Electrical questions
I’ll try to get everything in some semblance of order in hopes that it might help sort things out.
Recently purchased a 27.5 ft 1993 Firan Telstar (on Ford E350 chassis) with 56K miles on it that had sat for a few years. Knowing that it has sat I expect to have issues and will be working my way through them but I’d like to start with some electrical things that I have just noticed. Some of these may be normal but I have no frame of reference (first MH) so I am looking for any enlightenment that might be available.
I started my probing with the generator, an Onan Microquiet 4000 with only 93 hours on the meter. The first time I attempted to start it I did not know if I should disconnect the shore power or propane or whatever so I left everything hooked up and hit the start button. As soon as I hit the button my propane detector started beeping so I shut the propane off and proceeded with the genie. It would crank but not start and occasionally it would just click but usually it would crank like crazy but not fire. I shot a little ether into the intake and it would fire but immediately shut down so I figured some kind of fuel issue and moved on (short on time and would get back to it later).
Well later was about two weeks later and this time I get only the rapid click (relay?) when trying to start. It won’t crank just clicks. So now I need to check if I am getting sufficient power to the solenoid but I have a couple of issues here. First I have no multi meter (long story but it is being replaced this week) so I just want to check connections, etc. I realized that I don’t know if the generator receives power to start from the chassis battery (brand new last week) or the coach/house batteries. As I worked through this it seems that it is the house batteries. Now here is how I came to that conclusion but tell me if I missed something. If I switch the battery disconnect to the off position I get nothing at all – no click, nothing. I started the vehicle and tried the generator and still nothing. When I turn the disconnect back on I get the rapid clicking. Now I know that there are two house batteries and though they look real clean they are probably a bit old. They run everything in the MH though if I disconnect from shore power and they seem to perform really well. Here is where I discovered a bit of an electrical oddity. We have a multi speed vent fan in the rear of the coach and since we have had it home we keep it connected to shore power all the time. The fan works on all speeds but is very loud so I figured in time I’d replace it. Today when disconnected from shore power I turned the fan on and it works great at all speeds with no loudness at all – it whispers. Hooked back up to shore power and it gets loud again. Not sure if this is normal but I wouldn’t think so.
OK, so I have the fan issue with the difference between shore power and battery. I have the generator no crank issue and I am unsure about whether or not it is getting sufficient juice to crank it. Also the fact that the propane sniffer beeps any time I hit the generator start button – not sure if that is normal or not. Once I get my multi meter I can check and see about the power but I am not sure exactly what to check and what to check it for. Is there a way to jump the generator from another vehicle or from the chassis battery? If I can start eliminating things one at a time I figure I can get something accomplished. I know that the house batteries are probably not new but they do seem to perform quite well when needed for other things. What is the best way to check the batteries? If they are good and I still get the click only, what is the next check?
Sorry for the windy and rambling post but there are a few issues that seem to be intertwined.
Recently purchased a 27.5 ft 1993 Firan Telstar (on Ford E350 chassis) with 56K miles on it that had sat for a few years. Knowing that it has sat I expect to have issues and will be working my way through them but I’d like to start with some electrical things that I have just noticed. Some of these may be normal but I have no frame of reference (first MH) so I am looking for any enlightenment that might be available.
I started my probing with the generator, an Onan Microquiet 4000 with only 93 hours on the meter. The first time I attempted to start it I did not know if I should disconnect the shore power or propane or whatever so I left everything hooked up and hit the start button. As soon as I hit the button my propane detector started beeping so I shut the propane off and proceeded with the genie. It would crank but not start and occasionally it would just click but usually it would crank like crazy but not fire. I shot a little ether into the intake and it would fire but immediately shut down so I figured some kind of fuel issue and moved on (short on time and would get back to it later).
Well later was about two weeks later and this time I get only the rapid click (relay?) when trying to start. It won’t crank just clicks. So now I need to check if I am getting sufficient power to the solenoid but I have a couple of issues here. First I have no multi meter (long story but it is being replaced this week) so I just want to check connections, etc. I realized that I don’t know if the generator receives power to start from the chassis battery (brand new last week) or the coach/house batteries. As I worked through this it seems that it is the house batteries. Now here is how I came to that conclusion but tell me if I missed something. If I switch the battery disconnect to the off position I get nothing at all – no click, nothing. I started the vehicle and tried the generator and still nothing. When I turn the disconnect back on I get the rapid clicking. Now I know that there are two house batteries and though they look real clean they are probably a bit old. They run everything in the MH though if I disconnect from shore power and they seem to perform really well. Here is where I discovered a bit of an electrical oddity. We have a multi speed vent fan in the rear of the coach and since we have had it home we keep it connected to shore power all the time. The fan works on all speeds but is very loud so I figured in time I’d replace it. Today when disconnected from shore power I turned the fan on and it works great at all speeds with no loudness at all – it whispers. Hooked back up to shore power and it gets loud again. Not sure if this is normal but I wouldn’t think so.
OK, so I have the fan issue with the difference between shore power and battery. I have the generator no crank issue and I am unsure about whether or not it is getting sufficient juice to crank it. Also the fact that the propane sniffer beeps any time I hit the generator start button – not sure if that is normal or not. Once I get my multi meter I can check and see about the power but I am not sure exactly what to check and what to check it for. Is there a way to jump the generator from another vehicle or from the chassis battery? If I can start eliminating things one at a time I figure I can get something accomplished. I know that the house batteries are probably not new but they do seem to perform quite well when needed for other things. What is the best way to check the batteries? If they are good and I still get the click only, what is the next check?
Sorry for the windy and rambling post but there are a few issues that seem to be intertwined.
