Onan Generator

[che57vy]

I have a Greyhawk 2009 with a Onan generator, Problems I have had are sometimes after I shut the unit off it will trip the breaker on the generator, if I start the generator seems like you have to crank quite a while other times it will start quick, and when you shut it off it shakes the coach a lot.Worked on large generators years ago but never one this small just seems not right the way it acts. Has 150 hrs

[Greyhawk01]

Well i havent had any problems with mine tripping the breaker but mine does need to crank a while before starting. I assume it takes a while to prime the lines up with fuel. Mine also shakes when shutting off. I need to hold the off button for a few seconds until it completly shuts down other wise it will stay running. Im also gonna assume that is normal for a carbureted air cooled motor. They run hot especially when parked so when you kill the spark with the shut off switch the motor will diesel and ignite the fuel because its so hot.

[Jagiven]

I'm not a genny expert, but regarding the circuit breaker, breakers get weak with age and use. So you may need to replace it. 150 hours on a 7 yr old MH is not many hours. A genny should be exercised at least 1 hour each month.

Regarding hard starting, could be a few things. Have you changed the spark plug and wires, make sure to have the correct plug gap. Fuel can also play a big part too. Modern fuel is full of ethanol, it absorbs it's mass in water, it gums up carbs very easily. On a MH I would make it common practice to use a fuel stabilizer or ethanol free gas.

[edatlanta]

Long crank time makes me think the Onan isn't being primed prior to the starting attempt. On mine push the start/stop switch to the stop position and hold it to prime. Then try the start.

[Jopopsy]

Actually the manual for my Onan states it needs to run 2 hours UNDER HALF LOAD. Maybe its different for older models, but you may be surprised by what you find in your manual.

At any rate, just running it isn't enough. Putting some load on it helps exercise the windings or some such thing.

[NC Roamer]

Originally Posted by edatlanta

Long crank time makes me think the Onan isn't being primed prior to the starting attempt. On mine push the start/stop switch to the stop position and hold it to prime. Then try the start.

When cold, I have to hold down the prime switch on my Onan for at least 10-14 seconds before trying to start it. Even then it sometimes requires a second priming of 5-6 seconds to catch.

[che57vy]

Mine is that way too, sometimes it will try to start then I have to start it again.