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Resolved Underhood generator troubleshooting

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brianconn

RVF Regular
Joined
Jul 10, 2022
Messages
15
Hi, recently my underhood generator stopped delivering juice to my house batteries. The generator looks undamaged and it turns when the engine is running. Any ideas on how to isolate the problem? Batteries charge fine on shore power
Thanks
Brian
 
Do you have a mulltimeter? You need one to begin tracking this problem down. A small test lamp will get you started but it won't tell you anything about voltages or the status of the rectifier.

Rick
 
Mine has a switch/fuse on the generator itself and sometimes it doesn't look tripped but turning off and then on again resets it. My wife forgets and runs her hairdryer while on generator power and trips it every time.
 
Alternator? Look for fuses? What kind of RV? Not enough info to even talk about solutions.
Yes, an alternator actually. The RV is a Roadtrek Zion (2017) that has Voltstart and what they call an underhood generator, which is really just a second alternator. It looks like the regulator is a frequent point of failure and of course located in the most inaccessible place in the engine compartment. I'll check fuses and breakers first and hope it's not the alternator ($2k)
 
Mine has a switch/fuse on the generator itself and sometimes it doesn't look tripped but turning off and then on again resets it. My wife forgets and runs her hairdryer while on generator power and trips it every time.
Thanks Gizmo, I'll check the fuses and breakers before the hard stuff.
 
Do you have a mulltimeter? You need one to begin tracking this problem down. A small test lamp will get you started but it won't tell you anything about voltages or the status of the rectifier.

Rick
Hi Rick - I do have a multimeter but I'm not sure where to test it. I don't know what exactly draws power from the alternator. With a regular car system you can tell that it's drawing when the engine slows slighlty. I don't hear that with the RV. As you can probably tell, I have no expertise in car electrical systems.
 
Should be able to run the motor and test voltage with a meter where the wires attach to the end of the alternator. Should be running high 13's I would think with the motor running. Stating the obvious but that system will obviously not be doing anything for charging while engine off.
 
2K for an alternator? That must be a doozy for that much money. You can get a real nice generator for that.
 
2K for an alternator? That must be a doozy for that much money. You can get a real nice generator for that.
Just a final update, I contacted the company that sells the alternator and regulator, Nations Alternator. Holly, who answered the phone gave me some things to check. In the process of disconnecting and reconnecting fuses and wires, everything started working again. I asked Holly if the regulator and/or alternator ever failed intermittently before going completely kaput. The answer was no, I must have fixed a loose wire or fuse. Officially, my cheapest fix ever! Thanks for all your help!
Brian
 

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