Salutations:
Well, we took the Elephant ('76-260) for a run to the Beach (to my mind, it's truly natural habitat) and ran into an Onan pwob..
I have a small but reputable fleet of 'classics' salted around Halifax NS including a '79 KZ Z1R ex-AMA superbike (lets talk 'ACCELERATION' some time folks) and an '84 Isuzu Trooper (the kuel square one). I have not normally been deeply concerned about previous owner mods - They usually come out as we go into strict maintenance mode for the first couple of years of adoption.. and thus far, my little flock hasn't provided any real dangerous surprises, until now..
At some point, someone modified the Generator (Onan 6KW power drawer) starting system to use a pair of toggle switches on the front. I assume, perhaps incorrectly, so they didn't have to pull drawer out to start it from the side - it does have working house start switch and was going to see if blue toggle was working when we got to beach.. but more on that in a moment
While it hung out with Halifax Super Wrench - Mike Keane's Autogo (902 468 3688), I sealed the roof and side seam leaks, changed the oil and such and dropped a Fleet 31 camper battery into the rear on the perhaps incorrect assumption that this had been rewired to feed DC house services..
While it was and remains unclear how and if the house electrical system was modified generally - have the batteries been linked up in different sequence? - has the inverter been baked? - is the isolator working (it was replaced sometime, I still have dead one bolted in above new one) - It all seems to work fine on dock power.. The Onan powered up the house systems and seemed to work fine during tests while being cleaned up at Autogo - It is now clear something is gravely amiss with the Onan..
Apparently, at some point on the 2 hour drive to the beach (no doubt early in the trip) - the starter engaged without the benefit of the ignition being engaged so that when we arrived at the beach, the Onan starter was smoking very badly and not turning at all (had my new fire extinguisher in hand folks - thx for tip) and a very expensive rail of melted solder was visible on the drawer floor underneath the solenoid when we pulled it out to get a closer look at the source of the smoke and disconnect the battery power at the starter..
There was a short white wire that was once apparently coming from the center tab on the back of solenoid that had burned off (about an inch missing) as well as several other wires (now very warm) attached to the outer bolt terminal.. including wires to the above mentioned switch mods.. None of heating was evident while it stood around during clean-up and sealing (about a couple of weeks), which may be relevant as we had had not yet been down road using alternator for any period of time..
The extra switches are in sad shape and look more like low end (now kinda burnt and brittle) stereo gear and I will be removing them as I expect (more accurately - am dearly hoping) that one of the switches failed as we bumped down the road and set off the Onan starter..
After it cooled down, I checked around the starter and again confirmed it still had about an inch of moment (the mounting plate seems a little under built - but it worked fine with drawer closed - which may be why crappie switches were added) and that the flywheel still spun (I am dearly hoping this means Onan engine is not completely wallyfux).. Am now investigating repair of starter..
Luckily, there was a very nice older gent in a 70's Winnie Executive who pointed out the smoke to me when we arrived and later showed me his Onan - He has no starter, it uses the generator end of the assembly to fire up the motor.. This interested me greatly as it would seem a lot better solution if I could rig mine up to do same..
I have been closely investigating other power options in the event Onan is in fact DOA.. One of which is remove the generator entirely, fill the drawer with marine diesel batteries and rig up a 70cc charging motor (set to kick in when battery power drops) in what is now Onan Battery compartment.. Supplemented with solar cells to trickle.. I think I will find the Onan kinda noisy when we are listening to the tide coming in
The fridge has already been converted to propane and I am looking at replacing the overhead AC and Duo Therm Furnace with a tarty little Camper Furnance/AC I spotted on on the internet somewhere.. This would have added advantage of clearing the roof and dropping drag considerably up there.. (As if drag makes a lot of difference when you are riding an elephant) .. more importantly it should drop considerably the requirement for amperage when using house AC - it has much lower BTU presence however.. Does anyone have a Propane powered floor AC unit out there? Should my fridge start to worry it's about to be gutted and remade into a trickle Air unit?
Anyway, if anyone has any info on above stuff, kick me a note..
ps: when I did run it for tests after fresh plugs and air filter, it worked great and was the most fascinating contraption I think ever seen..
your pal on the north atlantic
J Dexter
webmaster
Well, we took the Elephant ('76-260) for a run to the Beach (to my mind, it's truly natural habitat) and ran into an Onan pwob..
