RESOLVED: Generator will not start

[TxRoadWarrior362]

More than frustrated! Picked the RW up from the dealer and put in storage. I went to retrieve it last Saturday and the batteries were dead. Charged batteries via jump start to activate level up for hooking up and then backed up and plugged pigtail into tv to operate level more for hook up.

i have a cummins onan rv qg 5500 evap generator. It cranks, but won't start. I plugged into shore power at the house and tried the generator again tonight. Still crank, but no start. What the heck!! I have a/c and lights off while cranking. I'm hooked to shore power while trying yo start. Is that causing the gen not to start??

any advise would be welcome. I'm scheduled to be in Dallas at TMS on Thursday for the races and no power at our campsite. No generator... No trip again because of issues.

i might need some cheese with this whine!!

Tim

 

[Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn]

Re: Shore power disconnected before generator will start?

Is you Gen gas or LP ?
Are you holding the switch down for a while to prime it before you push up to start ?
If gas how old is your gas.
If LP are your tanks turned on and full ????

This will give us all a little more info to be able to help you out.

Jerrod

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[TxRoadWarrior362]

Re: Shore power disconnected before generator will start?

Is you Gen gas or LP ?
Are you holding the switch down for a while to prime it before you push up to start ?
If gas how old is your gas.
If LP are your tanks turned on and full ????

This will give us all a little more info to be able to help you out.

Jerrod

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gas unit. yes on the priming. Gas is 5 months old. Last ran, and ran well in November 2016. Bought the RW new in October. It's been at the dealer more than in my possession since purchased.

thanks for the reply.

tim

 

[Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn]

Re: Shore power disconnected before generator will start?

Did you get the 12v battery fully charged up.??
I bet if you go try it again with a good 12volts it will start this time.
Fingers crossed
You can open the front panel and flip off the 2 circuit breakers and use that start bottom there at the Gen and see if it will start. Then after it starts flip the breakers back on of course.
Good luck

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[TxRoadWarrior362]

Re: Shore power disconnected before generator will start?

Did you get the 12v battery fully charged up.??
I bet if you go try it again with a good 12volts it will start this time.
Fingers crossed
You can open the front panel and flip off the 2 circuit breakers and use that start bottom there at the Gen and see if it will start. Then after it starts flip the breakers back on of course.
Good luck

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Thanks Jerrod. The batteries show full charge on the interior panel. I'll try from the generator and see.

Is it ok to start the generator while connected to shore power? Should I disconnect before trying to start the generator?

Tim

 

[Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn]

Re: Shore power disconnected before generator will start?

Yes the transfer switch should dicide which power source will supply the coach. I think the Gen will take priority over shore power.
However if you kill the 2 circuit breakers at the generator no power will be sent to the transfer switch from the Gen. And shore power will still be in charge.
Hope that make sense

Jerrod

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[TxRoadWarrior362]

Re: Shore power disconnected before generator will start?

Yes the transfer switch should dicide which power source will supply the coach. I think the Gen will take priority over shore power.
However if you kill the 2 circuit breakers at the generator no power will be sent to the transfer switch from the Gen. And shore power will still be in charge.
Hope that make sense

Jerrod

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Thank you

 

[danemayer]

Re: Shore power disconnected before generator will start?

Thanks Jerrod. The batteries show full charge on the interior panel. I'll try from the generator and see.

Is it ok to start the generator while connected to shore power? Should I disconnect before trying to start the generator?

Tim

Being plugged into shore power won't hurt; if anything it'll help crank the genny.

 

[LBR]

Re: Shore power disconnected before generator will start?

I would dump 5 gallons fresh gas into Genie's tank to...

1) dilute the old gas

2) if tank is too low on fuel to fire up Genie

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[MikeandDar]

Re: Shore power disconnected before generator will start?

I realize the unit is fairly new, but you may want to check the engine oil level for the genny. I believe they have a low oil cut out switch(low oil=no run). Just a thought.

 

[Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn]

Re: Shore power disconnected before generator will start?

I realize the unit is fairly new, but you may want to check the engine oil level for the genny. I believe they have a low oil cut out switch(low oil=no run). Just a thought.

