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Overheating
We have had an issue with our generator overheating and shutting down. I was going to check two things, fan motor and thermostat.
My questions are: can I run the gen while plugged into shore power, where is the thermostat located..I took off what I thought was the thermostat housing but no thermostat there.
Any other thoughts of what to check?
Our gen is a 20kw Marathon.
Thanks
Bob
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5 Replies
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I would look to the cooling fan first. With the generator running it should be running.
There are multiple reasons the cooling fan will not run, including broken belt, bad motor, or even a tripped breaker.
You should be able to run the generator while being on shore power.
As a last resort I would look at the thermostat, but if the cooling fan is running my next place to look is the radiator. No need to open things up to find a thermostat because feeling the lines to and from the generator to the radiator you should be able to feel hot coolant flow by touching the lines.
If coolant has not been maintained the radiator may be clogged or lack sufficient flow.
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Bob, yes you can run your gen while hooked to shore, but your Marathon will unlatch your shore and your bus will be powered up by the gen. When I wanted to work on my Marathons gen while hooked to shore, I flipped the breaker on the genset electrical side to leave shore power active. Be sure not to flip the wrong breaker, the other is for the cooling fan.
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How long does it take for it to overheat? Minutes or hours?
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just a few minutes
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When it happens that fast it seems has to be related to water circulation. Water pump working? With the thermostat removed does the same thing happen? If you remove the radiator cap while cold, do you see water circulation when started? Obviously all assuming the fan is working and the radiator is clean.
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