Onan info

[Rich Biebel]

The part number is 300-5047 for that A-1Controller as Onan calls it...

The boards fail regularly and there is NO visual area to see that is faulty.

They generally fail with heat and I let a unit run on my bench for a while with a resistive load bank connected to it....

Once it is good and warm.....I shut it down and let it sit for a while....It heat soaks so to speak. Any unit that has had intermittent shutdown problems will usually start to do it once I put them thru this test. As soon as the unit starts to shutdown......I replace the PC board/control and continue the same test and the units no longer shutdown...

I did 2 units this week.....

One got a new engine and a controller...
One got just a controller......

We called a company we deal with that does PC board testing and repairs....They do a lot of boards for us and also make some lower cost replacements for many common parts. They don't do this one.....

I have changed probably 15-20 of them in the last 5 years....

My prediction is you will be changing yours as well......

[erkme73]

Rich, you may be right, but for $350, I'll take the chances that it was moisture getting to the 'rusty' part of the pcb. See the photo showing the large deep crack in the original sealant. After drying it out and resealing it, I've got 6 straight hours on it now, and it hasn't skipped a beat.

I just upgraded my 36' Damon gasser (the source for this generator) to a 42' Tiffin Phaeton diesel pusher. It has a 10k quiet diesel onan.

The only reason I want to get this genny fixed is so I can sell it to the next guy with a clean conscience. I'll let the buyer know that if the generator starts to shut down without error, they'll need to buy this controller.

[Rich Biebel]

Those PC boards sell for $450 and I have seen them sold on various websites for over $500

I have seen the potting material split and cracked as you described.

Moisture is definately not a good thing for a PC board to be exposed to...

If you got it working with no shutdowns.....great.....

[Darrin Christen]

Where do you guys read these codes? I have a 7000 marquis, I think its a 1999 year model. I have had to replace the fuel pump several times in the last few years. After the original onan pump quit I replaced it with a $50 low pressure pump from the Advanced Auto part because we were at a race when it gave up. The $50 pumps look just like the onan pump, but they don't seem to last very long. Is the Onan pump really worth the $260 they cost?

[erkme73]

Originally Posted by Darrin Christen

Where do you guys read these codes? I have a 7000 marquis, I think its a 1999 year model. I have had to replace the fuel pump several times in the last few years. After the original onan pump quit I replaced it with a $50 low pressure pump from the Advanced Auto part because we were at a race when it gave up. The $50 pumps look just like the onan pump, but they don't seem to last very long. Is the Onan pump really worth the $260 they cost?

It's the government-mandated ethenol that kills the pumps. I doubt an Onan pump would do any better.

To get the code, press the stop/prime button 3x within 5 seconds. It'll then blink a single digit. Press it one more time, and it'll blink a two-digit code.

A fuel pump problem will generate a generic 36 - which stands for fuel delivery problem. Could be a pump issue, low fuel level, leaking fuel line, gummed carb, or anything else that causes the genny to starve of fuel.

It's probably one of the more common codes.

[Darrin Christen]

I don't have any type of digital readout. Are you saying that the light on the start button will blink a code? Mine has a remote start button with a analog style hour meter.

[erkme73]

Originally Posted by Darrin Christen

I don't have any type of digital readout. Are you saying that the light on the start button will blink a code? Mine has a remote start button with a analog style hour meter.

Correct. Some remote start switches don't have a light. If that's the case on yours, you'll need to go to the generator itself, and look for the start/stop switch. That one definitely has a light.

In either case, you count the blinks. Remember, the first blinks after pressing the stop button 3x will be either a 1, 2, 3, or 4. But it'll be only a single digit. It'll keep flashing the same digit, until you press stop one more time. Then it'll be flashing two digits... i.e. 3 blinks, pause, 6 blinks = 36.

Happy hunting.