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10forty2's avatar
10forty2
Explorer
Jul 26, 2018

Generator Won't Turn Over

Onan 5500.

Soooo...... We camped this past weekend at the local lake/state park. Had an awesome time! On the way there, as I always do, I ran the generator so I could run the house A/Cs and to exercise the genset. When it was time to leave, I unplugged the shore line, and noticed that the slide was abnormally slow coming in on the house battery alone. Went outside to crank the geset, and it would only give a loud click and then smaller clicking like the battery was too weak to turn it over. I figure the house battery is dead or going dead. We head home, and when I get home, I replaced the house battery (I was using a single 12VDC combination battery) with 2 6VDC Trojan Golf Cart batteries. Genset still clicks loudly and then little clicks like the battery is still too weak....but I know it's not....testing the new batteries when trying to crank the genset shows only a slight voltage drop from 13.6 to 12.8.

Things I've checked already...... battery cables...good connection. Genset engine oil... good and recently changed at the beginning of the season. Ran out of daylight before I could get any further....

And.......GO!

23 Replies

  • My RV has a switch on the wall next to the house battery that turns on the connection to the house battery. Without that switch on I get the same results as you.

    If that's on I would have a local auto parts store check the battery since they will do it for free. That would point the finger in the right direction at least.
  • rgatijnet1 wrote:
    Have you tried "jump starting" the generator direct? A voltage drop does not really show how much current is getting to the generator starter. Have you checked the power cables at the generator itself?


    Next on my list.....ran out of daylight last night.
  • Have you tried "jump starting" the generator direct? A voltage drop does not really show how much current is getting to the generator starter. Have you checked the power cables at the generator itself?