Generator on 2008 Newmar Mountain Aire

[judatt]

Greetings, everyone. Please forgive me as I'm a Newbie and I am sure there are good explanations, I just need a little reassurance. We are in the process of buying a 2008 Newmar Mountain Aire. We had the coach checked out at a diesel shop and they hooked up the engine to the diagnostics and put the generator under a load and everything came back with a clean report. In fact they said this was a very nice unit. Even though it is 8 years old it only has 41,000 miles on it and looks new inside and out.

First - I am an accountant - a CPA - and know nothing and I mean absolutely nothing about mechanical issues. If its not connected to a computer or a 10 key, I know nothing! My wife grew up in a family with a Father and 3 brothers who worked on cars/motorcycles/dune buggies, etc and she knows a good bit more than me.

I am retiring Dec 4 and we plan to leave Dec 7 on our first trip. We have the motor coach parked in a local RV Campground about 2 miles from our house (which we are in the process of selling to our daughter and her family). So, we have been going back and forth between the campground and our house and bringing some stuff over etc. I have been observing folks as they come and go and asking questions where I can. RVers are a friendly group of people and seem to want to be very helpful.

Here is the issue. We came over right after church this morning and the generator was running. It wasn't running when we left yesterday about 4 pm. The lady across the street says it came on shortly after we left and was on all night until we got here about 11 am this morning. It is hooked up to 50 AMP power and we had been leaving the heat pumps on. The refrigerator is running and the TVs are working and we are using some lights. We have had the aqua hot system running but we have been turning it off every time we left.

How did the generator turn itself on? I hit the button and it went right off and I waited a couple of minutes and hit the button again and it started right up. I turned it off and it has been off ever since.

We are spending the night in our new home for the first time tonight. I am typing this as my first message from inside our new motor coach. I know there is a lot to learn, just need some reassurance that everything is OK. I'm wondering if there is some adjustment I need to make to one or more of the settings. On the one hand, if I need power I suppose its a good thing for the generator to come on. But shouldn't it go off at some point - particularly if I'm connected to 50 AMP power that is working. By the way, I had the campground guy come over and he checked and said everything was just as it should be on the post. He checked the unit and said everything was the correct voltages, etc.

Thanks for any input anyone can give. David

[wolfe10]

David,

A couple of things:

Assume shore power was still "good" when the generator started (perhaps your neighbor can confirm)-- i.e. lack of shore power did not enter into the generator starting.

Does the coach have an Auto Gen Start feature? If so, check its programming to see if it was just doing what it was supposed to do-- in which case you would need to determine what triggered it to start.

If neither of these was involved, it is possible that there is a short in the generator start circuit. Not that uncommon if water gets into the generator circuit board area.

[judatt]

I contacted the previous owners and they said it does indeed have an auto start feature. My question is if it starts automatically, shouldn't it shut off at some point automatically. What I'm afraid of is that I am in South Texas for Dec and Jan (our first trip in our MH) and we leave the coach in the resort and drive up to Oklahoma for Christmas and the generator kicks on just after we leave and runs for a week while we are gone even though its connected to shore power. I've got a guy coming tomorrow to go over some things with us and this is high on the list.

Thanks for your input, Brett. I notice that you reply to a lot of messages and have very good input. Very appreciative to have someone like you to help us newbies. Thanks again! David

[wolfe10]

David,

Most of the auto genset start systems have a lot of programmable options. If you do not have the manual for yours, you can likely get it on-line.

Or, tell us what you have and we can help search for a manual.

Would also be interesting if you neighbor who noticed your generator running remembered events such as shore power going out that may have triggered it.

As a side note, our coach also has auto genset start, but I pulled the fuse powering it, so it is very easy to disable. When not on the road, we store our coach indoors. Sure don't want the generator starting inside the building! Something for everyone with this feature to think about.

[five]

On my AGS, I can turn it off, so it can't start...unless, of course, there's wiring issue or some other problem.

[john_harris]

Interesting issue. I would think that the AGS would not have triggered a start unless battery bank had drop to it's preset level unless it was programmed to run at a specific time each day.(Not needed if connected to shore power) but even at that it should have shut down once batteries were back up or run time had expired. does not sound like neighbor noted the power was off an extended time to have cause batteries to draw down that much.

Would definitely suggest spending more than a few nights in new home where you are before hitting the road for extended trip. good to make sure you understand as many systems you can while you have comfortable and familiar surroundings. the dry run also gives you good insights on what you forgot to bring. Sounds like you are getting a good handle on things. Good luck and let us know what you find on the phantom starts.

[wolfe10]

AGS's can also be triggered by loss of shore power and call for A/C or heat pump.

