Onan 8000 and EC 30

[tedward1555]

My 08 Fleetwood has an Onan 8000 with the built in EC30. I followed verbal instructions from the dealer and set it up to "auto start" and the gen would start and run for 15 minutes, and stop, then immediately start and run for 15 more... it did this until I switched it back to manual. I then read the instructions and although they discourage idiots like me from tampering with the settings, this forum has made me believe I can do anything
Well I set the start stop values at 12.2V to start and 13.8V to stop and tried again... made no difference except it created a "fault message 31" and said "inverter fault"... then i kept trying it and it eventually would not start at all and said "starter fault"... The gen only has 300 hours on it and all fluids are at proper level. Before I take this in for service which will cost me lots I assume since it probably was my tampering with it that caused the problem, I thought I would ask my buddies here if they understand and can suggest/walk me through a fix. You guys sure make most things sound simple and usually after I get your advice the solution is pretty simple.
So if anyone out there understands how to just clear everything and go back to the default or some other fix, please let me know. There is a Magnum energy system installed also. And just to be clear, the generator will not start in anyway... even using the switch on the unit outside.
Thanks much
Ed

[Mike Canter]

Does your generator have any blinking fault codes? Have you tried turning off the battery disconnect switches to reset everything?

[tedward1555]

Originally Posted by Mike Canter

Does your generator have any blinking fault codes? Have you tried turning off the battery disconnect switches to reset everything?

Hey Mike;
The flashing fault code is currently "service fault 3", but earlier it was "starter fault"
I'm not sure where the battery disconnect switches are...
thanks
ed

[Mike Canter]

According to my Onan book that is an upper level fault code and you need to momentarily depress the STOP button to get the lower level fault two digit fault code.

[tedward1555]

Originally Posted by Mike Canter

According to my Onan book that is an upper level fault code and you need to momentarily depress the STOP button to get the lower level fault two digit fault code.

It goes back to the "manual" readout so I try to start it again to get the fault signal and this time the first one said "fault 1" (high temp, or overheat something like that" and then it went to flashing "fault 3" and i hit the stop button like you said and it went to "service in 3 hours"... now it's back to manual.
thanks

[Mike Canter]

Have you checked the coolant level? Check the air inlet and outlet openings. If that is really an overtemp fault and it is under warranty still and the coolant level is good then I would recommend taking it into and Onan repair place.

[tedward1555]

Originally Posted by Mike Canter

Have you checked the coolant level? Check the air inlet and outlet openings. If that is really an overtemp fault and it is under warranty still and the coolant level is good then I would recommend taking it into and Onan repair place.

that's probably the best idea Mike. I'll post a follow up when I get it checked out/fixed
Ed

[tedward1555]

Originally Posted by Mike Canter

Have you checked the coolant level? Check the air inlet and outlet openings. If that is really an overtemp fault and it is under warranty still and the coolant level is good then I would recommend taking it into and Onan repair place.

Hey Mike now it's flashing "fault 32, starter fault".. Not sure where you are finding id's for these codes, I can't find it in my Onan book... maybe it's online?
Thanks

[Mike Canter]

Fault 32 is "Low cranking Speed". According to the book..... 1. first start your main motor and try again after a few minutes to charge the battery. 2. Clean and tighten battery cables. 3. Recharge or replace battery 4. Change oil to a proper viscosity for the ambient temperatures. (are you using 15W-40 is 32*F weather?)

[Mike Canter]

Here is the pdf manual for the 8000 http://www.cumminsonan.com/www/pdf/m.../981-0161C.pdf

It also says on your generator to replace Fuse F2. All the codes are in the back of the manual.

[Harry B]

Ed.... Have you reset all the EC-30 settings back to the default setting? Your manual has those values listed as to what thet are. If you don’t have the manual let me know and I will send you those values.
I had a problem identical to yours and it tuned out to be a bad connection of sense wire #6 going to the generator. However it can be due to a bad to ground, voltage sense wires or AC sense wires as well. Before chasing other possibilities return the EC-30 to its default settings. There is no general reset so you have to change each one individually.

[Mike Canter]

I agree with reseting the EC-30 but those Onan fault codes are internal to the generator and I believe you have two problems. You should find out the problem with the generator and fix it so it can be manually started OK.

[tedward1555]

well I changed the fuse (f2) today and that did not do the trick... so I'm just gonna give it up and take it to the dealer... gotta get the king dome satellite fixed anyway... I can use shore power till then.
Thanks every one for all the great help. I will post a follow up after I get it repaired as to what was wrong...

As a footnote: Am I correct in assuming that the products I have should run like this: The inverter takes energy from the batteries and provides the power I need, and then when the batteries drain to a certain point the generator should automatically start and recharge the batteries... once that is done, the generator shuts off and the inverter continues it's work. Is that right? That's the way the dealer explained it to me when I bought it.
Thanks again
Ed

[Harry B]

Ed ... Your footnote is accurate. However once the generator has been started due to low voltage, it should typically run about 2 hours(default parameter but can be changed) to bulk charge the batteries back to an 80% full charge. To get the batteries back to 100% full charge would take much to long to make economically sense to accomplish with a generator. It can be done however but will probably take a good part of the day to complete.

The best combination is an AGS to bulk charge batteries back to 80% full and solar panels to charge the remainder of the daylight hours to get the batteries to 100% full.