Onan EC30 / generator

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Tourmaster

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 16, 2010
Posts
274
Location
Iowa
We have a factory installed Onan EC30.
QD 8kw generator.
Fuel tank is three quarters full.
House batteries are low.
Onan EC 30 is set in automatic mode.
The last time I used the automatic mode several months ago the generator ran continuous until the system was satisfied.

Problem:
The generator will turn on and run for 10?15 minutes then shut off. About 5 seconds later it will come back on and run for another 10-15 minutes. It will repeat this cycle until the batteries are charged.

In manual mode the generator will run continuous until I shut it off.

I am thinking the generator should run continuous and the problem may be in the EC30 circuitry.
Has anyone seen this type of problem or have any other thoughts?
 
Will bump this post to the top. Can't believe no one has any ideas.
 
Might have to do with the voltage sense on the EC-30. It senses the battery has charged to an acceptable level then sees that it is low and starts the generator again. It may have something to do with you inverter/charger settings or the EC30 settings.
 
Could be that the house batteries are bad. Check the water level. Try charging them with a stand alone 3-stage "Smart Charger". Let them sit for 12 hours (disconnected) then check them with a hydrometer.

Could be something as simple as a loose or dirty battery cable connection.
 
I check battery water levels at the 1st of every month. Am somewhat picky about clean connections however it was last summer since I cleaned them last. Will check them again. The batteries will last for an evening of lights and TV and occasional water pump. Don?t have my hydrometer with me it is at home. Thanks for the input.
 
Tourmaster said:
I check battery water levels at the 1st of every month. Am somewhat picky about clean connections however it was last summer since I cleaned them last. Will check them again. The batteries will last for an evening of lights and TV and occasional water pump. Don?t have my hydrometer with me it is at home. Thanks for the input.
1 bad cell can cause the condition that you describe. It's just a starting place that is easy and you don't have to hire someone to come out and check it.  ;)
 
As Wayne states, it often can be something very simple. Lets hope so, with batteries at four plus years old it just may be time for some AGM's. Good luck.
 
Tourmaster...I know this is an old thread, but the exact same thing is happening to me right now. Did you ever figure out what was going on? I managed to get to the control panel once before the generator restarted and saw that the call was from the ignition switch. A few seconds later, the generator restarted. There was no activity in the ignition system, so it's extremely unlikely that there is an external causes.

Because of this my current working theory is that the EC30 is faulty. Any comments?

p.s. Are you going tobe at Quartzsite his year?
 
WOW! The people on this forum are truly amazing. I thought that this thread died two years ago.  After all this time someone has come up with a possible solution and is willing to share it. Thank you to them. I have to admit that I don’t watch the forum on a regular basis but this latest post was brought to my attention from a friend. This problem has been very frustrating. Even though I don’t use this automatic feature I am picky enough to want to find the solution.

Here is my latest update. Sorry for the length and rant but here we go.

About a year ago I found out that the symptoms were caused by the EC30/generator was reading it’s own voltage and thinking it was shore power so it would shut down. Then when the voltage disappeared it would start up again. I went back to Winnebago thinking there was a circuit board that needed to be replaced. They ignored my request for testing and disconnected the sensing transformer which solved the problem of reading it’s own voltage. So now the system would work but however in my mind they disconnected a safety feature. They did not suggest to me of another wiring possibility. The wiring solution that is suggested here could be the solution but the problem I have with that is that the system used to work OK.

There was a post earlier this year or late 2014 where a person had a problem where the Intellitec circuit board would get very hot and the resistors would float away. I could be way off base here but it is something I want to check into this summer when the MH is not being used. His symptoms were different than mine but I believe close enough to want to check into.

The Onan people in my mind are the worst people to work with and no help. Our local Cummins/Onan facility was honest enough to tell me that they didn’t know what an EC30 was and hadn’t worked on one. But yet they wanted over six hours at $125 per hour to repair it. When I try to call the main office in Minnesota their telephone system recognizes my area code and routes the call back to our local shop. Therefore I cannot get to anyone at the main office. I got a number for an Onan repair facility in Minnesota and they were very rude and no help because my area code didn’t match theirs. I have been to two FMCA rallies and have tried to talk to the people at the Onan booths only to be lied to right to my face. Bottom line is I can’t get any help from Onan.

I have also replaced the batteries and was suckered into buying another EC30 circuit board.
I will report back when I get this problem resolved however it is not at the top of the list of things to do.

Thanks to everyone who have offered suggestions.
 
Disconnecting the shore power sense will stop the short cycling problem you are having, but it doesn't fix the problem. You'll find that if you're plugged into shore power and put the EC30 into auto mode, the generator will start.

One of the reasons I installed an autostart into a previous coach was for our dog. We were spending 4th of July weekend just outside of Austin, TX. Surprisingly, the outside temp was around 100 or so. In the middle of the afternoon, with everyone running their air conditioners, the main breaker for the camping loop blew and we were without power for a couple of hours. Luckily we were there and not off doing something else. The dog would not have been able to tolerate the heat inside that afternoon.

Winnebago's 'fix' means that you can't leave the autostart engaged when you are plugged into shore power and the HVAC is on. The right fix for this is to move the shore power sense to the shore power side of the automatic transfer switch, where it belongs. If you're still under warranty, you need to have them do it right, not half fast. :)

In my experience, I haven't had a conversation with anyone at Winnebago or any of their dealers that really understands how the EC30 is supposed to work or how to fix it. I have never been able to speak with anyone at Onan that knows about it. They always refer me to a local dealer, who knows less than me about it. The only person I have ever spoken to that had a good working knowledge of the Onan autostart was a tech support guy for Intellitec.

Good luck.
 

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