Generator automatically stopped

Well, the vendor initialy suggested 2000W, but found out 3000W costs about the same, so the 3000W. Refrigerator runs on DC only.

Didn't know when under 12.2vdc, it's hurting battery. Learn something new.

I don't believe my generator or AGS has any information about automatic start or stop conditions. Need to find out from the dealer or Thor. I also need to set up my AGS apps so I can see the status on my smart phone.

Thanks for the information.

Above I had typo of 12.vdc that should have read
my house batteries may be 12.7vdc and my AGS will turn on genny around 6:00PM and shut off at 8:00PM because of my quiet time settings.

You did good getting 3000w for same cost as 2000. I only have 1000. The 2000 unit unit of same mfg is plug and play; so if mine ever dies ( 5 years old now) I will buy the 2000 to replace.

My microwave is the only thing my 1000 will not run, an inconvenience maybe 4 times a year; so not a big deal for us to fire up the genny.

I guess my point was you said you left your awning light on overnight, and inverter eventually beeped at 10.8vdc, so I was just trying to rationalize what you may be running additionally to have 3000watt inverter? The Fridge is a given, but is it residential or propane absorption mode that was running overnight? It could be a lot of other stuff draining that battery if your Inverter was actually on ( the awning light may have been innocent culprit) i.e I bet your 3000 inverter with absolutely nothing connected to it will draw more against the house batteries than the awning light.

When you say my generator or AGS in context to automation... Think of it this way... There is no such thing as Generator or AGS as you state. They are two different things. Short internal self controls, No Generator has any user defined automation. From reading it is not clear if you have a AGS? If you have AGS you will have User Defined Settings somewhere. That is what a AGS is and what they do. i.e. my coach did NOT come with AGS. I bought the Onan EC-30 and had installed on my brand new coach. I use my AGS exclusively. Ironically, about the only time I manually turn my generator on/off is on the road at a gas stop and we want popcorn, or to heat something up. I fire it up manually, and I just remember to let it run for at least 10 minutes before I manually turn it off.

Because of my AGS, when no SP, my AGS will tell my genny to start when temperatures in the coach gets to hot ( I decide what temp is too hot) or when the battery gets too low ( I decide what is too low, for my AGMs I have selected at 12.5vdc) If my coach had the same unexpected draw as yours, then the genny would have started up automatically when batteries hit 12.5vdc, I would have known something was wrong i.e. bad batteries or something was left on to get fixed, but I would not have had dead battery. With that said, if I was at a campsite my AGS would have been in Quiet Mode so it would NOT have come on after 8:00 PM or before 7:00 AM (I defined those settings in my AGS); If I had SP at the campsite it would not matter, but most of the time when I am at a campsite, I do not have SP unless it is summer and hot. My fridge runs on propane at night with no SP.

Final helpful need to know. Flood lead acid batteries should not go below 50% State of charge. Per my Onan Owner Manual the 50% SOC for FLA = 12.2vdc and for AGM = 12.4vdc scales vary. I have AGMs. My setting is 12.5 vdc ( my choice). I would go nuts if my batteries were anything below 12.4dc. Yes they would still work, but I would be slowly destroying those expensive batteries, just like dealers do on the lots :facepalm: In my book, despite how cheap, or how many millions you pay for them, if batteries are properly maintained and used; they will last just like the specs say. So the only real relevant information to me on a house battery is how many AH (capacity). 225Ah for Group 31 is the max I have seen and what I have to help me get through the night with no beeping :thumb:
 
Thank you dkoldman. There is so much knowledge and experience in your post I need to read it several times to understand. I need to admit, electricity/battery is not my forte. I depend on the dealer and manufacturer to provide me the skill needed and dos/donts like a car. I suspect neither of them know the whole story of the product they sell. At least a car dealer sells for one manufacturer which they will get sufficient training, RV dealers sell all manufacturer that made themselves confused what they sell.

Glad there are experienced and knowledgeable users like you that can help laymen like me. Appreciate your help.
 
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Thank you dkoldman. There is so much knowledge and experience in your post I need to read it several times to understand. I need to admit, electricity/battery is not my forte. I depend on the dealer and manufacturer to provide me the skill needed and dos/donts like a car. I suspect neither of them know the whole story of the product they sell. At least a car dealer sells for one manufacturer which they will get sufficient training, RV dealers sell all manufacturer that made themselves confused what they sell.

Glad there are experienced and knowledgeable users like you that can help laymen like me. Appreciate your help.

