SpongeBob's Power Management System

[davidbrady]

Thought you guys might enjoy seeing some of the circuitry behind this system:




Hey Chuck,

You must be psyched, a cross country trip has been a long time coming! Bus-ta-move uses an external transfer switch to switch between shore and generator power. From there power is split with a portion going directly to a breaker box and the rest going to the inverter. The transfer switch inside the inverters (yes, the inverters also have transfer switches) is used to decide when to switch to battery power. When on shore/gen all the breakers inside the panel are powered and the inverter isn't participating in 120VAC power delivery. When shore/gen go away, then the inverter senses the loss of 120VAC power and it automatically switches to inverter mode, actually inverter sense mode. When under inverter power only a subset of the breakers in the panel get 120VAC power. BB set it up this way to minimize user power management. They pre-configured which breakers will get inverter power attempting to make certain that the inverters will never be asked to deliver more than their rated capacity. This is a very common way of integrating battery/inverter power with shore/generator, and many Prevost converters use this approach. Vantare is unique in placing the inverters at the center of the electrical distribution and as an arbiter of all power: battery, shore, or generator. The advantage is the user has the choice of powering anything with the inverters; whereas, with BB's approach the choice of what's inverter powered is hardwired. The disadvantage is that Vantare's approach requires more sophisticated load management, whether user involved or automatic load pruning.

[Arcticdude]

So what happens to SB (SpongeBob) if an inverter fails? Do they have a default of passing shore or genny thru so you're not stuck without power?

[davidbrady]

(10-13-2014 14:14)Arcticdude Wrote:  So what happens to SB (SpongeBob) if an inverter fails? Do they have a default of passing shore or genny thru so you're not stuck without power?

Hi John,

SB's got twin inverter bypass switches:



Also, the power management system overlays onto the Square D circuit panel box and doesn't need to be functional to still enjoy the coach. If the system fails, I can very easily reach into the panel to disconnect each breakers' motor drive. It's as as simple as fiddling a small plastic push button latch on each CB. With the CB's internal motors disengaged the breaker box looks like any other and the fancy remote control with power management can spin its wheels forever with no effect.

[davidbrady]

Here's a copy of SpongeBob's schematics:

Prevost Gurus->Library->Converters->Vantare->Manuals->4620 Service Information.pdf

[Arcticdude]

That's a pretty slick system! Looks like it's well thought out. It will be interesting to see if you have to improve it!

[ernie ekberg]

John, knowing David for many years, he will be improving his system

[Arcticdude]

LOL! He does have a propensity for adjustment, doesn't he!

[davidbrady]

Right now I'm booting up an old Windows XP machine. I got my hands on some Powerlink AS PIM configuration software; the software only runs on XP. I'm gearing up to support all my soon-to-be Vantare owning brothers (and sisters) with all that's need to refresh, recondition, or rebuild the Power Management System. I was on the phone today with a long time Vantare support person who said it'd be $10,000 to replace any one of the micro-controllers which oversee the remote circuit breaker management. Seems, the supplier wants that much to re-gear and program the whopping 2KB program inside the PIC16C57's. Well, I can pick up an Arduino Mega 2560 for $49.95 which offers plenty of power to replace all 4 of the micro-controllers. This stuff is very reliable, but I want to have a plan for the inevitable...

Not being able to leave well enough alone, I've also been talking to Scheider, the SquareD folks, about their follow on product the Powerlink G3. It has ethernet support and an internal web browser server. All the configuration can be done via a web browser. It's perfect for integrating ipad or android control. Lots to play with!

[Arcticdude]

I think AARRGGHH, AARRGGHH, AARRGGHH is the best response here! If you need them, I hope to have 3, maybe 4 XP Pro machines that will be coming out of my office in the next 6 months or so. That was a great OS. (And still is!)

[davidbrady]

Please put my name on one of those John.

What the Prevost world needs is a jolt of good old Wanderlodge ingenuity, and by God we're gonna give it to 'em! Ha! LOL!