generator with mind of its own

My Onan 5500 did started by itself twice after flipping on the battery cut- off back on. It turned out to be a faulty toggle start switch on the generator itself (the switch on the genny, not the dash one).

Only one person who ever had this problem? Is that a tribute to the quality of the switch or did I post on a quiet day?

Goldencrazy wrote:
Only one person who ever had this problem? Is that a tribute to the quality of the switch or did I post on a quiet day?

It sounds as tho this has never come up. This will require you to pay particular attention to the symptoms, meaning what's going on at the time the genny comes on. It very well could be a switch(s) with them having bad contacts. It could be the transfer switch, if you have one. This WILL be detective work on your part. I would start to eliminate as much as possible, the weather - wet contacts/moisture. But the switch would be the cheapest one. Can you eliminate the transfer switch - if you have one. Just break things down into blocks and start eliminate any piece associated with the genny.

Hope this helps!

-paul

I don't know which generator you have, but the Onan Quiet Diesels are known to have this problem if moisture gets into the plug for the control wiring harness which is outside the generator enclosure towards the right side of the vehicle.

I had a customer have a home standby unit do this. Very erratic at first and finally started and continued to run. The HOA switch was the culprit. Larry

Thanks everyone. Very helpful. Thinking moisture may be the issue.

If you do not have auto start, or remote start, I would just limit the scope to the problem to the remote (hard wired)start switch, and the connections at the generator. If you think it is moisture related, pack all connectors with dielectric grease, and plug them back in. Coat any exposed connectors in the generator with the same grease, or something designed expressly for that purpose. Using silicone to coat the connectors is just asking for trouble, with the wiring.

Alittle update to this post, originally submitted by Goldencrazy.
I'm the one that had the problem, Michbill. Goldencrazy was next to me at the campground and beat me to the post.
I took the cover off the switch on the generator, and it fell apart in my hands. I replaced this switch. The generator would not start, and the carb had to be "rebuilt." It now seems to be working correctly.
It appears that the problem with the generator having a mind of its own and trying to start by self was because of the defective switch on the generator. Thanks for the posts.
Bill

Doesn't the generator react to low battery voltage, regardless of whether you have shore power or not? Maybe your battery charger is not charging sufficiently or maybe the generator is coming on to charge your chassis battery which is not charged by most inverter/chargers.