No power from generator (new owner)

[Aarond]

First of all, thank you for helping out a newbie.

We brought our new 2018 Minnie Winnie 31g home today. We played around with it for a while connected to power from our home. As the Arizona afternoon got hotter, as they tend to do, I decided to crank up the generator to run the a/c. I disconnected from the house power. The generator started right up. However, I had no AC power. The outlets didn’t work, the microwave lights didn’t come on and there was no air conditioning.

Maybe I missed something during the demonstration at the dealer. Is there an auto transfer switch on the Minnie Winnie or do I need to plug the shoreline into a generator receptacle?

Hoping this is just stupidity on my part or at least an easy fix.

Thanks in advance.

[Cooperhawk]

Not sure where it is on your rig but there is a transfer switch that has to switch from shore to gen power. It may be sticky and not switching over. It should be automatic.

[BirchyBoy]

It’s possible you don’t have a transfer switch. Look in your electrical bay for a receptacle that your shore cord could plug into. Turn the generator off first

[powercat_ras]

Chances are you don't have any automatic transfer switch, unless it is shown as an option on your build sheet. In that case the generator only feeds a 30 amp receptacle. In the basement bay where your coiled up shore power cord stores, look for a 30 Amp RV receptacle. When you want to use the generator, you have to plug the shore cable plug in there. You can leave it plugged in and only unplug when you want to connect to shore power.

[milham]

Check the main breaker on your breaker panel. Also your generator should have a breaker located somewhere on it, it may have tripped. You will have to open the panel on the generator to gain access to it.

[Aarond]

Thanks for the responses everyone.

Turns out there is a generator receptacle that has to plugged in. A previous rental had this but the salesperson didn’t mention this during our walk through. The rig was at the storage lot last night so I couldn’t just run out and check how things were set up. Glad it was an easy fix.

Thanks again for all the input. Happy Motoring-
Aaron

[bigfatguy]

Just in case someone turns up this thread in a search at a later date, the OTHER thing that can cause this issue is the overload breaker on the generator... which is usually hidden in a very hard to reach spot on the generator.

[Bradly]

Hi all we are out camping and my wife started the generator and turned on an electric heater. She then went to make coffee and we lost power evefywhere. I checked all the breakers inside. We have a 2015 itasca sunstar 27n and i have heard there is a breaker on the generator but i cannot seem to find it. Wondering if anyone can tell me where it might be located or anyyhing else I might try?

[powercat_ras]

> Onan 4000 breaker location ?

You take the side cover off the Onan 4000 generator and you will see a generator start switch towards the bottom center. Look on the side of that box the start switch is on and you will see a 30 amp circuit breaker. On my Onan it tends to trip before the 30 A breaker inside the coach trips. PITA.

[Bradly]

Found it and it had flipped. Everything back to normal