Hey guys! Thanks for checking out video! Like I mentioned in the video, I point out several items that Generac had problems with that made my job a lot harder. I know I sound very negative but I have had a lot of problems with the older models. BUT....The problems were slowly worked out over several years and I don't have that many problems now-a-days.
@@thomasmoore8633 check the generator instructions manual that came with the generator and see what is wrong if your can’t find what is wrong what i would do is call gencrac and tell them what is wrong with your generator and they will send you a repari man and he will try to figure out what is wrong
By watching all the techs working on those generator help me save a 5 grand mistake. I went the way of a portable one that is good for 60 amps but I only wanted 50 amps so I got a safety margin. And it is dual fuel so that made it easy to store fuel. I went with the KISS plan so that my family can work it safely if our power goes out. .
Portable is what I have. I felt the same way, for some people the automatic is the only way to go but for those that don't need it, I see too many problems for the money spent. The new ones are a lot better, these older ones were problematic and it always get taken out on the service guy.
I had a portable unit until I was 12 hours away and a tornado went through the area taking out power. Having a finished basement with a sump pump, yeah also have a battery backup sump installed, I decided that it was time to move to a unit that will do its job when I’m not around to hook it up. Besides, some day I might not be around to do the hookup for the spouse. Much pricier option though.
20+ year Generac tech here.... the failure of the VR to power the unit up the first time is likely a dirty set of slip rings from sitting around doing nothing for weeks / months. Going through a few start cycles (and field boost cycles) gave it enough time to burn off the crud. Another trouble shooting tip is that first flicker of the red light was your indication of proper field boost. You probably could have grabbed a quick reading on your meter using the min/max feature to see battery voltage while cranking. (too fast to see it read out) That's a big time saver compared to the steps in the book. (read from the F1 and F2 terminals on the VR with everything connected) BTW, the red light indicates AC output... but not how much. It can come on with only 50 volts or so. (other problems) As for the retransfer problem, that's an issue right from the factory when new. I don't know if Generac ever put out a tech bulletin on it. Basically the CMA board loses it's memory if the battery goes dead for a few weeks and you need to start from scratch. The one time fix is to cycle the utility power on and off for 10 - 12 seconds. Do that twice and the board is reset. Replacement boards seem to have the same issue, which tells me it's a software / programing issue. One last pointer is the factory also offers a field boost kit for units that sometimes fail to get enough boost initially. (serial # starting with a 2, 3, 4) The signs are intermittent multiple start attempts (because it shut down due to lack of output) or flashing overspeed fault (lack of output) and you go through the steps but fail to find other issues. The kit is about $100 retail and takes 20 - 30 minutes to install. (less when you get good at it) The kit contains a small wiring harness, a rectifier, and a ceramic resistor that jacks up the field boost voltage a bit higher than OEM.
Thanks for the info, I was really into these when I did them more often but now I'm not seeing them enough to stay fresh. I know I really hammered this model so thanks for not jumping me 🤣. I had a rough first year when these came out, luckily practice makes it go faster👍👍
@@HVACRSurvival ... in a company with about 18 techs the next guy below me only had maybe 13 years in the field, then the rest were less than 10 years. Between the two of us older guys we were masters at the "lost art" of these things. We learned to teach, not preach when it came to showing the new guys how to do stuff.
@@rupe53 as you might noticed from my other videos, I was a HVAC guy that was bored with my residential work when I got into generators in 2006. In 2014 I came to a refrigeration company that has me manly do commercial so I am not bored anymore and our residential division doesn't do near the volume my past company did. LoL Thanks for the input! I just had a newer Generac that had starting issues with the LP gas setting that required a new mixer assembly. The new part had a fully seated butterfly where the original butterfly had gaps bent into it from the factory that did not allow the proper pull of fuel. Once I changed it the problems went away. Then factory did not say there was any changes in that mixer assembly...So nothing surprises me about Generac not being full discloser. What state are you in?
