Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 11, 2025 ...

Powertech generator failure

October 11, 2022, 09:49:32 pm

Hello Everyone,

First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone that has contributed to this forum and has allowed for such a wealth of knowledge, much appreciated. I purchased my FT last spring and have used the information in here to help me with the litany of work I have performed on my coach.

Now, on to the topic at hand:

I was boondocking the other night and the air conditioners shut off in the middle of the night. I noticed on the power panel that the ac voltage on each leg was about 60VAC, so I shut off the generator. Upon returning home, I restarted the generator and had no voltage at the display. The generator engine runs fine, but no output. Upon further inspection, I have found the the generator end bearing has failed. Only about half the ball bearings are in place and the end cap has come apart. I didn't have time for more investigating/troubleshooting before running out of daylight, but I can only assume that the main rotor & stator sustained damage due to the bearing failure. Complete disassembly will have to wait until the weekend.

That being said, I have seen posted on older threads that Powertech no longer supports this model (12KRR), but I imagine that there are either generator shops that can rewind and repair the unit or replacement powerheads available from other manufactures.

Does anyone here have direct experience with bearing failure and the damage done? If so, what did you do to fix it and what companies did you use? Any other pertinent information on this matter will be appreciated.

Many thanks,

Alex

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Re: Powertech generator failure

Reply #1 – October 12, 2022, 07:55:45 am

Your best information will be from Jeff at powertech 352-435-4416. 

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Re: Powertech generator failure

Reply #2 – October 12, 2022, 10:15:19 am

How many hours on your gen set?

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Re: Powertech generator failure

Reply #3 – October 12, 2022, 10:19:07 am

2440 hours on the genset.

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Re: Powertech generator failure

Reply #4 – October 12, 2022, 11:06:34 am

End bearings should last a lot more hours than that. My PT has 5600 hrs bearing was change at 3000 hrs and again at 5000. PT says you shouldn't need to replace the end bearing till 5000 hrs. Must of been a faulty bearing.

Larry

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Re: Powertech generator failure

Reply #5 – October 12, 2022, 11:12:09 am

If the generator wasn't used for a long period of time before you bought it the bearing grease will cake up and cause premature failure. Also going down the road without ever starting it will flat spot the bearings also.

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Re: Powertech generator failure

Reply #6 – October 12, 2022, 11:17:41 am

The hardest thing on the bearings is the generator not turning driving down the road not the
hours the generator runs. The term we use is called box car bearing which came from new cars
being shipped across Canada years ago and the wheel bearings going out prematurely.

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Re: Powertech generator failure

Reply #7 – October 12, 2022, 04:12:58 pm

Alex, you will likely find the fields and armature have come in contact with each other causing a short. You might check with an electric motor shop about rewinding the damaged pieces.

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