No Power to/from Onan Gen- Intellitec Solenoid issue also

[JedtheCamper]

Yes! Flight Systems helped me decode. This was to the remote switch in the kitchen. The ground was located oddly enough under the wheel well. I found it working on the water system. Fixing that ground restored the generator hour counter, the kitchen fan, kitchen lights, and the carbon monoxide detector. They all shared Grounding lug that rusted out.

I sanded and fixed those...bingo....flight Systems helped me diagram the remote switches and all those came back!

Thanks for the help!

All of these now work. The generator fired up and was running strong minus the ability to run the AC. I was running it for a few hours without it plugged in...which apparently zapped the battery.

Pressing start must have frozen the starter. I am going to free the fan with a 14 mm, charge the battery.....try to get back running.

Right now it is making multiple clicking noises when pressing start

[JedtheCamper]

Here's how they are. They are labeled. There is a jumper wire going from one remote switch to the other remote switch and then to the board.

I am going to either heat shrink the wires or get a wiring harness connector for them all

[Morich]

Looking good!
Maybe we should just call those three pics something like, UGLY, UGLY and GREAT?

One of the things we all need to keep telling ourself is the ground story! If we get several electrical things that don't seem related at all and they work on different fuses but they have all failed, we really need to jump to looking at the ground as that is often combined. When we get something like the water pump, vent fan, and compartment light failed, it may just be the big ground lug that they are all attached to has got dirty and corroded.
One of the things I get caught in is the bottom end of the negative cable on the battery goes bad. I can see the end on the battery and make sure it's good but if the end I can't see gets loose or dirty, it kills me looking!

[JedtheCamper]

I have learned so much about ground wires and failures in the past three seasons working on this RV. It crosses over. I just bought a used Dodge Charger and had trouble with the trunk release.....went right to my multi meter and found a ground out of whack.

I would tell people search ground wires all day and night.

I will update this board with what is happening with the clicking sound on this starter.
Either
1. Battery has dead cell
2. Ground is out of whack
3. Starter is stuck and can get unstuck manually turning the fan with a socket and 14 mm
4. Starter is Toast
5. Another Unknown discovery

Get to that.....get it back running

then it is back to the "why does it shut off when I turn the AC on"

[Morich]

I would guess the clicking is the solenoid at the starter, pulling up which puts battery to the starter to try to turn but not enough battery to get it going. That makes a big drain and the voltage drops down,so the solenoid is not getting enough power andfalls off for a second click. that takes the drain off the battery to let the solenoid pull again and you get click, click, click, as the solenoid keeps trying! Common on older cars that had the solenoid seperate from the starter.

If the solenoidis out where you can reach it, one way to tell if it is a low battery or bad contacts is to use something to jump the two big contacts to see if that turns it over. An old set of pliers used to work for that but it makes the old pliers even worse, with the arcing, so a jumper cable if better!! Don't use hand held small wire as it gets really hot and really quick!

But you are totally right in just taking a look as you find what's up! Good luck in the chase. Way too hot to get too excited anyway!

Some things that can do that:
Not high enough battery, so having the RVengine running connects the coach battery, start battery and alternator all together for much more possible battery and see if that works as a way to say if battery is the problem.
Solenoid not grounded well as some use the mounting as ground if they are the three wire type or four wire types have a second small wire on them to ground.
Maybe the solenoid is pulling the contacts together but those big contacts are burned and corroded too much to make really good contact.

[JedtheCamper]

It is back to turning over after a charge. It looks like a dead battery is the culprit. I think it has a dead cell. I will be getting it load tested.

Thanks for the help

Next issue.....

Still have not solved why it cuts out running the AC

[JedtheCamper]

If you have followed this post for about four years, you have seen the battles I have been through with the intellitec solenoid, Onan Generator, and getting my AC to run off the generator. 1995 Itasca Sunrise, Onan 4000- third owner---first owner parked it in 2005- Second owner purchased in 2014. Second owner took 5 trips and blew the voltage regular in 2016. Parked it...still ran the 454 some....but it was largely unused. I bought this in 2020 and you have been following my issues on this thread!

I am proud to say that finally, all of it is working! If you followed my first posts, then you saw the wiring issues it took to properly get the Intellitec solenoid to turn "Clunk Clunk" when hitting the power switch.

Of course, we have taken years of trips with the generator not working. The rooftop AC always worked under shore power. The Intellitec solenoid issue at first i bypassed it, then was able to fix it. Part of the issue was improper wiring by the previous owner and a bad solenoid shipped by Amazon!

If you kept following, you will see then we had a dead house battery. If you followed beyond that, you will see the blown voltage regulator on the Onan and blown circuit board. Flight systems was amazing with those! If you kept reading on this thread you will see where they got blown a second time!!!!

If you kept reading beyond that, then you saw where I tried to work on the old carb. The carb was varnished. I tried the cheap Amazon carb, and it flooded.

I tried to use the 20 dollar Amazon carb and combine it with pieces of the original carb, but it kept failing. I was able to get the Onan running, but it would bog under load.

After getting back to this problem this year, I learned a lot of things! The Onan had a NGK 7 plug and it kept fouling. I dropped it to a 6 and it ran like a top! I have read that some people use a NGK 5....I still may consider that after looking at the plug.

