I'm in a Walmart parking lot with low coach batteries. The Power Tech generator tripped this morning on over temperature. After letting it cool, refilling with coolant, and re-starting I found the radiator blower wasn't working. Where is the dang circuit breaker for the blower?
There should be a circuit breaker on the generator control panel, you should be able to reset it by pushing in on it, if it is like my 01 unit.
Good luck
Also, if the cooling system was low on coolant, you might need to bleed the air from the top of the radiator, mine has a vent valve on the top.
keep filling until you get antifreeze out of that vent, then close off, top off the neck with the pressure cap and close up.
IF the generator is making voltage, resetting the breaker should restore the fan operation.
Good luck
Dave,
I did the refill procedure correctly. The circuit breaker button was depressed. After I tripped it, it refuses to reset. What does that mean?
Is the generator making juice? If not the fan will not run. I had this issue with mine last year and it was loose connection that caused an arc and burnt a wire. Might not be your problem but if you are not making juice then your fan will not run.
Gerard,
You got it. I just found it is not making juice. This will take more effort. I guess I'd better hit the road and let the main engine re-charge for a while. This is the first time my generator hasn't produced. I'll need some time to pull the generator out and probe the breaker box.
Bret, I had a round of this exact problem about a year ago. The circuit breaker in my case was located on the control box on the upper right area of the generator. The circuit breaker looks like a toggle switch.
It turned out that the circuit breaker had become weak and due to the vibration of the generator. It would trip purely due to vibration. I replaced the circuit breaker and have had no more problems with it.
Some time in the past, my '99 U320 had had an auxiliary control box installed in the locker with the generator radiator. It contained the auto-start circuitry. The circuit breakers for the generator radiator fan and the generator field, as well as the two main 120volt breakers were still in the box on the generator. I rewired and moved the radiator fan and field breakers over to the compartment with the gen radiator to get them away from the heat and vibration of the generator itself. I think that this will extend their life significantly. The only electrics left in the box on the generator are the two main breakers.
(I bought the new gen fan breaker from Power Tech in Leesburg, Fl)
I had the same problem on my 1997 U295
best, paul
Since there is no generator output, I think the problem is bigger than the fan breaker. My breaker box is still on top of the genny i guess I'll have to get into that tonight. It's darn near inaccessible even with the genny rolled out.
Do not forget to make sure both AC breakers are on too, or the fan will not work nor will you have power to the coach.
I had a similar problem a couple of years ago. The generator shut-down with a fault light. I reset the fault, and the generator started just fine, but produced no electricity. It turns out the original fault was over-temp because the fan wasn't running due to no juice from the generator.
I took it to a Powertech shop, hoping it was something simple, like a regulator. No such luck. The rotar had a blown winding. After that was fixed (about $2000 later), I left the shop with a running generator, only to return a few minutes later with a stopped generator and a fault light. This happened at least five times before they correctly located and solved the problem.
At first they thought the fault was due to low coolant, so they burped the radiator. No luck.
Then they thought it was low oil pressure, do they did an oil change to make sure the correct oil was being used. No luck.
Then they thought the oil pressure sensor was bad and replaced it. No luck.
Then they though the coolant temperature sensor was bad and replaced it. No luck.
Since they ran out of ideas, I looked into the FT docs and found there was a coolant level sensor they did now know about. They replaced it and the problem was solved.
It's been fine ever since.
take off the top of the control box and look for a loose wire with a mirror. This was my problem. It is easier to acess with the generator with the door partially open looking from over the top of the door with the generator out as far as it will go.
If I remember correctly it was a small white wire inside the control box in the area of the circuit breakers that had separated from a spade connector.
Just thought of two other areas where I had problems. There is a distribution bar at very bottom of control box. Had loose wire there too. Also look for loose wire around voltage regulator and every other place place you can see. As I mentioned a mirror helps a lot.