Unfortunately, most Dealerships are trained at getting the most money out of you as possible. Otherwise the leadership within the Dealership is turned over. Manufacturers do care. They want people to buy the products they make, but they too have to produce products at a certain cost, or otherwise they change leadership too.

Of course there are exceptions, go to a Cadillac or Lincoln dealership. You will over pay, but they tend to please the customer. I believe Lincoln is in the process of buying back all of their Dealerships so that you can only buy a Lincoln product at an exclusive Lincoln Dealership. No more buying a new Lincoln from same place that sell a new something else. I think this is Tesla's model too.

My advice, start calling around to talk to several people that may be a mobile tech in your area. If they just seem to $300 just for you to call or come out no matter what, keep calling around. Eventually you may find that right person that seem to be a good fit. Have them come out to do something basic with low risk. You can see how helpful they may for the future when you are really in a bind. I may have talked to 6 companies on the phone over a 3 month period before I found a guy that was about 5 miles from the house. He was not listed with any fancy website etc. The guy sold me when he said, hey why don't I just come by some time when I am in the area just to meet you. He came by we talked an hour, he wouldn't drink a beer with me, but he drank a couple of powerade mountain blast. Every year I literally try to make something up to have him come by. It use to take us 1 1/2 hour one way to drive to Dealership to drop off and then repeat the cycle to pickup causing both my wife and I to take off work. Now the Mobile Tech does everything at our house. I have not been back to a Dealership in 3 1/2years.

Keep reading the forum, you don't have to be an expert in electricity or the technologies, you just need to learn what to do with you coach. Manuals can help but can be confusing for some. I like your concept of Dos & Don't. Thats what I would do, make that list and follow it. I dumped my OEM FLA batteries because despite the experts, I did NOT want to ever have to water batteries. I didn't care to learn how to buy and use some watering system. From there it is about how many AH capacity you have, what that Inverter really does, and how to use that master cutoff switch. You will be amazed at how easy it is to never have dead battery.
 
Remember that inverters have idle power usage, which is more than you might think. AND the larger the inverter the more juice it wastes while simply being ON but sitting idle.

Remember to add that to your energy calculations.
 
Remember that inverters have idle power usage, which is more than you might think. AND the larger the inverter the more juice it wastes while simply being ON but sitting idle.

Remember to add that to your energy calculations.


I love to say, "the bigger the headache, the bigger the pill" We need a thread on all the things that are perceived to be more, bigger, better but maybe not so for the masses.

i.e. people don't use / maintain their batteries properly; so they buy the fancy float chargers, struggle to find power for it, then connect to their batteries not using proper step algorithms, cook their batteries, complain to Dealer or Mfg that it is brand new battery less than a year old that did not last :facepalm:

Note: I specifically did not raise the point of those that may buy solar and put those gawdy / heavy panels on their roofs, or worse invest 1 gamillion dollars in Lithium battery conversions versus simply turning off the battery disconnect switch because it is not my nature to start something :whistling:
 
Several forum members, and my dealer service manager have hinted I need to check my battery water when my awning light reduced battery level to 10.8v. So I stopped by the Autozone today and asked them to show me how to open the battery caps, the manager showed me how to and told me I have adequate water level. OK, learn something new every day. I will check the water level every month to ensure it's adquate. Thanks for all the advices.
 
Several forum members, and my dealer service manager have hinted I need to check my battery water when my awning light reduced battery level to 10.8v. So I stopped by the Autozone today and asked them to show me how to open the battery caps, the manager showed me how to and told me I have adequate water level. OK, learn something new every day. I will check the water level every month to ensure it's adquate. Thanks for all the advices.

Did that Dealer check your battery to tell you if it was any good? If not, go to the next guy.

If your battery was any good, it may take at least a week for awning light to drain your batteries down to 10.8vdc by itself.

In regard to watering every month, that is why I said the below in the above post... Everybody is different

I dumped my OEM FLA batteries because despite the experts, I did NOT want to ever have to water batteries. I didn't care to learn how to buy and use some watering system.

In my opinion based on facts that you provide, you had some other draw on your batteries than Awning light that you don't know about, or bad batteries.

If you want to prove, go back to Autozone and have them put a load test on the batteries ( I am assuming it has not been done, if it has it is critical information that we would need to know the results. And if you truly believe batteries are good, with no shorepower, and battery disconnection switch ON, turn everything off, especially the inverter. Tell us your House battery voltage. Turn on the awning light and tell us how it takes for the battery to drain to 12.5vdc. If it hits 12.5vdc turn awning light Off and plug in shore power.