I also replaced the fuel filter and fuel pump that I bought off of Amazon. The filter was Onan, but the pump was the knock off. It is stronger than the Onan....and some people said that was a problem.....but I have not seen that yet.

I also bought another Amazon carb and built FrankenCarb 2--the improved version. I also saw that multiple O-rings were destroyed in FrankenCarb 1. The Amazon carb's springs on the top are really weak and also some of the jets are a different diameter inside.

Things I learned building FrankenCarbs. Use the top of the original Onan Carb. Soak it for a few hours in Berryman's and Brake Fluid. Soak the original Onan Jet. The Amazon jet has more holes and sprays too much fuel causing the carb to flood and leak.

Use the Amazon plunger and the Amazon solenoid. I tried to use the original plunger last year in the Amazon solenoid and I think that was part of the problem.

So you have the Amazon solenoid, plunger, and bottom half of the Carb. You have the original Onan Jet, Onan Float, and top of the Onan carb.

With all of these changes, somehow everything was reinstalled. The Generator turned over a few times and let out a few pops. It took a few tries cranking before it gave its first gasps. After a few gasps, it finally cranked. I had to fiddle with the choke a bit and then it ran full throttle.

I tried to test under a load and it ran all lights and the overhead fan without an issue.

Last year at this point, it would bog on the AC. This year, it ran on low at first on the AC and bogged a few times when the AC compressor kicked on. I let it run under load on low for a while and worked out the bogging. Finally, I was able to switch to high. It bogged a few times, but then it stayed strong.

The outlets were testing at 122 amps. Also, the hour switch started working. Last summer, I found some ground wires underneath rusted out. I sanded the rust, reconnected, and the hour meter started working! Also, the carbon monoxide detector started working. I had been using a battery operated one until then.

Now--the generator ran for over an hour with the AC blasting cool air on high. I turned on all the lights. For the fun of it, I also turned on the fridge. The Onan 4000 worked like a champ.

[JedtheCamper]

Onan FrankenCarb Pictures

[JedtheCamper]

Onan FrankenCarb Pics 2

[Morich]

Congratulations, sir!
You have dug in and done things most of us would never have fought!
It's great to see some folks still dig!
There's a fine line between being a dedicated fool and being a dedicated WIZARD!

I'm putting you in the wizard group!

Way back when I had two brothers to lean on , we were often dedicated wizards but now I'm closer to being not dedicated to much of anything!

[JedtheCamper]

Thank you!!!!

My dad was a Snap-On Tool Dealer......... I grew up working with him on dirt bikes, putting in car stereos, and repairing old cars.

By trade, I am a communications consultant and college professor (the non political type) PhD and so is my wife.

Our RV is our escape....whether taking a trip or working on it.

When we bought the RV, owner 2 had only taken a handful of trips before he let it sit. He fried the electronics throughout the dash, the generator, and the RV.

Piecing together the story when we bought it....this is what I think happened..... They were at a football game tailgating.....His wife plugged up a curling iron while he had a chicken fryer hooked up outside along with the electronics on. They blew the GFI in the bathroom which took out the entire loop including the outside. I think it blew the voltage regulator and the fried the generator's board. The RV had an alarm and something happened that triggered the alarm. He started cutting wires to turn the alarm off. He just started cutting anything under the sink....which included outlet wires. He started cutting wires at the generator....which were remote switches.....He cut wires at the solenoid.....Intellitec..... and for some reason pulled them out!!!!

He did not know how to fix it. He replaced the GFI in the bathroom with a non GFI and crossed the wires. This blew fuses. He tried to put a replacement solenoid but did not have the right solenoid or wire pattern. He tried to hotwire a few things to the fuse box. He did not have generator power, he could no longer turn power off and on using the dash switch and solenoid for the battery, and 1/2 the outlets were out.

In this same process, the dash compressor went out. He broke the bowden cable and thought it controlled more than it did...it just controlled the fresh air. He cut the compressor harness off for some reason. In the midst of this, he also blew the thermostat (long coil that goes up in the box), thermal fuse, and some of the vacuum tubes had holes (Evans Tempcon).

The actual Truck was maintained with proper oil changes, had less than 30,000 miles and was in amazing shape. The inside looked brand new. The older gentleman who was owner 1 was meticulous and had it custom built in 1995. He developed dementia and how to sell mid 2000s. This guy kept "flight plans" of all his trips and he stopped taking trips....but maintained proper storage until 2010. Owner 2 bought....let it sit....took a few trips....let it sit.....and after his electrical issues let it sit for 3 years without use.

I bought it in 2020.....had it ready to take trips within 2 months...and have been going strong ever since.

We are really looking forward to having the generator for rooftop AC this season!. I am also finally replacing all the in dash AC. We have had idiots do it at shops that have ripped me off. I have been learning on this board and youtube for myself and have learned high side, low side, charging, evacuating, etc.

The trickiest is the belts.....the V8 454 belts I may need some help on the board!

Dr. TJ Zito, Jr

The camper....it had the name JED......from the first owner....and it has custom graphics from Itasca