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07-16-2012, 11:24 AM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Cutler Bay, Florida
Posts: 707
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Need Monitor Panel Help
When I bought the rv the old monitor panel was disconnected and I was told it was all shorted out from the roof leaks.
Now that all the work is completed I want to install the new panel, But none of the wires colors match up. The water pump connection was easy, the panel lights are another issue. Don't want to burn anything up as I do not know how it all works or how much electric runs up and down those wires HELP
the old panel had a lp gas tank level the new one does not
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07-16-2012, 04:47 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
iRV2 No Limits Club
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 1,324
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A VOM is your friend, easy to check what the current actually is, and a circuit tracker can tell you where it is coming from and going to. In all likely hood all of the monitoring circuit is 12V.
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07-16-2012, 04:56 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Cutler Bay, Florida
Posts: 707
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shadowcatche
A VOM is your friend, easy to check what the current actually is, and a circuit tracker can tell you where it is coming from and going to. In all likely hood all of the monitoring circuit is 12V.
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I am wondering if there is a standard wire color code, red is this, blue is that, etc. etc.
How does it know what light to illuminate? Do these tanks have a float inside like a fuel tank?
Now that the interior is almost complete I have a few exterior issues to deal with. The monitor panel is one, the HWH leveling system is another and the retractable steps is another
I have power to the panel 12v and the water pump switch works
The HWH pump runs when I jump it but not with the level levers
The steps work but they bang against the stops
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07-17-2012, 03:32 AM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Rochester
Posts: 789
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07-17-2012, 06:47 AM
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#5
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Senior Member
iRV2 No Limits Club
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 1,324
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There may be a manufacturer specific color code but as far as I can find out there is no industry standard i.e. RVIA. except for trailer brake light wiring. Tank level sensors are usually of two types those with sensors that extend into the tank where electricity is conducted through the water or... or there is a non contact i.e. ultrasound would be one way.
One of the reasons I recommended Circuit tracer is that it help you find which wires go where. they run from quite simple to very expensive.
There should be limit switches for such things as steps that will keep them from trying to retract too far.
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07-17-2012, 11:07 AM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Cutler Bay, Florida
Posts: 707
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shadowcatche
There may be a manufacturer specific color code but as far as I can find out there is no industry standard i.e. RVIA. except for trailer brake light wiring. Tank level sensors are usually of two types those with sensors that extend into the tank where electricity is conducted through the water or... or there is a non contact i.e. ultrasound would be one way.
One of the reasons I recommended Circuit tracer is that it help you find which wires go where. they run from quite simple to very expensive.
There should be limit switches for such things as steps that will keep them from trying to retract too far.
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Let me ask these quesations to see how correct or incorrect my thinking is.
Each tank should have two wires running to it, one coming from the test switch and one going to it's LED circuit
When I press the levels button it sends 12v DC to each tank and the sensors send back 4, 8. or 12V depending on the level of water.
For the fresh water tank a 4 v return would be the red led, 8 v would be both the red and yellow LED and 12v or more the red yellow and green would all light up and it would be just the opposite for the grey and black tanks
Am I thinking this thru correctly??
If so How do I test it without burning something up. The cheapest circuit tracer I could find was 100 bucks so I am not gonna buy one
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07-17-2012, 11:24 AM
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#7
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Senior Member
Carolina Campers
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Statesville, NC
Posts: 167
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__________________
1995 Thor Residency 3500
Amateur Radio W4KTL
ARRL Member
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07-20-2012, 09:13 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Cutler Bay, Florida
Posts: 707
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rocknrun
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I was holping that some one here could tell me how to troubleshoot or test the wires to the panel so I am sure I don't screw something up by connecting the wrong wire to the wrong place
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07-20-2012, 04:13 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Damon Owners Club Workhorse Chassis Owner
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 24,024
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The standard color code is "Whatever is handy" in short, there is no standard and the color may change as the wire moves from point a to point b.. The VOM is the only way to be sure.
How do the sensors work: Simple, they don't, at least not well.. But I do have a suggestion.. Install a SEE LEVEL sensor system,, It works and uses the existing WIRE (not the use of the singular) not wires. (one wire per tank)
The standard sensor works like this
Panel---Wire--More wire---More wire still---Nail-Resistor--Nail--Resistor--Nail. Nail-Ground.
