generator will not start (1 Viewer)

kex66

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Jan 29, 2012
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Getting a bit desparate so have posted this on a number of sites to see if anyone can help:

Fitted a 12v Alphaline XV31 battery as a temporary measure to replace the 2 x 6v workaholic batteries that were shot.

The on board generator will not start. In fact there does not seem to be any power to it at all now. Before, with the duff batteries the generator was showing a fault to indicate that the house batteries were run down. Now there is nothing lighting up at all with the new battery fitted.

Do I have to reset anything or could it be a fuse blown when I reconnected the new battery? Or could it be the battery itself going from 2 x 6v to 1 x 12v.

Thanks in advance
 

madbluemad

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Check you rv petrol levels. Your on board genny will not start unless you have at the very least a quarter of a tank full.

Check out the oil level in your genny, it will not start if the oil is very low.

Jim
:Smile:
 

Peter JohnsCross MH

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Have you checked with a meter or lamp that 12v is getting to the starter motor?

Peter

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kex66

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Jan 29, 2012
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thanks Jim,

all levels are good. Normally the genny start button will flash when pressed but now nothing. No sound or any indication that anything is happening at all. The only thing that happened when I reconnected the battery that may be related was the A/C unit started bleeping:whatthe:
 
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kex66

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Can I suggest you post this on www.rvoc.co.uk our sister site dedicated to RV s :thumb:

Already done that Larry but no replies (Bingo_66). I wasn't able to use the same user name on here for some reason.

I will separate the question from an existing thread and try again.

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kex66

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Jan 29, 2012
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Have you checked with a meter or lamp that 12v is getting to the starter motor?

Peter

Peter, not that mechanically minded unfortunately but if it's an easy job then I will look on the net for instructions and try that.

Thanks for the info.
 

madbluemad

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Mmmmmm, a bleeping sound is usually associated with a low voltage. Me thinks that you have installed your new batteries incorrectly but I don't know how.

Try putting your old but knackered battery back in the way it was before and try starting your genny again.

I know it sounds daft but try it with your RV engine running. If the genny fires up, its the new batteries.
Jim
:Smile:
 

madbluemad

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Peter, not that mechanically minded unfortunately but if it's an easy job then I will look on the net for instructions and try that.

Thanks for the info.

All that you need is an amp/volt meter. You can get a meter from Halfords.
Jim
:Smile:

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kex66

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Mmmmmm, a bleeping sound is usually associated with a low voltage. Me thinks that you have installed your new batteries incorrectly but I don't know how.

Try putting your old but knackered battery back in the way it was before and try starting your genny again.

I know it sounds daft but try it with your RV engine running. If the genny fires up, its the new batteries.
Jim
:Smile:

Jim,

Thanks for the info. I have actually installed a single 12v battery to replace the 2 x 6v batteries that were in originally (As a temporary measure) The old batteries were completely gone so have been discarded.

The 12v battery is a deep cycle battery (Alphaline)
 

slobadoberbob

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any chance you have a bad earth?

Disconnecting the batteries is it possible you have upset the earth? often genny issues are about earth issues. Especially at the genny itself, I often take the blt off the connection of both side and give them a good wire brush.. but check the area of the battery connection and see if by any chance you have a bad earth or a short.

Bob
 

madbluemad

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Getting a bit desparate so have posted this on a number of sites to see if anyone can help:

Fitted a 12v Alphaline XV31 battery as a temporary measure to replace the 2 x 6v workaholic batteries that were shot.

The on board generator will not start. In fact there does not seem to be any power to it at all now. Before, with the duff batteries the generator was showing a fault to indicate that the house batteries were run down. Now there is nothing lighting up at all with the new battery fitted.

Do I have to reset anything or could it be a fuse blown when I reconnected the new battery? Or could it be the battery itself going from 2 x 6v to 1 x 12v.

Thanks in advance

Lets be clear. What battery/batteries have you changed around. Your rv engine battery or your habitation battery/batteries.
Jim

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Apr 27, 2008
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A deep cycle (leisure) battery is not good for starting anything as if you take a starting current from it you could buckle the relatively thin plates and completely knacker it. If you're starting an engine (e.g. genny) you need a starter type battery, i.e. ordinary car/van battery)

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spannermanwigan

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May 22, 2008
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The spec for the Alphaline battery of 115amp/hr with 1000cca
should be perfectly adequate to start your generator.
You need to check the battery is in fact charged.
Then check the main battery connections especially the earth(negative).
also check you have the positive lead to pos(+ Red) and negative lead
to neg(-Blue) on battery.

Regards
Steve
 
Feb 25, 2008
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on and off for the whole of my existance
a hand ofered!

If you still haveing trouble, then you are welcome to pop across this weekend and i will try and help. no promises but saves you buying bits you may never need.

Just give me a ring before you set off to make sure i am in.

07926 154457

B50 4AP

Good luck,

Cheyne
 
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kex66

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The spec for the Alphaline battery of 115amp/hr with 1000cca
should be perfectly adequate to start your generator.
You need to check the battery is in fact charged.
Then check the main battery connections especially the earth(negative).
also check you have the positive lead to pos(+ Red) and negative lead
to neg(-Blue) on battery.

