Generator overheating...

[tuga]

My generator runs hot (200 degrees) in ambient temperatures of 85 degrees.

My Newell is a 1999 with the dash AC condensor in the same bay that the generator blower is housed in. If I turn off the dash AC; the generator operating temperature will sit at a cool 180. But as soon as I turn on the dash AC > 30 minutes later it is up to 200 degrees.

It seems that the dash AC condensor is dumping hot air into the generator blower and the hot air is in turn dumped into the generator compartment.

Has anyone else had this problem? If so, how did you solve it?

[tuga]

I heard from Newell today regarding my generator running at 200 degrees. Apparently that is within the acceptable range. So I will just keep an eye on it.

I also contacted a friend who has a 1999 Newell with the same dash AC condensor configuration as mine, and he said that his runs about 195 in Death Valley (112 degrees).

I would be interested in hearing what other generators' operating temps are? With or without the dash AC condensor in the same bay as the generator blower.

[fulltiming]

My AC is not in the same compartment with generator blower but mine consistently runs 175-180 degrees. Only time I have seen it hit 185-190 was in 117 degree weather while parked at Pachanga Casino in Temecula, CA running 3 AC units during a brown out.

[encantotom]

late to this post, but i will give my data anyway. i live in mesa arizona and it is hot here....after completely servicing my generator including taking the radiator out, boiling it, flush, new coolant, thermostat, oil, filters hoses etc i just took my coach out yesterday (late july) and ran the generator for about 3 hours straight. it was a cool summer day, only 106 and generator temp never got much above 180.

tom

[fulltiming]

I have found that load, as well as ambient temperature, can make a difference in the temperature the generator runs. While driving to Las Vegas (about 115 degrees) I was running 3 AC's with the generator temp running about 190. I turned on the 4th AC. After all 4 AC's ran for awhile the gen temp went up to about 200. I shut the 4th AC off and the gen temp came back down. With the four AC's and minor other loads, my ammeters were showing about 40-45 amps per leg or about 85 amps total. That would have been an 82% load on my 12.5 KW generator.

Cleaning out the radiator occasionally is a very good idea.

[tuga]

Well today after 2 years I solved my generator overheating (it really wasn't overheating) problem. The mechanic came out and looked at the water temp gauge on the dash and thumped it with his finger and the temp dropped 40 degrees!

"It's a bad gauge," he says.

That explained why it never boiled over or shut down.

Sometimes its the simple things that sneak up and bite you!

[fulltiming]

Sensors and gauges are often in error. I have been dealing with what I believe to be an inadequate ground under the dash that has me not believing several of my instruments. I have the benefit of having the Silverleaf VMSpc so I know from its readings that things are reading normally in the computer.

Glad you discovered the 'real' problem'.

[folivier]

In the limited time I've had #337 I've noticed the gen. temp gauge at over 200 deg. a couple of times, a quick tap on the gauge and it jumps back to 180. Guess I'll have to trace out the problem, don't want to get in the habit of disregarding it.

[tuga]

In the limited time I've had #337 I've noticed the gen. temp gauge at over 200 deg. a couple of times, a quick tap on the gauge and it jumps back to 180. Guess I'll have to trace out the problem, don't want to get in the habit of disregarding it.

Forest,

Try changing the water temp gauge on the dashboard first. That is where my problem was. I changed the thermostat, water temp sending unit, and flushed out the radiator and installed new antifreeze; all to no avail. When I tapped on the gauge on the dash the temp dropped 40 degrees!

Hope your is the same easy fix!

PM me about going to see your coach!

[chockwald]

Last June I was climbing El Cajon Pass out of Ontario, CA and happened to look down at the tranny temp gauge, and almost fell out of the Flextsteel captain's chair...the needle was pegged past 300 degrees! I pulled over immediately and shut 'er down. Went back to the rear and opened the passenger side engine compartment door to see if I could smell, or see any thing unusual. Nothing out of the ordinary. Went back to the driver's seat and tapped the gauge....it dropped immediately down to 120 degrees! Hardly even warmed up yet! Those gauges can make your heart skip a beat.

[express1]

What gauge? I just put tape over all mine!:rolleyes:

[encantotom]

my boost gauge hardly reads at all, my previous engine temp gauge had a mind of its own, my engine oil pressure gauge chooses when to work.

the grounds are all daisy chained on the gauges. i ran a couple of new ground wires up to the dash and have yet to put them on a couple of the gauges to see if it helps. since i use the vmspc, it doesnt matter that much to me.

yea and thats the guy who is installing and calibrating new thermistors....

tom

[larryweikart]

Since day 1 on my 94 I've had issues with my OP & Temp gauges. Newell told me the problem was caused by too many items on the same ground, so we've tried a few changes, all to no avail. There are many items, that when turned on, cause the readings to rise.I've finally learned to "live with it" although it's not a very comfortable feeling. A few years ago I had the radiator replaced with a larger one and finally had some peace of mind while driving along at 250 degrees. Tapping on my gauges didn't work.My coach has the Series 60 Detroit.

[tuga]

Larry,

What parts have you changed? Has the generator ever shut down from overheating?

