Before I describe my problem, let me tell you that this Forum and the postings and responses by several of you have been invaluable to me. My wife and I just purchased a 2000 Chinook Concourse and the material on the Forum has given me tremendous insight into how this wonderful RV operates.
Now then to my problem. All of a sudden, my DC power stopped working. In troubleshooting the problem (using a lot of the Forum’s postings about similar issues), I found that the sense wire of the LVD was chewed off completely by a rodent. I had that reconnected by an RV repair technician (there is another story about that I should tell you all about some day!) and I now have DC Power again, but now the alarm and the red lamp do not go on when I connect shore power to the RV telling me that I must also turn on the Coach Batteries switch. Actually, now the green light on that switch goes on even though I haven’t pushed the switch yet.
So, my question is, when the dastardly rodent chewed off the Sense wire, could that have fried the alarm and the overhead red light because I didn’t know about the problem for a couple of days and didn’t correct the problem in a timely manner? My second question is how does the system know that shore power is connected and the DC power is not turned on? Does the LVD sense a reverse voltage from the converter/charger through the Vout and there is no voltage to the Vin so that the batteries can be charged. Is that how it works?
Now, I don’t know if I also screwed up the LVD. How does one verify the operation of it, and how does one replace the alarm and little red light?
Any ideas are greatly appreciated.
LVD Alarm and red indicator light not operating
LVD Alarm and red indicator light not operating
2000 Chinook Concourse - Dinette
Re: LVD Alarm and red indicator light not operating
There is a resettable breaker that send the power from the LVD to the control panel above the driver seat. Take a look at the LVD and you can follow the green wire and see the breaker there (15 A). Make sure the breaker is working (use a continuity meter or multimeter, etc.), and make sure there is no damage to the wire all the way to the control panel. Take the panel off and you should see the green wire there.
(edit: check the gray wire while you are at it. Both green and gray wires needs to work for the indicator and alarm to work.)
(edit: check the gray wire while you are at it. Both green and gray wires needs to work for the indicator and alarm to work.)
2000 Concourse dinette, on 1999 6.8L Ford E350 Triton V-10 Chassis
Re: LVD Alarm and red indicator light not operating
Thanks Chin_k,
I tested the continuity of the auto-reset breaker and there is continuity. I have pulled out the control panel – see the photo. How can I check the green and gray wires for a broken circuit? Do I put a probe in the wire connection of the green wires and the other on the black lead to the switch?
Also, I am betting that the alarm itself is internal to the LVD. Is that correct? If that is true, there is no way I can replace it.
I tested the continuity of the auto-reset breaker and there is continuity. I have pulled out the control panel – see the photo. How can I check the green and gray wires for a broken circuit? Do I put a probe in the wire connection of the green wires and the other on the black lead to the switch?
Also, I am betting that the alarm itself is internal to the LVD. Is that correct? If that is true, there is no way I can replace it.
2000 Chinook Concourse - Dinette
Re: LVD Alarm and red indicator light not operating
Check out the Reference section, and there is a diagram for the LVD. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=293
You can see that the speaker and the LED is external to the LVD. Here is what I would do in your situation:
Assumption: All the DC applicances works when the LVD is on, since you said the RV tech got it to work, so I know the V-out (the bolt where the green wire is attached to) is working.
1, use a voltmeter, and put the black probe on ground (-), such as using the white on the LVD, you should read 12+ v on the V-out mentioned about with the red probe.
2, Now, you said you tested the 15A breaker, so if you follow the green wire, you should also read 12+ v right after the breaker when you move the red probe there.
3, moving along, you should also see 12+ volt on the crimp in your diagram (you labeled it "Probe here").
I have a feeling that you should fail in one or more of the steps above. The part that fails is the section of the wiring that probably got chewed by the rodent, or bad connection. Refer to the diagram in the
.
Good luck.
You can see that the speaker and the LED is external to the LVD. Here is what I would do in your situation:
Assumption: All the DC applicances works when the LVD is on, since you said the RV tech got it to work, so I know the V-out (the bolt where the green wire is attached to) is working.
1, use a voltmeter, and put the black probe on ground (-), such as using the white on the LVD, you should read 12+ v on the V-out mentioned about with the red probe.
2, Now, you said you tested the 15A breaker, so if you follow the green wire, you should also read 12+ v right after the breaker when you move the red probe there.
3, moving along, you should also see 12+ volt on the crimp in your diagram (you labeled it "Probe here").
I have a feeling that you should fail in one or more of the steps above. The part that fails is the section of the wiring that probably got chewed by the rodent, or bad connection. Refer to the diagram in the
Good luck.
