Do house or chassis batteries start the generator?
Does the generator start off the same battery as the engine or does it use the house batteries?
Forum Discussion
wa8yxm wrote:
frankiebIII wrote:
Does the generator start off the same battery as the engine or does it use the house batteries?
As written, the answer is yes.
Now for a more useful answer.
I see the first reply mentioned on HIS motor home it was the engine/chassis battery.
On mine it's the house battery.
Makes sense to me...had my house batteries out today...no gen start...soooo must be yhe house side
And what is more a very few rigs have a 3rd (Generator) battery that does the job.
It is all up to the folks who built the beast.
How to figure it out.
Disconnect the NEGATIVE lead from the house battery.
Try to start the generator.
If it starts.. NOT that battery.. IF nothing, re-connect and try again, Varoom on the 2nd try = House battery. (Well the cranking anyway)barth wrote:
Last month I had to replace my house batteries on my HR 2001 Scepter. One of the clue was that I couldn't start the generator. It just wouldn't crank
Mine won't either- Mine starts from dedicated generator starting battery.
- Last month I had to replace my house batteries on my HR 2001 Scepter. One of the clue was that I couldn't start the generator. It just wouldn't crank
- I believe that all Monaco products for the period of years around your coach use the house batteries to start the generator. Also, the battery switch connects the coach batteries to the house batteries, and current will flow in either direction.
You have a diesel generator. Not only do diesels need go be primed, but they also need to develop heat to start the generator. I'm not sure whether or not your Onan uses glo plugs or electric sleeves to provide ignition So, as the other poster stated, pushing the start button will normally prime the engine and heat up the ignition. If it's been sitting a while, this may take some time. Since the generator startup takes so long, your batteries must be in good shape and have a good charge. In any case, you should should hear the generator turning over and trying to start. If you don't hear anything, that probably means the batteries are too low. Mike and Trish wrote:
rickswinn wrote:
The battery switch works in one direction, the house batteries help the chassis batteries if necessary, it doesn't work the other way around.
Are you sure about that? I've been told it works both ways, which makes sense to me -- that the switch momentarily connects both battery banks, as long as it's held down.
Emergency Start switches (almost ALL with a few exceptions) require the COACH batteries to be over 12 volts to ENGAGE the Boost solenoid. If your Coach batteries are dead or below 12 volts the Emergency start will NOT WORK. It takes the Coach batteries to supply power to the solenoid. Winnebago products had/have a DUAL/MOM switch that allowed reverse operation. IF your Coach batteries were DEAD, you put the switch in DUAL and that (when ign key ON) allowed the chassis to supply power to the Coach systems and coach batteries. On MOM (momentary) and this was spring loaded, it used the Coach batteries to engage the boost solenoid. Doug- Mike thats the way mine works....in regards to running out of fuel---to prime my Onan 7500 you press and hold the start/stop button in the stop position and it will prime the system. If no fuel is present it will turn over but won't run. In my case the house batteries start the gen but if they are dead I can hit the dash button and use the chassis batteries to start it. In that case its best to start your motor first so you don't kill everything.
rickswinn wrote:
The battery switch works in one direction, the house batteries help the chassis batteries if necessary, it doesn't work the other way around.
Are you sure about that? I've been told it works both ways, which makes sense to me -- that the switch momentarily connects both battery banks, as long as it's held down.rickswinn wrote:
Obviously, there are exceptions to every rule but my generator starts off the house batteries. When the fuel level is below 1/4 the generator will not run, it may start but will not run, it's a safety feature. The battery switch works in one direction, the house batteries help the chassis batteries if necessary, it doesn't work the other way around.
Not really a safety feature, unless you call the real reason is to prevent the APU from draining all the Fuel in the fuel tank and then have nothing left to drive the RV. Doug- my 89 fleetwood southwind has a thick wire that goes from the gen starter to (from when I had it) it has been connected to the HOUSE batt, althou I could simply conect the "other end" to the Chasys batt, I have never tried BTW, I also have such a "boost switch" wich esentially bridges the batt isolator... thinking about it I once had an alt failure, I had to run the gen off the house batts, while driving constantly pushing the boost switch,,, (why I didnt think of that back then) seven years later I found out the short circuit (WHICH WAS INTERMITENT)!!!!, FINALLY!!!!