[judatt]

Thanks everyone for the good information. As I said earlier, we have a guy who is a mobile RV Repairman with lots of experience coming tomorrow just to spend a couple of hours with us and this will be one of the things I will be asking specifically about. Another thing we are going to do is he is going to observe me getting the MH ready to leave and then we are going to a station and fill it up with diesel and then return to the campground where we have it parked and have him observe me setting it up.

Then on Dec 2 I have an appointment to go to an RV Repair shop and spend another 2 hours going over systems just like we are doing tomorrow. I figure I have had the coach a week now and we have lots of questions - in another 2 weeks I'll have even more questions. Then on Dec 7 we are leaving on our first trip.

By the way, the people we are buying the coach from have been great in every way with one exception. Everything I have read says we shouldn't go below 1/4 tank on the diesel tank. They left it with us with 1/8 of a tank of fuel. Just noticed that yesterday so will go tomorrow and fill it up. Since we won't go anywhere for another 2 weeks, it has been suggested that I put some treatment in the diesel so am planning to do that as well. Be glad to have any recommendations on fuel and supplements. For example, the local truck stop where I'm assuming I would get good fuel is $2.31 a gallon - it's just off the interstate. The local Sheetz for auto diesel is $2.09. The local Walmart is $1.89. What do I need to look for in which diesel fuel to buy - what is the difference besides price?

Thanks again to everyone for helping us newbies out. David

[wolfe10]

David,

If you have a video camera, consider recording the orientation session. It is quite easy to be overwhelmed/overloaded.

If you suspect that the 1/4 tank of fuel has been in there awhile, first thing I would do is check the primary fuel filter for signs of contamination. If clear bowl, you want to see just golden liquid, no particles, no layer (which would indicate water). If only a metal bowl, with engine off, drain a little into a clear glass jar-- check it the same way.

If any sign of algae (black slime or clumps), add a kill dose of BIOCIDE. Here is a popular one:http://www.biobor.com/products/biobor-jf-fuel-additives/

You can find it at marine stores, and in our area at Academy.

Always keep the diesel tank FULL to minimize condensation.

As far as where to fill up, as long as it sells a lot of diesel, cheap is good. You do not want to go to a small suburban station that only sells to a few diesel cars a week and the fuel is old. Most Walmarts, etc sell a lot of diesel!

[judatt]

David,

If you have a video camera, consider recording the orientation session. It is quite easy to be overwhelmed/overloaded.

If you suspect that the 1/4 tank of fuel has been in there awhile, first thing I would do is check the primary fuel filter for signs of contamination. If clear bowl, you want to see just golden liquid, no particles, no layer (which would indicate water). If only a metal bowl, with engine off, drain a little into a clear glass jar-- check it the same way.

If any sign of algae (black slime or clumps), add a kill dose of BIOCIDE. Here is a popular one:http://www.biobor.com/products/biobor-jf-fuel-additives/

You can find it at marine stores, and in our area at Academy.

Always keep the diesel tank FULL to minimize condensation.

As far as where to fill up, as long as it sells a lot of diesel, cheap is good. You do not want to go to a small suburban station that only sells to a few diesel cars a week and the fuel is old. Most Walmarts, etc sell a lot of diesel!

Thanks for the quick reply, Brett.

Thanks again for your generous spirit in helping people.

David

[wildebill308]

David,

Welcome to the adventure of learning and shaking down a new coach. How much propane do you have on board? You might top it up while you are out that way you will be ready for the trip. If you can get in I would fill up at the local Walmart for $1.89. The sticker shock will be bad enough at the lower price. I like to get on the outside of the last/outer fuel island. Just watch when pulling in and out don't crowd the pumps and when leaving watch your tail swing.

As you already have a guy coming to go over things with you it might be a good thing to have him show you how to check the filters like Brett said. New filters aren't that expensive. I run Power Service Diesel Fuel Supplement in the white bottle in the summer time and if I think the temps might be below freezing I run the gray bottle that has an antigel additive. For a new to me coach I would run a double the dose to start with. I would also run the generator while I had the initial treatment. Diesel Kleen is suppose to lubricate pumps and injectors, Clean diesel injectors and Boost Cetane of fuel up to 6 numbers. You can by it at Walmart. The Biocide that Brett recommended is a good idea to.

Don't let the people who are showing you things on your coach rush you if you have questions or you aren't clear have them go over it again.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Bill

[judatt]

David,

Welcome to the adventure of learning and shaking down a new coach. How much propane do you have on board? You might top it up while you are out that way you will be ready for the trip. If you can get in I would fill up at the local Walmart for $1.89. The sticker shock will be bad enough at the lower price. I like to get on the outside of the last/outer fuel island. Just watch when pulling in and out don't crowd the pumps and when leaving watch your tail swing.