@@HVACRSurvival ... we are in CT and usually run #3 or #4 in size (sales volume) for east of the Mississippi. Being a full service dealer is a different category than a big box store. The tech people will talk with us if we have a problem but being that big we can also get the attention of someone in engineering when it comes down to it. They actually gave us some prototypes to test once in awhile. One of them was a dozen custom CMA boards (for this unit) with the flashing OS sensing disabled. Those also had a quirk where if the unit was pushed to OS during maintenance (testing) you could not reset the fault without powering the board down completely. Of course that meant resetting the weekly exercise time, which pissed off a few customers. Also had a bunch of those fuel mixers go bad in recent years. Usually it was the stepper motor, but it comes as an assembly. BTW, before this gig I spent a few years in HVAC and a bunch of time doing auto / truck repair. Recently retired.
Never worked on a generator. So in a way I watch these even harder than your HVAC videos. Rewinding to hear what you said and so on. Anyway... nice one!
Cool to hear👍. I don't like working on them anymore because the calls are so few at this company that it's not worth my time to keep current. But I'm stuck with them now🙂
That's my king dog meter for the hard to find problems 🤣. That's just a pistol case with the over priced accumulated Fluke probes. Thanks for noticing my rarely seen meter😉. I also have the 376fc that rides in the sleeper cabin of my tool box 😆.
1) I very much appreciate your videos and how you walk through it all. I recently rebuilt a 1972 Honda motorcycle using the shop manual and UA-cam, and I wish more channels did troubleshooting like you do. 2) we have this exact same generator, throwing an over speed code. I installed a new battery, changed the oil/oil filter. No luck. The voltage regulator LED stays solid red until shutdown. Would you replace it or the board? Why do we do?? Also, can the systems charger be bypassed? I have an aftermarket trickle charger on the unit. Thanks in advance for any direction/next steps you can give.
These things seem to work till people need them. Know 2 people that their failed during the 2021 Texas freeze. Knew another lady who's Generac failed during a long outage. Not sure about the other brands. I know my portable Champion that works off natural gas has worked every time I needed it.
One of those batteries did explode at my feet when I was manually starting one of these with the front cover off a few years back in fall 2018. I was unscathed besides some battery acid melting my shoes and my Nissan key fob on my keychain. Generac paid for a tech to replace the battery charger and the battery free of charge but wouldn't replace my clothing or key fob. It was a 2009 model Generac, I forget the kw rating. Apparently the battery acid was boiled out and all that was left within was hydrogen gas.
I had it destroyed the stator and rotor on a generator because it was running when it exploded once. The acid ate the insulation off of the windings and it shorted out.
@@HVACRSurvival Wow how did the acid reach that portion of the machine? The battery box should be divided by the sheet metal wall. My Father's unit was off on error, so I came by to take a look. The battery charger was grossly overcharging I found, but with the cover off I initiated a manual start and KABOOM. Pretty scary. When I opened my eyes I was surprised that I was unscathed. The thought that I lost my vision was a horrible scare. Don't play around with batteries, wear eye protection!
@@Guillotines_For_Globalists my best guess is it was running and if you've noticed how it runs it pulls air in through the motor and blow it across the stator, that's where the batteries at, right there in the front of the engine, it sucked it in blew it all over.
I appreciate the offer, I don't run into that many generators nowadays. I pretty much record every generator I've done over the last two plus years and that's about all the more generators I see.
@@HVACRSurvival sounds good! I pulled them from my hpa compressors. Company who built em didnt aparently test them much and they kept arcing and sticking so i upgraded an went to solid state relays so the box of 5 i got are collecting dust lol. It was either that or contactors.
Good stuff! I have the new 22K. Very different electronics. Damn if they didn't come out with the 24 right after I bought mine.. By all accounts the new ones are worlds apart better.
Generac refused to replaced or to provided services on a difected contactor in a Transfer Switch panel I purchased, since the panel arrived with no serial number.
