Generator Questions

[Matt Schurman]

Oil and filter is 250 hours, fuel and air filters at 500 hrs.
My experience is that might be a bit too much, I go 200 and 400 respectively.

Fuel consumption will vary depending on how much load is on the engine, so the factory guide lists this:

No load = .11 GPH (gallons per hour)
1/2 load = .48 GPH
Full load = 1.01 GPH

Hope that helps....

[Rob Petrie E395]

Thank You.

[Rob Petrie E395]

Originally Posted by Matt Schurman

Oil and filter is 250 hours, fuel and air filters at 500 hrs.
My experience is that might be a bit too much, I go 200 and 400 respectively.

Fuel consumption will vary depending on how much load is on the engine, so the factory guide lists this:

No load = .11 GPH (gallons per hour)
1/2 load = .48 GPH
Full load = 1.01 GPH

Hope that helps....

I am using way more than that. I have been watching it since you gave me this info and checking every race to see what it is using. Basically what I have been doing is carrying fuel with me and filling the totor up at the track (it runs off one of the truck tanks) before starting the generator and then filling it again when I am done. The last 2 Saturday nights the generator ran from around 5PM to 11 PM. The biggest load all night was when I had the battery charger, weather station, and 1 fluorescent light over the bench in the trailer running. Nothing on in the toter, not even the refridgerator. Most of the time the battery charger only runs for less than 10 min between runs while I have the fans and pump running to cool the car. In 6 hours it burned right at 10 gallons the first night and almost 11 last Saturday night. I thought maybe I had a stuck injector or something so I did oil analysis to see if there was fuel in the oil and everything came back OK. It does not seem to smoke other then very briefly when first started. And runs great just uses a lot of fuel. Any ideas or should I just not worry about it. Thanks for your help.

[Sean Marconette]

Rob,
Does the generator sound like it has a load on it? Do you have access to a amp meter to measure the load at each circuit breaker? It sounds like there is a load on it from something else, other than what you have described. You could turn off circuit breakers one at a time and listen for the generator to unload, if something is drawing from it. I can run my A/C and everything in the trailer for close to 20hrs continuously on 15 gallons. I have a Onan Marquis Gold 7500.

Good Luck
Sean

[Rob Petrie E395]

Originally Posted by Sean Marconette

Rob,
Does the generator sound like it has a load on it? Do you have access to a amp meter to measure the load at each circuit breaker? It sounds like there is a load on it from something else, other than what you have described. You could turn off circuit breakers one at a time and listen for the generator to unload, if something is drawing from it. I can run my A/C and everything in the trailer for close to 20hrs continuously on 15 gallons. I have a Onan Marquis Gold 7500.

Good Luck
Sean

I will try shutting off circuit breakers and see what happens. I got a meter and will try that too. I figured it was just a fuel pig untill I started talking to another guy with the same generator. Does not seem to act like its under load but if its had a problem since new maybe I just never noticed and thought it sounded normal. Thanks for the help.

[Sean Marconette]

Rob,
Have you had any luck with the generator? A few weeks ago I measured what mine burned in one day. This was with A/C running, fans, computers, tv, battery charger and 110 vac pump and chiller running for 8 hrs straight. 7 gallons. It surprised me that it did not use more fuel than that.

Sean

We just purchased our first RV; also have never owned a generator. The motorhome is a 2007 Jayco Greyhawk 31SS with an Onan 4000. The generator has 800 hours on it but the RV only had 9,000 miles. Upon delivery (when we got home) even though we tested everything the generator would start fine, run for 5 minutes, and then die. The dealership put a new carburetor AND fuel pump on it at no charge to us. Seems to run perfectly now.

We plan, of course, to change oil regularly and use it a little more (I've read it's bad to let them sit) but my question is how many hours can I expect out of this generator before it needs replaced or major service?

Thanks.

Wendy & Scott

[Matt Schurman]

Congrats on your RV purchase, I hope it treats you well!

The Onan microquiet 4.0KY genset is very durable. With proper care and maintenance it should last around 5,000 hours! I use the same model in my trailer and its been very reliable. It requires some routine maintenance, but nothing crazy. Your owners manual has excellent schedules for maintenance, I recommend you take a look at them.

On my machine, I change the oil every 100-150 hours, there is no oil filter. Change the air filter as needed, probably once per season. Change the spark plug once per season as well as the fuel filter, which is located on the fuel pump inlet fitting. I also check the valve lash and adjust it once per year. I average about 500 hours per race season on the machine.

Good luck to you

[Rob Petrie E395]

Originally Posted by Sean Marconette

Rob,
Have you had any luck with the generator? A few weeks ago I measured what mine burned in one day. This was with A/C running, fans, computers, tv, battery charger and 110 vac pump and chiller running for 8 hrs straight. 7 gallons. It surprised me that it did not use more fuel than that.

Sean

I have not been out for the last 2 weeks because I hurt my back pretty bad and I am try to take some time off to let it heal. In hopes that I can finish the season and have surgery over the winter.

But before that happened
I checked and there is only a couple of amps running when its just sitting there with nothing on. I think that is from the microwave,tv, dvr ect. standby and memory and maybe the inveter deal that charges the batteries when the generator is running.. Its only a few amps so I dont think that is the problem. Other than that the only thing I noticed recently is that once its started it takes about a minute before it starts putting out voltage. That might be normal too but I never noticed it before. Still using about the same amount of fuel though. I also sent out another oil sample on it and it came back OK. They said I could go alot longer between changes but oil is alot cheaper than a new generator so I am going to stay safe and keep doing what I have been as far as intervals go.

[Rich Biebel]

Rob......Your generator produces AC voltage right away.....If it didn't it would shut down and light a fault code.
Onans pretty much all do that. No output.....shutdown.

The time delay you are seeing is likely due to your ATS (Automatic Transfer Switch). It sends the AC power from either your generator or a land line to your M-H......and many have a time delay built into them before it makes the connection....Lets the generator start and run for a bit to stabilize before connecting. The time delay on some can be switched off with a dip switch.

It is always a good idea to turn off higher load items before shutting off the generator. This is also why the time delay is a good idea.