Update: If batteries are bad don't rush to buy from Auto Zone. Be methodical about what to buy and from where. Sounds like you will need someone to install for you and that may effect where you have to buy from? But when you get new batteries, make sure they are AGM or at least Maintenance free, that way you NEVER have to check water. I never do and you shouldn't have to either. There is enough other things in RV to worry about. Expect to pay $550 - $600 for two AGM batteries. Maybe $150 to have installed.
 
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Did that Dealer check your battery to tell you if it was any good? If not, go to the next guy.

If your battery was any good, it may take at least a week for awning light to drain your batteries down to 10.8vdc by itself.

In regard to watering every month, that is why I said the below in the above post... Everybody is different

I dumped my OEM FLA batteries because despite the experts, I did NOT want to ever have to water batteries. I didn't care to learn how to buy and use some watering system.

In my opinion based on facts that you provide, you had some other draw on your batteries than Awning light that you don't know about, or bad batteries.

If you want to prove, go back to Autozone and have them put a load test on the batteries ( I am assuming it has not been done, if it has it is critical information that we would need to know the results. And if you truly believe batteries are good, with no shorepower, and battery disconnection switch ON, turn everything off, especially the inverter. Tell us your House battery voltage. Turn on the awning light and tell us how it takes for the battery to drain to 12.5vdc. If it hits 12.5vdc turn awning light Off and plug in shore power.

Update: If batteries are bad don't rush to buy from Auto Zone. Be methodical about what to buy and from where. Sounds like you will need someone to install for you and that may effect where you have to buy from? But when you get new batteries, make sure they are AGM or at least Maintenance free, that way you NEVER have to check water. I never do and you shouldn't have to either. There is enough other things in RV to worry about. Expect to pay $550 - $600 for two AGM batteries. Maybe $150 to have installed.

Thor Chateau provides only one house battery. When I purchased my RV, I insisted the dealer to include a second house battery, a net for the cab over, and replaced a bigger shower curtain. Not sure what condition is the battery they gave me free. It looked clean though, and there is no sticker on it of warranty start month. May be some worker got a new battery and I got his, just kidding.
 
Thor Chateau provides only one house battery. When I purchased my RV, I insisted the dealer to include a second house battery, a net for the cab over, and replaced a bigger shower curtain. Not sure what condition is the battery they gave me free. It looked clean though, and there is no sticker on it of warranty start month. May be some worker got a new battery and I got his, just kidding.

That may be part of your problem, if one battery was newer than the other. A good Dealer would have given you two new batteries. See where I am going with the Dealer bashing. You just can't hang your hat on them.

If we were NASA, this is where one would say "Houston, we got a problem" two new batteries should run Awning light for a long time. Have both batteries tested, it is free. Otherwise conduct the test above. I may turn my awning on tonight and see how long I can make before I hot 12.5vdc. If I did hit 12.5vdc, my genny would kick on.

You are getting at it slowly but surely :rolleyes:
 
Above I had typo of 12.vdc that should have read
my house batteries may be 12.7vdc and my AGS will turn on genny around 6:00PM and shut off at 8:00PM because of my quiet time settings.

You did good getting 3000w for same cost as 2000. I only have 1000. The 2000 unit unit of same mfg is plug and play; so if mine ever dies ( 5 years old now) I will buy the 2000 to replace.

My microwave is the only thing my 1000 will not run, an inconvenience maybe 4 times a year; so not a big deal for us to fire up the genny.

I guess my point was you said you left your awning light on overnight, and inverter eventually beeped at 10.8vdc, so I was just trying to rationalize what you may be running additionally to have 3000watt inverter? The Fridge is a given, but is it residential or propane absorption mode that was running overnight? It could be a lot of other stuff draining that battery if your Inverter was actually on ( the awning light may have been innocent culprit) i.e I bet your 3000 inverter with absolutely nothing connected to it will draw more against the house batteries than the awning light.

When you say my generator or AGS in context to automation... Think of it this way... There is no such thing as Generator or AGS as you state. They are two different things. Short internal self controls, No Generator has any user defined automation. From reading it is not clear if you have a AGS? If you have AGS you will have User Defined Settings somewhere. That is what a AGS is and what they do. i.e. my coach did NOT come with AGS. I bought the Onan EC-30 and had installed on my brand new coach. I use my AGS exclusively. Ironically, about the only time I manually turn my generator on/off is on the road at a gas stop and we want popcorn, or to heat something up. I fire it up manually, and I just remember to let it run for at least 10 minutes before I manually turn it off.

