Valor tpms monitor not working

SGMilkman

Member
Couldn't get reading on all tires, antenna not long enough, so Valor was kind enought to send me an extension. Installed extension, mounted antenna on bottom of receiver hitch, and all was working fine for about 2 hours, with all tires (both axles) showing pressure and temp. Stopped for fuel and when I started the truck and turned the monitor back on, all zeros for pressure and temp. Has been that way since (700 mile trip over a week's time. Tried moving antenna around, but still showing all zeros no matter how long I leave it on. Even with the short antenna I was getting readings from the front axle sometimes, but now nothing. Book says all zeros could be a sign of a bad monitor....I've only used the unit twice, the first time with the short antenna (unreliable reception), and again after installing the longer one. Unit came with Landmark Savahna which I purchased new in April, from RVs for Less in Knoxville.
 

Garypowell

Well-known member
My guess is that you spoke with Don at Valor who sent you the new antenna. Call him back and he'll work with you to solve the problem. I have seen several times he will send you a diagnostic tool to figure out where the problem is at.

Don does monitor this forum but not sure how often.

Good luck
 

EPaulikonis

Well-known member
I had a similar issue on my Savannah that is listed in the TPMS blog. I had one tire that read "0000" and another that would consistently start out fine and then go to "----". Eventually had Don show up at my home in OH to help troubleshoot; target of opportunity since he was heading from TN back to MI. His diagnostic tool was picking up all 4-sensors, antenna on my truck was directly below the receiver, so we were a little stymied. Don replaced the console in the truck and also sent me two new sensors that I installed. With those two fixes, both sensors and console, I now have a solid TPMS operating without issue.
 

dave10a

Well-known member
I also got a so called improvement from Valor that did better but did not solve the problem of 000 on one tire intermittently. I move the antenna back to where its magnetic mount would put in closes to the tires. Then I run a 50 ohm coax to the hitch to connect to with the trailer power plug. Now it works well. In fact it work well enough monitoring the temperature that alerted me that my trailer bearing was running hot. I save an axle but not the bearing by stopping in time.
That makes a good case to get the inside the tire monitor rather than the stem monitor while having a reliable steady read out IMHO..
 

EPaulikonis

Well-known member
Yes...guess I should have mentioned, the sensors I have are mounted inside the tire on the rim itself. I'd also recommend checking the sensor ID that should be mounted on the back side of the rim on a white sticker. Don identified that two of the sensors on my rig were out of sequence, so we swapped the chips when replacing the console inside the truck.

I also got a so called improvement from Valor that did better but did not solve the problem of 000 on one tire intermittently. I move the antenna back to where its magnetic mount would put in closes to the tires. Then I run a 50 ohm coax to the hitch to connect to with the trailer power plug. Now it works well. In fact it work well enough monitoring the temperature that alerted me that my trailer bearing was running hot. I save an axle but not the bearing by stopping in time.
That makes a good case to get the inside the tire monitor rather than the stem monitor while having a reliable steady read out IMHO..
 
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Valor-Don

Member
Dave10a

Can you please call me? I am curious about the 50 Ohm coax you added. If it fixed you system great and I would like to use it as a fix for other RVers. (And I can take credit for it)

Don
 

lindaw

Florida Chapter Leader - Retired
Dave10a

Can you please call me? I am curious about the 50 Ohm coax you added. If it fixed you system great and I would like to use it as a fix for other RVers. (And I can take credit for it)

Don
Don could you please post a number we can call you because ours is not working either.
lindaw
 

dave10a

Well-known member
I can be reached at my cell (734) 634-3278 or email don.rigby@valortpms.com

No need to call because I prefer to post comments so everyone can benefit.
Rather than borrow a spectrum analyzer to determine the transmission characteristic of the signal and guess the receiver characteristics, I did the next best thing by rerouting the antenna.
Using the magnetic mount of the Valor antenna, I mounted it on the cross member next the front axle and ran an extension 50 coax cable to the front of the trailer. I then route the coax with the 7 pin trailer connector. I a crimped smb connector to the coax and then with smb/bnc twist lock adapters I could connect the antenna easily to the receiver cable that I mounted next to the 7 pin trailer connector.

One needs the proper crimp tools to do this modification and a source for the proper connectors.
Another option would be to use a repeater, but I am not sure about the characteristics of the transmission signal-- Therefore that is why I hard wired and relocated the antenna closer to the source.
The problem as I see it: the transmission signal is marginal for a 40 foot trailer like mine. The unit worked well the first year, but as some batteries age the transmitted signal gets weaker as well as being mitigated by tire heat. I suspect that Valor must sell transponders for the 18 wheeler crowd and should also be available for the RV crowd. However, relocating the antenna is a less expensive alternative.
 

SGMilkman

Member
Thanks to all for the replies. I too am interested in the 50ohm coax cable.

don, sent you an email a few minutes ago. I'm traveling tomorrow morning, but will try to call when I reach my destination. Meanwhile any suggestions would be great.
 
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