In the Winnebago motorhomes, does the generator draw from the coach or the house battery as their power source for starting? Reason for question.... When I try to start my generator (from either switch), a buzzer or horn (very faintly) sounds. The generator itself does not turn over. I've checked the charge on all the batteries and they are fine. I did find some corrosion on the negative cables for the house batteries which I cleaned up. Any ideas??
Sounds like a bad ground. You might want to check with the Winnibago forum. http://irv2.infopop.cc/eve/ubb.x/a/frm/f/2486094452
I believe that Big Ben is on the right track. Check to see if a ground cable from the generator chassis to motor home frame is present. If so, check this connection. If no problem is found with the ground wire, your other options may be a bad starter--relay--wiring, etc. A big help at this point would be some knowledge in the ability to use, and read the appropriate test equipment. Good luck.
My Winni Rialta gen starts off the coach battery, unless the engine is running then it starts off the eng battery & the coach battery + the engine alternator. Jerry
Motorhome gensets always use the coach batteries as a source for starting. Doing so gives you a different source for the starter on each of the engines and the emergency start switch will allow the use of both sets of batteries to crank the starter for either engine. You my want to start you chassis engine and then use the emergency start switch to cross connect the systems and try again just to see if that is the problem. Starters will sometimes draw too much current for the battery to supply when either the battery is weak, or when the starter motor is beginning to fail. By so doing, you will at least know if the battery is the problem. If the buzzing sound is coming from the area of the genset, it might be that the starter is failing to engage. Have someone press the start switch while you stand near the genset to see if that is where that sound is coming from. Also, nearly all gensets have a local start switch that is mounted on the genset. Try using it to start the genset as that will very quickly tell you if the remote switch is bad.
Thanks Kirk...you hit the nail on the head. I replaced the coach batteries today and the generator fired right up. They were the originals and it is an 02 coach so I guess I cannot complain. Thanks Again
It's great to see you followed up on your thread ABN. Most people ask about a problem and you never hear how things turned out. Thanks for the follow up.
