Generator : If eye

[sleepygeek]

My onboard Gen needs a Bendix on the starter. If I remove the gen from RV, and disconnect all those wires from the gen. Will that effect using Shore power to the RV ? What to do with all those wires ?

The Gen is a good 4000 watt Onan Emerald Plus. Thought I would go Solar power and use the gen box for house batteries, sell the gen to cover some of the cost.

I have a new 4000 watt portable gen. with 2 - 20 amp, 1 - 30, and I think 1 - 50 amp connection. 120v / 240v switch. Is it stupid to do this or not ?

Just need to be schooled , not electricuted. I'm cute enough.

[sleepygeek]

77rollalong wrote:
there should be one plug for the in house panel, a large 12V battery wire, and the 110v output off the genset. remove and cover up the 12v line, remove and marette the 110v wires, could be a junction box inside the generator door that you can disconnect from there. the control wires just unplug.. it wont affect shore power. Some motorhomes without an automatic transfer switch have a plug inside the shore power box that the shore power cord plugs into, if so the only wire you really have to worry about is the 12V battery feed to make sure it cant short out.

I see the junction box, looks easy to disconnect wires and wire nut (= marette) them. Thanks a bunch.

[sleepygeek]

I guess I can pull the floor of the closet that is above Gen box to get to the starter for repairs. The age and noise of the Gen is why I'm thinking about Solar power. Use portable Gen when needed. Getting all the wires hooked up right is going to be my biggest challenge.

My portable Gen charges my one house battery (needs replaced) and does good on the outlets. I've put Led's in light fixtures inside, will do outside lights soon. It will charge my laptop,and phone. I have a french press for morning coffee, propane for stove, fridge, and the water heater.

A tremendous amount of info, I'm thankful for the help. I want to be less dependent on oil companies and the like. Technology is getting better all the time. Maybe I can find someone that could use the Onan Gen for their needs. I'm retired and just want to enjoy my old age in the outdoors.

[DrewE]

Fixing/replacing the starter shouldn't be all that expensive, aside possibly from the labor of getting at the starter. On the 4KY (I'm not sure if that's what this is, or if it's some other basic design) it does usually require removing the generator from the RV to get at the starter as it's on the back side and the full top cover must be removed, not just the usual service panel.

77rollalong correctly describes the wires and the (lack of) effect on your shore power connection.

Whether it's sensible to replace the generator with solar power and batteries really depends on your usage scenarios. If you need the generator to run air conditioning much, then solar likely won't be a viable alternative and you'll use your portable generator for that quite a bit, and have to deal with the noise and hassles of fueling etc. that it involves. (Unless the new generator is an inverter generator, it's almost certainly louder than the built-in generator.)

On the other hand, if the generator is primarily for charging the house batteries and maybe the occasional bit of microwaving, a solar install with a decent battery bank and an appropriate inverter could be a decided improvement.

[77rollalong]

there should be one plug for the in house panel, a large 12V battery wire, and the 110v output off the genset. remove and cover up the 12v line, remove and marette the 110v wires, could be a junction box inside the generator door that you can disconnect from there. the control wires just unplug.. it wont affect shore power. Some motorhomes without an automatic transfer switch have a plug inside the shore power box that the shore power cord plugs into, if so the only wire you really have to worry about is the 12V battery feed to make sure it cant short out.