The more wire still is white by the way, This runs to a epoxy cube (the resistor pack) and wires from there go to each nail save the ground nail (The nails are the sensors, nothing more than a metal rod that sticks out in the tank, if it's wet, the tank must be this full right (WRONG but hey we won't quibble).
Easiest way to figure out which lead is which is to use a jumper wire (Test clip)
Clip one lead to ground.. "check levels" if, say "Black" is full, then that's the top sensor on the black tank. If it says "Gray" is 1/3 That's the bottom non-ground sensor on the gray tank
Move to a different wire on the same epoxy cube.. Same test Same tank.
The other tank the colors should be the same.
__________________
Home is where I park it!
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07-21-2012, 12:02 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Damon Owners Club Workhorse Chassis Owner
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 24,024
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bilito
Let me ask these quesations to see how correct or incorrect my thinking is.
Each tank should have two wires running to it, one coming from the test switch and one going to it's LED circuit
When I press the levels button it sends 12v DC to each tank and the sensors send back 4, 8. or 12V depending on the level of water.
For the fresh water tank a 4 v return would be the red led, 8 v would be both the red and yellow LED and 12v or more the red yellow and green would all light up and it would be just the opposite for the grey and black tanks
Am I thinking this thru correctly??
If so How do I test it without burning something up. The cheapest circuit tracer I could find was 100 bucks so I am not gonna buy one
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No there is one wire to the tank from the panel, and one from the tank to ground (It may return to the panel as well but it is nothing more than a chassis ground wire)
When you press the button 12 volt is sent to the pane and a controlled voltage (or rather current) goes down the sensor lead.. If the tank is full the sensor lead is shorted to ground, so it's zero volts or close to it.
'
If it's part full then the closer to empty the less current flows in that wire (The farther it is from ground) and thus a higher voltage appears on the wire.
Teh panel measures the voltage and displays the inverse..
Panel----------- Full-\/\/\/-2/3--\/\/\/\/--1/3 Is the wiring diabram.
/\/\/\ is a resistor.
__________________
Home is where I park it!
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07-22-2012, 07:33 AM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Cutler Bay, Florida
Posts: 707
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[QUOTE=Dave78Chief;1250070]Appears to be a Ventline panel.
I believe this is the wiring diagram for the replacement panel
http://www.afnash.com/downloaddocs/d...file=1&f_id=46
and here is the users manual
http://www.afnash.com/downloaddocs/d...file=1&f_id=47
Based on the number of wires coming out of the hole, I would say you have a 2 wire tank system. You will need to go to each tank and see what the wire colors are. You can use a Voltmeter to track down battery power leads.
Cannot get on these site, it requires a username and password
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07-22-2012, 07:40 AM
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#13
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Cutler Bay, Florida
Posts: 707
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wa8yxm
No there is one wire to the tank from the panel, and one from the tank to ground (It may return to the panel as well but it is nothing more than a chassis ground wire)
When you press the button 12 volt is sent to the pane and a controlled voltage (or rather current) goes down the sensor lead.. If the tank is full the sensor lead is shorted to ground, so it's zero volts or close to it.
'
If it's part full then the closer to empty the less current flows in that wire (The farther it is from ground) and thus a higher voltage appears on the wire.
Teh panel measures the voltage and displays the inverse..
Panel----------- Full-\/\/\/-2/3--\/\/\/\/--1/3 Is the wiring diabram.
/\/\/\ is a resistor.
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Will I screw anything up with incorrect wireing, I have to guess where those wires go, the only one I figured out was the two wires going to the water pump. When I got this I had all the wires sticking out of the wall, the panel was in a box of parts, it had rusted led connections and some missing leds
Looks like I have to crawl under the RV again to find wire colors and with all the rain we have had it is muddy under there.......plus a lot of wires on this RV are all hidden in big sprayed on foam humps. I guess it is suppoesd to protect the wires from the elements and road debris but it realy makes it hard to chase a wire
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07-22-2012, 09:39 AM
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#14
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,528
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The only other Ventline document I know of is loacted here: http://bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/vlmonitorpanel.pdf
A 2 wire per tank system is shown on pdf page 17 (resistor board mounted to side of the tank)
The older conventional 4 wire per tank system is shown on pdf page 21 (4 or 5 probes that project into the tank).
Based on number of wires coming out of the hole in your wall, I suspect your have the 2 wire system. It appears the wire colors are common across different 2 wire versions of their systems
Red = fresh water tank
Brown = Black water tank
Grey = Grey water tank
Dave
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