2000 Concourse dinette, on 1999 6.8L Ford E350 Triton V-10 Chassis
Re: LVD Alarm and red indicator light not operating
Oh, another thing is that maybe the switch is defective, and make it "ON" all the time. You may want to check all your connection to the diagram, and make sure there is no wiring that got misplaced, etc. The switch is a center-off type double post, single throw, with momentary "ON" and regular "STORE" so it is pretty rare. You may want to take a picture of the wiring, and take it off for testing if the wiring is working fine.
2000 Concourse dinette, on 1999 6.8L Ford E350 Triton V-10 Chassis
Re: LVD Alarm and red indicator light not operating
Chin_k,
It is getting dark outside right now, so I'll do the testing you mention tomorrow. I completely forgot that the 12 volt wiring diagram shows the alarm being external to the LVD. I wonder where the little guy is - buried back up in the overhead? I pulled more of the wires down from the overhead and I do not see it.
The idea that the switch might be the culprit is worth checking on. It works when I turn it off on "Store" and it works when I turn the coach batteries on. However, as I indicated, it goes green as soon as I plug in the shore power and there is no indicator light or alarm.
I should tell you that the rodent chewed the Sense wire inside the white box under the chassis. See photo below. I had anticipated that the problem might be one of the auto-reset breakers, so I bought replacements. But when I removed the box, viola, there was my problem. So, I gave the RV tech the new breakers and asked him to replace the old ones. I did mention that he should connect the wires to the correct breakers because there was a 50 Amp and a 15 Amp breaker. He said that doesn't matter! I should have said something then - I am not an electrician, I am an IT guy, but I do know that the larger the wire the more amps the wire can carry. Ok, he reconnected the broken wire and did connect the new breakers - see the next photo. Looks good, except, see the following photo - the Sense wire is connected to the 50Amp breaker and the larger battery wire to the 15Amp breaker! I had to go in and reverse the connection - see the last photo. I didn't rearrange the breakers, I just crossed the wires making sure the correct wire went to the brass fitting. I hope that's ok?
It is getting dark outside right now, so I'll do the testing you mention tomorrow. I completely forgot that the 12 volt wiring diagram shows the alarm being external to the LVD. I wonder where the little guy is - buried back up in the overhead? I pulled more of the wires down from the overhead and I do not see it.
The idea that the switch might be the culprit is worth checking on. It works when I turn it off on "Store" and it works when I turn the coach batteries on. However, as I indicated, it goes green as soon as I plug in the shore power and there is no indicator light or alarm.
I should tell you that the rodent chewed the Sense wire inside the white box under the chassis. See photo below. I had anticipated that the problem might be one of the auto-reset breakers, so I bought replacements. But when I removed the box, viola, there was my problem. So, I gave the RV tech the new breakers and asked him to replace the old ones. I did mention that he should connect the wires to the correct breakers because there was a 50 Amp and a 15 Amp breaker. He said that doesn't matter! I should have said something then - I am not an electrician, I am an IT guy, but I do know that the larger the wire the more amps the wire can carry. Ok, he reconnected the broken wire and did connect the new breakers - see the next photo. Looks good, except, see the following photo - the Sense wire is connected to the 50Amp breaker and the larger battery wire to the 15Amp breaker! I had to go in and reverse the connection - see the last photo. I didn't rearrange the breakers, I just crossed the wires making sure the correct wire went to the brass fitting. I hope that's ok?
2000 Chinook Concourse - Dinette
Re: LVD Alarm and red indicator light not operating
I will be careful with this tech in the future. Why not make both 50 A if it doesn't matter?He said that doesn't matter!
The 50A is needed due to the load of the DC appliance. The wiring allows for 50 A, so that is what Chinook used. The sense wire has much lower current demand, and the 15A (and the smaller wire) does not allow the use of 50A breaker.Anyway, I am confused what you said "it goes green... and there is no indicator light..." Do you mean the "In use" light goes green when you switch it to ON, but after you plug in shore power, the alarm and the "switch to ON if lit" lamp does not come on? I think the only time the alarm and the warning indicator will goes on is when the LVD is in the off state. The purpose of the alarm and the warning indicator is to remind you to turn on the LVD so that the converter/charger can charge the coach batteries. Otherwise, your DC appliance will work, but your batteries won't be charged when you are on shore power.
2000 Concourse dinette, on 1999 6.8L Ford E350 Triton V-10 Chassis
Re: LVD Alarm and red indicator light not operating
Chin_k,
For sure I won’t be going back to that RV Repair shop. I was dumb founded and speechless when he said that! I now know why most of the Chinook owners on this Forum, including yourself, do their own repair/replace/work!
