More Questions

[dale farley]

I have a couple questions, that hopefully, have easy answers. I have read this section of the manuals, but am not clear on what I should be doing as a general rule.

When I first got my 93 Marathon, there was a little red light under my right mirror on the outside of the coach that stayed on most of the time. I assumed that was part of the security system. Anyway, it is not on now, and I can't seem to get it to come on. I have not figured out if the security system is working or not. When I opened the little remote, the batteries were installed upside down, and although I have replaced them, I don't see that it is doing anything. According to the manual, there is supposed to be a switch above the driver seat. I see something that looks more like a light, but it does not depress, so I'm not sure what I am looking at.

I am also wondering if I should have the 12V and 24V switches "Off" anytime I am not running the coach? I am referring to the switches on the right rear of the coach by the engine compartment. I see the book says turn "Off" when parking overnight. I think I know this is to prevent draining the batteries and not being able to start the coach the next morning if dry camping. Should I also turn "off" when I am connected to shore power? When I turn these two switches off, I still have lights on my dash, such as inverter lights and raido lights. I assume the inverter lights are normal; not sure about any others that are on.

Also, when should I turn off the main 12V house disconnect and 24V Emergency disconnect in my house battery compartment (first bay on right side of coach).

[dalej]

Dale I can only answer the later of the questions. I shut the 24v disconnect off when I’m at home.
When parked for more then a week I also shut it off, seems a week is the time frame I shut it off,
otherwise I leave it on. I don’t have a battery tender for the chassis batteries so I shut them off.

The House batteries (4, 8D’s) stay on all the time, the inverter takes care of them and the generator
battery.

My chassis batteries (4, 12v) were bought and installed in the fall of 1998 and the house batteries were
bought and installed in the spring of 1999. I will probably be needing batteries sometime soon, since
the lifeline sales guy said I have gotten more then enough use out of them. All the batteries still check
out ok though.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I'm of the opinion you should leave the switches on to at least determine if you have any "key off" loads, and if you do you at least want to know what they are.

If you have no key off loads (such as my coach) you can turn the switches off, but it will have no affect on your battery life, but will provide a degree of protection against an electrical short.

[dale farley]

Jon, I was turning off the switches by the engine compartment, because the owner's manual says if parking overnight, you should turn both 12V and 24V off. I am already sick of having to turn them back on every time I get in the coach.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Dale, I am not criticizing the validity of the owner's manual advice, but I am suggesting that more than one of us has been plagued by a phantom load that did drain the batteries. You want to know about that now, not only to determine if you can accept the load if there is one, but also to know what you deal with.

While you may be very careful about adhering to the manual's recommendations, I will assure you that if you ever need to leave your coach with a service center or somewhere where they need to move your coach, I will bet they will not be turning off your switches, or if they do they will forget and not turn on the 12V switch which will create other problems.

[dale farley]

Jon, I will always go with experience of others over what the manual says. Thanks.

[jello_jeep]

Hiya Roadrunner,

the small red light by the right mirror is part of the security system. It is on solid when the system is off, and blinks when armed. If i is off I would suspect that the LED is either burnt out, or there is a problem with the system itself.

There is also a programming/valet switch under the dash in mine (1996) that is used as described in the security book. Mine also has an additional LED light on the lower right side of the dash, near the gererator temp and oil gauges, that mimics the behavior of the exterior LED you refer to.. If it is on, and the outer one is off, you might just have a toasted LED (easy fix) as opposed to some other problem with the system.

As for the button above the drivers seat as described in the book, my book says the same thing, but its not there.. The small device that looks light a pilot light (small panel light) is actually an IR repeater..

It picks up IR signals from the remote controls aimed at it, for VCR/SAT or whatever, and re-transmits them to the back of the coach where the devices actually are, if that makes sense. So you can control devices that may be feeding A/V to the salon TV, even though they are located in the rear of the bus.

Hope this helps.

[MangoMike]

Now this is what we like to see.

The new guy is already contributing, saving Jon some typing time so that he can polish his slack adjusters this morning ;)

Keep up the good work.

MM

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Hey POG III organizers: Pay attention to what is unfolding here. We got Marathon guys sharing information, and we have had Royale guys sharing information and we have had Liberty guys sharing information. I see a definite program here where time is set aside for the respective converter groups to self teach one another, just like is happening above.

[truk4u]

This is good stuff boys....

Roadrunner - If your system is like mine and Jeep's, you can toggle the security system to valet and it turns off the lights and disarms the system.
The little toggle switch is under the dash by your right knee. When the system is armed and the lights are on, if it sets for more than 3 days, you will get a very faint alarm sound inside from the alarm controller mounted above the entry door. You have to cycle the ignition key off and on to reset for another 3 days. That's why I leave mine in Valet.

As for the 12V - 24V shut offs, I never shut mine off when plugged in, but as Jon pointed out, there is no charger for the start batteries. You can add one like I did, a 3 stage 24V Battery Tender that takes care of the start batteries. Plugs right in the to block heater outlet in the engine compartment. Mine can set for months without the charger and still have plenty of juice to start.

[jello_jeep]

Roadrunner,

another thing I found, is that if the remotes have been dead for a long time, like mine where the previous owner didn't ever use it,, when you put new batts in the remotes they won't work.

You have to re-enroll them using a combination of ignition key switch inputs and a sequence of moves on the valet / programming switch, and key preesses from the remote.

The voo-doo for it is in the alarm book. If you don't have it I can give you the short version via PM, or could copy the book and mail it. (poor man's scanner).

Good luck

[jello_jeep]

Ok guys, I will post it, but will be a couple days, as I just ran the bus into Prevost for service, so all the books are in it! :o

[jello_jeep]

Ok, sorry it took a bit, but me bus was gone longer than I anticipated. Here is the programming sequence for enrolling remotes, as promised.

Turn ignition on

There is a Mode Switch which is a mini toggle switch usually located under the dash. It has three positions. The center position which is where it normally stays, then a locked position where if you push or pull the switch to that position, it stays there, then a "momentary" position where you have to hold the switch or else it will spring back.

Move & hold switch to momentary position

While holding the mode switch, turn the ignition off. You will hear two beeps, followed by a single beep. DO NOT RELEASE THE SWITCH YET!

Continue to hold the switch for about 3 seconds. You will hear 8 rapid beeps, and then after three more seconds, another series of 8 rapid beeps. Release the switch after the SECOND set of 8 rapid beeps. The status LED will blink rapidly.

You are now in programming mode!!

Now press button one on the remote, and hold it until you hear 3 rapid beeps, which confirms the authorization of a previously unkownd remote. If instead you hear two sets of 3 rapid beeps, it means you have re-authorized an already "known" remote. Trekimate can identify and trach up to four different remotes. If you attempt to authorize a fifth, it will take the place of and cause the brain to forget the oldest remote that is known to the system

To exit programming mode, just turn the iginition on again. You are done!!

This is mostly taken from the owner's manual for

Trekmate RV Security Systems
Models 717,737,737PG

If anyone needs other information, or a copy of this booklet, lemme know!!

Hope this helps.