Generator finally repaired after seven months

[D_E_Bishop]

Well the generator is finally in and hopefully all the parts fit correctly. As I mentioned in two other posts, our 5.5KW Onan Generator failed last year and because I didn’t want to try and remove and repair it myself, I looked up factory recognized repair facilities. The one I would have preferred is one that the ingress and egress were in my opinion not only difficult but unsafe. The one I chose was closer and had great accessibility but no storage area. Both were about 15 miles from the house. So I decided that Advanced Generator Service in Azusa CA was the best choice. The shop was rate a Three Star Shop by Cummin/Onan. To be a tree star shop the technician(s) have to attend factory training classes each year. That seemed better than repair facility with no stars, one star or two stars.

I could find no rating system or site that gave reviews on the shops.

Well to shorten the story, I took the rig in on October 30th, initial troubleshooting indicated that it was not a simple repair and that the generator would have to be removed and torn down a bit. I approved that knowing it would be expensive. A few days later the owner called and gave me an estimate of around $2000 dollars. I approved the estimate. I did say we would like the generator back in operation ASAP due to reservations we had for camping in December.

That was the last time the owner initiated contact with us until he called us and said we could come on December 12th for re-installation of the generator. I had requested updates on his progress when we dropped the generator off and several more times while he was in repairing the generator. I even drove over to the shop because the owner would not talk to me personally. He has one employee who does the paperwork and while she know her job and a lot about generators, she only repeats what he says and either cannot or will not go into any details.

This is getting way too long, so here it the timeline, we get the generator back in December if failed again in January the shop scheduled us in on Feb 13th for removal and diagnosis. From Feb 13 through May 30th, we received one phone call and one email from the owner. I made three trips out there for the reasons stated earlier, the owner just wouldn’t call and give us any information

In mid May I had become so frustrated that I emailed the owner and said That I wanted my generator back running or not and gave a specific date. He refused and said he would contact us when he had some news. Then I threated to file a law suit and get it back, no reply but before our attorney could get paperwork prepared he called and said he had it working and gave us an appointment for reinstallation.

During this entire period, he had two excuses why the repairs were taking so long, one was the parts were delivered so damaged they were unusable and that the parts arrived and were assembled but they did not fit together properly and that they would cause another failure. It was not until my wife spent an entire day calling Cummin/Onan and talking to at least a dozen people that he managed to get the generator running. My wife found out from Cunnin/Onan employees that the shop owner didn’t return their calls either and that it was not uncommon for parts to arrive at shops that did not fit together properly or damaged beyond usefulness because they were not packed correctly from the warehouse.

Garry Patton may be a great technician and a very knowledgeable tech but his communication skills are terrible and Cummin/Onan may produce a good group of products but their QA and QC is performed by the end users facilities rather than the manufacturing facilities as noted by their own employees.

According to Garry Patton, he received more than eight rotor/stator sets and end bells before he could find a rotor, stator and end bell that when the brushes were installed would ride on the slip rings. Hopefully , our generator is in proper working order and will remain that way. If it fails again I’ll tear it down and find out if it is the brushes again and the fill suit for all my money back and just buy a new CARB compliant generator and hope it never fails.

[pnichols]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Yeah California...where you CAN NOT buy a battery charger...only a battery destroyer...with controls so tight you cannot even have one shipped in. California.

David ... huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh????

Are you saying that I couldn't order this power supply through Amazon and have it shipped to my door here in California for outstanding current and voltage charging control of my RV's batteries?: https://www.amazon.com/TekPower-TP1540E-Adjustable-Switching-Digital/dp/B015RXDRE0?th=1

For lack of a better way to put it - I guess that I don't believe you (but I am open to proof otherwise). :h

[3_tons]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Yeah California...where you CAN NOT buy a battery charger...only a battery destroyer...with controls so tight you cannot even have one shipped in. California. Eight cases of double digit IQ women DRINKING pennyroyal oil one of the safest and most effective mosquito repellents -- so they banned Pennyroyal Oil. California where ALL COFFEE and coffee products contain a proposition warning that COFFEE CAUSES CANCER but inhaling destructive distillates of burning vegetation is SAFE and a state where it is IMPOSSIBLE to get a blood drug level sample as evidence in an accident with fatalities involved. California. Ban on charcoal lighter for barbecues and spare the air days making it a crime to char broil a steak. California legislation makes about as much sense as a fart in a whirlwind...

Ha!!...But understand that Kalif voters (informed - lol) have repeatedly sought the ‘entitlement, engineered equality, and fairness’ government ($$$$) that they have voted for - Enjoy!!

Recall Einsteins definition of Stupidity - X 2 lol !!

[3_tons]

Cummins bought Onan....Recall that when AMF bought Harley, they set about drastically improving the product and spared Harley (along with a tarriff) from dodo bird like extinction. But since Cummins bought Onan, other than painting their trademark ‘C’ on, they have done nothing to improve the reliability, longevity, noise or vibration....Given this, when ordering the camper I checked the ‘generator delete’ box and went with a Honda 2000i without any regrets...I agree with the earlier poster who said we should expect more from American manufacturers, but their business models have been flawed and playing the catch up gov’t subsidy game since the early 1970’s.... So much for pedigreed (toxic) U.S. business acumen - makes one wonder what has gone so terribly wrong in acedemia??

