Classic Winnebagos & Vintage RVs

Topic Boards => Generators => Topic started by: proimagesigns on March 22, 2020, 04:43 PM

Title: Generator not powering appliances
Post by: proimagesigns on March 22, 2020, 04:43 PM
Hello folks
I have an 89 Winnebago warrior 22ft
With Onan emerald one
Generator was not working
First guy that looked at it said it was no good and should get a new one
So I looked for a new/used one
Guy can out and pulled out the generator and I asked if he can try to get it started and he actually got it running what I know he did is he put a little gas in one of the spark plug then it ran after he got a air compressor and shot air thru the hose that goes from the Rv  tank to the generator and gas just started to come out
So after a few hours was able to put it back together and it runs good, I'm able to start it from the switch inside the RV
But my problem is that there is no power to inside
When I connect to shore everything works
It has a new converter also
Any help, suggestions
Owner manual says there are breakers but don't know where
Title: Re: Generator not powering appliances
Post by: Rickf1985 on March 22, 2020, 06:12 PM
Are you plugging your shore power cable into the generator outlet in the cable compartment? You have to plug it in since there is no transfer switch.
Title: Re: Generator not powering appliances
Post by: proimagesigns on March 22, 2020, 11:04 PM
Yes
I Did that
There were also some green wires that were loose under the in the chassis
We connected them to the frame and did nothing
I did notice a yellow wire that went to a relay? But was cut
Title: Re: Generator not powering appliances
Post by: proimagesigns on March 22, 2020, 11:04 PM
Maybe outlet can be bad?
Title: Re: Generator not powering appliances
Post by: Rickf1985 on March 23, 2020, 10:11 AM
Be careful just connecting wires to the chassis, you can end up with a ground loop if you are not careful. It sounds like you have a lot of modified wiring in there. Does everything work with the shore power plugged in? The breakers will be in a panel somewhere inside the coach. I cannot even begin to mention all of the places they put the panels. Under the bed, under the fridge, over the fridge. It could be about anywhere. The best plan is to get a manual for that coach and start there. If everything works with the shore power plugged in then the main wiring is good. As I said though, be careful tying the green AC wiring grounds to the frame with the DC 12 grounds.
Title: Re: Generator not powering appliances
Post by: proimagesigns on March 23, 2020, 11:22 AM
Yes everything works when plugged to shore. I've put a new converter
I checked those breakers and were fine.
Is there other breakers I should be looking for ?
Title: Re: Generator not powering appliances
Post by: Rickf1985 on March 23, 2020, 08:17 PM
There should be a regular AC breaker panel with a main breaker and several outlet breakers. Usually one for the AC unit and one for the microwave and a couple for outlets. This will not affect the generator, if everything is working on shore power it should work on the generator. Did you check the generator to see if it is putting out power? Start the generator and check the generator outlet to see if there is power there.
Title: Re: Generator not powering appliances
Post by: proimagesigns on March 28, 2020, 01:03 AM
Update!!!
We got power to the Generator today!!
I had a friend of a friend who is an electrician come out
And checked everything
So the Generator was punching about 160 amps(which was high eventually got it down to around 120as he was working on it) if that make sense
But when he checked the receptacle it was only getting 40
From what I understood there are 3 power wires/cables white,green and black and they were cut somewhere down by the generator
Before that he checked the board and voltage regulator and everything was working
At the end we went to Home Depot picked up 6ft of wires and he took from the generator to a box that is on the above storage compartment under the bed and plugged it up there and that was all!!
Thanks Rick for giving me ideas where to look
I'm learning step or $$ at a time..
Title: Re: Generator not powering appliances
Post by: Rickf1985 on March 28, 2020, 09:02 AM
Volts, not amps! That would be a BIG generator!!!! Glad to see you got it going and from the description you are lucky you did not either have a fire or damage the generator!


Sounds like your Friends friend is a guy you need to become friends with! He seems to know his way around generators.
Title: Re: Generator not powering appliances
Post by: yellowrecve on March 28, 2020, 10:59 PM
Sounds like some one was playing with the governor to get 160 volts.
Title: Re: Generator not powering appliances
Post by: Rickf1985 on March 29, 2020, 11:46 AM
Engine speed would give you higher frequency but voltage would be the regulator mainly. Could be RPM related but it would have affected both the voltage and frequency since frequency is set at 1800 or 3600 rpm depending on generator. I know on my military 5K generator (which is an Onan) I can vary the voltage by 40 volts above or below 110 or 220 with the voltage adjusting knob. That does not change the rpm but varies the regulator output. On the military sets you have to set the RPM with the hand throttle to your desired frequency and then lock it. Then you set the voltage accordingly. Yes, the military makes everything so easy, we won't even talk about the starting procedure! W% W% W%
Title: Re: Generator not powering appliances
Post by: Elandan2 on March 29, 2020, 04:51 PM
If I recall correctly, using a regular multimeter will result in a voltage around 160. You need an RMS multimeter to get the correct (120) voltage. This because most generators make modified sine wave rather than true sine wave
Title: Re: Generator not powering appliances
Post by: Rickf1985 on March 29, 2020, 06:24 PM
Doesn't matter, still needs to show 120 volts if it is 120 volts. The sine wave would show up on a frequency meter. Modified sine is just a matter of how clean the and steady the voltage is but it can't vary outside of normal parameters of 100-130 i think the range is. 160 will fry a lot of stuff.
Title: Re: Generator not powering appliances
Post by: udidwht on April 17, 2022, 11:55 PM
Quote from: yellowrecve on March 28, 2020, 10:59 PM
Sounds like some one was playing with the governor to get 160 volts.

I know on the Micro 4K units the governor adjustment is for speed and the governor sensitivity is for minimizing droop.