Generator

[Gil_J]

Dale,

Yes the thermostat must be under that polygon housing. Here's the stock engine, before modification.
Thermostat Housing.jpg
I'm still puzzled by IR readings being so much cooler than these sensors. The sensors are all upstream of the thermostat. In other words, they won't have water flowing across then until the thermostat opens. That too is puzzling. So, although I said that's were the thermostat should be, I have to wonder if it's elsewhere. Temperature sensors should be on the engine side of the thermostat, not the radiator side.

Have you called Power Tech and asked them?

[dale farley]

Gil,

Thanks for the drawing. I placed the drawing beside the picture, and it appears this is exactly what I have. I assume the two bolts shown on top of the polygon are the ones that go all the way down to the thermostat. I suppose I will pull the thermostat and make sure it is opening the way it should. I guess I could put the housing back together and see if the water pump is working without the thermostat, but I am not sure I can see the water flowing because of the configuration. There is no radiator under the metal tank, so the water does not flow like a typical setup.

[Joe Camper]

Have U looked to see that the rad hoses r not collapsed anywhere?

At what temps is the safety suppose to shut down the gen. Seems to me mine would never get to your temps shutting down sooner but it only happened once and I didn't see how far it went when it did.

Gill mentioned the locations of the sensors and questioned that. Interesting but id guess the potential for that would be slim or at least hope it would be.

[dale farley]

Joe,

I can see most of the hoses, and they look fine. they go into a wall behind the generator where the radiator is laying horizontal and vents to the bottom of the bus. I have looked underneath the bus, and the radiator looks clean with no visible signs of trouble. I think the only way to actually get to the radiator is to remove the generator or to remove the entertainment bay from the other side.

I have not been able to determine when the generator should shut down automatically if it gets too hot. I find it a little strange that while running when the gauges says it is 220 degrees, it never appears to be overly hot. I still don't understand why the 4 way brass coupler and the brass sensors show about 190 when the sensors/gauges are indicating 220?

Do you have any idea what the polygon-shaped component is?

[Gil_J]

That Polygon shaped housing must have been an easier design for Power Tech to add stuff to. It's the same design on my Power Tech with remote radiator. As I've said before, it makes no sense why your IR gun has that polygon housing readin 30+ degrees cooler than the sensors. FWIW, the thermostat fully opens at 204 degrees. I would guess shutdown to be 215, or less.

[dale farley]

Gil,

Do you have any idea how the shut down system works? What senses the temperature and what shuts it down?

[Gil_J]

Dale,

Just doing a little research and few have reported similar symptoms due to air in the line. They opened the bleeder valve on top of that polygon shaped housing and all is well.

I'm not sure which sensor controls the shutdown. I would have thought one of the many hanging from the thermostat housing. However, someone reports it's on the top back side of the head. I'm not sure where the back side is in the reference. http://powertech.myshopify.com/products/05stkub03

[dale farley]

I was wondering what that valve was for. Makes you think this might be a rather common problem. I think I will try that before I do anything else.

[dale farley]

Well, I flushed the lines and purged any air from the system, but it didn't change my symptoms. I talked with Power Tech and they said air in the system is a very common problem that causes over heating. He told me to remove the top radiator hose, connect a water hose and blow water in to force air out the other side. I also ran a bottle of "radiator flush" through the system. No difference.

I think I will remove the generator and rod the radiator. The radiator is behind the wall, behind the generator. It is positioned horizontal on the floor so air can flow through it when the fan is running. Has anyone ever removed one of the slide units? I don't know how much trouble it will be, but I can tell it is heavy.

[coreygrubb]

Dale, a pallet jack works well. At least you have a slide.