Generator Problem Now,,, CURED

avvidclif

Well-known member
My luck is running normal. I had a problem with the kitchen slide and Heartland and BAL came thru for me (just out of warranty), a bad gearbox which they sent to me. I replaced it Wed and while in the trailer decided to run the generator for it's monthly exercise. It started and then died. I tried again and it started but the hour meter wasn't running and the red light on the power switch was flashing rapidly. I turned it off and it showed Code 27. I checked the service manual and that covers about everything but low oil. It shows fuel, choke, air filter, electrical problems, alternator problems, bad connections, etc. Since the weather wasn't conducive to outside activities I put off even looking at it until today when it warms up a bit.

Any thoughts? I will start with a visual inspection of all connections in and around the genny itself. It does start and run so I don't think its fuel, just no hour meter running?

Fix one problem and another pops up, gotta love RVing... GRIN
 

TandT

Founding Utah Chapter Leaders-Retired
Re: Generator Problem Now

Is your genny gas or propane? Trace
 

avvidclif

Well-known member
Re: Generator Problem Now

It's gas.

Thanks Lynn but that's an 8k diesel and this is a 5.5k gas. BTW it's still in warranty (3 year) so if I can't find anything obvious I'll call Onan on Monday. Sigh
 

Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn

Well-known member
Re: Generator Problem Now

I think it does have a low oil shut off switch so check the oil and check the plug on that switch.
Is it Gas or Propane ?
If it's gas, how old is your gas ?
 
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Lynn1130

Well-known member
Re: Generator Problem Now

There were several that I found with the same info gas, diesel and propane. I suspect that while the fuel may be different the fault codes and problems may be the same. Especially in the electrical components. the 27 fault code seem to be basically the same issues with each of the three. That post just had more detail about what it was and what went into finding and fixing it.
 

avvidclif

Well-known member
Re: Generator Problem Now

What a breath of fresh air. I looked up Onan service centers near me. The closest was abt 55 mi one way and the other about the same in the opposite direction. After being accustomed to the "bring it in and we'll look at it in about 4-6 weeks" from an RV dealer I picked an Onan dealer that said unless they had to order parts it would be ready in 2-3 days, WOW someone that understands customer service. I will be at his place Mon morn and see what happens. We had a nice conversation also. No problem on the warranty either.

I do want to thank everyone but one dealer said it was usually the stator and at that point it was off to the dealer I go.
 

Lynn1130

Well-known member
Re: Generator Problem Now

Glad you found a good and close place to take it. That first paragraph in the thread that I send mentions that his problem was likely the stator. I will file a copy of that thread in my trailer notebook for future reference.
 

avvidclif

Well-known member
Re: Generator Problem Now

Followup. On Sun as we unloaded it to take it to the Onan dealer on Monday I decided to try the gen-set again. It started right up, hour meter worked, and all was good. I waited a few minutes for it to go online and when it didn't I remembered I had turned off the breakers on the gen-set. When I turned on the bottom breaker it died. It would not start and showed zero signs of life. Off we go on Monday to the service center, dropped it off, and left. They called Thur morn and it was ready. It seems the main cable to the control box on gen-set was half plugged in and making intermittent contact. Once corrected it worked fine. We picked it up and that's where we are now. Back home with a working gen-set.

He said the with error code 27 the first thing to check is the connector to the control box, not the remote.

3 days sure beats 4-6 weeks at an rv dealer.
 

JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
Re: Generator Problem Now

We have a 1000 watt generator and am wondering what will it power in our RV?

I know it won't be much . . . but we are not interested in running our AC?

Mostly just our DVD/TV and charging batteries!
 

JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
Re: Generator Problem Now

We have a 1000 watt generator and am wondering what will it power in our RV?

I know it won't be much . . . but we are not interested in running our AC?

Mostly just our DVD/TV and charging batteries!


Almost forgot the most important item . . . the coffee maker!

I do carry our backup purculator in case I need to make coffee the old-skool way (ie - on the campfire) . . .
 
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