I need to be clearer in my explanation of my problem – sorry about that. This is what is occurring:
1) Now that the Sense wire is reconnected, if I turn the overhead switch to “In Use/Charging”, the green LED illuminates and all my 12-volt appliances work fine. All is good.
2) However, if I plug in the shore power when the coach batteries switch is in the “Store” position, the red LED is not illuminated and there is no alarm sound. The green LED for “In use/Charging”, however, is illuminated as if I pressed the switch, when I haven’t yet.
I am still trying to understand the wiring of the LEDs and the alarm. Attached is a close-up photo of the overhead control panel. You can see that both the red wires of the green and red LEDs are connected to the green wire coming from the LVD. But, the black wire from the green LED goes to the vehicle batteries switch and the black wire from the red LED goes to the gray wire from the LVD. This is all according to the electrical system diagram you posted. But where is the alarm that is shown on the diagram? It is also supposed to be connected to the green and gray wires. Both the green wire and the gray wire run up further into the overhead after the wire twist connection and I suspect that the alarm is there – maybe an existing alarm for the Ford?
I checked the voltage per your items 1) and 2) and got 12+ volts, but since the green LED illuminates when I push the “In use” switch, I am sure I am getting 12 volts there through the green wire from the Vout connection. I’m wondering if the issue is with the gray wire, since that wire is connected to both the alarm and the red LED. How would one check that, since it looks like it is a ground connection?
At this point, until I figure this out, I should do what I used to do when my wife and I owned our ski boat. I always tied a ribbon on the boat keys to remind me to put the drain plug in before launching – I have friends that forgot to put the plug in and they had to watch their boat sink after launching it. I’ll put a nice little ribbon on the adapter I have attached to the 30-Amp shore power plug to remind me to turn on the “In use” switch so the batteries get charged while on shore power.
Thanks for your help!
Jon Cole, a.k.a., ski2ways
For sure I won’t be going back to that RV Repair shop. I was dumb founded and speechless when he said that! I now know why most of the Chinook owners on this Forum, including yourself, do their own repair/replace/work!
I need to be clearer in my explanation of my problem – sorry about that. This is what is occurring:
1) Now that the Sense wire is reconnected, if I turn the overhead switch to “In Use/Charging”, the green LED illuminates and all my 12-volt appliances work fine. All is good.
2) However, if I plug in the shore power when the coach batteries switch is in the “Store” position, the red LED is not illuminated and there is no alarm sound. The green LED for “In use/Charging”, however, is illuminated as if I pressed the switch, when I haven’t yet.
I am still trying to understand the wiring of the LEDs and the alarm. Attached is a close-up photo of the overhead control panel. You can see that both the red wires of the green and red LEDs are connected to the green wire coming from the LVD. But, the black wire from the green LED goes to the vehicle batteries switch and the black wire from the red LED goes to the gray wire from the LVD. This is all according to the electrical system diagram you posted. But where is the alarm that is shown on the diagram? It is also supposed to be connected to the green and gray wires. Both the green wire and the gray wire run up further into the overhead after the wire twist connection and I suspect that the alarm is there – maybe an existing alarm for the Ford?
At this point, until I figure this out, I should do what I used to do when my wife and I owned our ski boat. I always tied a ribbon on the boat keys to remind me to put the drain plug in before launching – I have friends that forgot to put the plug in and they had to watch their boat sink after launching it. I’ll put a nice little ribbon on the adapter I have attached to the 30-Amp shore power plug to remind me to turn on the “In use” switch so the batteries get charged while on shore power.
Thanks for your help!
Jon Cole, a.k.a., ski2ways
2000 Chinook Concourse - Dinette
Re: LVD Alarm and red indicator light not operating
You see two green and two grey wires coming out. One of them is from the LVD, and the other pair goes to the alarm inside. I have not pull off the headliners, so I do not know where exactly is the alarm. Now, the diagram above is from our good friend Blue per the link. Some of us are wondering where is he again ... I bet he is having a good time somewhere. 
Now back to the problem. If the green wire is in good shape, then you need to check the connectivity of the grey like you said. It is best to use a continuity meter function on a multi-meter, if you have one. If there is no damage (open circuit), then you need to test the LED to make sure it lights up, and the alarm is working. If both are functional, then it leave you with the alternative that the LVD alarm output is defective. It is a bit pain to trigger the LVD to send out the alarm, but it can be done (put a resistor on the sense wire to lower the apparent voltage).