I enjoy electrical-only calls every now and then , must be nice to be multi talented eh . By the way , if you get the chance , could you do a quick review on your new Milwaukee light please , it just got on the Bezos store over here but it's double the price compared to the States ! Cheers Rick , good one 👍
On Friday the 13th we had a big storm and had a big surge. There was a big clunk, clunk noise from the generator fuse box. I went to check it out and even though there is positive current in all the fuses only 7 out of 15 of them provide power to the house. we have changed the both solenoid inside the fuse panel last year myself because it burned . Now what shoud i check or replace. Thanks for your respond .8/16
Had one recently that transferred to standby but just stayed on and not transfering back with utility present. Course, didn't yet get approval to replace the $500 board yet. I feel like I am the only one in my area that does it but on those old model 004/005 V-Twins I pull the lift brackets off and it makes replacing plugs a cake walk. My company doesnt wanna buy the level 1 kit for anyone so I have a fun time fixing them during a long power outage I end up using used parts just so someone doesnt freeze in the winter until I get parts.
@@HVACRSurvival They have a new breakout harness for Evo controllers for excitation testing on genservice and transfer switch stuff is now moving to its own diagnostic manual, thought I share the new stuff. Gotta love that now yearly re-cert.
@@HVACRSurvival ... worked on these for near 25 years and being a larger dealer I can throw you some pointers, specifically on this unit. If they have been sitting dormant for weeks / months (dead battery / gas problems?) the CMA board has lost it's mind. Back when these things were new Generac told us (not in so many words) there was a logic problem and in order to have it retransfer after a power failure the board needed a nudge.... but only the first time after sitting around. The procedure was to drop the house and let things power normally via gen set for a minute or two. Turn the power back on and count 10-12 seconds, turn it off for 10-12 seconds, then go back on. It should retransfer after cycling the utility once or twice.... then go into the cool down mode, which can be several minutes, depending on how long the power was out. Failure to do this power cycling will result in a failure to retransfer. There are some units that will actually go through the 3 minute cool down then shut off, and still fail to retransfer. As far as I know Generac never did straighten this out and even replacement boards had the same issue. Basically, this is not a problem with the ice cube relay, although overtightening the screws on that can cause binding within the relay itself.
@@rupe53 thanks again, I never heard that about the control🤦♂️. But it did act like a logic problem😖😖. I'll try that trick next time👍👍. I did catch that relay sticking, I had to put the camera down to get both hands on it so I didn't catch it on video. I'm very leery showing too much on video and having someone get hurt and then try suing me. That's why I was told to write it out and say it out especially on this one here where my hands are in dangerous spots several times.
@@HVACRSurvival ... BTW, that relay has 240 volts on it. I have a nut driver and screw driver with tape on the shaft to keep clear of the live terminals. I never tighten the ones on that end. Just slide it in and install the other screw.
With it being outside and affected by weather, would it not normally be a good idea when changing out components to add some dielectric grease to the contacts/wires to help protect them? or is that not a general thing to do?
Most of the connectors have a rubber seal just like an automotive connector does. On the ones that are exposed Generac does put some dielectric grease on there.
I'm not sure if you still monitor this channel or not but on the off chance... I have a solar system that I put a generac 200amp, nema 3, service entrance rated ats into and everything works fine ( if I open s1 and then manually transfer than close my s2 contact ) except it will not transfer to emergency automatically, it will however re transfer with no issues once I close s1 back. I have dual EG4 6500 inverters with 8 EG4 48vdc batteries. After looking at the limited wiring schematics from generac on this ats my only conclusion is I need to power the relay with 12vdc to make it transfer to emergency position. Looking at your video it looks like this is what your doing to make the ats transfer to emergency (apply 12vdc and ground) and then lift it to make it re-transfer to normal. Am I correct in my thinking? thanks for the video, I will continue checking my theory but hope to hear back from you on this.
I'm making one to two videos every week, so yep I'm still here. You're partially correct, generac Powers the transfer switch with constant 12 volts positive and they ground the other side when it needs to transfer to auxiliary power. Then they remove the ground to transfer back to the utility and that happens as long as there's utility voltage there. They use the power from the generator to pull the solenoid down into auxiliary and they use the utility power to power it back into standby.
@@HVACRSurvival Awesome news, I'll click the sub for you. I think what I will do then is put a small 12v battery in the ats and a charge controller with a small panel outside and then do a 120vac relay that will hold contacts open on a ground wire while powered by normal source. When power drops out contacts will close and complete the ground circuit. Thanks again for the confirmation on the 12vdc.
