Onan QG5500 not starting with switches

Aussie · 05-23-2021, 04:41 PM

We bought a 2016 Challenger 5 years ago. It came with an Onan RV QG 5500 generator. You can start the generator 4 ways. 1) From the central control panel, 2) from the dashboard, 3) on the generator and finally 4) using the LCI remote provided by Thor. The first 3 methods give you the option to prime the generator by rocking the starter switch in the off position prior to reversing the switch to the on position when the priming light on the switch comes on.

Our issue is that the only way we can start the generator is by using the LCI remote. Using the LCI remote starts the generator 100% of the time. We cannot start the generator from any of the physical switches, even the one that is actually on the generator. What is also interesting is that while none of these physical switches can start the generator, all of them can stop the generator, so they are still connected. The switches can stop the generator, but not start the generator. They all fail to start the generator 100% of the time.

We also have the Magnum AGS, but that is off at the control panel. We have never used it. However, down in the invertor bay, there is the AGS control unit with a green READY indicator light on.

What is totally puzzling to me is that not even the switch on the generator itself can start the generator. That just seems weird.

Bob Denman · 05-23-2021, 04:46 PM

Is the generator turning over: but not starting?
Or is not doing anything at all?

**16ACE27** · 05-23-2021, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Denman

Is the generator turning over: but not starting?
Or is not doing anything at all?

Yeah, that's kinda an important symptom to know.

Bob Denman · 05-23-2021, 04:54 PM

Aussie · 05-23-2021, 05:12 PM

And I thought I was doing a good job at explaining. Lol.

Using the switches to start the generator has no effect on anything. There is no cranking, no noise and no movement at all from the generator. The generator it totally silent when using the switches to start it.

Trophy1200 · 05-23-2021, 05:24 PM

If it starts with the remote make sure to stop it with the remote as well.

If you use the remote to operate any of the functions but don't use it to reverse it, such as slide, awning, gennie then it can misbehave.

Try starting the gen with the remote and then stop it with the remote. THEN try the switches to start and let us know what happens.

Aussie · 05-23-2021, 09:07 PM

Trophy1200, you're a genius. After I started/stopped the generator with the remote, I could start the generator on any of the physical switches. Now why didn't I think of that? I am relegating the remote to the bottom of the drawer. Thanks for the suggestion. I really appreciate it.

paulwadley · 05-23-2021, 10:00 PM

Good job Trophy1200. Others here that have that same system will know how to operate the generator.

Paul

Bob Denman · 05-23-2021, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aussie

Trophy1200, you're a genius. After I started/stopped the generator with the remote, I could start the generator on any of the physical switches. Now why didn't I think of that? I am relegating the remote to the bottom of the drawer. Thanks for the suggestion. I really appreciate it.

Mystery solved!

dkoldman · 05-23-2021, 10:41 PM

Wow, Thor Forum at it's best

Trophy1200 · 05-23-2021, 10:46 PM

Glad it worked.

Bob Denman · 05-23-2021, 10:54 PM

That's kind of why I threw my Outlaw's Rapid Camp remote in a drawer, and forgot about it.

kwplot34 · 05-24-2021, 02:35 AM

Our last motor home had the Rapid Camp remote, it was more trouble than it was worth, it was relegated to just hanging on the wall to never be used again.

Scubawise · 05-24-2021, 03:29 AM

My wife and I have no issues with remaster app remote on our Samsung phones. There is a recent 25 min bmpro update that makes it faster

thisoldman · 06-06-2021, 11:03 AM

A couple of years ago, shortly after we had gotten our unit, my wife and I took a trip to Pennsylvania. At some point I found myself unable to turn off the outside light strip located just beneath where the awning attaches to the side of the coach. Worried that it might have been incorrectly wired or that a short circuit of some kind had reared its ugly head, I unscrewed the light switch from the interior wall and, after pulling out about a foot of slack wiring, found an additional wire and an inline fuse that "those fools at Thor" had spliced into the circuit. Removing the fuse solved the "problem," although I was no longer able to use the light unless I removed the light switch and replaced the inline fuse--not a particularly convenient workaround.

I'm sure you can guess where this is going. When we returned from our trip I brought the coach to the dealership with a long list of things that needed attention and repair, among them the apparently malfunctioning light. The first thing the service manager said to me was, "Did you try shutting it off with the remote?" "Uh, no," I replied. (It's not a bug--it's a feature!) Our pre-delivery orientation/walk-through was almost non-existent, having been conducted by a PDI technician who was hastily recruited from the travel trailer side of the house because no one else was available. He was a refreshingly earnest and clearly bright kid who apologize profusely because he was not familiar with many/most of the features of our Chateau. He did say, however, that had it been up to him that he would never have released a unit to a customer that was in such a sorry state--several loose screws were strewn about the unit and there were tiny bits of styrofoam insulation everywhere, to name two issues I can recall out of probably half a dozen or so.

Anyway, not having been briefed on its features I had been reluctant to use the remote and had no idea that it was capable of controlling the outside light (as well as a bunch of other things). I must have inadvertently turned the outside light on when I was investigating the remote one day during our trip. If I were so limited in mobility and so lacking in stamina as to require a remote to turn on the outside light, power up the generator, or perform auto leveling rather than walking ten feet to directly operate the switches and control panels dedicated to these functions, I would have absolutely no business driving a rig that in a more sane world would require a CDL to operate. Talk about technology for technology's sake!

When we got the coach back from being serviced, I resisted the temptation to crush the

remote under my foot and simply removed the battery. Present problem solved and future problems averted!

DogLovers · 06-07-2021, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aussie

And I thought I was doing a good job at explaining. Lol.

Using the switches to start the generator has no effect on anything. There is no cranking, no noise and no movement at all from the generator. The generator it totally silent when using the switches to start it.

I wonder if I can get switches like that installed on my mother-in-law?

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