Cantankerous Genset Fixed - Knock On Wood!

[RJ]

As many of you know, the 8kW PowerTech genset in Tortoise has given me fits ever since I bought the coach two years ago.

It would idle forever, but put a load on it and it might run for 10 minutes - or maybe an hour - then mysteriously shut down.

Let it sit for five minutes and it would start right up again, only to repeat the mysterious shut down pattern.

It wasn't overheating - using an IR gun, the radiator never was over 160, usually under that.

Since PowerTech's factory is in FL, and so am I, I decided to let them solve the problem, which, in itself, became a problem because they don't have a service center!!!

Oops!

All was not lost, however. Jeff, their Technical Services guru, offered to come by my campsite after work (on his own time) to see what the problem was and possibly correct it.

Sure enough, about 5:30 these two Southern "good ol' boys" showed up in their battle-scarred '70s-era Chevy pickup, hand tool kit and miscellaneous parts in hand.  After introductions and symptom descriptions and a demonstration, they got right to work.

Thirty minutes later, after replacing the high temperature switch (main culprit) and the oil pressure switch (possible secondary culprit), the genset was back up and running, humming along just like it should the rest of the evening.

As Jeff explained, the Nason high temp switch had failed, which was something they'd had extensive problems with in my genset model. They found that by replacing the Nason with an OEM Kubota switch, the issue was cured. Although my Nason oil pressure switch hadn't failed, it was replaced with a Kubota unit as a precaution. (Why PowerTech didn't use OEM Kubota switches in the first place was not mentioned...)

Jeff also was kind enough to share with me the NAPA numbers for the various filters, along with some operating suggestions ("Run it loaded as often as you can" among them) and other info.

So, the next couple of months will be a good test, as we work our way back west after the Arcadia Rally, especially at Quartzsite...

Yes, it cost a few bucks to have Jeff and Mick fix the unit, and yes, I could have done so myself and saved the labor charges. But I had struggled with trying to find these elusive switches inside the sound box, whereas these guys knew exactly where they were, which tools to use, and, most importantly, the cause of the problem in the first place. You can't teach experience!!

FWIW & HTH...

[John316]

RJ,

Super cool that they got you fixed up. Hopefully it will continue to operate well for many more thousands of hours!

John

[Van]

I knew it all along 😉

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

[Seangie]

I knew it all along 😉

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

Damn know it all's...

Bwaaa haaa

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

It would have just been easier to bypass those safety switches RJ.  

[Dave5Cs]

Safety switches are so over-rated,LOL