Your last generator Maintenance Run

[3930dave]

as for the repeated comment about the breaker within the generator itself....i probably get 20+ calls a year about generators running and house not getting power thats due to this breaker being turned off. even after repeatedly asking customer to make sure its turned on, and they insist it is, i drive all the way there , reach for breaker and turn it on, and walla they have power. easiest money i ever make. for some reason, they just dont realize a breaker can be off or on...its truly amazing. i actually get people yelling at me that they know how to check a breaker.

the funniest one, not generator relate, was a customer that called to tell me 1/2 his garage outlets wernt working. i asked him over phone to check the GFCI outlet to see if it was tripped. he actually yelled at me on phone saying he wasnt stupid, he did that before he called me. after about 40 minutes of drive time, i get there and walk in garage, look at gfci and push reset button. light on garage door opener comes on, outlets work. i hand him my bill. he wont look me in the eye, but he pays me.

Yelling ? I hope you added at least a 50% premium. You Can't Fix Stupid, but you can keep giving it higher bills till it goes away.....

Rgds, D.

 

[grsthegreat]

There isn’t board level documentation that I could find, but it does appear that the load shedding is independent of the transfer function. However like you said, the LEDs not being lit is a red flag even if they aren’t directly related to the transfer.

There not related directly, but when transfer is initiated all loads are shed at same time, then after 5 min the load 1 is reinstated, others at 15 sec intervals. So something is amiss.

 

[Wakey]

I got the board out, once a few of the tabs break it’s much easier lol Nothing obvious that I can see, the smudges are fingerprints, not mine.



After putting everything back together and turning the house power back on I took some readings.

On the terminal strip side T1 N1 and N2 all read 120 volts, (as did all the fuses.)

The bottom 2 terminals read 12 VDC.

One thing I noticed is that once I flipped the breaker on the transfer switch, the voltage (12 vdc) began to slowly fall. Within about a minute it was down to 10.96 DC.

I didn’t remove the PC board from its housing, I can go back if need be.

If I can take some more readings, let me know.

 

[grsthegreat]

I got the board out, once a few of the tabs break it’s much easier lol Nothing obvious that I can see, the smudges are fingerprints, not mine.

View attachment 671190

After putting everything back together and turning the house power back on I took some readings.

On the terminal strip side T1 N1 and N2 all read 120 volts, (as did all the fuses.)

The bottom 2 terminals read 12 VDC.

One thing I noticed is that once I flipped the breaker on the transfer switch, the voltage (12 vdc) began to slowly fall. Within about a minute it was down to 10.96 DC.

I didn’t remove the PC board from its housing, I can go back if need be.

If I can take some more readings, let me know.

That doesnt look shorted. Those are real obvious. Entire base is fried.

When the generator is in Auto mode, you should have 12V+ on 194 to ground or the 0 wire. 23 will not have voltage as it's just either grounded or ungrounded depending on the desired position of the switch.


The 23 wire gets grounded (12V-) when the controller tells the switch to move.

Im not sure why your voltage is dropping. It should remain constant. And i really dont understand why the 4 led lights arnt on. Maybe you should take a quick look at face of board? Something weird going on.

How old is the unit.

Also something that you should check. Look at the bottom of the controller inside generator and make sure all the plugs are installed tight.

 

[Popgadget]

I would still suggesting measuring between 23 and 194 for 12VDC with the generator running and the utility power off.
If there is not 12VDC there, the problem is in the generator. If it is there, then the problem is in the switch.

Again, I’m not a generator technician, but I have studied the manual and drawings.
I understood them well enough to connect both an Onan OT switch and a Generac switch both to my 22kW Guardian. I use the Onan switch as the primary control in my house as it has far more comprehensive sensors and controls, (it’s what starts the generator) and the Generac in my workshop. Both buildings are fed from the same generator.

 

[grsthegreat]

I would still suggesting measuring between 23 and 194 for 12VDC with the generator running and the utility power off.
If there is not 12VDC there, the problem is in the generator. If it is there, then the problem is in the switch.

Again, I’m not a generator technician, but I have studied the manual and drawings.
I understood them well enough to connect both an Onan OT switch and a Generac switch both to my 22kW Guardian. I use the Onan switch as the primary control in my house as it has far more comprehensive sensors and controls, (it’s what starts the generator) and the Generac in my workshop. Both buildings are fed from the same generator.

agree. thats what im asking above. if hes not getting 12V+ then the trouble is in the expensive controller. was hoping its in the cheaper board. problem with generac is they dont have any reference material available to troubleshoot circuitry within a board or a controller. there have been people repairing a defective controller, but thats way beyond my pay grade. one thing about servicing these units in person, i have nearly every part on my truck, so i can try different parts to help track down any issues. hard to do on a online chat.

 

[BrokenTrack]

I came home from work to find a few trees in my yard had taken out the powerlines. It was a pretty good storm so lots of people are in Maine without power.

This is the first time my new back-up generating system was even tested, and it worked pretty good. Before I was having problems with frequency, but with my new load panel, I could dial my pto generator so it was making grid-quality power. I was just so surprised how finnicky you had to be on the throttle to get the frequency at 60 hertz. Just the tiniest of movement on the throttle really changed the frequency of the generator. I can say the $80 spent for the load panel was well worth it!

 

[3930dave]

I came home from work to find a few trees in my yard had taken out the powerlines. It was a pretty good storm so lots of people are in Maine without power.

This is the first time my new back-up generating system was even tested, and it worked pretty good. Before I was having problems with frequency, but with my new load panel, I could dial my pto generator so it was making grid-quality power. I was just so surprised how finnicky you had to be on the throttle to get the frequency at 60 hertz. Just the tiniest of movement on the throttle really changed the frequency of the generator. I can say the $80 spent for the load panel was well worth it!

Sounds like you are sitting pretty BT, good stuff !

Can't remember if you've posted that panel before (lousy memory ) - pls post pics, or at least the Make / Model # when you can.

Rgds, D.

 

[BrokenTrack]

Sounds like you are sitting pretty BT, good stuff !

Can't remember if you've posted that panel before (lousy memory ) - pls post pics, or at least the Make / Model # when you can.

Rgds, D.

I think it is something Central Georgia Generator puts together for customers. That is where I got it anyway, and I do have a picture of it.

 

[3930dave]

Do you have a close-up shot of this $80 panel BT ?

Good sized tank for home use :thumbsup:

Rgds, D.