Community Forums

panhandler62 · 07-05-2012, 12:02 PM

I have a c. 95 or so 5kw generator in my RV. it is labeled "Kohler confidant 5"
It is run off a gasoline 20hp v twin Kohler motor (M20EP)

During the electrical outage we escaped the 100 degree heat by moving to the RV and we ran an extension cord into the house to run a fridge and chest freezer.

The generator performed OK running the appliances and 1 of the 2 AC units in the coach. Trying to run both tends to bog the motor.

Yesterday I cleaned the plugs, soaked the carb and fiddled with it. It now idles smooth but still won't run both AC units at once (it did that fine in the past so it's not a design problem.)

Am I on the right track and possibly didn't get the carb cleaned sufficiently or should I really be looking somewhere else?

When you put a load on it the motor tries to throttle up but doesn't run well with the throttle open. It seems to be "spitting" little drops of gas into the venturi instead of making a fog (which makes me question my carb cleaning) but I'm not that familiar with small engines and don't know if expecting them to make a fine mist like a downdraft carb on a car is reasonable.

Any thoughts would be helpful because we're taking it to Tulsa in a couple weeks and would really like the AC to work well (one unit doesn't cool all that well... really need both!)

DAN L · 07-06-2012, 12:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by panhandler62

I have a c. 95 or so 5kw generator in my RV. it is labeled "Kohler confidant 5"
It is run off a gasoline 20hp v twin Kohler motor (M20EP)

During the electrical outage we escaped the 100 degree heat by moving to the RV and we ran an extension cord into the house to run a fridge and chest freezer.

The generator performed OK running the appliances and 1 of the 2 AC units in the coach. Trying to run both tends to bog the motor.

Yesterday I cleaned the plugs, soaked the carb and fiddled with it. It now idles smooth but still won't run both AC units at once (it did that fine in the past so it's not a design problem.)

Am I on the right track and possibly didn't get the carb cleaned sufficiently or should I really be looking somewhere else?

When you put a load on it the motor tries to throttle up but doesn't run well with the throttle open. It seems to be "spitting" little drops of gas into the venturi instead of making a fog (which makes me question my carb cleaning) but I'm not that familiar with small engines and don't know if expecting them to make a fine mist like a downdraft carb on a car is reasonable.

Any thoughts would be helpful because we're taking it to Tulsa in a couple weeks and would really like the AC to work well (one unit doesn't cool all that well... really need both!)

welcome to the irv2 forum.

you can add info about your rv and genny to your ''signature''.
i have an onan and don't know much about your genny.
we have 50,000+ members on this forum so i am sure that someone will have equipment similar to yours. we just gotta know what your equipment is.

panhandler62 · 07-06-2012, 01:11 PM

I'm pretty much at a loss. I've cleaned the carb, replaced the plugs, put in a new fuel filter. Motor seems to run fine until both ACs are on then it can't handle the load. Whatever happened happened last summer when it wasn't running.