Regards
Steve

Thanks Steve,

The Alphaline is a new battery and I put it on charge for the day before taking it to the RV. I took pictures of the 6v set up before disconnecting the old system and re connected the cables exactly to the new battery but left out the cable that connected the two 6v batteries together.

The entry step and clock on the wall started working straight away and the A/C bleeped for 5 minutes or so when the new battery was connected. I tried starting the genny with the vehicle engine running but there is no power even going to the start button (It normally lights up when pressed)

I am not sure if there is a fuse somewhere on the system that may have blown?

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kex66

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Jan 29, 2012
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203
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If you still haveing trouble, then you are welcome to pop across this weekend and i will try and help. no promises but saves you buying bits you may never need.

Just give me a ring before you set off to make sure i am in.

07926 154457

B50 4AP

Good luck,

Cheyne

Thanks for the kind offer. Unfortunately the interior is out of the vehicle for re trim so it cannot be moved. I think I may have to resort to calling the auto electrician.

Thanks Cheyne.
 

slobadoberbob

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Have you left a small feed wire off?

When you disconnected the wiring, any chance you left a small feed wire off the positive side?

I know you say you left the bridge off that was used to connect the two 6v .. I take it there were two of those, one negative and one positive.. While I run two 12v on my Winnebago I still have a feed to other things and you have to be carful to make sure that they are all back and connected.

Bob
 

motor roamin

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When you disconnected the wiring, any chance you left a small feed wire off the positive side?

I know you say you left the bridge off that was used to connect the two 6v .. I take it there were two of those, one negative and one positive.. While I run two 12v on my Winnebago I still have a feed to other things and you have to be carful to make sure that they are all back and connected.

Bob

No Bob there will be only one bridging cable to achieve 12volts if he had two then it would be a six volt system the one will be connected neg to pos.

All the best Rick


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slobadoberbob

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Jun 1, 2009
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yes Rick

No Bob there will be only one bridging cable to achieve 12volts if he had two then it would be a six volt system the one will be connected neg to pos.

All the best Rick



Yes Rick.. thinking it was 2 x 12v when he was using 2 x 6 to make 1 x 12.. spotted it, but you posted faster than I could write it

Bob
 
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kex66

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Jan 29, 2012
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Yes Rick.. thinking it was 2 x 12v when he was using 2 x 6 to make 1 x 12.. spotted it, but you posted faster than I could write it

Bob

Bob,

Before I call in the auto electrician I am going to do the following:

Take off the battery leads and give them a good clean with a wire brush.

Try and find out if there is a fuse somewhere that may have blown - the Onan manual says that there is a 12v fuse but does not state where it is.

Test to see if voltage is getting to the starter (I'll learn how to do this today)

Run the vehicle for 10 minutes or so before trying the genny.

Make sure everything else is working as it should.

If all this fails, swear at the top of my voice while beating the ground has hard as possible with a very large stick:Angry:
 

slobadoberbob

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Jun 1, 2009
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A case of go back over each step in reverse

Bob,

Before I call in the auto electrician I am going to do the following:

Take off the battery leads and give them a good clean with a wire brush.

Try and find out if there is a fuse somewhere that may have blown - the Onan manual says that there is a 12v fuse but does not state where it is.

Test to see if voltage is getting to the starter (I'll learn how to do this today)

Run the vehicle for 10 minutes or so before trying the genny.

Make sure everything else is working as it should.

If all this fails, swear at the top of my voice while beating the ground has hard as possible with a very large stick:Angry:

It is a case of going back over each step in reverse... do not know what version you have of Onan genny.. mine is a 4 kw microlite... It has a fault reading unit on the main switch that flashes up numbers to allow you to check with the manual. Main issue I have found is the rust that builds up on the terminals.. both live and especially earth... But I presume if running before then it has to come back to what was done on removal of the 2 x 6volts ... I have in the past run my engine.. takes about 15 to 20 minutes to re charge the engine battery then it diverts on the Winnebago excess charge back to the house batteries.. But as suggested by others you do need to get a reading on the batteries you are putting in... I use a multimeter which i got from Maplins.. does lots of things, but the main one I use if for is to read the volts in batteries.

Bob

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kex66

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Jan 29, 2012
166
203
cheshire
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I'm a newbie
It is a case of going back over each step in reverse... do not know what version you have of Onan genny.. mine is a 4 kw microlite... It has a fault reading unit on the main switch that flashes up numbers to allow you to check with the manual. Main issue I have found is the rust that builds up on the terminals.. both live and especially earth... But I presume if running before then it has to come back to what was done on removal of the 2 x 6volts ... I have in the past run my engine.. takes about 15 to 20 minutes to re charge the engine battery then it diverts on the Winnebago excess charge back to the house batteries.. But as suggested by others you do need to get a reading on the batteries you are putting in... I use a multimeter which i got from Maplins.. does lots of things, but the main one I use if for is to read the volts in batteries.

Bob

Cheers Bob,

Will be at the RV tomorrow so will report back after that.:thumb:
 
Feb 25, 2008
232
96
Barril da Alva, Portugal
Funster No
1,605
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Caravan
Exp
on and off for the whole of my existance
Hi, Depending on which Onan you have, there is a fuse on the front of the control panel. Either that or there is a wire that has fractured in the plastic conecter to the side of the genny. I had this happen on a friends rv. I had to take origanal plug and socket of and replace with a new one. from there on it worked.

Good luck

Cheyne
 

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