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generator shuts down by it’s self?
so having anything issue where the generator doesn’t seem to be strartable from inside the coach. So when I start it from the generator, it starts, runs and then after about 10 or 20 minutes, shuts down.
this started after what Ithink was I ran the generator when the tank was below 1/4 tank and the generator died. Filled backup and now this.as I said, seems I can’tcontrol it from inside anymore and then it stops after running for about 10 or so minutes.
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17 Replies
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think I may have figured out the issue. Generator is overheating. Need to check fan belt as I think that has never been serviced. Any one know part #?
also, how do I get the inside switches to work again?. -
What kind of gen ???
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check the watchdog. What lights are on, also manually starting it did you flip the red covered switch in the second bay?
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Kohler 20KW (or what ever Liberty puts in these things).
Jeff, On the inside panel (while I am running the coach), the inverter light is on, which is good as it provides us power (not sure it’s really charging the house batteries?). Havent been in the 2nd bay yet as it’s rainging rather heavy out. Once I get stopped tonight west of KC and hopefully out of the rain, I’ll go in there and see what I have in terms of the watch dog.
My uneducated assumption is that the belt is dead on the fan as I dont think we have ever touched that (I didnt know there was one back there, assumed it was an electric fan) and I never asked you to swap that one out.
As for starting it, I pulled the generator out, and used the start switch on the generator. First time it took a little to start as it was dry due to low fuel. The second time it started right up. The first time it shut off, I am not sure if it was due to overheating or low fuel? The second time it was overheating and the third I watched the temp, got to about 205 and I shut it down as I figured the rad fan wasn’t coming on so no need to let it go further.
What is the process for resetting the watch dog? And I am thinking that is what is what manages the system inside which allows for autostart and regular starting inside the coach?
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,The gen belt should be A-38 and the fan behind rad maybe A-40 need to look at it .
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Charles did u get gen working , and by the way it’s hard to tell you what belts to use without knowing what kind of gen they used they put two kinds in coaches , that’s why I asked what kind of gen!!!
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Peter. Yes I did. Sorry, thought I replied to this with the details. Jeff had all the answers of course and confirmed my uneducated assumptions.
Basically the generator running out of fuel caused the watch dog to have a fault error. When the watch dog has an fault error, you can’t start from inside the coach. The watch dog in error mode will also cause the fan to not run when you start the generator manually, such as I did. This will in turn cause the generator to overheat and cause another fault error in the watch dog. There is a manual switch for turning on the fan (red covered toggle switch on the box below the watch dog). You can turn this on and run the generator manually if needed. This would be good if for some reason your watch dog died or you couldn’t reset/clear the error fault.
After resetting the watch dog, it ran fine and starts from inside the coach.
As for the belt. I dont know the status of that outside I know its still there cause the fan runs now that I reset the watch dog allowing me to run the generator without overheating.
I will remove the panel to get access to the belt to inspect it and get a spare or two (especially if it needs to be replaced). but I will need to wait to get out of Kansas before I do that. Ive been in pretty much solid rain since I came through Nashville last night and haven’t felt like laying in the wet ground/mud to check on the belt. That and I have 50amp service for the next couple nights before I head to Colorado where it should be dryer and not muddy.
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Yes I know that about the watch dog , did not know if you had replaced the belt or knew the size that’s all, glad it’s all good
Good info for people with that system just in case they have that problem
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Our generator belts are often forgotten so if you haven’t replaced yours it is worth the time, especially if your coach is getting old. I had one break on my previous coach, but fortunately was amongst a bunch of Prevost guys who fixed it for me while I worked that day.
It is easy to forget because it is out of sight. The one on the generator runs the water pump.
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Jon,
When you say the one on the generator, you are talking about the one on the front of the generator under the shroud? That one is more out in the open, just need to remove the shroud. The one that runs the fan? I didnt even know about that until yesterday at 2am when I couldnt sleep because I thought I had major problems and was cruising the forums.
Now I know and will dig into it when I get to Colorado and have some time in a dryer setting (Kansas is a mud pit right now as I think it’s rained 40 days and 40 nights straight!).
This is one more thing that I would question Liberty on their implementation. Sure the fan cools the radiator well beyond needs, but how it was implemented just asks for people to not maintane them or in my case, not even know about them until failure 🙁 I got lucky and while researchig possible issues, I found out about the belt while also figuring out the real, easier to deal with problem.
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My Kohler 20 KW generator shuts down after running for 6 seconds when started inside the coach. I get a default error code on my watchdog 2 that says over-temp. I can manually reset the watchdog and get the same error message after retrying. Generator belts in great shape and fuses are good for fans 1 and 2. Does radiator have to be removed to check radiator fan? Is there a fan belt that drives the radiator fan?
Thanks for input and advice. -
When you start the gen, does the radiator fan come on? On the top of the generator in the cover of the box is a breaker is this on? If fan does not come on and the breaker is on then unplug the watchdog(careful not to bend the pins) Flip the red covered switch up that says fan over ride, this should be there in the second bay, near the gen start switch. Now on the generator itself start it, does it run and stay running?
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Disconnected Watch Dog by way of ribbon cable. Then moved toggle switch in up position to bypass Watch Dog. Fans did not run. Went to generator. Pushed button to preheat for 20 seconds then to start. Generator cranked over as normal but did not run. It did try to start. Reset both breakers on generator as a precaution. I was able to hold my camera and take photo of squirrel cage behind radiator and it is not running. I inserted camera thru fan exhaust under coach by radiator. How many fans are behind the radiator? Is access thru underneath the coach? Is there a fan belt in the radiator fan area that could have broken? Thanks for your help.
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On my coach the generator fan belt is located and accessible from a panel on the RH side wall in the electrical compartment. I have to move some things plus take out the shelf to get at it. It could be the motor or belt. Once it is opened up you will be able to determine what it is.
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Ok, got great advice from Jeff. I pulled top cover and checked two fuses encased in yellow fuse holders. Both were good. I then took rubber hammer lightly tapped on Carter 152-875 fuel pump, tapped on temperature probe, and tapped on solenoid mounted on top Yanmar WMA7 cover. Generator started and put out ac voltage as normal. Also, squirrel cage fan came on to cool radiator down. I then shut generator down after 5 minutes. I restarted again but hard to start, sometimes it would and sometimes it would not. Can anyone tell me a good part numer so I can go to NAPA or Auto Zone to get another fuel pump tomorrow? And what is necessary to reprime engine? Engine cranks over every time – battery is strong.
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