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Topic: Our first 'breakdown'. Gen radiator blows and no 12V (Read 1403 times) previous topic - next topic

Our first 'breakdown'. Gen radiator blows and no 12V

We are in WI visiting my son, camping in at Richard Bong State Park, a beautiful campground.  We backed in, and leveled. I had the generator running to keep the coach cool while traveling. After I leveled I shut the coach down and went outside to connect to shore power. What I thought was smoke was billowing from underneath the coach. It smelled burnt. The generator radiator overheated, the weld on the radiator cap broke and coolant escaped. No smoke.

Fail number 2 is that we have no 12 volt power. James from TN was kind enough to walk me through to trouble shoot. There is no master reset on the 12V panel. In the second photo at the top  I learned with a multimeter that there is no power going to the middle switch breaker.  Local RV place doesn't have the part 'because it's an outdated coach'. Thanks for that.

So, we are really camping which I define as having to use the boathouse. We are here until Sunday and will head home to get things fixed.






Re: Our first 'breakdown'. Gen radiator blows and no 12V

Reply #1 –
Jeff ,You said no power going Too? Did You mean coming Out? If you do not have any going to it then you need to go further back to the source and then work your way towards the breaker?

Re: Our first 'breakdown'. Gen radiator blows and no 12V

Reply #2 –
Quote from: stump –
Jeff ,You said no power going Too? Did You mean coming Out? If you do not have any going to it then you need to go further back to the source and then work your way towards the breaker?

There is no power at that center breaker, James felt the breaker is bad and should be an easy fix.

Re: Our first 'breakdown'. Gen radiator blows and no 12V

Reply #3 –
There should be power to at least 1 side of that breaker. If it isn't going through it then the breaker could be bad. If it is not problem is elsewere

Re: Our first 'breakdown'. Gen radiator blows and no 12V

Reply #4 –
Hey Jeff Flip your salesmans switch on by the entry door.

Re: Our first 'breakdown'. Gen radiator blows and no 12V

Reply #5 –
Salesman switch reset. Mine did the same. After multi metering around, I just tried the switch off to on and, voila, 12 v power. Who knows?

Re: Our first 'breakdown'. Gen radiator blows and no 12V

Reply #6 –
Quote from: stump –
Hey Jeff Flip your salesmans switch on by the entry door.

That solved the issue, thanks all! The switch was in the on position, I cycled it and all is well.....except for the blown generator radiator.

I really dislike campground bath houses so I am a very happy camper.

Re: Our first 'breakdown'. Gen radiator blows and no 12V

Reply #7 –
Jeff,

This is a FYI.
Those 3 round breakers that are at the top of your 2nd picture are still made and the net is where they are found.  Delivery to you front door is a plus.
Yours may be new enough to have one of  those as a manual reset.  Said another way you could have 2 of one style and 1 of another. Look on the other side of the bulkhead where your panel is mounted.  Up high there may be a mystery hole. That is where you push the reset button.  Even with this tripped you will have power on one side of this breaker. Here is what you will be looking for.

Pamela & Mike

Re: Our first 'breakdown'. Gen radiator blows and no 12V

Reply #8 –
Sing to the Theme of Shaft song... LOL Who is the man who can fix your coach when no one can..Stump.. Right On .You say this cat stump is a bad M... Shut Your Mouth.....every super hero needs a the song right!!!LOL Ya'll have a great day!!!  :))

Re: Our first 'breakdown'. Gen radiator blows and no 12V

Reply #9 –
Quote from: Pamela & Mike –
Jeff,

This is a FYI.
Those 3 round breakers that are at the top of your 2nd picture are still made and the net is where they are found.  Delivery to you front door is a plus.
Yours may be new enough to have one of  those as a manual reset.  Said another way you could have 2 of one style and 1 of another. Look on the other side of the bulkhead where your panel is mounted.  Up high there may be a mystery hole. That is where you push the reset button.  Even with this tripped you will have power on one side of this breaker. Here is what you will be looking for.

Pamela & Mike


I didn't find a reset. After this experience I am going to dig in and see if I can find one. I'm also going to add one of those breakers to my kit.

Re: Our first 'breakdown'. Gen radiator blows and no 12V

Reply #10 –
I spoke to the local RV repair place yesterday to see if they had that breaker available. Without looking she said: Oh no, we wouldn't have that, you have an outdated coach.  :D

Re: Our first 'breakdown'. Gen radiator blows and no 12V

Reply #11 –
There is no reset the circuit breaker resets automatic when it cools. If there is a short it opens.

Re: Our first 'breakdown'. Gen radiator blows and no 12V

Reply #12 –
Jeff,

You need to check that radiator cap, as well as the generator temperature sensor.  Both should have protected the radiator.  Then what triggered the overheating?  Something else caused the overall failure.

Re: Our first 'breakdown'. Gen radiator blows and no 12V

Reply #13 –
The broken weld triggered the blown coolant,I don't think it got hot enough to trigger the shutdown.You have to lose alot of coolant
for the engine to get to 235f,which is where the shutdown is set.

Re: Our first 'breakdown'. Gen radiator blows and no 12V

Reply #14 –
Quote from: stump –
There is no reset the circuit breaker resets automatic when it cools. If there is a short it opens.
Respectfully disagree.  On our coach at least, the 2 outside 90 amp DC circuit breakers are Klixon CDLA-90 (automatic reset).  The middle breaker is a Klixon CDLM-90 (manual reset), as noted by Mike.  See links below for description:

Klixon CDLA Series Circuit Breakers

Klixon CDLM Series Circuit Breakers

Re: Our first 'breakdown'. Gen radiator blows and no 12V

Reply #15 –
On ours, there is one automatic reset breaker in the box and another under the converter/charger shelf. The second breaker in the box is a manual reset one.

Re: Our first 'breakdown'. Gen radiator blows and no 12V

Reply #16 –
I haven't had all that many problems with my genset. A couple of years ago a radiator hose died, so both were replaced. Two years ago a poor connection somewhere made it impossible to start the generator. A young, agile, eagle-eyed mechanic fixed it quickly. Other than that, no problems. Like any other engine, keep oil and coolant at proper levels and it works great.

Re: Our first 'breakdown'. Gen radiator blows and no 12V

Reply #17 –
It would be interesting to know how many people that started  with propane/gas generators and propane furnaces and them moved on to diesel gensets and aqua-hot would be willing to move back.
Not me.
Jim C.

Re: Our first 'breakdown'. Gen radiator blows and no 12V

Reply #18 –
Quote from: jcus –
It would be interesting to know how many people that started  with propane/gas generators and propane furnaces and them moved on to diesel gensets and aqua-hot would be willing to move back. 

I never moved on: always had Onan propane 6.5s, still do, love them! As far as aqua-hot goes, I watched my neighbor with his Blue Bird spend $$$$. Call me old school, "less is more"!  ^.^d

Re: Our first 'breakdown'. Gen radiator blows and no 12V

Reply #19 –
No and no on propane and diesel. Propane fill on coach last time 4+ years ago, still above 50%, pulling out tank soon Awuahot more $$ to keep going but single fuel source, quiet, multiple zones and unlimited hot water means no going back for me