Onan Blues Revisited

April 5, 2002

 We are at it again after only 800 hours! The replacement generator quit running with only 800 hours on it. The controller burnt up again just like the last three times on the old generator. It was running just fine the night before and the next morning, it would not start. Every time it burns up the controller it's the same. It runs fine the night before and the next morning, NOTHING!!!    

Again we had just stocked up the freezer with meat and the generator decided to go out. I knew just what it was, and I even have a spare controller to take care of the problem. The only real problem at that point was making time to get the new one installed. It takes me 4 hours to remove and replace the bad controller. Since I have to work all day it takes me two days to get the generator running again. We have a 2500 watt Onan Mircro light in our camper, so I figured I could make do with that for a day or two. All I needed was enough power to keep the battery bank charged. 

When I got home from work the first night I hooked up the micro light to the trailer and began charging the batteries in the trailer while I went to work getting the controller changed out in the other generator. Guess what?? After half an hour my other Onan generator decides it wants to join the fun. It burns up. GREAT! Now I have two Onan generators with the same problem They will start, but won't run. Now I have twice the problems.

Fortunately for me, I have a friend nearby that has an old neglected HONDA GENERATOR, 15 years old, never gets exercised like it should. It's lucky if the oil gets changed once in a blue moon. But it runs first time every time. I used it for two days without any problems at all except for the noise. 

I called Onan the next day and started the process again trying to get some satisfaction with this on going problem. I explained to them about having this problem occur over and over again. I told them it's so bad that I keep a spare controller. To my surprise Onan offered to not only send me a replacement controller for the one in the generator, but they also replaced my spare. It seems that they have had so many failures that they now have a "more robust controller". The parts I needed were in Memphis, TN. They had the parts sent air freight to the nearest Onan center. I had the new parts in two days.

I installed the new controller and fired up the generator. The new controller seems to work better than the old one. My 110v lights don't seem to flicker like they did with the old style controller. Now if it will only stay together. 

So far, 800 hours is the best I have been able to get out of the Quiet Diesel generator. Not too good for a generator that cost over $7,000 dollars. I guess time will tell if Onan has really made any changes for the better in the controller. 

Right now I am looking for a way to sell this unit and get something else that will run for 10k to 15k hours without breaking down every year. I hate to think how much I would have to spend to have a shop make this same repair. The cost of removing the generator from the RV and doing the repairs would be very expensive to say the least.

I still have the Micro light to repair. Can't wait to see how much the parts are going to run for that repair. I now also have to learn how to repair the Micro light as well. I have the Quiet Diesel down pretty well now. From what I have been able to tell from talking with some of the people that repair them, it's going to cost. I have been told that the armature on the generator can come in contact with the field windings. When this happens it takes out the controller. This requires replacing all three parts. With the cost of Onan parts, it might be cheaper to take the old one to the dump. We'll will see what happens when I get it apart. Stay tuned for further updates.

Marc