Onan 4.0 BFA - Hot Rodded! But...
OK. "Hot Rodded" might be just a wee bit of an exaggeration, but... I'm pretty proud of my tuning job... regardless of the lack of any real skill required. So I began to notice the old '86 Onan...
Forum Discussion
My recommendation is to get your hands on a factory manual. Chris Bryant is right on the mark about many of the older Onans. Onan was famous for building machines so complex with coils, chokes and transformers, it boggles the mind. The governor does more than "control" engine speed. It averages out load surge requirements and then complicates things even further with speed "response time".
Servicing an Onan, is like painting a by-the-numbers picture. "Start here, go to there, if this does this, try that, but if that causes ....."
I purchased a permanent Woodward Electronic Governor to follow me into the grave. It maintains 60.0 Hz until the motor cannot sustain speed due to overload.
I loved coupling the older Onan's with the BW Magnaek 775-2 ferroresonant charger. "How Can I Charge My Batteries Faster?" In went a matchbook cover shim thus raising the engine speed to 63 Hz. And voltage resonance to 14.5
The older GM Delco 20Kw railroad reefer generators were similar. A manual is essential to get to where you want to be.
Personally? I do not like voltages above 127.
With 132 volts you risk voltage peak-to-peak values in excess of many components inherent in electronic systems. Your peak to peak voltage now must be in the 170's. Couple that with an induction motor switching on and off and that makes my skin crawl. We used to laugh and label the Onan waveform pant-angular.
Where did I see a downloadable Onan factory service manual?
Servicing an Onan, is like painting a by-the-numbers picture. "Start here, go to there, if this does this, try that, but if that causes ....."
I purchased a permanent Woodward Electronic Governor to follow me into the grave. It maintains 60.0 Hz until the motor cannot sustain speed due to overload.
I loved coupling the older Onan's with the BW Magnaek 775-2 ferroresonant charger. "How Can I Charge My Batteries Faster?" In went a matchbook cover shim thus raising the engine speed to 63 Hz. And voltage resonance to 14.5
The older GM Delco 20Kw railroad reefer generators were similar. A manual is essential to get to where you want to be.
Personally? I do not like voltages above 127.
With 132 volts you risk voltage peak-to-peak values in excess of many components inherent in electronic systems. Your peak to peak voltage now must be in the 170's. Couple that with an induction motor switching on and off and that makes my skin crawl. We used to laugh and label the Onan waveform pant-angular.
Where did I see a downloadable Onan factory service manual?
