Born Free Leap'n Lions RV Club Info & Discussion Forum

I have a basic question. I have an AC voltmeter that plugs into any outlet in my rig (helps to know what kind of voltage you're getting on your shore line).

When I run the genset, without a load, I'm getting a real, steady, solid 115 volts (between 115 and 120).

When I put a load on it (Air Conditioner), It drops to just under 100, but it bounces back and forth a little...about 5 volts or so. It's very rhythmic. Should that be happening?

Thanks in advance.

Trisha,

Sounds to me like your Onan generator's governor is out of adjustment. It is normal for a load on the generator to cause it to slow down a little (causing a small drop in generated AC voltage) but not as much as you are seeing. Running your air conditioner on an AC voltage of 100 or less can cause damage to it.

Probably should have your Camping World store in Rogers, MN or a Cummins dealer fix what ever is wrong with it.

Oh, by the way, you will probably hear from Mel about your use of the term 'rig' rather than 'coach'!

Trisha, what happens when you turn on you air, high fan and max cool? Does your air continue to run or does it shut down?

In reverse order:

My air continues to run. I can't remember it ever shutting off unless the power was interrupted.

Bill: The 100 watts is on the AC, and I've found the cause (but it's not mine to fix.) So I DON'T run my air on it. The generator kicks out almost 120 until I put the load on it.

I was more worried about the oscillation of the voltage. I'll take a look an dsee if I can do some maintenance that will help it, if not, I'll take it to Camping world. But it's a Generac, not an Onan. Is that really such a bad thing?

Well if your generator is a Generac, you certsinly don't want to take it to a Cummins dealer. I assume when you said 100 watts, you meant to say 100 volts (AC, that is?). If your meter indicates 115 to 120 volts AC with no load and then drops to 100 volts when you start your air conditioner, that is a serious and excessive voltage drop and really does indicate a problem with your Generac generator.

Load voltage is way too low ~~ we use a Digital Line Monitor http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/it ... itor/24900
to make sure our voltage level and frequency are within industry standard tolerances, and immediately shut down our electrical appliances if/when the tolerances are exceeded.

Sounds like you have a surging problem, which can be caused by different issues; governor and linkage related matters, fouled plug(s), dirty air cleaner or fuel issues associated with old fuel and associated gum accumulation in your carburetor ~~ fuel issues seem to be the most prevalent, which you can guard against by using a product like STA-BIL Gas Stabilizer. If your system is already gummed up, you may be able to clean it with a fuel system cleaner, which you spray directly into your generator’s carburetor according to the directions of the can. If this does not work, the carburetor will have to be removed and cleaned.

I will see about doing a complete carb/generator maintenance. I didn't like the readings. Yeah, Bill, I meant volts not amps.

I shut it off when it was doing that. I *could* be old gas. I'll have to get fresh gas, and clean the carb and do the PM. See what happens. Will post results. Won't be today, as I've a previous engagement.\

My "meter" thingy is a plug-in to any 110 outlet. But it has a needle instead of a digital readout. And it only shows volts, not amps. I do have a regular multi-meter tho....

You guys are the bomb (teenage talk)!

Trisha,
Kim gave me a hint I thought I might pass on. When you turn the a/c on make sure the 'temp' selector is turned to a warmer setting than you really want. then after about 10-15 seconds turn the temp selector up to about '5'. This method seems to provide a 'soft start' & perhaps won't load the generator down so quickly. I've tried this method, as I have a generac also. Seems to work for me and gives smoother generator initial operation. I'd be curious to know if your voltage still drops way down. Like others, i think any voltage below 107 or so could cause 'brown out' problems.

Just my thoughts. Would like to know, eventually, what the problem turns out to be...

donc

The latest. I'm certain my friend needs an electrician. I feel sorry for her, but since it's in my interest too, we'll co-op on that.

Today: I'm running the genset now. It's been about 45 minutes. I gave it about 3 -4 minutes to stabilize (and it was very, very stable at 120 V), then I turned on the air conditioining. I had it turned low, but it was hot enough in the coach that it did not matter...the compressor still went on. Re-stabilized nearly immediately at 110-112 Volts. There is still a small bounce in the needle between 110 and 112 volts. It hasn't dropped below 110. The Air conditioner has pulled the temp down about six degrees in the past 45 minutes...and still going down. It's about 76 degrees in there now. I was using the low fan setting and about 4 on cooling...then I put it to max cool.

I don't know...is the bounce between 110 and 112 still irregular?

I do always use stabil when I am not going to be going anywhere, but now that it's summer, the gas is rather fresh.

To my ear, I don't hear any variations or other things to make me concerned about the generator. It's not missing or doing anything like that. It sounds good. I read the checklist in the book and didn't see anything there of concern, as far as the output.

If it's okay, I will leave it until the next service, which is coming up in about 40 hours. Since my friend's electricity is so marginal...that won't take long.

Thanks guys (& gals)!

What's the longest time anyone's run their generator regularly in hours/day?

Trisa,

After Hurricane Katrina we were without power at home for 10 days. I ran my generator from about 3 p.m. every afternoon to 8 a.m the next morning for those ten days. Around 150-170 hours in ten days.

Trish, We constantly run our generator 4-6 hours at a time while staying in truck stops or camp Walmart. Currently have 800+ hours of run time and it runs better every day. It is an Onan and I use the same synthetic 5w30 oil as the Ford V10.

My air conditioner also shuts down with generator supplying power, but that isn't the case when plugged in to power cord. I have found, when on generator power and I turn on the air everything works fine until I try to increase cooling by moving the right hand knob from 4 to 5. At that point I can hear the increased demand placed on the generator's engine and then one of two things will happen. #1. I will hear an audible click in the convertor area, however the 30 amp breaker doesn't kick out, the air does shut off and the generator continues to run but at a noticeable lighter load. At that point I turn the air completely off, wait a few minutes and then restart, turning the right knob to 4 and then ever so slowly move it to 5. During this process #1 will reoccur or the power will hold and then I can move the Knob all the way to max cool. My belief, until proven otherwise, is the generator hasn't quit got the smack and should be heavier duty. My coach is a 2008 and the generator has less than 10 hrs. most of which were added exercising the unit and the engine runs perfect, starts easy and runs smooth.

I am having a similar problem with the generator on my 2008. I am considering switching to an Onan. So far I have only heard of this problem with the Generac gensets.


Steve

Similar to which? My issue or dsfriday's?

In response to the length of time running the generator. In one Florida summer I had the RV at the hospital where my wife was being treated. I was staying there and had a pet in the RV. It was parked on asphalt in the sun.

The Onan ran 24 hours a day starting Monday morning and ending about 5 days later. I assume I did shut it off to refuel.

The issue I have with the generator is not using it enough under a load; in time I end up with a clogged carb. Usually I can tell what has happened as I began to get a surging engine.