All ActivityMost RecentMost LikesSolutionsRe: Need generator adviceWe just used the trailer/generator again this weekend and it worked pretty good for a day and a half. Then it started acting like it was struggling/starving for fuel. It didn't matter if we were using the 110 side or the 240 side. It struggled even when it had no load at all. We've done every scheduled maintenance we were supposed to. Changed the oil at 5 hours, then again at 50 hours. We checked and cleaned the air filter at 60 hours. We cleaned the spark arrester at 102 hours. We ran it on ethanol free fuel for the first 20 or so hours, but then we couldn't find it so used regular pump gas (we used the under 10% ethanol regular - per the owners manual). We even changed the fuse and the spark plug. We are now at a loss. It is obviously a generator problem.Re: Need generator adviceOK...we'll try turning everything off. When we do that, should we just turn things on slowly? In other words, should we start with the main and A/C, then add the lights, then the water pump, etc.?? We need all of these things to run, all at once, and should have plenty of generator to do it...but something is just not going right for us. When we had it hooked up the other way, we had it all working--at the same time--and were only pulling about 3500 watts, so the load on the genset was only about 1/2. Also...we noticed that our "economy" feature didn't seem to work when it is switched to 220--the generator sounds like it's running at full load, even when nothing is running. This of course makes it burn more fuel, and I would think just overall be working harder than it needs to. I'm not trying to find someone to tell me that the way we were doing it before was right if it's not, but we are just really, really confused and want to do what is best both for our power needs and the generator lifespan.Re: Need generator adviceYes! It worked great for about 2 1/2 days...then started shutting off periodically. The A/C is a 15000 BTU. The only other things on the trailer are 4 overhead florescent lights, about 5 110 receptacles, two porch lights, a 5 gallon water heater (that we only turn on when necessary) and a water pump. The 30-Amp side ran everything and barely put a strain on the generator The three prong 30-amp adaptor worked perfect, so we thought that all was good. But then the generator started acting up....it would run for a while and then the generator would still be running, but it would not output any power. we thought it might be a circuit board or something, so we took it in for warranty work. The generator tech said that there was nothing wrong with the gen, and that we had the wrong adaptor. So charged us $100 for his labor to look at it, and $60 for the new adaptor. We came home and hooked up the trailer with the new adaptor, and the A/C wouldn't even come on, or it would come on for about 2 minutes, then the generator would shut down.Re: Need generator adviceOK...getting there. Figured out how to resize my photos. Still stumped on the generator thing though.....Re: Need generator adviceSorry....I admit I'm new and a little frustrated...LOL What height should I use??Re: Need generator adviceYesRe: Need generator adviceYes...there's something definitely wrong. The guy that looked at our generator said that he was powering two A/C units, lights, fridge, etc. with this adaptor, but when we took it back home to our trailer, we got nothing. Was hoping there was a switch or something we weren't thinking of, but I think we're doing it rightRe: Need generator adviceThen, when we took it in to the shop, he recommended that we get this: When we hook this one up into the right receptacle, we switch the top to 240, and we can run the lights, but nothing else. When we try to turn the A/C onto low cool, the generator shuts down, and the red overload light comes on. Re: Need generator adviceOK...we were first told to do this: Bought these two adaptors and plugged it into the left receptacle. Everything ran great for three days, and then it started to act up. Re: Need generator adviceYes...when we switch it to the 240, it will run the A/C for about 2 minutes, then shuts everything down.
GroupsRV Newbies We all start out new. Share lessons learned or first-time questions!Jun 15, 20174,026 Posts
RV Newbies We all start out new. Share lessons learned or first-time questions!Jun 15, 20174,026 Posts