Generator transfer switch issue

[kcs]

We have a 2014 sun seeker 2300 with an onboard Onan 4000 gas generator. We boondock most of the time at off road motorcycle races. At the last race it was hot enough to require us to run the generator and air all night. Woke up around 7am and noticed generator was running as expected but we had no power to the appliances. Found generator transfer switched had moved itself to off. I shut it all down. Turned switch back on, started generator and everything worked as expected.
Fast forward to this evening. Started generator and everything worked as normal, air conditioner and all. Two hours later switch cut off, but generator is still running. I reset everything again and now as soon as I put any load on the generator, the transfer switch will switch off. I'm trying to camp this weekend, so any advice will be appreciated. Thanks, Kent

[ScottBrownstein]

The question is did the transfer relay dropout or just stop conducting the power from the generator to the panel? Either way, you can wire around the switch and make it generator all the time. Once you do this you will not be able to use shore power until it is fixed.

Find the switch (in your model it is often under the bed) and move the leads from the generator side over to the output side and put them under the same screw lugs. To be safe, remove the leads from the shore power cable and tape them off.

Now you are generator all the time and the transfer switch doesn't matter. Make sure to start the AC after the genny has spun up and is running. The transfer switch would normally do that for you with a built in delay.

You can see the wiring and the lugs in the attached PD transfer switch manual. You may have a different switch, but the layout is pretty much the same either way.

[CHICKDOE]

just a wild thought that may not even be appropriate. you say the transfer switch switches itself off. i'm just wondering if the problem may actually be the generator not producing power. could the generator motor be running but something is wrong with the electrical output from the generator? I have no idea, it is just a thought

[ScottBrownstein]

That would be nice to verify before initiating surgery on the transfer switch. Voltmeter on the lugs once the switch is open will tell that.

[kcs]

Thanks for all the advice. Thankfully I always travel with a back up generator so we have power. And I apologize for I may misspoke in regards to calling it the transfer switch. I believe it is actually called the breaker switch. It is a small on/off switch located on the the generator. That is what keeps flipping itself off.

In regards to the generator, it starts and runs like it always has. When I hook up my portable generator and plug it in, everything works. I was hoping somebody has experienced this exact scenario in the past and can point me in the right direction. If not, I am going to check all my connections and see if I find anything loose. Considering we are often in fields, it can get a little rough trying to find level parking. So, wires coming loose is definitely possible.

I just find it odd that I can start it up like I did earlier today and everything worked for about 45 minutes, air and all. Then, it just stopped. Went out and switch was in off position. So, I have a gremlin somewhere.

Like I said I plan on checking connections and see what I find. Again, thank you for help.

Kent

[CHICKDOE]

ok, now we have a different situation and probably one that is easy to diagnose. i'm making some assumptions here as I do not know the specifics of your unit. i'm assuming that it is a 30 amp unit. the onan 4000 seems to be sized for 30 amps. the fact that the generator circuit breaker is tripping (turning off) indicates a bad breaker or an overload condition. I'm thinking an overload is occurring. the a/c draws a lot of power, especially when it is starting the compressor. if something else is drawing power at the same time the combination of the two could causing the overload. is you water heater set to run on electric? if so, switch it to gas and shut off the electric heating option. even the converter / battery charger may be drawing power. i'd make sure I turned off all 110 volt devices when I turned on the a/c. I'm guessing that will work. if not, it's time to start looking at the generator itself.

[kcs]

Thanks for the reply. I also thought maybe I was overloading it, but that's just it. Nothing has changed in the way we have used this generator in the past 3 years. We know when using air, we have to shut that off to use microwave or wifes hair dryer. Plus, I have never switched over the hot water heater to electric. We are always boondocking, so its gas.

In messing around with it some more, I had everything turned off. Just started generator up with breaker switch in the on position. After about 30 or so seconds I can tell I have power to the coach for the microwave clock will light up. Just let it run to see what would happen. About 30 minutes later it switched off. I was working on motorcycles outside the whole time, so I could hear if generator changed RPM's at all. It never did.