[pnichols]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Air cooled engines develop 10 to 50 TIMES as much pollutants as do automobile engines.

Such long run futile efforts as "regulating" air cooled engines and "mandating" electric cars are not going to stop the planet's air destruction problems no matter what government or lack thereof is involved.

We just plain have too many people running around in too many private modes of transportation on an Earth that's staying the same size.

Because too many people are duped into thinking that earthbound mankind can science and engineer itself around this ... it's all going to eventually come crashing down until, and unless, we begin moving to Mars to start it all over again.

Mass transportation (except for RV'ing transportation 😉 ) and/or less people are the ultimate long term answers that it looks like have now been thrown unto the trash heap at the foot of the Technology God.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Compare gallons consumed versus PPM CO, HC, CO2, and NOX.

Air cooled engines develop 10 to 50 TIMES as much pollutants as do automobile engines.

Now, how much longer would you believe the cadre of Linda Rhonstat's old boyfriend is going to let that slip by.....hmmmmmm?

The single and solitary reason that air-cooled car engines (read Shultzwagen) were banned is because these engines cannot control combustion temperature. Lean out air fuel ratio and NOX levels and CO levels go to MARS.

Of the three projected states the least offensive seems to be San Diego. The republic of Hookah in the north needs warning signs at the border.

HOOKAH is a no fault state
No one is to blame everyone is a victim
HOOKAH is a quadruple fine state.
Drug tests are in violation of HOOKAH bill of rights

Reality check. Ya think Dianne Feinstein is going to yield her senior senatorette seat to be diluted by 5 new senators. Trouble brewing.

And if you think BROWN was radical just wait until you get a load of NEWSOME. Mr. TRUMP please we need a hundred feet tall fence around HOOKAH.

I am a hard-case consumer advocate. I ran my business as a consumer advocate. I told my customers "If I cannot fix my products in a week you get a full refund". I never once got a complaint through the consumer affairs board and was rated A+ by the BBB.

But a sleazebag lawyer sent a letter once threatening legal action after a customer a highly irate customer send them a polaroid shot of my Mother Fletcher's Do It Yourself Lifetime Warranty Starter And Alternator Mounting Kit

A big ziploc bag containing strips of Velcro and wing nuts.

It hanged on a pegboard on the other side of the counter

Grand Auto did not take to it too kindly.

When I answered the scumbag's letter (he demanded from me 750 dollars basic fee)

Good, you bring your briefcase, I'll bring the Press.

I never heard from him again.

[j-d]

Somewhere, before we fell in California Reservoirs, the Honda RV Genset came up and Kelley mentioned they weren't reliable. I heard that too, talking with an RV owner who had one destruct (story sounded like it threw a rod, seized the crankshaft, something major in the engine part of it) and he replaced with an ONAN. He liked it, quiet, till it blew up. I wonder if it WAS Honda, or something Honda re-badged to get into the RV market. I don't like everything Honda offers, but I respect their reputation and he dominance they've won in several areas. A small engine that can't stay together, doesn't sound like Honda.

EDIT: When I went back to this thread this morning, I nearly panicked. Thought some state was limiting us to 55 gallons of GAS for our RV's. That thought scared me...

[maillemaker]

If it wasn't a big deal it wouldn't be regulated to begin with.

I think if you're paying for it you should be able to use as much as you are willing to pay for.

That said, I would not be opposed to rate changes based on demand. Your first 50 gallons cost X per gallon, and your next 50 gallons cost Y per gallon, etc.

Steve

[DRTDEVL]

RSD559 wrote:
You mean the same Kookifornia that goes against the people's voice and shoots down all plans for reservoirs, but then enacts laws that restrict residents to 55 gallons of water usage per day?

I don't understand the ruckus over the proposed 55 gallon limit per person per day. Why? I'll use my family as an example.

There are 3 of us, and we use 4,000 gallons per month at most. It once spiked to 4500 gallons when we had 3 guests staying for a week...

4000 / 30 / 3 = 44.44 gallons per person per day, and that's with an irrigation system keeping my landscaping looking beautiful while living in the Chihuahuan Desert. I don't even try to conserve, but I guess its just how I was brought up in SoCal? I won't go to the lengths my grandfather did in Santa Monica (if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down), but apparently I don't need to. If a limit were enacted here, I would have to make no changes, as I am more than 10 gallons per person per day under the limit. Add in the 3 guests for a week's usage, and I would still be at 50 gallons per person per day.

If they proposed 40 gallons per person per day instead, I'd have to make a couple changes like reduce my irrigation timing and not wash dishes between main loads (I currently wash them after breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and wash individual items in-between, like drink glasses as they are used or baby bottles right after my son finishes one). But 55 gallons? If you're using more than that, you need to look in the mirror and figure out what you are doing wrong.