I have a small but reputable fleet of 'classics' salted around Halifax NS including a '79 KZ Z1R ex-AMA superbike (lets talk 'ACCELERATION' some time folks) and an '84 Isuzu Trooper (the kuel square one). I have not normally been deeply concerned about previous owner mods - They usually come out as we go into strict maintenance mode for the first couple of years of adoption.. and thus far, my little flock hasn't provided any real dangerous surprises, until now..
At some point, someone modified the Generator (Onan 6KW power drawer) starting system to use a pair of toggle switches on the front. I assume, perhaps incorrectly, so they didn't have to pull drawer out to start it from the side - it does have working house start switch and was going to see if blue toggle was working when we got to beach.. but more on that in a moment
While it hung out with Halifax Super Wrench - Mike Keane's Autogo (902 468 3688), I sealed the roof and side seam leaks, changed the oil and such and dropped a Fleet 31 camper battery into the rear on the perhaps incorrect assumption that this had been rewired to feed DC house services..
While it was and remains unclear how and if the house electrical system was modified generally - have the batteries been linked up in different sequence? - has the inverter been baked? - is the isolator working (it was replaced sometime, I still have dead one bolted in above new one) - It all seems to work fine on dock power.. The Onan powered up the house systems and seemed to work fine during tests while being cleaned up at Autogo - It is now clear something is gravely amiss with the Onan..
Apparently, at some point on the 2 hour drive to the beach (no doubt early in the trip) - the starter engaged without the benefit of the ignition being engaged so that when we arrived at the beach, the Onan starter was smoking very badly and not turning at all (had my new fire extinguisher in hand folks - thx for tip) and a very expensive rail of melted solder was visible on the drawer floor underneath the solenoid when we pulled it out to get a closer look at the source of the smoke and disconnect the battery power at the starter..
There was a short white wire that was once apparently coming from the center tab on the back of solenoid that had burned off (about an inch missing) as well as several other wires (now very warm) attached to the outer bolt terminal.. including wires to the above mentioned switch mods.. None of heating was evident while it stood around during clean-up and sealing (about a couple of weeks), which may be relevant as we had had not yet been down road using alternator for any period of time..
The extra switches are in sad shape and look more like low end (now kinda burnt and brittle) stereo gear and I will be removing them as I expect (more accurately - am dearly hoping) that one of the switches failed as we bumped down the road and set off the Onan starter..
After it cooled down, I checked around the starter and again confirmed it still had about an inch of moment (the mounting plate seems a little under built - but it worked fine with drawer closed - which may be why crappie switches were added) and that the flywheel still spun (I am dearly hoping this means Onan engine is not completely wallyfux).. Am now investigating repair of starter..
Luckily, there was a very nice older gent in a 70's Winnie Executive who pointed out the smoke to me when we arrived and later showed me his Onan - He has no starter, it uses the generator end of the assembly to fire up the motor.. This interested me greatly as it would seem a lot better solution if I could rig mine up to do same..
I have been closely investigating other power options in the event Onan is in fact DOA.. One of which is remove the generator entirely, fill the drawer with marine diesel batteries and rig up a 70cc charging motor (set to kick in when battery power drops) in what is now Onan Battery compartment.. Supplemented with solar cells to trickle.. I think I will find the Onan kinda noisy when we are listening to the tide coming in
The fridge has already been converted to propane and I am looking at replacing the overhead AC and Duo Therm Furnace with a tarty little Camper Furnance/AC I spotted on on the internet somewhere.. This would have added advantage of clearing the roof and dropping drag considerably up there.. (As if drag makes a lot of difference when you are riding an elephant) .. more importantly it should drop considerably the requirement for amperage when using house AC - it has much lower BTU presence however.. Does anyone have a Propane powered floor AC unit out there? Should my fridge start to worry it's about to be gutted and remade into a trickle Air unit?
Anyway, if anyone has any info on above stuff, kick me a note..
ps: when I did run it for tests after fresh plugs and air filter, it worked great and was the most fascinating contraption I think ever seen..
your pal on the north atlantic
J Dexter
webmaster
