| [GMCnet] generator maintenance and a bit of safety, too [message #94012] |
Fri, 30 July 2010 16:18  |
scott cowden
Messages: 170
Registered: February 2004
Karma:
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Senior Member |
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Hi all;
have been away from the 'net of late owing to a new job and a move further north from Orillia, ON.
Took the coach, No. 1 daughter and girlfriend to Indianapolis for the Brickyard 400 last week. Temps near 100 deg and other than a bit of vapour lock after idling at some intersections, the drivetrain ran great.
Stopped in Elhart, IN and bought a new dometic a/c unit to replace the original unit that was still limping along, but would freeze up every couple of hours. Would have to turn it to fan and melt the ice off the evaporator and set it back to cool.
An hour or so after pulling out of Elkhart heading south across country backroads, the gen quit. It fireed back up, but no voltage coming out. damn! now it's really hot!
We lived without the rear a/c on the road for the rest of the trip.
Got some time today so I read through the Onan Service Manual [Thanks, Tom Lin!] and deduced after determining that the main breaker was OK that the next thing to do was check the bridge rectifier.
I removed the two plastic screens on the back side of the gen and found a shopping-bag-sized pile of rodent nest inside the casing of the generator. Frankly, with all the heat emanating from there, I'm shocked the thing didn't catch fire.
cleaned all that out and had a good look inside. removed the bridge recitifier and looking in, saw that one of the generators' brushes had a broken wire. I removed the brush bracked and cleaned the wire, putting a new female connector on the end. I reinstalled the brush and the rectifier and generally cleaned up the wiring. TA-DA! the troll is making juice again!
I think that based on all the sitting that our coaches do, the genset is another area that needs an inspection for rodent infestation on an ongoing basis. I've cleaned out the drawer area twice since I've owned this coach to get rid of the leavings of animals that have wintered there. I'd never looked inside the generators' casting before and this was a lesson for me to look closer. that stuff was so dry, packed in very tightly and in immediate proximity to high heat and possible sparking that I'm feeling very luckty that the thing didn't ignite while I was using it.
I also noted that the 5 year old fuel lines are showing evidence of wear due to what I suspect is a high heat environment. something else to be changed sooner rather than later.
I was seriously looking for a replacement genset and with the email traffic on here this week, was scoping out my options. At the moment, though, with my 37 cent fix, I'm feeling rather pleased with my handywork for the day.
Scott [ 74 ex-Glacier] Sudbury, ON, Canada
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