odd generator problem September 11, 2013, 07:46:21 pm Yahoo Message Number: 142621My generator starts and runs smoothly for the usual 2 min. Then it gives AC for a few seconds, goes blank, gives AC, cuts up in a few seconds, etc. The gas part runs smoothy thru this.It has about 320 hrs and runs fine until now. Any thoughts?
Re: odd generator problem Reply #1 – September 11, 2013, 07:50:15 pm Yahoo Message Number: 142622Does the AC run run without issue on shore power?Art
Re: odd generator problem Reply #2 – September 11, 2013, 08:01:56 pm Yahoo Message Number: 142623I re-read the OP and realized that it wasn't the air conditioner cutting out, but rather that the AC voltage was cutting out. Short of an intermittent breaker, I think it time for a qulified Onan shop to look at it.Art
Re: odd generator problem Reply #3 – September 11, 2013, 10:38:42 pm Yahoo Message Number: 142624A possibility is something in the coach is drawing too much power. He could ensure things are unplugged if possible, or turned off if they can't be unplugged. If he has a clamp-on current meter, measuring the current the genset is delivering will definitely show if the coach is taking too much power.Eric Greenwellolder_fossil wrote, On 9/11/2013 5:01 PM:
Re: odd generator problem Reply #4 – September 11, 2013, 11:49:40 pm Yahoo Message Number: 142625Are you sure it's not fuel starved? Have you ever checked the fuel line for cracks/leaks?Chris H
Re: odd generator problem Reply #5 – September 12, 2013, 12:31:00 am Yahoo Message Number: 142627That is unlikely if the engine keeps running unchanged while the AC voltage comes and goes.Art
Re: odd generator problem Reply #6 – September 12, 2013, 08:39:40 am Yahoo Message Number: 142630When I was running this check, there were 3 amps drain to the generator. I'm wondering that the generator breaker has gone bad. I think that Art has the right way on this one. I'll let the group know when I get it fixed. Thanks
Re: odd generator problem Reply #7 – September 12, 2013, 12:07:20 pm Yahoo Message Number: 142632Early in my life with my LD, I had a problem that sounds vaguely similar.If I was running on the generator, and a potentially inductive load was added, like a vacuum sweeper, the transfer switch would reset. Normally this switch transfers from shore power to generator after a 30-odd second delay. I could even get it to reset simply using a Weller soldering gun. Click it on two or three times, and the transfer switch would trip out, cutting power until the 30-second timer would time out.The folks at Parallax Power (very close to my home in Indiana) offered to give me a newer model switch to try, if I would install it myself. I did that, and the problem was solved. This did not happen immediately, but it was within the first year.No explanation was offered, but apparently Parallax Power had heard of the problem before. The new switch looks nothing like the original, and is virtually silent. No more relay clunk when it operates. It mounts on the rear of the poet distribution panel, just like the original. I remember saying some unkind things when hooking it up. But overall not too bad of job.-Dave '06 MB, Indianapolis
Re: odd generator problem Reply #8 – September 12, 2013, 02:22:19 pm Yahoo Message Number: 142637I assume that there were no fault codes displayed on the start/stop switch on the generator itself.Art
Re: odd generator problem Reply #9 – September 12, 2013, 07:28:24 pm Yahoo Message Number: 142642Have you considered that it might be the voltage regulator? Dale from Downey.
Re: odd generator problem Reply #10 – September 12, 2013, 08:28:19 pm Yahoo Message Number: 142643Mine did this when I was staying at Bryce Canyon. Then I remembered the altitude adjustment. It was set at sea level and I was at 8000 feet. I dialed in the right setting and my problems disappeared.Ken F in CO
Re: odd generator problem Reply #11 – September 12, 2013, 10:24:17 pm Yahoo Message Number: 142644"the [generator's] altitude adjustment... was set at sea level and I was at 8,000 feet. I dialed in the right setting and my problems disappeared."Good tip, Ken!Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels
Re: odd generator problem Reply #12 – September 14, 2013, 05:06:49 pm Yahoo Message Number: 142655If you can confirm that power is unstable from the generator, and not associated with a bad transfer switch, then you probably need new brushes. They are not extremely hard to install, but not easy either. That's my guess anyway Chuck Myers 97RB @Hartford, IA
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