Community Forums

tomtomlab · 05-23-2017, 01:24 PM

Guys,

My 2003 7500 Onan Quiet Diesel Generator (2000 hrs)

quit working last weekend. The A/C tried to kick in and it bogged the generator down and shut off. I have it at my local mechanic and they just sent me a photo of burnt binding wires around the Stator. Said the part alone is $1400 and that he does not feel comfortable fixing it because of the age of the unit and he feels once he gets into it that it my be more work that it is worth. He is a honest great guy. I have looked online for used ones ($5000) and new ones around ($8000). any thoughts, advice or words of wisdom. Not prepared to take a $8000 hit if you know what I mean.

dwhit · 05-23-2017, 01:31 PM

Where's photo? That would make this disaster more interesting.

Old Scout · 05-23-2017, 01:36 PM

WOW--always told that Onan gensets are built for 10K hours or more of service--IF properly maintained and periodically exercised. If yours failed at 2k, its hard to tell if more is wrong. Still, if I knew the history on this genset and felt it was just bad luck--think I'd would risk even $2-3k on a total rebuild. You are still way ahead on cost of new, and you know the history on this unit vs a used one.....

okcnewbie · 05-23-2017, 01:54 PM

Your current genset will not be economically repairable at a shop. You will have to find another one. If it was just the rotor you might be able to have it rewound. (maybe) I wish it was the 4ky. I have a couple of 4ky's that need rotors. Sorry for your loss! I know the pain.

edit;Old Scout does have a point but 2-3 grand is a lot of money if it's not going to come with some kind of warranty.

tomtomlab · 05-23-2017, 01:56 PM

pointrow · 05-23-2017, 01:58 PM

What would just the generator part cost? Your motor is good?

good luck

pointrow

okcnewbie · 05-23-2017, 02:12 PM

Craigslist tip; They "all" were working fine when pulled from the RV. Be cautious.

tomtomlab · 05-23-2017, 02:15 PM

I hear you loud and clear, thus the reason I am pouring my heart out on here! I want to make a smart decision, my Camelot is in mint condition, but I just cant see spending $8000 on a new unit! I was looking for someone who has walked the same miles in my shoes. Either repair or refurbished direction. I live in southeast!

okcnewbie · 05-23-2017, 02:46 PM

I only have experience with the 4k units. We bought our RV knowing the genset had a problem. It ended up being the rotor. I bought a used 4ky and only saw it run a light bulb. (my fault) When running the AC it didn't stabilize. I was able to take the voltage regulator from the bad unit and get it going. After a couple seasons and running at least a couple hours under load every month this rotor exploded as well. This happened without warning and I don't think there was time for the wasps to build a nest in there.

I said all of that to say we're a little gun shy of buying a used unit unless it's very cheap. Unfortunately for you the 7500 is way more expensive.....even the used ones.

Twomed · 05-23-2017, 03:10 PM

I did my own rotor and stator on previous coach with the 7.5...lots of bolts, but not that hard. If there are no magnet pieces slung around indicating the rotor too (Another$12-1300 part) I would go ahead and repair it. Maybe 10 hours once it was out sitting on saw horses. I rented a cherry picker engine hoist to pull and replace.

Exploding rotor were fairly common 99-02 or so...bad batch of epoxy that glued the magnets on to the rotor.

PS... shop hard for parts price mark up is about 80%. Old time rewind shop told me it could not be rewound because of some electrical/physics mumbo jumbo and they do it all....proprietary somehow.

Tug · 05-23-2017, 04:20 PM

I have a 2000 Dynasty with a 7.5 Onan which is a Oh No. I was also a tier 3
Onan tech. in the marine field. So my knowledge of all gen sets 5kw and up is extensive, I say this to mean generators. This 7.5 inverter type unit is absolutely is junk. As was stated in a prior comment magnet glue let loose and destroyed complete gen end. Only 500 hrs on a well maintained motor.
Plus a new inverter prior to magnet failure. Will not dump money into this.
Used gen sets at $5k is a risk, new gens at $9k doesn't fell good unless in comes with a 10 year 10K hr warranty, like that is going to happen.
Other mfg.'s are very limited. What I am doing is installing a gas 7kw inverter type Honda.

patmsp · 05-23-2017, 04:46 PM

Sorry to hear what Tug said.....

I have the 7.5 and it threw the magnets 2 years ago. I got off cheap for having Onan/Cummings fix it for $2,500. I hope it will last for the duration.

Tough decision to make for you, I'm glad it's behind me.

SpringerPop · 05-23-2017, 04:51 PM

Believe it or not, there are still places that re-wind motors. If they can do that, they can re-wind a stator on a gen-set.

I think your repairman isn't looking out for your best interests, as he obviously doesn't want to go through the actual repair process. A lot of people don't repair things, they just throw replacement parts at it.

I'd get it out of his hands entirely, given his assessment of things.

Find a real repairman.

Pop

tomtomlab · 05-23-2017, 04:52 PM

Tug are you retro fitting it to fit in your generator slide out? I just saw where the EU7000 IS has a propane convertor kit. I would if you could run a LP line to the slide out and mount the gen on the slide. On issue I see is the exhaust have you look at that as a option?