As you already have a guy coming to go over things with you it might be a good thing to have him show you how to check the filters like Brett said. New filters aren't that expensive. I run Power Service Diesel Fuel Supplement in the white bottle in the summer time and if I think the temps might be below freezing I run the gray bottle that has an antigel additive. For a new to me coach I would run a double the dose to start with. I would also run the generator while I had the initial treatment. Diesel Kleen is suppose to lubricate pumps and injectors, Clean diesel injectors and Boost Cetane of fuel up to 6 numbers. You can by it at Walmart. The Biocide that Brett recommended is a good idea to.

Don't let the people who are showing you things on your coach rush you if you have questions or you aren't clear have them go over it again.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Bill

Greetings, everyone.

Thanks for all the great advice. The guy came this morning and instead of 2 hours we spent 3 hours and 40 minutes together. He was very knowledgeable - at least he sure seemed to be to us. We went through a lot of systems and took lots of notes and a few pictures and videos. The auto start feature on the generator was turned to off and he showed us how to turn it back on if we needed to. He showed us where all the filters were and even checked the fuel filter when I asked him to and said it was clear. After a couple of hours of going over systems we started the process of getting the coach ready to move. I did everything and he observed (along with my wife - ) . She didn't make too many comments. When we were closing the slideouts one of them wouldn't lock - it closed but didn't lock. He fixed that.

I had a meeting at church last night so I went by Walmart and talked to the guy. Its a new store - grocery store only - not a full Walmart - and they are just building their customer base. He said so far they didn't sell much diesel and his tank was almost empty - even invited my in and showed me the gauge. He said he wouldn't recommend filling up until he got a new shipment which was supposed to be sometime today. We decided to go to Sheetz instead. They sell lots of diesel - in fact we had to wait in line to get a pump. It was $2.03 and the station is more difficult to get in and out of and since I had the repair guy with me (as well as my wife) I decided it was as good a time as any to maneuver some tight spots. All went well. It was interesting in that it shut off at $100 - said it was the limit. I plugged in my cc again and it took another $100 and shut off. It was almost full but not quite so I wanted it full. Tried again and it said see cashier so I did and had to pay cash for another $45. So put in about 122 gallons but its full now.

I went to an auto parts store to buy a bottle of diesel stabilizer. They had lots of stuff on the shelf for about $10 a bottle that treated about 100 gallons. The guy behind the counter went back into the parts they keep behind the counter and recommended a bottle of Sonron Enzyme Fuel Treatment. It was $32 and treats 500 gallons so I can only put in about 1/4 of the bottle. Anyone have any recommendations about this stuff? One thing I thought was interesting is that it is for gas or diesel engines. The guy who came today to help us said he hadn't heard of it but he didn't think it could hurt anything.

That's enough for now - I'm sure I'll have more later. Thanks again to everyone for being so helpful. David

[wildebill308]

Yes that ($100.00) is the standard cutoff for pumps. I normally start looking for fuel at 1/2 tank. I don't know why you couldn't run your card the 3ed time may be the station. You should be happy that prices are so nice and low this year.

I still recommend the Power Service Diesel Fuel Supplement in the white bottle for on your trip.

Did you check how much propane you have?

Bill

[elkhartjim]

I always add the additive to the tank prior to filling so it will mix when fueling. I'm not familiar with the fuel additive the parts man is recommending but I have used both products that have been recommended by Brett and Bill.

I use the Pilot/Flying J charge card that provides a discount from the cash price, automatic pump start and no pump shut off.

[wildebill308]

I always add the additive to the tank prior to filling so it will mix when fueling. I'm not familiar with the fuel additive the parts man is recommending but I have used both products that have been recommended by Brett and Bill.

I use the Pilot/Flying J charge card that provides a discount from the cash price, automatic pump start and no pump shut off.

I have one too but I wasn't going to recommend it because lately they have been the most expensive. It might be a good thing to get incase of emergency's where you needed to use them it would be some discount. Example last month coming back from the coast Piolt/Flying J was $2.48 Buck-EE's was $2.07.

Bill

[elkhartjim]

Bill, you should have stopped at Krogers in Willis - $1.89. It is a pain in the back side with the $100 cut-off.

[wildebill308]

Yes but diesel is so much cheaper this year I didn't feel like going hunting for a Kroger I didn't know. If I had it would have cost me $1.49 as I had 40 points. Besides it wasn't BUCK-EE'S.

Bill

[jc21014]

judatt,

Just curious but how many run hours are shown on the generator? They should be run regularly and can be problematic if not done.

[five]

Couple of comments:

- Brett was talking about a biocide, not a fuel stabilizer. If your fuel is going to sit for a long time you need the biocide. Boaters use it all the time, it kills algae that grows in your diesel tank if it is not totally filled. Here's a good one:

http://www.westmarine.com/buy/biobor--biobor-jf-diesel-biocide-and-lubricity-additive-16-oz--518696

- If you are going to use WM for diesel, get a WM gift card, it will lower the price even more.

- Also, when in WM or any other tight spot...watch your tail swing...it's wider than you think.