Onan 6k power drawer 2024

I want to change the oil and filter. I am not confident that the oil filter it came with is the correct one. It seems too short. Like its a 4k model.

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I know I can get one at GMC Motorhome Parts-r-us, but can anyone advise me what oil filter I can use on the 6k Onan. Preferably one I can get locally?
 
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Okay, I flashed the field coil. No big deal and just a light spark on disconnection

Did an Ohm's reading after and it read 39.9

I will start it up soon and check the results

It's a miracle
View attachment 12016
The muffle blew off but I got this quick image
Woohoo! That's awesome, and I know the feeling. Great job!

Now I just gotta get mine to do it without a jumper from 9 to 5...
 
To address the 9-5 conundrum, I would like to try wiring the starting-cycle 12v battery PIN 9 coil/fuel pump feed, that currently joins with one side of the fly-alt thru PIN 10, move that battery signal over to PIN 6.

turns out it was a waste of time
 
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To address the 9-5 conundrum, I would like to try wiring the starting-cycle 12v battery PIN 9 coil/fuel pump feed, that currently joins with one side of the fly-alt thru PIN 10, move that battery signal over to PIN 6.

This way, the battery signal does not have to interact with the fly-alt coil (isolated by the diode) but still goes thru the resistor to power the relay

My idea is that the fly-alt coils load down the voltage below relay activation levels.

Any thoughts
Scratching my head here... The pin numbers you refer to are the pin numbers on the Control Board? or are you talking the pins numbers on the 12 pin connector? I've never cross-referenced the connector pins to the board pin numbers. I'm an electronics guy, I just look at the schematic diagram.

I refer to the circuit board pin numbers here:

The flywheel alternator provides a voltage while the engine is running to latch relay K2 ON. Relay K2 has a set of Normally Closed contacts (NC) and normally Open (NO) contacts. The normally closed contacts powers solenoid K1 which allows the starter the operate. Once the Flywheel alternator comes up to speed and produces power, it activates relay K2. This Opens its NC contact and cuts power to solenoid K1 to stop the starter. The NO contacts close to provide power to Low Oil Pressure circuit and also enables relay K3.

The K3 relay then provides RUN power to pin 9.

Pin 10 only gets power from K1 when cranking.

Here is a link to Duane Simmon's troubleshooting guide:


KH Onan wiring - alternator after fuse.jpg
 
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If your board is old, the relay contacts might be corroded or the coil wire is corroded off.

You mention one side of the flywheel alternator is connected to pin 10. I don't believe that is correct. One side is connected to battery positive and the other side of the alternator is connected through a diode to K2 relay. Do you have approx. 27VAC across the alternator wires when the engine is running?
 
No, you are right. the 12v and the Fly-Alt junction at K1 but then is sent off to PIN 11, not 10
 
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So while you are cranking, Pin 10 gets power from the K1 relay and picks up K3 via CR5 and R2. K3 contacts close and provides power to Pin 9
When the engine starts, voltage from the flywheel alternator rectified by CR1 pulls in K2. K2A contacts open and cut power to K1's coil to disable the starter. K2B contacts close and provide power through CR7 to hold K3's contacts close to continue to provide power to pin 9 and keeps the engine running.
Without the 9-5 jumper in place, try these tests:
-If the engine will start then quits once it starts, then likely K2B contacts are bad, or CR7 is faulty.
-If the engine starts, but the starter continues to crank with start button pushed, then check K2 or CR1 or the flywheel alternator is not making voltage.
-If the engine does not try to start, then either K3 is not picking up or its contacts are faulty.
 
It acts just like many of the other Onans do.
Cranks but won't start, jump 9-5, starts and runs, then disconnect 9-5 and it continues to run.
Obeys the stop command.
THE standard complaint

I had the board on the bench and tested the components
The relays SEEMED to work just fine and the RUN relay killed the start relay as expected

Bright side: Its nice to have a whole generator to experiment on in my garage instead of being under a coach all day working on an installed unit

I can always install a primer button, press and hold while cranking and then release both. That ALWAYS works
 
I wanted to run the unit and see if the Fly-Alt was charging the battery but now the fuel pump is not pumping up
and the unit wont run. starved of fuel. the pump never stops ticking. Going to have to pull the pump and take a look

old unit blues
 
I wanted to run the unit and see if the Fly-Alt was charging the battery but now the fuel pump is not pumping up
and the unit wont run. starved of fuel. the pump never stops ticking. Going to have to pull the pump and take a look

old unit blues
Any chance you just sucked the tank below the 1/8th level? Or wherever that pickup ends...
 