@@HVACRSurvival I was thinking about that... lol I don't have access to the Grainger account anymore so I'll have to hunt ebay. I may need to add a second enclosure for all these components hahahaha. Thinking about the charge controller and solar panel, I may just go with a battery charger powered obviously on the S1 side...
Great video Rick. I have same model generator and it just wont start automatically when the power goes out, i have to manually start it and then it works perfectly, but obviously this is no good if im not home. I presume transfer switch but i was windering if you jad any thoughts? I look forward to hearing back from you. Danny
I have this same generator that was just installed. It was acquired by trade. Everything works well other than the engine does not like to start once warm. Once it runs it runs great voltage is good and frequency is good. I checked the valve lash and it was at .003 - .004 and from what I could find that is in tolerance. When it is trying to restart it pops through the intake. Does this sound like a gas valve issue or are the valves not in spec and I have Mis information
That is the spec for the valves, I would go through and check your incoming gas pressure, make sure your stepper motor and choke is working properly. Also check what your gas pressure does on the incoming side of the valve during startup see if it's dropping really low. I've had times where the valve at the street clamps down because it thinks you've got a big leak as if the gas meter was hit by a car or something.
Popping through the intake might also be a sticking intake valve due to worn parts (guide/seat) or carbon buildup. I've done Seafoam decarbonizing treatment on these older units with some success.
At what point do you tell your customer it's time to upgrade? I work on transport refrigeration units(reefers) and get a lot of customers who love to keep kicking the can down the road. Very exhausting for us techs.
I express it whenever I think it's in there best interest but that doesn't mean they will do it. I just note it on the paperwork and they can pound sand when it breaks again and they complain.
I like your videos can you please tell me where you purchased the pro tips the long ones that work like alligator clips I seen them before but yours looks like good quality can you tell me the brand and the part number thank you
kit.co/hvacrsurvival/my-main-tool-bag-and-what-i-use-on-most-calls/fluke-test-leads-twi 👉 this will take you to Amazon. You still pay the same price but you help support the channel. If you look in the description I have my kits of everything I use.
If it does run, it will only run for an hour or so. Generac seems like more of a marketing company than an engineering company. But, that's just my opinion.
In my experience 3/4 of those old avr's fail full flash. Every time I see one I make sure the customer is aware of the weakpoint and them show them how to regularly test the generator with only basement lights on (if ats is in basement) monthly! If the lights get reallly bright then CALL ME ASAP! Then I have them sign my maintenance / service sheet with me writing up Generator is known to produce overvoltage and is running within specs at this time! I still have around 40 in my area that I service and I was sued once already. If you want any old gen 2,3, nexus, evo books let me know I have 5+ sets floating around!
Thanks Rob👍👍. I had another viewer tell me about that field flash issue, I hadn't heard that the module has an issue of losing its mind. I have had the over voltage issue several times. Something about 320 volts doesn't go so well 🤦♂️
That generator sure brought back memories. I took an IT job years ago for a family owned business that had one for the server room and dedicated outlets in the back office. I did basic maintenance like oil and air filter changes and replaced the battery when I found one that had exploded. Sound familiar? I had a love/ hate relationship with the thing. Most of the time it worked as expected and kept the servers up but it did fail at times. The small UPS units we used for desktop computers hated the voltage it put out. Glad I’m not involved with that unit anymore. LOL
Yes Generac is now doing it all online and making you take the class every year if you want to be certified to do warranty, whereas before it used to be good for 2 years. I'm not impressed so unless you sell a lot of generators, I would not waste your time.
No i am an old fart . 75 year old . I am trying to fix it by myself . 2 years ago i changed the transfer switch . They want 1000 $ it cost me both selnoid 245.$ The whole thing was on fire i had to by pass it till we got money .I use to be electrician & mechanic & handyman & do anything to be alive , but i am disabled now . I am trying my best by the help of my LORD . ❤✟✟✟
If you can buy one of those older generec generators. It would be a great project to completely gut the software,hardware and governer. Rework it to your standards. Just sayin.. Larry
The older ones were crap, they learned a lot from the mistakes, the current ones are day and night better. I have a hard time justifying the price for the convenience. That's why I have a portable unit.