The good news is that the alarm and the indicator light is not absolute critical like the drain plug. You just have to remind yourself to turn it on to charge the coach batteries when you are on shore power, for example. However, you may want to have the alarm functional since you would rather wake up by the alarm at night and investigate the issue, than wake up in the morning, and found that the coach batteries are dead, and there is no enough fuel to use the generator to rescue them (no good to leave them drained for too long, even for a deep cycle battery).
Now back to the problem. If the green wire is in good shape, then you need to check the connectivity of the grey like you said. It is best to use a continuity meter function on a multi-meter, if you have one. If there is no damage (open circuit), then you need to test the LED to make sure it lights up, and the alarm is working. If both are functional, then it leave you with the alternative that the LVD alarm output is defective. It is a bit pain to trigger the LVD to send out the alarm, but it can be done (put a resistor on the sense wire to lower the apparent voltage).
The good news is that the alarm and the indicator light is not absolute critical like the drain plug. You just have to remind yourself to turn it on to charge the coach batteries when you are on shore power, for example. However, you may want to have the alarm functional since you would rather wake up by the alarm at night and investigate the issue, than wake up in the morning, and found that the coach batteries are dead, and there is no enough fuel to use the generator to rescue them (no good to leave them drained for too long, even for a deep cycle battery).
2000 Concourse dinette, on 1999 6.8L Ford E350 Triton V-10 Chassis
Re: LVD Alarm and red indicator light not operating
Chin_k,
Again, thanks for your suggestions on how to troubleshoot my problem!
Regarding, Blue~Go, I sure hope he does return to posting on the Forum. I have really enjoyed his posts. I think his best one is how he removed the old refrigerator, where ” …Mr. Sawzall took over…”!
I have a question: It seems to me that I should go straight to testing whether the LED illuminates and the alarm sounds. How would I do that? How do I bypass the LVD and trigger those?
Another question: Have you deciphered how the LVD knows that shore power is connected and that the coach batteries switch is on “store”, and thus, the red LED illuminates and the alarm sounds? It seems that there is reverse voltage coming from the converter/charger and the Vout is now the Vin and the Vin becomes a Vout to charge the battery when the switch is turned to “In Use/Charging”. Somehow the LVD senses this and has logic to make sure the circuit is complete, and sounds the alarm if that isn’t happening. Something like that.
I am beginning to really suspect the LVD, and I am concerned about what you indicated about waking up to find our coach batteries dead, and not enough gas to power the generator. So, I just pulled the trigger on this item: http://so-bfd.com/. That will be my backup.
I have another story to tell you, because you remind me of one of our water ski club members, Bob. Bob made repairs to his outboard motor sometimes while on a houseboat trip on Lake Powell with no outboard repair shop anywhere close. He became such an expert that people in the club would drive their rig over to his house with a note about their particular problem, and come back a few days later where Bob made a total overhaul of their engine. Watch out, I may drive by your place and leave my RV with a note including a signed check to cover your time and expenses!
Take care,
Jon
Again, thanks for your suggestions on how to troubleshoot my problem!
Regarding, Blue~Go, I sure hope he does return to posting on the Forum. I have really enjoyed his posts. I think his best one is how he removed the old refrigerator, where ” …Mr. Sawzall took over…”!
I have a question: It seems to me that I should go straight to testing whether the LED illuminates and the alarm sounds. How would I do that? How do I bypass the LVD and trigger those?
Another question: Have you deciphered how the LVD knows that shore power is connected and that the coach batteries switch is on “store”, and thus, the red LED illuminates and the alarm sounds? It seems that there is reverse voltage coming from the converter/charger and the Vout is now the Vin and the Vin becomes a Vout to charge the battery when the switch is turned to “In Use/Charging”. Somehow the LVD senses this and has logic to make sure the circuit is complete, and sounds the alarm if that isn’t happening. Something like that.
I am beginning to really suspect the LVD, and I am concerned about what you indicated about waking up to find our coach batteries dead, and not enough gas to power the generator. So, I just pulled the trigger on this item: http://so-bfd.com/. That will be my backup.
I have another story to tell you, because you remind me of one of our water ski club members, Bob. Bob made repairs to his outboard motor sometimes while on a houseboat trip on Lake Powell with no outboard repair shop anywhere close. He became such an expert that people in the club would drive their rig over to his house with a note about their particular problem, and come back a few days later where Bob made a total overhaul of their engine. Watch out, I may drive by your place and leave my RV with a note including a signed check to cover your time and expenses!
Take care,
Jon
2000 Chinook Concourse - Dinette