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marty1300's avatar
marty1300
Explorer
Oct 13, 2022

Generator issue

UPDATE
found the issue I believe, there is a compartment next to the generator and inside there is a junction box. Stranded wires from the generator are wire nutted to solid wire going to outlet in the rearmost compartment where the shore cable is. These wires were burnt, looks like the neutral . Will need to get them reconnected when I get home



Class c with onan 4K generator. Last night had air conditioner on and using microwave. We have done this before no issues. For some reason microwave stopped, then Air conditioner. Break on generator is not tripped, but I was not getting sufficient power. We use a manual transfer(move cord from shore to plug for gen). When I plug in my small portable generator to the shore cord I get power back to rv. Seems the issue is with generator wiring.? Any advice on what to look at. I did measure 120 volts on the black and ground on the back of the outlet when generator was on. Could not get a reading when on the white wire.
Marty
  • What really stumps me is the portable generator is suppling power no problem, while not enough to run the microwave or Air conditioner

    2019 sunseeker so the generator is not too old, has about 322 hours on it

    Sorry for delay response , trying to race a car also
    Thanks for any advice
    Marty
  • dougrainer wrote:
    ALWAYS reset the Genset Breaker. Do not trust a visual look. Reset it and post back. Doug


    I did flip it forward and back. I will note it moves very easily. Not much resistance like the regular breaker
  • marty1300 wrote:
    Update-when checking black/ground I have 122, black/white 122, white/ground nothing notable

    This is normal. Black/white SHOULD have voltage, black/ground SHOULD have voltage, white/ground should NOT have voltage. While 122 MAY be a little low, it is not low enough to be of concern.

    dougrainer wrote:
    ALWAYS reset the Genset Breaker. Do not trust a visual look. Reset it and post back. Doug

    Pay attention to anything that Doug says. He has been an RV repair technician for over 40 years.
  • What year is the generator? The unloaded voltage should be higher. Do you have a frequency setting on your meter to check frequency? The newer gennys have electronic voltage control, I have one from the 80's, transformer voltage control, when unloaded it puts out around 130 volts and around 62 cycles, when I turn AC on the genny rpm drops a bit and then revs up to carry the load. You can measure the volts and frequency at any outlet inside the motorhome. Neutral, white wire, to ground should be 0.
  • ALWAYS reset the Genset Breaker. Do not trust a visual look. Reset it and post back. Doug
  • 122 volts is a little low for a genset that does not have much load. I would be thinking closer to 128.
  • valhalla360 wrote:
    What was the voltage when both were running (it will be lower than when nothing is running)?
    Are you certain, nothing else was running (like the electric hot water heater or battery charger)?

    Did the air/con and/or microwave work after a restart?


    Not sure what the voltage was before, the battery charger might have been on. Water heater was not on, nothing else that would draw a sufficient amount of power
  • What was the voltage when both were running (it will be lower than when nothing is running)?
    Are you certain, nothing else was running (like the electric hot water heater or battery charger)?

    Did the air/con and/or microwave work after a restart?
  • Update-when checking black/ground I have 122, black/white 122, white/ground nothing notable

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