How to remove the generator

[Algoma]

My Onan QD 7500 is 14 years old and showing its age. The inverter was replaced 4 years ago but needs replacing again. The rotor is throwing pieces of magnetic material around ( a known problem with early models) and the engine is becoming difficult to start. So instead of paying Cummins a fortune to fix each of these I am looking at buying a new QD 8000 and replacing it myself. At present the slide does not come out far enough to lift the old unit out so I need to know how to get the slide out further. Is there a stop that can be disconnected or does the front cap have to be removed from the slide? Anyone done this or have suggestions?

[EngineerMike]

John, I believe you can disconnect the gen slide mechanism from the ends of the HWH rams. If that is not possible, there are round holes on either side of the rectangular steel tube that contains the HWH ram, and in the round hole you will see the retaining nuts than tie the ram rod end to the rectangular tube. Remove the outer nut & you can pull the gen slide forward?
Hopefully someone who has more direct experience will chime in.

[Dave Fernandez]

John; May I also suggest that you remove the front Fiberglass cover, that would open the entire front of the Generator and you may be able to slide the Gen Set forward before you lift or slide it out with out lifting.

[Algoma]

I was hoping to avoid removing the front cap from the slide as it is heavy and liable to damage if not handled carefully. It would be the easiest way to remove the generator but I was hoping the slide could be extended enough to lift it straight up. HWH engineering confirmed Mike's suggestion about disconnecting the ram but thought I would only gain a few inches which probably would not be enough. One dealer said they could do the job in 2 hours so maybe this is a job for the professionals.

[EngineerMike]

This is certainly a job where heavy lifting tools would make it shorter work. If you could set up where you could support the cap, say from a heavy beam, you could winch it up enough to support the weight, then back away to take the cap off. You'd want somebody to steady it, and have it supported so it wouldn't tip.

Alternatively, you could use some version of a transmission jack.

[Old Rv'er]

Wow, there is a salvage yard here in Yuma, don't know the name, and NW Salvage in Eugene, OR might also have a low hour unit if you have not gotten one yet. The generator weighs in around 500 lbs, so once you get the front cap off, and the associated stuff, you will need some kind of jack which can handle that kind of weight, and I would make a carrier bolted to a floor jack or something which rolls real easy to carry that weight. A word of caution, turn off all master switches, and disconnect any solar power panel leads which are going direct to the battery, additionally, disconnect the negative battery cables so no juice is flowing to the generator before you take it out. If you choose to do this job yourself, please take pictures and post a story about how it goes. If you need the links to the salvage yard in Eugene, OR send me a personal message.

[Algoma]

It does not appear that the front cap can be removed without the slide. The fiberglass seems to have been bonded to the frame after the frame was bolted to the slide preventing access to the bolt heads. From close examination it seems the best way is to unbolt the tray that the generator sits on from the slide and drop the generator to the floor. The coach will have to be on a lift to provide clearance to pull the generator out underneath the cap. My local shop would be able to do this but I am traveling for a while so won't be able to tackle this just yet.
Thanks all for the suggestions and I will let you know what the final solution was in due course.

[Algoma]

For anyone still interested this is how we did it. The generator sits on a tray that is bolted to the slide out via 16 bolts. After disconnecting all attachments to the generator you place a transmission jack under the tray and remove all 16 bolts. You then lift the coach 5 feet up in the air and you are left with a generator sitting on the jack that you can wheel out from under. Reverse this to install the new one. Needless to say this turned out to not be a DIY job.

[EngineerMike]

In Mexico they would have run the gen slide out, disconnected everything on gen, unbolted gen, got 5 cases of beer, assembled small crowd of hombres, drank half of beer, tipped gen on end, got 3 or 4 guys under gen and the rest around the slide, pushed up from below & pulled up from above, slid some temp support under gen across slide rams, drank 1/4 of beer, got a cherry picker w/chain & lifted gen the rest of the way out, drank balance of beer, then switched to tequila. Don't try this at home, YMMV.