@@HVACRSurvival , it's been a headache for sure. Generac kicked me to the curb tonight on it, again. I have been haggling with them for 3 years in November. 2 weeks after it was installed was the first breakdown, it has broke down periodically after that. It's practically brand new still. Just sucks.
@@HVACRSurvival that's a good point. Lol, they told me my soil is too active. Its causing power surges to my machine. They said they took a look at one of my control boards that had been returned to them (they didnt say which one, I returned 5 of them and a bad one is still on the machine). Last board was replaced last November. I am not denying that something is killing the machine, but they had 6 years to fix the problem. Now it's my problem. I have a electrician coming out next week to rewire everything now that the Generac techs are out of the picture. This will be the 4th time it's been rewired. Crossing my fingers on this one.
@@sonder2164 have the control board dipped or sprayed in a protective layer. Where do you live if your having control board failures over and over? This sounds weird to me🤔
Even if the probes were reversed you wouldn't have the full 13 volts DC going to the relay, you'd have no reference point to ground or to the positive whichever one you want to look at it as. The problem was it wouldn't switch back to standby.
Hey guys! Thanks for checking out video! Like I mentioned in the video, I point out several items that Generac had problems with that made my job a lot harder. I know I sound very negative but I have had a lot of problems with the older models. BUT....The problems were slowly worked out over several years and I don't have that many problems now-a-days.
Help plese I have Generac 4645 generator 15kw. will not start or turn over all lights are no the control panel 4 red 1 green
@@thomasmoore8633 check the generator instructions manual that came with the generator and see what is wrong if your can’t find what is wrong what i would do is call gencrac and tell them what is wrong with your generator and they will send you a repari man and he will try to figure out what is wrong
Never worked on a generator myself but your experience shows, you know that thing like the back of your hand. Great video Rick!
Only because it beat the living hell out of me when I first started 🤣. Thanks 4 checking it out👍👍
Would you be able to provide information on the manual you used to text the generator in this video. Thank you
Thanks Rick I find the generator videos very interesting even though I don't work on them
I'm glad you like them, thanks for the feedback👍👍
WOW RICK, YOU GOT IT PURRING LIKE A KITTEN , GREAT JOB BROTHER . YOUR SUCH A GREAT TECHNICIAN YOU REALLY KNOW YOUR STUFF.
That is a professional technician who knows his stuff!
Thanks Rick for the information !
By watching all the techs working on those generator help me save a 5 grand mistake. I went the way of a portable one that is good for 60 amps but I only wanted 50 amps so I got a safety margin. And it is dual fuel so that made it easy to store fuel. I went with the KISS plan so that my family can work it safely if our power goes out. .
Portable is what I have. I felt the same way, for some people the automatic is the only way to go but for those that don't need it, I see too many problems for the money spent. The new ones are a lot better, these older ones were problematic and it always get taken out on the service guy.
I started with a portable generator kw5000 but felt an auto generator would be better for our household, medical problems with me - Vietnam veteran.
I had a portable unit until I was 12 hours away and a tornado went through the area taking out power. Having a finished basement with a sump pump, yeah also have a battery backup sump installed, I decided that it was time to move to a unit that will do its job when I’m not around to hook it up. Besides, some day I might not be around to do the hookup for the spouse. Much pricier option though.
Once again Rick, great video. Have learned a lot
Keep up the good work
Thanks love the generator videos.
Thank you for such a detailed, and very informative video.
