Generator investment

I guess it depends what's wrong with it and how many hours it has on it. If it's a typical RV generator, it's pretty close to brand new already in terms of hours of use. (Onans will run for thousands of hours generally if taken care of and used that much.) If all it needs is a replacement carburetor and general cleanup and maybe some other minor parts, then I think it's well worth doing over replacing. If it has a damaged crankshaft or generator head that needs replacement, that may well be a different story.

My guess is that a bit of carburetor work and adjustment and maybe cleaning the slip rings will make it work properly. That's purely a guess, of course; I'm not a long-distance generator clairvoyant by any means!

The van only has 62 k on it... So this generator probably damaged from lack of use

Ok so how much money would you pay to get you 20 yr old Onan microlite 2800 generator up and running, total cost, pull generator fix and reconnect... At what price point does it make sense to let it go and get a new or rebuilt one installed... Tx

Yea, I checked oil , I thought generator starving for fuel, pull tube from carb and started generator and seemed to be pumping fuel, that's all I know,called so many and gen tec, number given to me by my RV repair guy at gen tec said he worked on Onan,so he has it... Really cannot find much info, only one BAD review,but website says most work he does is wholesale, I hope he does right by me. Thanks all

Oil levels good on generator,tx

2oldman wrote:

Sam Spade wrote:
Yes, I am yelling because it would be a shame for him to waste a LOT of money on labor charges just to find that it is low on oil.

x2. Better yell again.. Op isn't responding.

I chuckle at this because it's so important. While working in the small engine repair business it was best to check the oil on anything that was brought in while the customer was standing there. It's far easier to point out the low oil level in front of them rather than call them up and tell them that the engine is trashed or that it blew the rod out the side after being filled and started.

Sam Spade wrote:
Yes, I am yelling because it would be a shame for him to waste a LOT of money on labor charges just to find that it is low on oil.

x2. Better yell again.. Op isn't responding.

Three things are required for it to run. Compression, fuel and ignition. Fuel problems for small engines are VERY common. Before I would pull it out I would do some basic troubleshooting to have some idea if it's fuel or ignition. As Sam said, it could be as simple as low oil level or a bad oil pressure sensor. I helped one person on here fix his TC generac when it was simply a poor connection at his circuit board.

While being very careful, you can use troubleshooting tricks such as giving it a shot of fuel or even propane to see if it will attempt to run. Simple spark plug ignition testers will tell you if you are losing spark. Ignition problems can also be in the circuits which shut down the ignition during overheat or low oil. If you are going to spend the money at a repair facility be sure they have a good reputation or find a qualified small engine guy with a conscience.

I recently bought a Honda parts bike. It's in rough shape but bleeding a little propane to it and kicking it over and hearing it rev up and die told me it had decent compression and that the ignition/cdi unit were working enough for it to try to run. It didn't prove the overall wear on the engine but it didn't billow smoke from having a scored cylinder bore. On to the trashed out carb and fuel tank.

Billyrv1232 wrote:
Thanks I spoke to them, they suggested a muffler shop, my auto guy said he could fabricate, since you are down in south Jersey, do you know anything about gen tec equipment in Riverton, they work on generators. Tx

I am in SE PA... just North of Philly.. I di not know anything about them. I looked them up on google maps, and the address shows as a house, but their facebook page shows forklifts and plenty of shop space
Here is the 1 review they have -
"I was told over the phone would be 250 to 350 check out Onan gen and was also told he had no customers so could get right on it, after a week got 5 pages of what would take hours to write up telling me how bad it was blah blah blah, then tried to tell me a RV is worth 10 thousand less without a gen, and then told me 43 hundred plus dollars to repair and said "well the factory gives three year warranty" on parts BUT his bill said 30 days warranty, anyways a brand new gen is just under 3800 delivered to my door, need less to say I could not wait to go get it out of there, and to top it off he's got trees everywhere, when I got home noticed the luggage rack was bent to the side and the screws came out, now I'm really pissed. This guy still thinks he is doing government work where he thinks he can bend you over and screw you royally. Worst experience ever

Thanks I spoke to them, they suggested a muffler shop, my auto guy said he could fabricate, since you are down in south Jersey, do you know anything about gen tec equipment in Riverton, they work on generators. Tx