so the technology is almost 20 years old. When I replaced the Monitor this spring after it melted down (see another thread on the topic) I was frustrated that the replacement Monitor was not much different than the original one. Had I been designing it, I would have designed with LEDs for each input and output so you know what is working and what isn’t. There are both “HI” and “LOW” voltage outputs, but when Liberty puts the light on the dash it is a “HI/LOW” light. Having an LED on the outputs at the Monitor would enable the “us” (who pay the bills around here!) to quickly see what kind of a problem we have. There is an LED on the Monitor to indicate it has power, but its located in a manner that if you mount the Monitor on a bulkhead with the labeling so you can see it (terminals down) you need a mirror to see the light! If the LEDs were on the face of the Monitor it would be nice if the LEDs output terminals (which don’t exist at this time) would blink red if they were sending a signal to the light. Then we could easily see there is a problem.

Now with this experience I’ve had, why aren’t there digital readouts on the Equalizer and/or the Monitor letting us instantly know what the status is of the batteries? This creates value for the user. Would probably prompt owners of older coaches to upgrade their Equalizer and/or Monitor to get the current features.

Now I’m looking to replace the Equalizer and see there at apparently lots of different devices for monitoring voltage, etc. on the Inverter Service Center web site. One vendor is Blue Sea Systems, which I presume comes from the nice boat/yachting world. Some of these have digital readouts.

[Archived]

After hearding the Vanner Equalizer on-line manual, I decided to check the voltages.

The results are copied and pasted below, I’ll try to attached a PDF of the readings. I notice with the engine on, Batts #3 and #4 are at 15.7volts and a pairing giving 24 volts is at 28.3. Those seem high to me intuitively. I used a Klein CL1000 to take the readings:

7/6/2015	Karth	98 XLV
Batt#	EngOff	EngOn (Hi Idle)
1	12.38	12.59
2	12.38	12.59
3	12.84	15.7
4	12.84	15.7
#1N-#1P	12.38	12.59
#1N-#2P	12.38	12.57
#1N-#3P	25.23	28.3
#1N-#4P	25.23	28.3
#2N-#1P	12.38	12.54
#2N-#2P	12.38	12.54
#2N-#3P	25.23	28.3
#2N-#4P	25.23	28.3
#3N-#1P		00
#3N-#2P		00
#3N-#3P		15.70
#3N-#4P		15.70
#4N-#1P		00
#4N-#2P		00
#4N-#3P		15.70
#4N-#4P		15.70

[Archived]

Stop charging the batteries with the engine. If you haven’t damaged them, you will.

[AL]

Have you separated the batteries and checked them disconnected. You may have one or more batteries with a bad cell.