harleyridertex
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Re: Generac 36lp plus starting problem
As a truck camper owner with a Generac 36 lp plus 2....I will try to explain what the starting issue normally consist of..... Voltage and amperage are two different things....I had a issue with starting generator off of twin deep cycle batteries that I don't even remember their name....slow solenoid click and no starting.....Sounds like a dead set of batteries....I had 12.5 volts at battery connections and charger always said fully charged....Cleaned all of the cables.....Grounds included at Ginny frame....The circuit board is set to abandon operation at approxamatly 8.5 volts.....For fun jump the solenoid blue wire wit a small wire directly from hot terminal on solenoid....It will turn over the starter....When you use button the voltage drops and circuit board abandons the cycle.....Then volts come back up and starts cycle again just to be disappointed by batteries..... When you try to start unit the voltage drops so fast a meter cant react fast enough....Just waves at you..... The thing I did next was to pull the super heavy batteries out of that stupid box that is 6 foot off the ground....Set them on a bench and pop the caps off of all 4 sets of covers.....Look inside carefully and you will probably find a dry battery.....Deep cycle batteries need more maintence than starting batteries because the store more heat.....If the cells are dry don't add anything.....Go to your favorite Auto parts store and have them tested....be sure you take your credit card because they wont let you take the new ones out without paying....Mine were 116.00 each....Leave your old batteries for the recycle core......I wound up with autozone duralast deep cycle....27 dc....High cold crank and the storage ability is very high.....180 min at 25 amp....That quiet a good storage capibiliy....When I hit the button now it opens gas valve and sounds like its on steroids Now for my thinking....For a while I had trouble starting generator....I could hook up electrical from truck and start engine....let it run a few minutes and gen would start....truck is hitting batteries with average 14 volt and actually forcing a charge to jump off generator.....Most newer trucks have a relay that seperates truck charge wires from camper when the engine is off to keep from not start on truck because camper batteries went down Another train of thought is I have a solar panel on roof to keep batteries topped off at all times of no use....Daylight charging everyday makes acid in battery warm up and evaporate...... Always test the easiest system first and work your way back......These circuit boards are pretty tough.....And learn to turn batteries off when hooked to shore power.....Let the batteries rest until needed.....I have a trick to get the maximum charge into batteries....turn on a 12 volt light in camper....unhook from shore power and let both batteries completely discharge....Then hook up charger and slow charge them until full....deep cycles like that I hope this helps someone that is thinking of pulling unit out to test it....Im amazed they built the service access to the side and stuffed it so full of wires Happy Camping688Views0likes0Comments
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