Now, if I switch totally to power from my portable generator using my 30 amp power cord, everything works just fine. So, something odd is going on. My next step is too start checking wires when I get a chance. So any advice where to start looking would help. Also, if you think it is a bad breaker, where would that specific breaker be located. Would that be near that switch, or would that be at the main panel. Our unit is a 2014 Forest River Sunseeker 2300.

Thanks again, Kent

[CHICKDOE]

ok. let's think this thru. you say if you use your portable generator everything works fine. you plug your shore power cable into it. power comes in the shore power cable, through the transfer switch, and into the electrical distribution breaker panel. when you disconnect the shore power cable and run the onan generator there is a power path from the onan generator to the transfer switch and once it leaves the transfer switch it is all the same as on shore power. there would only be three items that are different when running on the generator when compared to shore power: the generator itself, the power cable (or wires) between the generator and the transfer switch, and the generator side of the transfer switch. if you were going to look for loose wires look for the cable that runs between generator and transfer switch. but you probably won't see anything as this cable is all one piece and the connections are inside the generator and inside the transfer switch. you will have to take covers off to see these connections. if the transfer switch had a problem I would expect it to have an open circuit situation which would mean it was not connecting the generator to the load. this would not cause the generator circuit breaker to trip. so i'm think it is something in the generator. at this point it getting over my head and i'm not sure of how to proceed. you might try to contact onan but all they will say is take it to one of their repair centers.


that switch you keep resetting is the output circuit breaker on the generator. at least that is my take from what you have described.


please realize that I am not a certified expert. don't take anything I say as gospel and act on it based solely upon what I say. I may be incorrect.

[kcs]

Trying to troubleshoot this issue today and this is what I have found. I first made sure all switches/breakers were turned on. I fired up generator and it started as usual. About 20 or so seconds later, I saw that the microwave clock lights came on, which let me know I was getting power. So now, I start playing with different loads on the generator seeing if I could cause it to throw that breaker switch. Below is a breakdown of loads and time:

microwave- 1 minute, all good
Fridge turned on to electric, 5 minutes all good
Fridge off, but AC on, 10 minutes and all good

Next I really loaded it up to see if or how long it would take to throw that switch. I turned on AC, fridge to electric, water pump on, all lights, TV and gaming system on and its charging the batteries. I left all of this on right at 45 minutes before it threw the breaker switch on the generator and I lost power to everything. However, generator continued to run and sounded as normal as can be.

It then dawned on me to look at the control panel in the RV to see if it was showing any codes, but I did not see any. So, I then went through the procedure to pull any codes and this is what was revealed. I am using a sequence of 8's to represent all numbers being lit up. So here goes.

8888888
00
8888888

Pause

8888888
00
8888888

pause

8888888
00
435.6 hrs (this is the total run time on the generator)
8888888

It will pause and then continue to repeat that sequence until I make it stop.

Clueless here, so any help would be appreciated.

[CHICKDOE]

it seems to me that it is simply tripping due to an overload situation. what is the amperage of the generator circuit breaker? you probably have a 30 amp main breaker in the distribution panel. could the generator be 20, 25, or 30. it should be stamped on the handle of the breaker. if 20 or 25 I would expect it to trip before the 30 amp breaker in the unit. if the generator is 30 amp either the generator or main breaker could trip first. the big current draw is the a/c. and it cycles on and off and uses the most power when it is starting. could it have stopped and is trying to restart at 45 minutes? you could simply be overloading the generator at that time. and if the breaker trips the generator motor will continue to run.

[kcs]

Fortunately I was able to speak with someone I know. They work on the big commercial generators. He was able to help me troubleshoot it some more. He was able to retrieve a code that says I've got an issue with maintaining the required current, thus causing the breaker switch to trip, more so to protect the appliances. Kinda of like a surge protector we use when hooked up to shore power at a RV campground. Talked with onan and will be scheduling service.