Thanks 4 watching it👍👍
20+ year Generac tech here.... the failure of the VR to power the unit up the first time is likely a dirty set of slip rings from sitting around doing nothing for weeks / months. Going through a few start cycles (and field boost cycles) gave it enough time to burn off the crud. Another trouble shooting tip is that first flicker of the red light was your indication of proper field boost. You probably could have grabbed a quick reading on your meter using the min/max feature to see battery voltage while cranking. (too fast to see it read out) That's a big time saver compared to the steps in the book. (read from the F1 and F2 terminals on the VR with everything connected) BTW, the red light indicates AC output... but not how much. It can come on with only 50 volts or so. (other problems) As for the retransfer problem, that's an issue right from the factory when new. I don't know if Generac ever put out a tech bulletin on it. Basically the CMA board loses it's memory if the battery goes dead for a few weeks and you need to start from scratch. The one time fix is to cycle the utility power on and off for 10 - 12 seconds. Do that twice and the board is reset. Replacement boards seem to have the same issue, which tells me it's a software / programing issue. One last pointer is the factory also offers a field boost kit for units that sometimes fail to get enough boost initially. (serial # starting with a 2, 3, 4) The signs are intermittent multiple start attempts (because it shut down due to lack of output) or flashing overspeed fault (lack of output) and you go through the steps but fail to find other issues. The kit is about $100 retail and takes 20 - 30 minutes to install. (less when you get good at it) The kit contains a small wiring harness, a rectifier, and a ceramic resistor that jacks up the field boost voltage a bit higher than OEM.
Thanks for the info, I was really into these when I did them more often but now I'm not seeing them enough to stay fresh. I know I really hammered this model so thanks for not jumping me 🤣. I had a rough first year when these came out, luckily practice makes it go faster👍👍
@@HVACRSurvival ... in a company with about 18 techs the next guy below me only had maybe 13 years in the field, then the rest were less than 10 years. Between the two of us older guys we were masters at the "lost art" of these things. We learned to teach, not preach when it came to showing the new guys how to do stuff.
@@rupe53 as you might noticed from my other videos, I was a HVAC guy that was bored with my residential work when I got into generators in 2006. In 2014 I came to a refrigeration company that has me manly do commercial so I am not bored anymore and our residential division doesn't do near the volume my past company did. LoL Thanks for the input!
I just had a newer Generac that had starting issues with the LP gas setting that required a new mixer assembly. The new part had a fully seated butterfly where the original butterfly had gaps bent into it from the factory that did not allow the proper pull of fuel. Once I changed it the problems went away. Then factory did not say there was any changes in that mixer assembly...So nothing surprises me about Generac not being full discloser. What state are you in?
@@HVACRSurvival ... we are in CT and usually run #3 or #4 in size (sales volume) for east of the Mississippi. Being a full service dealer is a different category than a big box store. The tech people will talk with us if we have a problem but being that big we can also get the attention of someone in engineering when it comes down to it. They actually gave us some prototypes to test once in awhile. One of them was a dozen custom CMA boards (for this unit) with the flashing OS sensing disabled. Those also had a quirk where if the unit was pushed to OS during maintenance (testing) you could not reset the fault without powering the board down completely. Of course that meant resetting the weekly exercise time, which pissed off a few customers. Also had a bunch of those fuel mixers go bad in recent years. Usually it was the stepper motor, but it comes as an assembly. BTW, before this gig I spent a few years in HVAC and a bunch of time doing auto / truck repair. Recently retired.
Never worked on a generator. So in a way I watch these even harder than your HVAC videos. Rewinding to hear what you said and so on. Anyway... nice one!
Cool to hear👍. I don't like working on them anymore because the calls are so few at this company that it's not worth my time to keep current. But I'm stuck with them now🙂
@@HVACRSurvival at 3:13 you said they who is they?
@@KevinLyons-gn7eu everything I’m referencing is Generac
Good one Rick 👍 have a good day brother
Thanks Greg, you have a great day too!!
My neighbors new generac is still running. 3 days after power has been restored to our neighborhood. Any ideas on that?
If the power is back on then the fuse to the outside unit might be blown.
General checked parts @ components even wiring capacitor
Oh man, that FLUKE 87 kit is SWEET!
That's my king dog meter for the hard to find problems 🤣. That's just a pistol case with the over priced accumulated Fluke probes. Thanks for noticing my rarely seen meter😉. I also have the 376fc that rides in the sleeper cabin of my tool box 😆.
@@HVACRSurvival Unfortunately I have all the meters I need, and none of them are Fluke products. SAD...
@@joehead1294 I have and had others but don't tell my meters you see on UA-cam😆
@@HVACRSurvival When I first started using meters digital was just starting to come out. Fluke lead the way.