Good call, I forgot about that. And it won't start if it's 1 drop below that sensor.
That's been tested buy me a few time over the years. Mostly on portable engines not my Gen.

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[hoefler]

Re: Shore power disconnected before generator will start?

Drain and refill the fuel tank. The gas is stall/bad, especialy if it wasn't treated. If the tank was stored with anything less than a full tank, you most likely have water in the fuel.

 

[alwaysbusy]

Re: Shore power disconnected before generator will start?

From my experience with both LP and gas Onans, these gens are pretty stout. Confirm your fuel level and make sure your plug is good also.

 

[NWILSON]

Re: Shore power disconnected before generator will start?

I would dump 5 gallons fresh gas into Genie's tank to...

1) dilute the old gas

2) if tank is too low on fuel to fire up Genie

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It's going to take a L-O-N-G time to crank the engine enough to clear the 30' fuel line of old fuel. If fuel is actually the issue, the fuel line will need to be disconnected at the carburetor and the primer (perhaps gravity will do the job if the nose is set low) run until fresh fuel is coming through.
With a fire extinguisher handy, of course, cranking after squirting a bit of fresh fuel directly into the carb will help determine if fuel is your problem.

Also, if shore power is connected the batteries will always show fully charged.

 

[mlpeloquin]

Re: Shore power disconnected before generator will start?

And from now on use Sta-bil fule stabilizer. I use it for the gas lawn mower and the gas is good one year later. It starts on one pull. You might try some engine starting spray as well.

 

[porthole]

Re: Shore power disconnected before generator will start?

1. Shore power connected will not keep the genny from starting
2. Odds are good you have bad fuel
3. if you have a way to squirt fuel into the carb, see if it starts
4. look at my link below for Onan generator issues. there is a fuel cutoff solenoid on the carb that clogs up
5. Odds are good you have bad fuel
6. the generator will not output power until it runs for a bit and stabilizes, so flipping the breakers under the cover wont make a difference
7. 'sta-bil' only type fuel stabilizers are not good enough, you should be using a 'sta-bil' with ethanol treatment (the real problem)
8. The carbs are not rebuildable on these engines (actually they are, but there are no carb rebuild kits available)

Did I mention the

1. Odds are good you have bad fuel

- - - Updated - - -

To add to the above, EVERY time I put fuel in the trailer, I use a fuel stabilizer with ethanol treatment. I keep the trailer tank full.
All of my storage jugs (house-lawn stuff) get the stabilizer EVERY time I put gasoline in them.
At the beginning of the season most of the 5 gallon jugs get dumped in the car.
The fuel in the trailer will be used when we go to the Dover race, so trailer fuel is seldom more then 6 months old.

 

[TxRoadWarrior362]

Re: Shore power disconnected before generator will start?

Thanks to everyone for the advice!

1. I removed the fuel solenoid and cleaned it. Had some crud on the stem.
2. Drained the bowl.
3. Replaced the fuel filter. And gravity drains some fuel out of the line.
4. Added 7 gallons of fresh fuel and added Seafoam to tank.
5. Primed and started the gen. Stayed liberal amounts of Seafoam into the carb while running.

The gen ran, but not would idle down and almost die with the breakers turned off. I let it run like this for
4 hours. Turned it off and let it cool down. Removed the fuel solenoid, cleaned it again. Removed the bowl drain screw and spayed Seafoam into the
bowl. Let it drain and reinstalled screw and solenoid. Primed and started gen. Ran great for 15 min and died. Started up right away and still surged, but better. Let run for 2hours with breakers on and lite load.

i decided to live with the surge to get thru my trip to TMS.

Well..... I'm here at Texas Motor Speedway and it hasn't missed a lick for 7 hours. No surge. Watching tv with multiple electric items in use!!

My prayers were answered, and I'm very greatful!

Thank you,
Tim

 

[LBR]

Awesome to hear👍

 

[avvidclif]

Seafoam is neat stuff. A dose of that every so often and stabil will go a long way.

 

[TravelTiger]

Yay! Glad you're up and running! I've always wanted to go to the races at TMS with our rig, but we are not set up to boondock at all.


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