[pnichols]

RSD559 wrote:
You mean the same Kookifornia that goes against the people's voice and shoots down all plans for reservoirs, but then enacts laws that restrict residents to 55 gallons of water usage per day? The same Kookifornia that wants to dry out all of the San Joaquin Valley farms so the land can go back to nature. Most of the nations fruit and vegetables, except for corn, come from the San Joaquin Valley. I guess we can buy that stuff from south of the border or from China. California has never been accused of having common sense.

You soon may have to be more precise as to which state you're referring to: "California", "Southern California", or "Northern California". In the November election CA voters will be able to vote yes or no on splitting up the current single state into three new states.

IMHO, what companies and good old or young boys are getting away with in trying to fool consumers all over the U.S. on what they're actually getting or actually not getting quality-wise, and/or reliability-wise, and/or performance-wise, and/or safety-wise is atrocious -> capitalistic greed at it's "finest". At least California makes some attempts at protecting it's citizens from the ultra-extreme BBB (Buyer Beware Baloney) that's required. I'll take erring on the California way of doing this any day - over being on my own trying to stay on top of everything I use or benefit from in life.

With regards to water - it needs to be paid for at a normalized fair price by everyone using it just like with all resources on Earth - as the Earth's human population and greed explodes beyond belief. And ... this includes growing of food crops for farmers' bottom lines. There should be no free rides by any business, and the last time I checked - growing of crops for food is a business.

[RSD559]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Yeah California...where you CAN NOT buy a battery charger...only a battery destroyer...with controls so tight you cannot even have one shipped in. California. Eight cases of double digit IQ women DRINKING pennyroyal oil one of the safest and most effective mosquito repellents -- so they banned Pennyroyal Oil. California where ALL COFFEE and coffee products contain a proposition warning that COFFEE CAUSES CANCER but inhaling destructive distillates of burning vegetation is SAFE and a state where it is IMPOSSIBLE to get a blood drug level sample as evidence in an accident with fatalities involved. California. Ban on charcoal lighter for barbecues and spare the air days making it a crime to char broil a steak. California legislation makes about as much sense as a fart in a whirlwind...

You mean the same Kookifornia that goes against the people's voice and shoots down all plans for reservoirs, but then enacts laws that restrict residents to 55 gallons of water usage per day? The same Kookifornia that wants to dry out all of the San Joaquin Valley farms so the land can go back to nature. Most of the nations fruit and vegetables, except for corn, come from the San Joaquin Valley. I guess we can buy that stuff from south of the border or from China. California has never been accused of having common sense.

[Chum_lee]

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
They steer clear because RV OEM wants it for Free. Honda replacement parts are not cheap but compared to Oanan, they are a bargain. What is needed is an overhead cam direct ECU control fuel injection inverter output. The fuel savings would be enormous.

Yep! I would be all over a permanently installed 4000 watt OHC gas direct fuel injected ECU controlled inverter style genny with eco mode. The engine could run at 1800 RPM while running (not starting) a 13.5K BTU AC or charging batteries at altitude with no issues while sipping .2 gallons per hour, . . . . quietly. Then jump to 3600 RPM if/when necessary. All at a +-$2,000 price range. It's gold Jerry, . . . . pure gold! (Seinfeld)

Chum lee

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Yeah California...where you CAN NOT buy a battery charger...only a battery destroyer...with controls so tight you cannot even have one shipped in. California. Eight cases of double digit IQ women DRINKING pennyroyal oil one of the safest and most effective mosquito repellents -- so they banned Pennyroyal Oil. California where ALL COFFEE and coffee products contain a proposition warning that COFFEE CAUSES CANCER but inhaling destructive distillates of burning vegetation is SAFE and a state where it is IMPOSSIBLE to get a blood drug level sample as evidence in an accident with fatalities involved. California. Ban on charcoal lighter for barbecues and spare the air days making it a crime to char broil a steak. California legislation makes about as much sense as a fart in a whirlwind...

[Kpackpackkelley]

Matt_Colie wrote:
Honda could OWN the RV market if they choose to. For a short period, they marketed a 4010 and 6010 neat little and very reliable liquid cooled units. There is still some demand, but parts are not easy.

I was told by a Honda rep that they dropped the whole line because of California emissions.

Matt

Yes Honda had a unit that was liquid cooled built just like the onan 4000 compact to fit the compartment but they would **** out pretty quick and people would go to a onan 4000. So you probably won’t see Honda try that again.

[dougrainer]

Matt_Colie wrote:
Honda could OWN the RV market if they choose to. For a short period, they marketed a 4010 and 6010 neat little and very reliable liquid cooled units. There is still some demand, but parts are not easy.

I was told by a Honda rep that they dropped the whole line because of California emissions.

Matt

The Japs could own the market?????? Onan figured out how to meet California emissions 25 years ago and Honda cannot?????????? If they cannot meet Emission protocols, how smart are they???? Doug