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Old 07-29-2017, 03:45 PM   #1
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Is it my Transfer Switch or Generator?

Just got back from our first trip to Colorado in our 2013 377XL. We have a great time and enjoyed it so much. However, I had one issue that has me concerned. It was warm and I also needed to keep TV on to keep the grandson happy so we were running the generator to power the living room AC operating.

The roads are a lot different than what we have experienced so far on the hills of Oklahoma, Arkansas, or Missouri. (The problem has never occurred on our trips near home.) The RPM's were often well above 4,000 and often close to 5,000. I began to notice that when the transmission would downshift and the RPMS would jump like that that the roof top AC would kick off, I would hear the refrigerator kick over to the inverter, and the TV would shut down. Usually as the RPM's came down it would all switch back over to the generator current, but at least once or twice it completely shut down.

For the life of me I can't figure out why RPM's on the coach would effect the output on the generator. My first thought was the altitude adjustment since it was set for life in Oklahoma, so I set it to the max setting (5,000 ft).

After that, it seemed to happen less frequently, but I also tried to keep the RPM's down so I don't know if it really made a difference.

I had plenty of fuel in the tank, always I was above a half of a tank and it would do it with a full tank too.

So is this a quality of current issue with my generator causing the transfer switch to drop it out or is it something (vibration maybe??) that is causing my transfer switch to disconnect from the generator?

Or is this something that happens to everyone and I just don't realize it because this is my first motorhome?

I appreciate the vast knowledge that exists on this forum and the willingness of all of you to share with us newbies.

Craig
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Old 07-29-2017, 08:09 PM   #2
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Mine does what you described when I do something that causes the hot oil in the generator to slosh around such as going over a speed bump or hitting the brakes too hard while backing up. I have found that keeping the generator oil level completely full helps. This seems to happen most when the weather is very hot and after the generator has been running a long time.
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Old 07-29-2017, 08:19 PM   #3
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The extra movement if the coach could be causing the oil to move to one end of the crankcase or the other which could cause the low oil sensor to shut the genset down.

Keep the oil level up and remember that when the generator is running, some of that oil is flying around and lubricating parts. Only when the genset engine is off does the oil accumulate on the crankcase.

I rented a coach one time that did that when climbing steep grades. The generator fuel pickup was on the front of the tank and when the tank was near 1/2, the fuel level at the front of the tank would fall below the pickup. When shifting to a lower gear the whole mass of fuel would run to the back of the tank.
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Old 07-31-2017, 10:15 PM   #4
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Oil Level

Thanks for the ideas... my oil level is a little low so I topped it off... won't be back to the mountains till September to find out if that helps...
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