Because of my AGS, when no SP, my AGS will tell my genny to start when temperatures in the coach gets to hot ( I decide what temp is too hot) or when the battery gets too low ( I decide what is too low, for my AGMs I have selected at 12.5vdc) If my coach had the same unexpected draw as yours, then the genny would have started up automatically when batteries hit 12.5vdc, I would have known something was wrong i.e. bad batteries or something was left on to get fixed, but I would not have had dead battery. With that said, if I was at a campsite my AGS would have been in Quiet Mode so it would NOT have come on after 8:00 PM or before 7:00 AM (I defined those settings in my AGS); If I had SP at the campsite it would not matter, but most of the time when I am at a campsite, I do not have SP unless it is summer and hot. My fridge runs on propane at night with no SP.

Final helpful need to know. Flood lead acid batteries should not go below 50% State of charge. Per my Onan Owner Manual the 50% SOC for FLA = 12.2vdc and for AGM = 12.4vdc scales vary. I have AGMs. My setting is 12.5 vdc ( my choice). I would go nuts if my batteries were anything below 12.4dc. Yes they would still work, but I would be slowly destroying those expensive batteries, just like dealers do on the lots :facepalm: In my book, despite how cheap, or how many millions you pay for them, if batteries are properly maintained and used; they will last just like the specs say. So the only real relevant information to me on a house battery is how many AH (capacity). 225Ah for Group 31 is the max I have seen and what I have to help me get through the night with no beeping :thumb:


Thanks Wise one
 
Did that Dealer check your battery to tell you if it was any good? If not, go to the next guy.

If your battery was any good, it may take at least a week for awning light to drain your batteries down to 10.8vdc by itself.

In regard to watering every month, that is why I said the below in the above post... Everybody is different

I dumped my OEM FLA batteries because despite the experts, I did NOT want to ever have to water batteries. I didn't care to learn how to buy and use some watering system.

In my opinion based on facts that you provide, you had some other draw on your batteries than Awning light that you don't know about, or bad batteries.

If you want to prove, go back to Autozone and have them put a load test on the batteries ( I am assuming it has not been done, if it has it is critical information that we would need to know the results. And if you truly believe batteries are good, with no shorepower, and battery disconnection switch ON, turn everything off, especially the inverter. Tell us your House battery voltage. Turn on the awning light and tell us how it takes for the battery to drain to 12.5vdc. If it hits 12.5vdc turn awning light Off and plug in shore power.

Update: If batteries are bad don't rush to buy from Auto Zone. Be methodical about what to buy and from where. Sounds like you will need someone to install for you and that may effect where you have to buy from? But when you get new batteries, make sure they are AGM or at least Maintenance free, that way you NEVER have to check water. I never do and you shouldn't have to either. There is enough other things in RV to worry about. Expect to pay $550 - $600 for two AGM batteries. Maybe $150 to have installed.
If you are a member of Costco they sell instate batteries the batteries for my truck at Autozone $280 each $125each at Costco and you know Costco return policy no question asked
 
If you are a member of Costco they sell instate batteries the batteries for my truck at Autozone $280 each $125each at Costco and you know Costco return policy no question asked

Would need to know the specs on the $125 battery?

I assumed the OP was needing house batteries. Maximum AH possible based on issue with Awning light draining batteries down.

If they fit, I was pricing Group 31s 125ah each pure solar batteries (no automotive posts etc.) https://www.amazon.com/Vmaxtanks-Vm...qSv6rshq2cfrb3AnaiOtc47LAaOMgJchoC2UAQAvD_BwE

A battery with at least 110 ah is acceptable, but not for me. Max AHs is more important than saving $30 bucks or so / battery.
 
Thanks for all these important information I need to consider. So far the house batteries seem to be working fine even though it go below 11v occcasionally. Last night I turned off the inverter when the battery voltage shows 12.7v. Didn't turn on anything except heater and water pump. This morning it shows 11.0v. I think with my 100w solar panel and engine running, it will bring it back up to over 12v soon. Don't need to run my generator. Your advices are indeed good considerations.
 
