Now what?

Cvans

Cvans

Tractorologist
Member
When I'm setting around feeling sorry for myself and to take my mind off of how good I'm feeling I like to look at Craig's list and Market Place. I don't know why because I've promised myself no more projects coming home. The problem is I have too much time and a pickup truck. I've done real good until Saturday and then my promise went down the rat hole. As you can see it has low hours and looks nice but it hasn't run for a few years and will need some attention. Just hope it works as anticipated.

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Cvans said:
When I'm setting around feeling sorry for myself and to take my mind off of how good I'm feeling I like to look at Craig's list and Market Place. I don't know why because I've promised myself no more projects coming home. The problem is I have too much time and a pickup truck. I've done real good until Saturday and then my promise went down the rat hole. As you can see it has low hours and looks nice but it hasn't run for a few years and will need some attention. Just hope it works as anticipated.

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Cvans said:
Stupid me strikes again. Sorry.
I was awake all night so I’m slow to reply.
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Not stupid, Chris! You have no idea how many times I've typed a post and never hit the "post reply" button---LOL! That's even harder to prove that the intent was there! Fortunately, this site remembers a post in progress and am able to hit that button the next day!

I am on a PC and still can't read the tag as to output. Is this generator from a motorhome? Super low hours! More info please!

DAC
 
After originally posting in the electrical forum I tried to move it to the off topic forum and just post a photo of the hour meter and see how long it would take or someone to guess what it was. Never did figure it out and ended up loosing the photo. Must not be something that the general public has access to or at least I can't do at my IQ level.
Yes it's a Onan generator out of a large motor home. When we couldn't figure out whether it was Propane or electric (This is where your suppose to laugh) he lowered the price from $300 down to $220. Seemed worth a chance at that price. It had a strange swivel type fitting on the hose to the fuel pump and the pump itself is odd looking. On top of that I've never worked on one of these before so had no idea what I was looking at. The odd thing was I couldn't find a regulator for the LP so we gave up guessing. Now know it's gasoline after doing some research.
I'm guessing that a 5000w box store generator probably weights under 200 lbs. This thing is a tank and as I understand it weighs around 500lbs. It was all two of us could do to move it when setting on a pallet in the back of the PU. Not lifting just trying to move it enough to close the tailgate.
Hoping the engine is in good shape but was disappointed to see how dirty the oil was but still keeping my fingers crossed.
 
Cvans said:
After originally posting in the electrical forum I tried to move it to the off topic forum and just post a photo of the hour meter and see how long it would take or someone to guess what it was. Never did figure it out and ended up loosing the photo. Must not be something that the general public has access to or at least I can't do at my IQ level.
Yes it's a Onan generator out of a large motor home. When we couldn't figure out whether it was Propane or electric (This is where your suppose to laugh) he lowered the price from $300 down to $220. Seemed worth a chance at that price. It had a strange swivel type fitting on the hose to the fuel pump and the pump itself is odd looking. On top of that I've never worked on one of these before so had no idea what I was looking at. The odd thing was I couldn't find a regulator for the LP so we gave up guessing. Now know it's gasoline after doing some research.
I'm guessing that a 5000w box store generator probably weights under 200 lbs. This thing is a tank and as I understand it weighs around 500lbs. It was all two of us could do to move it when setting on a pallet in the back of the PU. Not lifting just trying to move it enough to close the tailgate.
Hoping the engine is in good shape but was disappointed to see how dirty the oil was but still keeping my fingers crossed.
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Still sounds like a good buy Chris! Unless there's a lot of metal in the oil when you drain it the engine should be ok. Don't know how it's done but those motorhome generators usually run much more quiet than one bought for general home use. I see it has an "open header" right after the collector for both cylinders so it is probably some kind of muffler on the motorhome that quiets them down.

I know I'm not smart enough to figure out what it is just by looking at an hour meter, but plenty of folks on here probably could.

On your posting problem, us non admins just have to delete the original post and start a new one where you want it. Can only delete for a certain amount of time too.

Wish I would have done my junk thread in "Tinker time" rather than where I did it. Was too late when it dawned on me.

DAC
 
There was no metal in the oil just dirty and I think the reason for that is because the electric choke was sticking part way on. It's running now and sounds really nice even with a fouled plug. If I pull the plug wire off the plug a little ways it runs nicely on both cylinders. I don't see any smoke from oil usage and it start amazingly easy. The generator is putting out and it charges the battery to 13.2 volts. The plug wires that Onan put on this thing are junk and I can't believe they would stoop to that level. They are going to get replaced with solid core and some good caps. The original terminals on the ends of the wires wouldn't even stay on the sparkplugs they were so loose. I had to squeeze them smaller to get them to stay on. Chinese motors come with much better wires than this.
I'm going to have to get a hertz meter to set the RPM before I get serious about hooking it up to the house. Should be good enough to run the shop with.
 
MFDAC said:
Don't know how it's done but those motorhome generators usually run much more quiet than one bought for general home use.
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One of the reasons I wanted one of these is they run at 1800rpms instead of 3600 like the consumer models. Not only is it a lot quieter and use less fuel but it saves a lot on wear and tear. The downside is they are much more expensive to build because the generator has to be a lot bigger. Also the engine has to be larger to get the HP needed at lower RPMs. I will say that this has to be one of the smoothest engines I have ever owned.
 
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Cvans said:
One of the reasons I wanted one of these is they run at 1800rpms instead of 3600 like the consumer models. Not only is it a lot quieter and use less fuel but it saves a lot on wear and tear. The downside is they are much more expensive to build because the generator has to be a lot bigger. Also the engine has to be larger to get the HP needed at lower RPMs. I will say that this has to be one of the smoothest engines I have ever owned.
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Ahh that makes sense, Chris! Lower RPM's=quieter! Never messed with a motorhome generator before. Low end torque engine! Glad it is running well.

DAC
 
MFDAC said:
Low end torque engine! Glad it is running well.
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It’s running good but the solid state control circuit board needs to be replaced. The first time I started it I noticed a couple of small sparks under the control module. Worked fine so I didn’t looked into it. Today I did and I found two bad diodes and other areas of the board are discolored from heat. The two rocker switches are bad. AND then I pulled a dummy and tried hooking it up to a live circuit and that let some of the good smoke out. It still starts and puts out power but is not charging the start battery as high as before. That and when I opened up the generator I found a nice mouse nest. The RV evidently had green and gold long shag carpet. That goes along nicely with the 1973 production date.. Have to say this is getting interesting and I think I had better check this thing out from one end to the other before installing the new board ☝️
 
Nice find Chris that is a tank. I remember back in the 80’s I rented generators all the time and I always rented the Onans. They were always quiet, easy on gas, and started easy. I would set it out far away from the house and run a 10 gauge romex to the house and the whole crew would use it. The only bad thing like you mentioned it took two guys to get it loaded and unloaded. Keep us posted!
 
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