I'm running on a gas can. Obviously, there is some other aspect I need to learn about the Onan, so fate, once again steps in to educate me

The goal of this exercise was get 'er running and producing power and I achieved that

A wonderful learning experience
 
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Looks like the culprit was the rubber seal in the fuel pump
This rubber seal was the one I soaked in brake fluid to soften it up, clever me

I can see where the seal was compromised, and air was leaked into the pump well, probably only when pumping as I did not see any leak while sitting
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I just happen to have a new one on hand and the generator is up and running again

Thats what caused the seal to fail and the hot gasses to blowtorch against the strut, severing it and...well, you know the rest
 
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Okay, lets try this again. First thread was rife with errors

Now that the Onan is running and producing power I want to get the BOVEE Ignition working

The instructions say to find the 25 degree BTC mark and center in the window
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Then mount the sensor with a clamp directly over the magnet and align with the white line and blue dot on the sensor
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Adjust so the sensor does not scrape against any vane
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The magnet as it approaches the sensor. I'm pretty sure the magnet was mounted on the wrong side of the line
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Now to wire it up
 
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I might have to re-mount the magnet or mount a second one in the correct position

What Glue would work best to mount the magnet?

I have a powerful magnet from a hard disk drive I can shape to use.

I have an awesome Dremel set and can do this gen-dental surgery in style hopefully

Why is the magnet mounted "embedded-in-the-vane" rather that just attached?
 
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I might have to re-mount the magnet or mount a second one in the correct position

What Glue would work best to mount the magnet?

I have a powerful magnet from a hard disk drive I can shape to use.

I have an awesome Dremel set and can do this gen-dental surgery in style hopefully

Why is the magnet mounted "embedded-in-the-vane" rather that just attached?
Make sure you have the South pole of the magnet pointing outward towards the module. You can check this with another magnetic that has its poles marked N & S. It will be attracted to the North side of the test magnet.

I used Epoxy to glue the magnet.

I believe the magnet is embedded into the vane in order to give the epoxy a glue a surface on 3 sides so to hold it in place better. Mine has been there for about 12 years now.

I believe Gary Bovee's instructions said to fold his included business car in half and use that as a feeler gauge to set the clearance .
 
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All I got with the BOVEE kit was the sensor and the box

I added a new magnet to the vane exterior just to try it, since this is a test-bed.

The magnet is from a hard-disk drive and is very powerful. It triggers from a 1/8th inch easily.
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I cleared a spot on the vane to bare metal, exposed fresh surface on the magnet as well, wiped with acetone, then bonded them together using the same high-tensile strength adhesive used on popular deep-sea diving vessels, (according to a 2022 news article)


I then wired up the 9-volt battery as described earlier and proceeded to rotate the flywheel into 25 degree BTDC in the timing window.
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With the sensor aligned to the magnet it shows 9.25 volts
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With the sensor lightly clamped to the frame I painfully adjusted the sensor until it triggered on the leading edge of the transition from 9.26vdc to mv and then dogged the C-clamp tight
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Then I rotated the flywheel a couple of times and then carefully set the trigger in place. Once I saw the volt drop, I looked at the timing window and it was at the center of the window at 25 BTDC, where it should be.

I did this a number of times and it looks good

I will wire the sensor up to the coil and remove the single wire from the points

I am ready to try running it on the BOVEE now

Should I fix the sensor in place first or run it with the clamp

I might run it on points at first to set the scenario
 

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Here is the sensor hard-mounted, tested and wired up for action
DSC09677.JPG

We will see, time will tell
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The ground connection
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Ready to attach to the coil + and - connections
Ground is attached
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Remove the one wire from the points
 
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The BOVEE Electronic Ignition works!

I started and ran the Onan on points for a few minutes to warm it up and then switched the wiring over to the BOVEE

I started and ran but.. the timing must not be just right. I was a little rougher to start and it ran faster than on points and with the BOVEE the output was 120vac instead of the 116vac I saw with the points. Either it is off timing or else the dwell time is different with the new magnet

EDIT: Ha Ha, the sensor ground wire was loose. Checked all connections and the Onan 6k with BOVEE upgrade now runs like a hundred bucks

smooth, easy to start and shuts down clean

Another Onan miracle
 
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What a great day for my Onan project.
electronic Ignition is a worthy upgrade, especially when 80% completed by the original owner

I found another control board on a shelf.

So I swapped them and lo and behold, This must have been the board I had on the bench. Its much cleaner and the contacts have been sanded

The Onan now starts, runs and stops on command without a jumper.

One thing though, the charging rectifier is definitely NOT WORKING, that is too bad. an expensive replacement

I have a WIX 51516 filter on order and a plan to swap it out, in-situ
 
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