Thanks for all these important information I need to consider. So far the house batteries seem to be working fine even though it go below 11v occcasionally. Last night I turned off the inverter when the battery voltage shows 12.7v. Didn't turn on anything except heater and water pump. This morning it shows 11.0v. I think with my 100w solar panel and engine running, it will bring it back up to over 12v soon. Don't need to run my generator. Your advices are indeed good considerations.

11.0 volts is beyond dead for a FLA battery and damaging the battery:

image4.png



And your furnace is the largest DC load in the RV (except for maybe the inverter, depending on the AC load it is carrying).
 
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My best advice is that you may need to document your Dos and Don'ts and understand them well. Then yiou are likely going to need new batteries anyway. The goal is make sure you are properly maintaining your new new batteries.

Take my advice and do yourself a favor, do not buy batteries that require water. In fact, buy AGMs that are dedicated for Solar especially since we now know you have a solar charger.

Oh by the way, this morning at 10:00 AM I shut off shorepower, made sure everything in RV was off including inverter. Turned on awning light. It has been 4 hours, I have gone from 12.8vdc to 12.7 vdc. At 12.5vdc my genny will auto start. If you look at the chart above from The Ace, you can see that I am always in safe range.

Also, not sure why you would not fire up your genny to help quickly get your batteries fully charged? In addition to what you may doing to ruin your batteries, you may also NOT be using your genny adequately to keep it from becoming a problem later?

FWIW I have no solar.
 
Update

Oh by the way, this morning at 10:00 AM I shut off shorepower, made sure everything in RV was off including inverter. Turned on awning light. It has been 4 hours, I have gone from 12.8vdc to 12.7 vdc. At 12.5vdc my genny will auto start. If you look at the chart above from The Ace, you can see that I am always in safe range.

Update:

It has now been 8 hours with Awning light on, I am still sitting at 12.7vdc, I have 4 year old batteries, but they have been pampered. I don't have a dog, so I love my vMax tank batteries as substitute :angel:
 
11.0 volts is beyond dead for a FLA battery and damaging the battery:

image4.png



And your furnace is the largest DC load in the RV (except for maybe the inverter, depending on the AC load it is carrying).

Yes, I was able to start my generator when my battery got to 10.8v. Apparently there is enough power in there.

I did have my LP furnace on in the night during that northern Cal snow storm.

In the morning when I discovered my house batteries are low, I was about to start my chasis engine and drive to the next destination, usually there will be enough juice from the car alternator to charge house batteries, and my 100w solar panel helps a little without using generator.
 
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Yes, I was able to start my generator when my battery got to 10.8v. Apparently there is enough power in there.

I did have my LP furnace on in the night during that northern Cal snow storm.

In the morning when I discovered my house batteries are low, I was about to start my chasis engine and drive to the next destination, usually there will be enough juice from the car alternator to charge house batteries, and my 100w solar panel helps a little without using generator.

The overarching point ACE (I think) was making was that you are destroying your batteries by allowing such a deep discharge. Repeated deep discharge drastically shortens the life of LA batteries.
 
So we now know that you had at least the awning light and heat furnace running, maybe something else.

It is not uncommon for some batteries to not have adequate capacity to run the normal things and make it overnight. That is one big reason I bought new AGMs because I basically doubled my capacity at the same time. It cost me $500 4 years ago, of course I installed them myself.

FWIW, I turned off my awning light and turned on shore power, I was at 12.6vdc. I would never leave that awning light on that long, but the point here is that you should always know that you can leave that awning light on to make you feel safe with no worries.
 
So we now know that you had at least the awning light and heat furnace running, maybe something else.

It is not uncommon for some batteries to not have adequate capacity to run the normal things and make it overnight. That is one big reason I bought new AGMs because I basically doubled my capacity at the same time. It cost me $500 4 years ago, of course I installed them myself.

FWIW, I turned off my awning light and turned on shore power, I was at 12.6vdc. I would never leave that awning light on that long, but the point here is that you should always know that you can leave that awning light on to make you feel safe with no worries.

I believe you are right, awning light should not take my batteries down to 10.8v. But 10.8v is not the end of the world either. I am testing all my equipment, even when I made a mistake, it was a test anyway. With the way this RV is built, there will be many issues that can cause misunderstandings and mistakes.

During this testing period, there will be system abuses, it's a small cost for the learning curve, that's fine with me. I am looking forward to better battries like maintenance-free AGM and maybe even improved solar panels, when I figure out what my traveling pattern is, and then upgrade to the best configuration to fit my needs. Maybe in a few long trips.

Thanks for all your technical advices I learned from all of you.
 

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