Onan generator

[Kephan]

Hi , owner of thor vegas 24.1 and i want to know if the generstor needs to be primed, because mine takes about 30 seconds to fire up. Thanks
Raymond

[Chateau_Nomad]

To prime my Onan 4000, hold the start/stop rocker switch in the stop position for about 15-20 seconds... the red light comes on, and you can faintly hear the primer pump. Then push start, and it usually fires right up.

[taylorbob1]

After prime…Mine usually won’t start on first try
Then a quick second try and it starts right up

After it’s been recently run, if you prime you’ll flood it.
So it’s a off until the red light comes on, then quickly toggle to start

[dkoldman]

I am curious as to how old is your generator, how many hours, and long was it since it was last started?

Or are you saying it takes 30 seconds to start all the time when you 1st try to start it?

I think you have been given good advice as to how to prime, I am wondering more so on why you need to prime? i.e did it sit over 6 months over winter, or do you run it every two weeks like I do mine. (I never have to prime)?

Side Note:
I often wondered why those that have elaborate AGS systems get by without priming? Thus far my genset starts every time when the AGS calls it. I really worry that one day, I may need to start priming and the auto genset start may not start automatically if I am not there?

[Campnjoe]

If I start mine from the firefly panel it chugs a bit before it starts. If I use the button on the dash, you have to push the bottom down until the light comes on, then push the top and it starts right up.

[Chateau_Nomad]

I think some of the problem is that the generator has to suck fuel from the RV fuel tank. My generator is just behind the driver door, and the fuel tank is behind the rear axle... quite a distance for a little primer pump to suck fuel from.

After sitting for even a few hours, I'm guessing the fuel in the line has drained back to the tank.

If it starts within 30 seconds, and seems to run okay, I wouldn't be concerned. I'd prefer to prime longer than hammer the starter, but that's just me.

Now - if it's surging, running rough, etc. that's a problem. But if all maintenance, oil, filter changes, etc. are kept current... I'm not losing sleep... just the other people trying to sleep listening to my generator at 1:00 a.m.

[Bob Denman]

Did you read the instructions for it?
{Quick answer: yes!}