I started with changing the thermostat although I found out that before you spend money on a new thermostat try testing the old one. Put it in a pot of boiling water and if it opens, then it's good and you can re-install it. Next I changed the high water temperature sending unit. My problem persisted, so I had a radiator shop look at the radiator and they said it was working fine. Then last week I got a mechanic to look at the generator and he tapped on the dashboard water temp gauge and it dropped 40 degrees.

Aside from an overloading issue, I don't see what else could cause such a high reading.

[fulltiming]

I agree that many, but certainly not all of the dash gauge issues stem from an inadequate ground under the dash. I have literally dozens of ground wires going to a single grounding post. My Newell does not seem to have a large ground wire running from the batteries up to the dash. The dash ground seems to rely on a ground to the frame. As soon as the temperatures cool down some, I plan on running an additional 6 gauge wire from the power panel in front of the passengers feet down to a different location on the frame and see if that helps. I would love to run a 00 gauge wire from the battery up to the front but that would be some SERIOUS effort.

[encantotom]

hey michael, i have the hydraulic battery cable crimpers....all we have to do is get the coach up on a lift and spend 6-8 hours running the cable?

tom

[express1]

Does anyone know the part number for Yanmar 20kw thermostat?
I want to replace it before next trip out. Lately the temp. has been jumping all over form 180 to 240 and has shut down once. As long as I am moving no problem but at a stand still temp rise to 220+ before dropping or not.

[encantotom]

i am surprised that driving versus not driving makes any difference. there is no air flow through the genny compartment and radiator from driving. 100% of the air flow comes from the blower in the front passenger compartment.

mine is a smaller genny so not sure the thermostat is the same.

tom

[fulltiming]

I recall that Morris had a problem with his generator overheating when he was parked. Newell suggested something that was counter-intuitive but seems to have worked. They suggested that he block off part of the air intake on the side where the blower gets air. Apparently he was getting an air stall condition inside the bay. I think he blocked off about 1/3 of the opening and it cooled the generator down better.

[Wally Arntzen]

Check your pully on the blower. Sometimes the slide lock that goes between the shaft and pully comes out and the motor is not turning the squirel cage. Just pull on the belt when its not running and see if it moves.
Not a common problem but its unusual for the fan on this type of system to not cool the generator.

[jmacstack]

Hello Express1, I have the Parts, Service and Installation factory manuals for a 20kw kohler with a yanmar engine in .pdf files. Would you like me to send them to you and you can go to your local copy shop and have them all printed and bound. They are great manuals! If so, I will need your email address. Jennifer

[Richard and Rhonda]

Good point Jennifer.

To our new forum administrators, I wonder if is possible to have a area in the site to start cataloging and archiving all the downloads that we have collected so that they would be available to the members. In my computer ignorance, I could be suggesting a bad idea. Just wonder what you think?

[prairieschooner]

I am just a simple member of the forum but archives with manuals would be a great addition to help with the maintenance, great idea!

[fulltiming]

Ken will need to determine if he has the bandwidth and the storage space available to hold these sometimes huge files on this site. A reference material forum that is limited to links to these materials would be fairly easy to implement. I will check with Ken.

[folivier]

If Ken is limited on bandwidth and storage space I have a server that maybe we could link to for the manuals. PM me.
http://www.wanderlodgeownersgroup.com/forums/ has a section for manuals, etc. are they are using the same software?

[fulltiming]

Yes, Forest, Wanderlodge Owners Group is also running VBulletin. Thanks for the offer. I'm sure we will hear from the Administrators. I have PM'ed Sean and alerted him to this thread.

[express1]

Block part of the fresh air intake? I was thinking about placing a couple of those freeze containers in the compartment. The fan then would draw colder air?????

[encantotom]

hi all,

it was about 115 degrees here yesterday and at the peak temp with the sun shining directly on the front of the coach, i fired up the genny to run the air conditioners for 90 minutes or so. i needed to do some work inside the coach and it was almost 125 degrees inside. after about 90 minutes the genny temp gauge on the dash was right at 200 degrees. i am a worry wart about overheating things, so i shut it down. i called newell service this morning and talked to creslie. he said 200 degrees is no problem and as i knew the genny would shut down when it got too hot, which was we think about 225-230 degrees.

mine had never run over 190 before but i have not run it when it was this hot here for extended periods of time.

he also suggested to lift the front of the coach up with the leveling system to allow more hot air to flow under the coach.

later

tom

[afrench45]

Tuga, my generator is always running between 175-200. As you said, Newell said it is acceptable. They also told me on my 02, it has an auto shut off of it over heats. I'm not sure about your 99, but Newell would know.

[tuga]

I found that my generator blower shaft was a littlle too loose. After pulling the squirrell cage out I found that one of my bushings was worn down almost to the point of damaging the bearing housing.

I went to Grangier and found a replacement bushing and installed it. Now the blower shaft is tight and the belt doesn't wobble.

My generator had 3,114 hours on it, so if your has around 3,000 hours you might want to check the bushings and see if they need replacing.

My blower is a Dayton 2C975 and the bushing part # 3FJT7 (Grangier part #). The bushings are not quite long enough so we just used 2 and put a shaft collar on the shaft to hold the bushings in place.

The original parts are no longer available from Dayton.