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Generator Watchdog ?
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Rocky,
What ended up being the problem with your “watchdog”? I have a 1995 Liberty that I have had problems with… stop control module shorted out on the generator… replaced it… now the fuses in the little black box on the “watchdog” keep shorting out when replaced… where did you have to go to have the “watchdog” serviced? Is an upgrade available for the “watchdog” on the older Coaches?
Dewey
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Dewey,
I thought I had a problem with My Watchdog. But turns out it was working fine and doing its job. I had to unplug the watchdog and follow the By-Pass directions in the side bay ( Generator start Box ) in orderto get My Generator to run. Unplug the ribbon Cable that plugs into the bottom of the watchdog. Open the Control box and look for a small slide switch and slide to run. Then there are 2 red push buttons , One for Warm up, Which warms the Glow plugs in the Generator, And one for Start. Hold the warm up button for 20 seconds , Then push down the start. Generator should start.
My oil pressure sendind unit had a leak around it where it screws into block. Back top right facing Generator. Once that was replaced , My Watchdog has worked fine.
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The Watchdog is a proprietary device that plays a part in the generator auto start cycle, but also monitors the generator and will shut it down if it has a problem with oil pressure or coolant temperature, etc.
Liberty is excellent at telephone assistance. Call them and they should be able to walk you through the diagnostics. In fact as part of your list of important phone numbers you should keep a list of phone numbers for the Liberty folks. They will help in any way they can.
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THANKS… I can by-pass the control box but when I get everything repaired or think I do… plugging the ribbon cable back in blows the fuse in that little black box… I had contacted Troy in Stuart who turned me on to Bill in Chicago… who is out on tour… I have the 17.5K Power Tech and am finding limited resources in my area to service this generator.
Dewey
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If everything is OK when you remove the Watchdog from the circuit, but you blow fuses when it is reconnected it sure points towards the Watchdog as the source of the problem.
You will be in good hands with Bill.
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We were in Texas a week before the rally and missed him… we will wait for him to get back. Troy said he was the man! Now that we are on-line we will try to keep up where everthing is happen’
The “watchdog” is what Ryan in Princeton, TX was thinking as well… he pointed me towards Liberty and Troy and Bill.
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Some EMS units do monitor and respond to open neutral–it’s not hard. Here’s one such unit: http://www.progressiveindustries.net/ems_hw50c.htm This will protect your coach from problems that originate from the power pedestal towards the commercial power source. I installed a fixed unit on the output of the transfer switch moving the point of protection further into the coach. The best place to install one of these is at the enterance to your coach’s AC power panel.
I think someone said that a transfer switch picks the input with the most current capability. If so, I’ve never seen one and it would be hard, if not impossible, to measure any differences from a 50A commercial input and say a 40A generator input. The transfer switches I’ve seen always provide priority to the generator input over commercial power and is based on the physical input not the quality of the power. The transfer switches I’ve seen also have a delay circuit on the generator input to allow the generator to stabilize.
Back to the main topic–is the watchdog unit Liberty specific and not supplied by PowerTech? If a PowerTech product, give them a call.
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Watchdog is a proprietary Liberty device. Unfortunately when it fails there are only two options. Remove it and manualy start the generator using the procedure Liberty outlines on a placard, or have Liberty provide a repair or replacement.
Back in the good old days of our first coach if a person had a WW Grainger catalog everything could be repaired or replaced. But back in the good old days the coaches were nowhere near as capable as they are today.
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I am not old enough to remember the “good ole days”.
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Yes you are. But you married a much younger woman.
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my Watchdog appears not to be getting power. I tried the reset but it was not tripped. Any suggestions as to why it may not be getting power or as to where there may be a fuse?
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Mark….you are treading on a slippery slope. If you suspect the Watchdog has failed you can disconnect it and manually run the generator. I believe it has an internal fuse, but if you start messing with it (as simple as fuse replacement sounds) you might be breaking a seal on what is a proprietary device and messing up your chances of getting it supported by Liberty.
If it was me I would talk to Troy in Stuart or Bill Daugherty in Chicago to see if there is a way to verify the issue is the watchdog, and if so, send it in for repair or replacement.
Liberty is very good at supporting their coaches so I would not risk messing the Watchdog up.
Converters spend a great deal of effort, time and money developing systems and devices for their coaches. All of them. And some of what they develop was very expensive to develop so they become protective of that technology. The Watchdog is one such device.
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The only time my Liberty WatchDog had a hiccup was related to the ribbon wire connection.
Bill Daugherty talked me through a brief test and afterward suggested that I unplug and reinsert the ribbon wire plug. Apparently over the years the contacts had gotten just dirty enough to inhibit a proper connection.
Luckily for me, this simple procedure resolved my issue. Bill is without a doubt the single most experienced person I’ve met regarding the Liberty Watchdog system.
He seemed to know the details of my bus as if he had just built it the day before….
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