Generator Issue fixed

[Wertles]

I was having an issue with my Onan generator shutting off while driving. While parked, I it would run forever but get a mile or two down the road, it would shut off. I tried overfilling the oil a bit and yes, the gas tank was full. Still no better. I went to some RV fix it guys that I know and they couldn't figure it out. I was getting ready for a big trip in some heat so I thought I would bypass the whole thing and put the cargo tray on the rear hitch, run the cord along the frame and bring out the Honda 3000 generator. A few miles down the road, this too popped the breaker on the Honda and no electricity. Anyway, LOOONG story short, it was the AC causing all the problems. I won't get into the details on how this was figured out as just doing the fix will be faster than reading how this all got figured out.

While driving down the road, the bumps were having their way with the little blade connectors that send signals to the thermostat controls. Hit a bump, interrupt the current, the AC shuts off momentarily, when it tries to restart without waiting the 5 minute cool down, it overloads the circuit and things shut off.

Fix: $3.00 and 10 minutes or less of time. Remove the AC return filter cover (some models may need to have the whole cover removed). Find the control wires and blade connectors. One by one, remove the blade connector. With pliers of your choosing, very gently squeeze make them smaller so they will be tighter. Be careful not to squeeze them too tight as you will not be able to get them back on. Next, fill the connector with dielectric grease and reinstall. Do this to the remaining blade connectors and all other low voltage connectors (mine had one other connecting harness).

Since this fix, I have gone 300 miles on this trip and the generator has not shut off and its been nice and comfortable in the coach despite the 90 degree heat. I constantly hear of people having an issue with their generators and this may be one of the more common problems that gets overlooked since everyone is focusing on the generator.

[CaptainHappy]

THANKS! This was happening to us on our trip to South Dakota. I'll check it out this weekend when we give the MH a thorough cleaning.
Mike

[jhayes612]

Great, thanks for the info, this is what I needed to know.

[norty1]

Glads you persevered and found the fix. This knowledge may help someone down the road if it is filed away in the old back of the brain!

[D&MAKAFUN]

Wertles, thank you for the great info. Your ''fix'' may be just the easy solution people have been searching for.

[TheFireman]

I had a problem of losing all electricity but the generator kept running. I believe mine is the transfer switch. You said your generator would quit?

[Wertles]

Originally Posted by TheFireman

I had a problem of losing all electricity but the generator kept running. I believe mine is the transfer switch. You said your generator would quit?

My Onan would flat out shut off. The Honda 3000 would overload and trip the breaker but keep on running. What actually helped me figure this out was that at one point, the AC breaker in the coach tripped, the Onan kept running everything else and did not shut off even after 100 miles of driving. That pointed me to the AC as the culprit along with the fact that the AC wouldn't turn on when we got to our destination. The moment I played with the wires, the AC turned on. I had the same wire issue with my last motorhome AC except that one just never wanted to turn on, it didn't mess with my generator at all.

[TheFireman]

My dealer still has my unit. 4 weeks now. They say it was another bad transfer switch but I asked them to check all wiring for loose wires. Hope they got it. Should be done tomorrow but 4 weeks is too long. And I had an appt. to get mine fixed no had 20 items on punch list. They said since May Jayco has added an extra quality control. Now they say 2 guys sign off on everything.

[AugerN]

I was hoping that this fix would work but unfortunately it was not the issue for us. On the second leg of our trip home, I did tighten all the connections and even tightened down the board that they connect to (I should have taken a pic) so that it didn't bounce as much. We had the power disconnect several times despite this and even happened once while stationary in our drive after we got home and were unloading.

[Badh]

I am having the same problem and wondered if you could provide the loooooong version so I can avoid it!!

If you rather email directly or talk, I can send contact info. Thank you in advance.
Badh