We were sharing with a Foretravel owner how easy it was to swap our 8KW Isuzu generator voltage regulator. We just unplugged the malfunctioning regulator (voltages spiked up to 160 volts) and plugged in the new regulator from Power Tech and we were back in business.
What we heard back from the other owner blew our minds and needs to be shared with others. This guy is quite technical and can fix anything.
His 10KW Isuzu generator's voltage regulator needed to be replaced, so he called PowerTech and gave them his model, serial number and generator number. They sent him a new voltage regulator that looked the same and had the same plug and color of wires. It also came with an instruction sheet that was not looked at, as the swap looked very straight forward, so the new regulator was plugged in.
When the generator was started, IMMEDIATELY his generator put out a lot of smoke and was destroyed.
He was irate and during his callback to PowerTech, he learned the instruction page said for his specific generator, the original wires and plug had to be re-arranged before plugging in the new regulator. PowerTech agreed that a better warning would be a good idea and they agreed to ship out a new generator end called a pumpkin if he paid their cost ($thousands) plus freight shipping. The pumpkin is VERY heavy, but over several days the destroyed unit was wrestled off the Isuzu engine and the new one installed.
Since our coach does not have this issue, we are not sure if others are aware of the required wiring changes.
It seems to me that PowerTech should include a short male/female jumper that correctly rearranges the wires, and a warning label be put on the regulator before shipping. Or they should have a different regulator that directly fits his unit without modifications. Too easy to make this very expensive mistake.
a) if you have a surge protector installed (such as progressive industries), it makes the most sense to have it wired to protect your system from shore power problems AND generator problems...voltage regulators do fail, governors do fail (wrong Hz).
b) sorry to hear about this guys mistake, but the instructions in the box told him what to do. He should of read them.
I just installed a replacement ceiling fan. Carefully reading the instructions. Attaching the fan blades looked trivial but the screw head was weird. I was sure there was a boo boo and called tech support. While being transferred to a tech I read the instructions for that step. Oops! I didn't need to remove those screws. Which the tech support gal very nicely pointed out. Fortunately just embarrassing.
Barry's advice just reinforces what I should always do.
W A E F R T F I.
Very seldom done by me. :'(
Gary B
What an expensive oops. Gots to read ALL the instructions, just cause they look the same, ain't necessarily so.
I don't read instructions all the time either. We all have our faults. But, I don't blame others if something fails because of my decision!