Onan 2800 microlite

Thank you all for the help. Got my work cut out for me I see

Check the voltage out and if possible the frequency. Voltage should be no more than 126 volts and frequency no more than 63 Hz. If the voltage and frequency are high the governor needs adjusting, linkage is incorrect, or it is malfunctioning.

Here's a link for the service manual:
Onan service manual

Wstark3952 wrote:
Shouldn't it have an idle speed like before and then throttle up when put under a load?

No, it should have always run at 3600 rpm.

I was talking about the power cable that plugs into your house or the campground receptacle.

If you have it on a bench then you probably don't have it connected to the transfer switch.

You should be able to hook something to the gen that uses power such as a heater or hair dryer and hear the generator load up when you turn it on.

Or just measure the output voltage.

Which power cable are you referring to?

The generator is out of the trailer completely. No load applied to it at all. Just in the garage hooked to a battery and can of gas

It's running at speed when it has no load.

When you disconnect shore power, the transfer switch will apply the load. You will hear the change in engine load but it should still be running the same speed.

If there isn't much electrical load you won't hear much change in the engine.

You did remember to disconnect the power cable to test it?

I've never done that.....well maybe once.

Shouldn't it have an idle speed like before and then throttle up when put under a load?

This is a synchronous generator, according to the Onan spec sheet. It's designed to run at full speed (3600 rpm) all the time; if it didn't, the AC frequency would be all over the place. Sounds to me like it's running as designed.