Generator will not start from control panel

[GM'sEnvoy]

We purchased a 2018 Envoy which is sort of less fancy Greyhawk or dressed up Redhawk. This weekend I had no power to the tv's and I figured out it was a tripped GFI. I had to reset the bathroom GFI and the GFI on the inverter to restore power to the tv's. Now the generator won't start remotely. It starts and runs just fine if I start it from the generator but trying to use the start button on the control panel just results in what sounds like the solenoid tripping a couple of times - like the battery is dead. The battery is just find and everything else I have tested - lights, water pump, etc. work just fine. Any suggestions? Thanks a bunch!

[jimp]

Did you check for the breaker on the generator itself. It hides on the back side of the unit,

[GM'sEnvoy]

Yes sir I did. I'm not sure it's all related but have to be suspicious - this started out with an inverter not working. I found the GFI tripped and in order to reset it I started the generator - then reset the GFI. Then found I had to reset the GFI or the reset on the inverter. Did that and all was well. A day later I went to start the generator and it would only click the solenoid a couple of times. Went to the generator itself and it started right up. I did notice the circuit breaker but it is not tripped - all works well when the gen is running.

Now everything is working, generator starts and runs just fine but won't start off the control panel.

Appreciate any and all input. Not the end of the world and definitely a first world problem but taking off on a spring break trip this weekend so would be nice to not have to go through the gyrations to get the generator going.

[hoppers4]

Sounds like a defective remote switch or bad wiring between the panel and genset. Could be as simple as a bad splice behind the remote switch. Try pulling the remote switch and ensure the splices are made up correctly.

There will be a splice behind the switch because that's how Jayco puts these things together. They make the wiring runs while everything is open then add all the switches, outlets, and lights later on. I've found more than one bad wiring splice that wasn't crimped properly.

[GM'sEnvoy]

Thanks! I'll give it a try in the morning.

[GM'sEnvoy]

Could go on hear a while as it took a bit to solve the problem. Jayco was GREAT. I couldn't get into any dealers without a week or two wait. The warranty rep tried to diagnose over the phone and was really patient during several calls. They were happy to send out what we thought was the problem - a bad solenoid. That didn't fix it.

When the dealer who sold it to me couldn't get me in for a long time they finally told me to try a Cummins dealer. I called with great skepticism but they were willing to look at it. Took it to the Cummins dealer in Albuquerque. The generator guy there, Ken, diagnosed it in about 2 minutes - the factory had ran the wires from the control panel to the generator too close the the generator and left too much slack. The wires were cut by the generator cooling fan. Fixed in an hour and I was on my way. Great people at Cummins and even have RV parking with electrical hook ups in their lot.

[Flounder67]

We also had issues with our generator - first found the wire nuts in the junction box were not tight enough and they burned/melted the nuts. DH wrapped and put new nuts at the junction box and generator fired right up and we could use the AC. But we could not turn on from the control panel and the odometer was not registering any use time. We're going back over tomorrow and see if the slack (and there is a lot) also let the fan cut the wire before we take it to the dealer (or to Cummins dealer). Thanks for sharing.

[jimp]

Glad you got it fixed.

[Flounder67]

It was the loose wiring as well. Thanks