Unruly Generator!

[Ralph L. Fullenwider]

Johnny:

The contacts in the starting solenoid are welding together so it sounds
like. The 12vdc "C" relay must close to supply power to the "S" ( starter
solenoid coil) for the starter to turn, then opens up to stop the starter
but when it opens the contacts in that relay the coil of the CR relay (
110vac) holds the rest of the circuit until the stop relay, "CR2" is
energized by the stop switch. So if the starter tries to start again after
pushing the stop switch then the run/start contacts in the start solenoid
must have welded shut. That it is working ok now further supports that
theory as probably the welded contacts have finally un stuck. But you can
bet they will weld again soon.

If you have an battery isolator then the house batteries should not supply
12vdc to the gen set, unless it has been by passed of has faulted as well.
Or some contacts in the charging system for the gen battery are welded as
well. These are high amperage solenoids and take a pretty good hit each
time they are brought on line.

Safe travels,

Ralph and Charolette Fullenwider
Ralph's RV Solutions, Duncan, Oklahoma
http://home.swbell.net/rlf47/index.htm

At 04:33 AM 8/10/2005 +0000, you wrote:
>Hello to all,
>On a recent outing with some fellow RVers we traveled to campground
>during a heavy rainstorm. I arrived at the campground with no problem
>that I could tell. Did all the things that we do when planning on
>staying a couple of days. We enjoyed the evening with other BB owners
>that were there. At about midnight I went to the bus for a nap. At
>about 2AM I felt something shake the bus and then I hear this awful
>noise of a diesel engine starting up. I think to myself, why would
>someone start a noisy engine at this hour of the night. I get up to
>see who has done such a thing and find out that it is my generator
>that is running. I run to the front to push the stop button. The
>engine stops running but the starter begins cranking trying to
>restart it. The engine will not restart but the starter just
>continues to try. I go outside and remove the cables from the gen
>start battery. This has no effect, so I go back and remove the cables
>from the house batterys. Still the starter is trying to restart the
>engine. Finally I go around and throw the circut breaker off on the
>AC power. All is silent now so I go back to bed.
>
>The next morning I try turning the AC back on but the starter begins
>cranking again. My friend and I finally managed to get the generator
>to run out and removed the leads to the starter to disable it. A
>couple of days later I put everything back and all is well. I have
>looked the control circut over and can see no problems.
>
>I have two questions, what could have caused this to happen and is it
>normal for the house batterys to crank the engine after the generator
>battery has been disconnected.
>
>I did wire a relay in the control circut power lead so if this
>happens again I can disable the crank and run circut with a toggle
>switch.
>
>Thanks,
>Johnny M Slone
>Pikeville, KY
>84 PT34
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