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

LP Onan Generator issue.
I have a 1998 Born Free with a propane Emerald Plus 4KW gen set Model BGE. It only has 48 run hours. It will not start on its own. If I press the spring loaded prime button on the top of the generator LP Gas Regulator, you can hear a rush of LP for a minute and then it starts.
If it sits for a day, it acks the same. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Don Billings

Only 48 hrs on your Onan generator in 23 years is not good. Will it stay running once you get it started ? You may need to go to a Cummins engine shop to have your generator fixed.

We have a propane generator as well.

I am assume you are priming the generator with the inside switch as well. The switch has two positions, priming/stop and start/run. We prime our generator every time we start it with the inside switch. There is also a switch by the generator and also prime it when starting.

Make sure that you have turned on both valves on the propane tank. The generator will not run if a valve is closed. Also, if the propane tank is below 1/4 full, you might have a problem as well.

While traveling in Alaska in 2013, we left Denali NP on a rainy day, so the 30 mile trip to the main gate threw a lot of dirt and mud on the coach. The front of the generator was caked with mud. That night the generator would not start. Eventually discovered an air vent hose from the carburetor that hangs on the front of the generator. The mud was covering the hose. Cleared the mud and it fired right up. Have since placed a plastic guard over the hose. If you drive on gravel roads, look for buildup on the generator if it does not start.

Our generator is an Onan 3800, so the controls and setup may be different.