House AC will not stay on while driving.

[pinebear]

I have an onan 5kw Marquis generator and while I was driving to Florida I started the generator and turned on the house ac. I then left on the trip. 90 degrees out side. The fridge and ac where the only things running. It ran for about 10 minutes or maybe 15 then quit blowing. I shut down gen and then in 5 minutes started gen again and ac came on for about 5 50 10 minutes and quit blowing again. I aqm thinking that when the ac cycles it takes to much out the gen and ac shuts down? Anyone heard of this problem?
Thanks,
Doug
1990 Pinnacle by Thor
Chev chassis 454

[garym114]

The generator should be able to operate the AC all day long going down the road.

[dwkerch]

Your genset is certainly big enough, at 5kw, to carry the fridge and AC. Does the fridge keep running, or does it shut down too? If the fridge keeps running your AC may be pulling an amp load that is too heavy when the AC compressor kicks in. If that's the case, you could have a bad compressor or it could be that the AC breaker is simply too light for the AC.

[toneumanns]

Mine did the same thing so they changed out the transfer box. Now a new problem has started, the gen will run all day when parked but will only run about 10 min when going down the road & it doesn't give any codes. Does anyone know if the Onans through a code for over heat conditions?

[deandec]

My roof AC will stop blowing if the demand setting on the thermostat is instructing it to shut off when the target temp is reached.

You question implies that the setting is not the problem, but thought I would mention.

[Jim_HiTek]

Three things come to mind:

1) Oil to thin...change to recommended type for your temp range...30W perhaps?
2) Slip rings dirty, causes voltage regulator to shut down genset, can be easily cleaned with a slip ring tool or a 12" long X 1/4" square piece of wood with fine sand paper glued to it.
3) Voltage regulator going bad and the heat while running exacerbates the problem...have a voltmeter where you can watch it while the genset is running and watch if the voltage creeps up before shutdown.

Your AC draws around 12Amp, and your refer draws around 8Amp. Your genset is capable of 42Amp. Don't think it's a loading problem. Besides, if your AC compressor was causing it (or any overload), the circuit breaker on the genset would open and the genset would keep running.

[Gary RVRoamer]

Note that he says the a/c quits blowing, not that the generator quits. The problem is in the a/c, not the generator. Sounds to me like a hard start problem - the a/c can't get the compressor re-started after awhile, but shutting it down for five minutes lets it re-start. That suggests that there is too much head pressure in the compressor.

Does it do the same thing on shore power?

[Jim_HiTek]

Doh! Sudda read it slower.

[randco]

Originally Posted by toneumanns

Mine did the same thing so they changed out the transfer box. Now a new problem has started, the gen will run all day when parked but will only run about 10 min when going down the road & it doesn't give any codes. Does anyone know if the Onans through a code for over heat conditions?

I have a Quiet Diesel 7500 which does have fault codes for overheating.


HIGH TEMPERATURE—FAULT CODE NO. 1 (Engine coolant or inverter heat sink temperature exceeded design limit)

Corrective Action: Check the second-level fault code by touching Stop. The second-level fault will be
either No. 33 or No. 34.


HIGH ENGINE COOLANT TEMPERATURE FAULT—CODE NO. 33 (Engine coolant temperature exceeded design limit)

Corrective Action:
1. Check the engine coolant level and add coolant and repair leaks as necessary (Page 20).
2. Check for and remove any objects blocking the air inlet or outlet openings in the bottom of the genset.
3. Reduce the number of appliances connected at the same time. (Note that high altitude and high ambient
temperature decrease engine cooling capacity.)
4. Clean and flush the cooling system to remove coolant passage fouling.
5. If the genset overheats only underway, see the coach manufacture regarding air baffles or other
means to direct cooling air into the genset.

HIGH INVERTER TEMPERATURE FAULT—CODE NO. 34 (Inverter heat sink temperature exceeded design limit*)
Corrective Action:
1. Check for and remove any objects blocking the air inlet or outlet openings in the bottom of the genset.
2. Reduce the number of appliances connected at the same time. (Note that high altitude and high ambient
temperature decrease cooling capacity.)

First-Level Fault Codes: The genset controllerprovides extensive diagnostics by causing the status indicator light on the Control Switch to blink in a coded fashion. Following a fault shutdown, the indicator light will repeatedly blink 1, 2 or 3 blinks at a time.

• One blink indicates shut down due to high temperature
• Two blinks indicates shutdown due to a loss of engine oil pressure
• Three blinks indicates shutdown due to some other abnormal condition.

Second-Level Fault Codes: For a 1-blink or 3-blink first-level fault code, one touch to Stop brings up a second-level fault code. This code consists of 1, 2, 3 or 4 blinks, a brief pause, and then 1 to 9 blinks. The first set of blinks represents the tens digit and the second set of blinks the units digit of the fault code number. For example, Fault Code No. 23 would appear
as:

blink-blink—pause—blink-blink-blink—...

NOTE: Fault Code Nos. 1, 2 and 3 are first-level faults.

Avoid interpreting them as second-level Fault Codes
11, 22 and 33. The pauses between repetitions of the
fault code are longer than the pauses between the
tens and units digits of the the code. For example,

Fault Code 33 would appear as:

blink-blink-blink—pause—blink-blink-blink
—longer pause—
blink-blink-blink—pause—blink-blink-blink—...

Restoring Fault Code Blinking: The fault code
stops blinking after five minutes. Press Stop three
times within five seconds to restore blinking. Note
that the last fault logged will blink, even after the
condition that caused the shutdown has been corrected.

[pinebear]

Thanks for all your answers.
First of all the genset keeps running and the breaker on the GenSet stays on.
Second the fridge keeps running.
It is the House AC that will not blo.
If I keep driving with the Gen running and House ac on the ac quits blowing after about 10 min and then it starts blowing again in about 10 minutes. It is not the thermostat on the ac.
On shore power there is no problem at all. So that is what makes me think it is genset. Probably voltage reg.

[Lault]

you have an AC issue, most likely the compressor.

[flatout427]

Pinebear, I have the same generator and the same problem with the AC going down the road except that it also kicks the generator off at times. I did find my problem and thought I would pass it on> Apparently the previous owner was in the air conditioning unit on the roof for some reason. What I found was that he unhooked the electrical box from the shroud and let it dangle. When ever I hit the brakes or hit a bump the exposed wiring connectors were hitting the metal frame work. Get off the brakes and the air would start up again. It would be hard to believe that there would be two highly intelegent people in the world like this, but you never know. Good luck.

[cpbmwwww1]

I have a 2009 Holiday Rambler Ambassador 41 and I have the same problem traveling down the road, the ac quits blowing but everthing else is working fine including the generator. I have no problem with shore power??? I.m going to send Monaco and Carrier a question to see if they can help??