Connecting the VMSpc the 1st time.

[Letsgoagain]

Good morning,
Well I got the VMSpc last Friday and installed the software but today will be the first time I hook it up in the motorhome. Wondering if there's anything I should be looking for particularly?
I have already played with the display and added a tank minder and a couple of odometers, moved the transmission temp display to a more prominent area. I must say the ease of use is simple and am hoping everything goes flawlessly.
Wish me luck.
One thing I'm not sure I understand yet is the tank minder setup. Tank size and multipliers. If anyone wants to offer there take on it I would be glad to hear it.
Thanks,
Letgoagain

[Letsgoagain]

Good morning,
Well I got the VMSpc last Friday and installed the software but today will be the first time I hook it up in the motorhome. Wondering if there's anything I should be looking for particularly?
I have already played with the display and added a tank minder and a couple of odometers, moved the transmission temp display to a more prominent area. I must say the ease of use is simple and am hoping everything goes flawlessly.
Wish me luck.
One thing I'm not sure I understand yet is the tank minder setup. Tank size and multipliers. If anyone wants to offer there take on it I would be glad to hear it.
Thanks,
Letgoagain

[chasfm11]

Here is why I bought my VMSpc and I would offer it to you as specific things to look at:
1. Turbo boost pressure. I wanted to establish a base line mentally so that if I started loosing pressure, I would know that I was. I'm also finding that, on mine, when boost is more than 12, my fuel mileage is dropping.
2. Oil pressure and engine temperature. I wanted the digital representations because they are more detailed movement than my gauges. Again, I want to detect something happening before it causes issues.

On the tank minder, I drove for nearly 3,000 miles, allowing an odometer to accumulate fuel usage. I took the odometer gallons used and compared it to my actual gallons used. I then put a multiplier of 1.33 in my fuel flow. I suspect that the actual variance isn't liner because I was within a 1/10 of a gallon between the two on two recent fillups and a couple of gallons off on another. I find that it DOES matter that you consistently fill the same way each time. That is hard because I use the truck pumps and the smaller nozzle RV island pumps and it is difficult to get it to exactly the same level of full. The tank minder itself is pretty straight forward - it is simply the accumulated mpg (from fuel flow) subtracted from the tank capacity. If you are going up hills and pull 4.5mpg, the minder adjusts accordingly. I still have a little work to do because the odometer told me that my mileage as 9.9 last week over 2,000 miles while the actual mileage was 10.4

I hope this helps.

[ronboc]

Hi guys -

Ain't it a great toy ..... ummmm..... I mean "Useful Tool" (Oops, wife may be watching!)

I really love the versatility and ability to modify the parameters and which gauges to monitor and how to display them. I've found that as I get more experienced with it (and the coach operation in general), I've done some tweaking to a few gauges and readouts. Sounds like chasfm11 has some good pointers, letsgoagain. Do some searches on the forum, there are some other good ideas as well.

In fact, right now I'm in the throes of trying to get the fuel-indicator to match what's actually being used. Chasfm11 - I never even thought to use average usage (duh!!), I've been adding or subtracting the multiplier each and every time I fill up. And, as you noted, it's very tough to get a consistent fill. Many thanks!

I even found a way to make a red-yellow-green 'lite' to indicate cruise-control operation. Red is cruise-off, yellow is cruise on but not engaged, green is cruise on and engaged. Not a big thing, but sometimes it's tough to know who's/what's in control. I'll see if I can find where I saved the steps - I think John Canfield was the one that first described 'em.

My engine/trans temps and pressures gauges are not even close, but VMSpc says they are right where they should be. Definite peace of mind when crawling up a mountain and the analog gauge barely moves but the VMSpc sez I'm peaking at 203.

Keep us posted.
Ron