Generator auto start - SWEET!!

[gumpy]

Today I got my 30 amp buddy plug installed in the front of the bus, and then reinstalled my generator temporarily to test the autostart I just hooked up to the Trace SW4024. I only got to play with it for a few minutes but it seems to work great!  This is going to be sweet! I'll be able to leave my air conditioner on if we need it and the inverter will automatically start up the generator when the batteries start getting low. Now I need to make my remote panel for up inside the bus. Not as critical as I thought it was going to be because I can actually start the generator manually from the SW4024 remote panel, so no more coming outside and opening a bay just to start up the generator.    I'm still going to make the remote panel and put some gauges in it, since there are none on the generator. I just like looking at the pretty needles that give me a warm fuzzy knowing all is well in generatorville.

It was a good day!

[Tenor]

Ain't that a sweet feeling?  I just got mine done a few weeks ago and I LOVE IT!  In fact, I just doubled my battery bank tonight and it will be so nice to run a few things overnight without the genset kicking in.  I've still got to re wire the DC cooling fan for the genset as was posted earlier. 

Glenn

[luvrbus]

 Hey Guys the Park Rangers love the auto start generators don't ask how I know   LOL       good luck

[gumpy]

Hey Guys the Park Rangers love the auto start generators don't ask how I know   LOL       good luck

The Trace has a quiet time setting on it. Of course it only works if you remember to set it 

[gumpy]

Played with my generator autostart today.  Decided I have to pull my fuel pickup and lengthen the return line because I had a lot of air in the fuel line. I think the generator is sucking air in through the AquaHot return and into the supply side. If I run the AquaHot and get all the air out and then run the generator for awhile, it clears up and is not a problem again. This happened when I installed the generator. I've decided it's probably the return tube length and will lengthen it soon.

Also, I found out that the Onan cannot handle the speed of relay switching of the Trace SW4024. On the Onan, if you hold the switch to the off position, it will run the fuel pump and prime the system. The Trace has a schedule on switching RY7 and RY8 that should support running the priming option for several seconds before engaging the start function. And the Trace unit works as advertised. However, if I set the Pre-crank time to anything above 0 seconds, the generator does not try to start. It goes through the priming for the specified time, but when RY7 opens and RY8 switches closed to start, nothing happens. If I set pre-crank to 0, then it starts fine, but of course I don't get the precrank priming. Not really a big deal, because during the glow plug operation on the start sequence, the fuel pump is on and priming, so I'm not going to worry about it. As long as I don't get air in the fuel line, it should start just fine with the current operation. 

I'm going to play with it some more and see how it reacts to low voltage and high current draws, both of which are programmable. I think when I fully understand it and get it all programmed out, it's going to be great for my boondocking.

craig