Generator 1 Second Run Issue

[rahangman]

I just had a new Regulator Board for my home Generator System (Onan) replaced. Onan's price was twice what GCM Computer Systems of Fayetteville AR was able to provide a new card engineered and gave me a 2 yrs warranty over 1 year from Onan. Might want to give them a call if it is the board itself. www.gcmcomputers.com

[MangoMike]

I just had a new Regulator Board for my home Generator System (Onan) replaced. Onan's price was twice what GCM Computer Systems of Fayetteville AR was able to provide a new card engineered and gave me a 2 yrs warranty over 1 year from Onan. Might want to give them a call if it is the board itself. www.gcmcomputers.com

Too late now, but thanks for the reference. Will catalog it for the future.

Mike

[MangoMike]

I have been told that the shaft bearing is something to look at around 5000 hrs. I got that from the owner of Martin Diesel that supplies lots of generators to different builders.

What are the symptoms of this failure, and any idea of repair cost?

m

[GDeen]

I have been told that the shaft bearing is something to look at around 5000 hrs. I got that from the owner of Martin Diesel that supplies lots of generators to different builders.

So-Tex, repair facility repping most of genset manufacturers gave me the 3k hour number, and a generator repair shop in AR gave me the 4k number so it must be somewhere in that vicinity. So-Tex claims due to low quality Chinese bearings.

My main point is, for a machine that is supposed to easily reach 30k hrs with routine maintenance to have a major bearing failure somewhere in the first 10-20% of its service life is worth knowing and monitoring.

Mike, my generator was shaking and the owner of SoTex first thought was bearing failure when I talked to him over the phone. After his evaluation, he came out with a speed control correction as curing my problem, and I never got an estimate on replacing that bearing. Probably will though next time I have any service work done on the generator.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

What's a shaft bearing? Crankshaft? Camshaft? Have a bad crank bearing, or if one spins that's in the league of engine replacement. What's unspoken is which engine. We have Kubota, Yanmar, etc. Certainly not all brands are impacted.

I agree with Gordon. Something stinks because these generators should easily go 30,000 hours with routine oil and filter changes. That information comes from two sources, one of whom has run many of them on coaches.

[Kevin Erion]

I believe it's the bearing in the generator side.

[Charles Spera]

At about 4000 hours my generator was fitted with a new bearing that supports the generator rotor. A recent visit to Martin Deisel Generator for a check up showed this bearing to be still good but we replaced it again anyway. The cost of the bearing is about $30 but the install is a bit pricey. The alternative is a rather expensive generator head.
I have a Yanmar gen engine....with care it will last nearly forever!
HTH
Keep safe

[GDeen]

Charles just described it Jon - on the generater side...

I would like to have it replaced sometime so as not to have a failure while dry camped in August which is when it would likely fail.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Generator side on Martin Generators? Or is this across the board?

It's not like I have a ton of hours on mine, but I think for general knowledge all POG members would be interested in knowing if this problem is associated with one brand or all.

[Kevin Erion]

Jon, Martin Diesel builds the unit using a spec motor such as Yanmar or Kabota and the generator side is a Marathon. I think a Power Tech is very similar. I think most all of the better units use a Marathon for the AC generator side. It's my understanding this bearing is on the Marathon side and the service interval will be the same on most of our generators.
Having said that Jim at Martin Diesel is a great guy and I have used him a few times on the generators we used in our race transporter trailers. The only down side for me is he is in Defiance, Ohio but worth the trip if you are in the area!