Generator Wiring Problem

[prsmith]

Hi all!

Here is a message I posted back in 2001 shortly after getting our rig. Hopefully others can learn from our experience.

We had just returned from 10 days boondocking in a Keji National Park in Nova Scotia. The colours were wonderful as Mother Nature wielded her paint brush through the trees. Every night temperatures went down to freezing. Because of the cold and need to run the furnace during sleeping hours to maintain some minimal heat, we had to run our generator each day for an hour or so to make sure our batteries were kept charged.

Each time we ran the genny, we also did things like use the microwave, run my wife's hairdryer, etc. Well we got totally frustrated because when we added any extraneous electrical load to the system, the genny's 20 amp breaker would pop. This totally unsettled me because I knew that the genny's 30 amp breaker should be powering the coach's 30 amp main breaker, and the genny's 20 amp breaker should be powering the air conditioner.

After crawling under the slide and holding the generator compartment door up with my head about five times to reset the breaker, I decided to see if I could determine what the problem was (I am an electrical engineer). I suspected that somewhere in the electrical feed an installer had crossed two wires. Sure enough, after following the wires (I had no circuit diagram so I had to build one in the process), I found that the converter panel, generator/shorepower switch (makes sure that the coach can not feed power into the mains when running the genny while connected to shore power) were all wired Ok. Following the wires, I found that the cable provided by Onan met up with the coach's electrical system in an electrical box under the bathroom sink.

Lo and behold, I found that the genny's CB1 (30 amp) lead was tied to the coach's air conditioner 20 amp lead (12/2 wire) and the genny's CB2 lead (20 amp) was tied to the coach's 30 amp lead (10/2 wire). My suspicions were confirmed.

Since my rig was still under warranty and I wanted to make sure that Damon was aware of this problem, I adjusted my loading rather than do it myself. My dealer made the changes a few weeks later.

So if you are having problems with popping your generator's 20 amp breaker (assuming you have a 20 and 30 amp breaker like I do) when you are not running your air conditioner, chances are your rig may be mis-wired also.

Hope this helps
Preston

[prsmith]

Hi all!

Here is a message I posted back in 2001 shortly after getting our rig. Hopefully others can learn from our experience.

We had just returned from 10 days boondocking in a Keji National Park in Nova Scotia. The colours were wonderful as Mother Nature wielded her paint brush through the trees. Every night temperatures went down to freezing. Because of the cold and need to run the furnace during sleeping hours to maintain some minimal heat, we had to run our generator each day for an hour or so to make sure our batteries were kept charged.

Each time we ran the genny, we also did things like use the microwave, run my wife's hairdryer, etc. Well we got totally frustrated because when we added any extraneous electrical load to the system, the genny's 20 amp breaker would pop. This totally unsettled me because I knew that the genny's 30 amp breaker should be powering the coach's 30 amp main breaker, and the genny's 20 amp breaker should be powering the air conditioner.

After crawling under the slide and holding the generator compartment door up with my head about five times to reset the breaker, I decided to see if I could determine what the problem was (I am an electrical engineer). I suspected that somewhere in the electrical feed an installer had crossed two wires. Sure enough, after following the wires (I had no circuit diagram so I had to build one in the process), I found that the converter panel, generator/shorepower switch (makes sure that the coach can not feed power into the mains when running the genny while connected to shore power) were all wired Ok. Following the wires, I found that the cable provided by Onan met up with the coach's electrical system in an electrical box under the bathroom sink.

Lo and behold, I found that the genny's CB1 (30 amp) lead was tied to the coach's air conditioner 20 amp lead (12/2 wire) and the genny's CB2 lead (20 amp) was tied to the coach's 30 amp lead (10/2 wire). My suspicions were confirmed.

Since my rig was still under warranty and I wanted to make sure that Damon was aware of this problem, I adjusted my loading rather than do it myself. My dealer made the changes a few weeks later.

So if you are having problems with popping your generator's 20 amp breaker (assuming you have a 20 and 30 amp breaker like I do) when you are not running your air conditioner, chances are your rig may be mis-wired also.

Hope this helps
Preston

[angelman]

Hi prsmith. After reading your post It brought back memories. We had the same problem back in 2004. I was trying to install a progressive dynamic's remote power adapter for my front a/c. Thats when I realized the wires in the juntion box under the bathroom sink were crossed. I did the repair myself because the nearest damon dealer is over 100 miles away. And I thought I was the only one with this problem! Love the new forum!

[John-D]

This is part joke: Per one of the books titled "Murphy's Law, And other reasons why things go wrong" (I think it was book two) Murphy was a technician on the rocket sled project back in the 50's, The project was going slow and when a General, at a news conference was ask why his reply was "It's THAT **&*^@ Murphy, If there is any way to do it wrong he will" and by the magic of mis-quote (Something going wrong) Murphy's law was born.

Personally I think it's much older than that (Later in post)

Now we know what Murphy did after the Rocket-sled job.. He went to work for Damon

So much for the point of the post (Likey he is long dead now by the way folks)

As to the real origin of Murphy's law... It was discovered, in all it's simplicity, not by Mr. Murphy, but rather by Mrs. Murphy. They wrote a song about it. Perhaps you recall the famous incident of the overall chowder?

(Who Threw The Overalls in Mrs. Murphy's Chowder? (A: Mrs Murphy of course))

[prsmith]

Angelman and John-D!

Glad to hear that I was not the only one to encounter this problem. Hopefully, our stories will help others

Enjoyed the history of Murphy. I sometimes feel that he is tied to my shoe lace because I stumble over him daily