Bounder: 99 Bounder - Onan 5500 - Runs, no electricity

[harmonybrew]

Hello all,

I hope everyone is doing well. 2 more months till 2021!!! Thank God!

I am having trouble getting Gen power from my Onan 5500 Gold Generator.

I tried flipping the breakers in the house, flipping the breakers on the generator, and making sure the short power cable is plugged into the motorhome tight (someone suggested this).

I also opened up my transfer switch (which I replaced about two years ago). Nothing looked fried. (And it did last time it went bad). I also tried giving it a whack (something I read online.)

Still no power. Shore power works great.

Is there a way to test the transfer switch? I hate to throw money at parts I don't need.

Any other common occurrences? I did tighten the ground to the generator (it looked clean). It probably wouldn't hurt to find the other end.

Thanks in advance,

Marcus

[twinboat]

Pick up a cheap volt meter and check for voltage at the transfer switch wires.

If there is power getting to it, it should clunk in after about 30 second of generator running.

What short shore cord plug ?

[harmonybrew]

Originally Posted by twinboat

Pick up a cheap volt meter and check for voltage at the transfer switch wires.

If there is power getting to it, it should clunk in after about 30 second of generator running.

What short shore cord plug ?

It was supposed to say shore power cable. I think Google got ahold of it.

I guess that makes sense. Check for power - duh? For some reason when it involves 120 volts all common sense goes out the window with me. I have a voltmeter and will give it a try.

Also, the transfer switch is a bear where it is at. I could barely get it installed last time because the wires were too short.

I want to extend these wires. Do you know if it is common practice to do this? Is there a standard way to connect this type of wiring? Or, do I have to go back to wherever they are coming from and put in new, longer wires. It might be nearly impossible to trace them back.

This might be more than you know, but I appreciate it either way.

[harmonybrew]

I have finally gotten around to fixing this issue, and I would like to quickly describe how I did so.

After checking the transfer switch and finding out that I wasn't getting juice here when turning on the generator, I decided to try something I had read about online.

I removed the brushes from the generator, taped some sandpaper to the end of a toothbrush, turned on the generator, and ran the sandpaper over the copper (?) wheel under the brushes while it turned. This didn't take long and appeared to make a big difference on how shiny this metal was.

After putting the brushes back, the generator was once again sending juice to my transfer switch and house!! Success!!

Note: if you lose one of the screws that attach to the brushes (i.e., it falls into the generator, never to be seen again), don't worry. You can get a replacement fairly easily. I have attached a picture of the ones I bought. They worked perfectly.