Same, My first good meter was a Wave-Tek then Fieldpiece came out late 90s.
Found out first hand quality and dependability isn't this machine!!
👍👍
Hello- where can I obtain generac service shop manuals?
Take the class is the only way I know of. It's about $800 to $900.
1) I very much appreciate your videos and how you walk through it all. I recently rebuilt a 1972 Honda motorcycle using the shop manual and UA-cam, and I wish more channels did troubleshooting like you do.
2) we have this exact same generator, throwing an over speed code. I installed a new battery, changed the oil/oil filter. No luck. The voltage regulator LED stays solid red until shutdown. Would you replace it or the board? Why do we do??
Also, can the systems charger be bypassed? I have an aftermarket trickle charger on the unit.
Thanks in advance for any direction/next steps you can give.
If you unhook the oem charger, it's possible to use that charger. What's the output voltage currently
These things seem to work till people need them. Know 2 people that their failed during the 2021 Texas freeze. Knew another lady who's Generac failed during a long outage. Not sure about the other brands. I know my portable Champion that works off natural gas has worked every time I needed it.
I use a portable generator myself, never had a problem.
Should give us an cost of repairs,
I'm in a small area, our hourly rate is under $80. Plus drive time and trip.
Makes me grateful for the Evo controllers.
They don't even cover this generator when you go through class now. It's a whole new world for anybody new to generators 🤦♂️😏
Yeah I've been through the class recently and I'd be pretty screwed if I got called on one. I'd be calling tech support for sure.
Help plese I have Generac 4645 generator 15kw. will not start or turn over all lights are no the control panel 4 red 1 green
Check the battery
What is better Generac or Onan?
That’s a tough one. Both are about equal now.
@@HVACRSurvival Do you mean Generac is better or Onan is worse? When I was pricing them out years ago, the Onan was much more expensive.
Onan has had a good rep but generac is finally figuring out there problems. Finding good repair people and having parts is key
One of those batteries did explode at my feet when I was manually starting one of these with the front cover off a few years back in fall 2018. I was unscathed besides some battery acid melting my shoes and my Nissan key fob on my keychain. Generac paid for a tech to replace the battery charger and the battery free of charge but wouldn't replace my clothing or key fob. It was a 2009 model Generac, I forget the kw rating. Apparently the battery acid was boiled out and all that was left within was hydrogen gas.
I had it destroyed the stator and rotor on a generator because it was running when it exploded once. The acid ate the insulation off of the windings and it shorted out.
@@HVACRSurvival Wow how did the acid reach that portion of the machine? The battery box should be divided by the sheet metal wall.
My Father's unit was off on error, so I came by to take a look. The battery charger was grossly overcharging I found, but with the cover off I initiated a manual start and KABOOM. Pretty scary. When I opened my eyes I was surprised that I was unscathed. The thought that I lost my vision was a horrible scare. Don't play around with batteries, wear eye protection!
@@Guillotines_For_Globalists my best guess is it was running and if you've noticed how it runs it pulls air in through the motor and blow it across the stator, that's where the batteries at, right there in the front of the engine, it sucked it in blew it all over.
@@HVACRSurvival That's true I suppose. I never peeked up in there too well.
Those look like fun
Just like going to the dentist 🤣👍👍
I have two of those relays spare. I can send em to ya?
I appreciate the offer, I don't run into that many generators nowadays. I pretty much record every generator I've done over the last two plus years and that's about all the more generators I see.
@@HVACRSurvival sounds good! I pulled them from my hpa compressors. Company who built em didnt aparently test them much and they kept arcing and sticking so i upgraded an went to solid state relays so the box of 5 i got are collecting dust lol. It was either that or contactors.
Thanks for thinking of me👍👍
Good stuff! I have the new 22K. Very different electronics. Damn if they didn't come out with the 24 right after I bought mine.. By all accounts the new ones are worlds apart better.
Yep, they improved dramatically and it never fails, something better comes out the next day.
Generac refused to replaced or to provided services on a difected contactor in a Transfer Switch panel I purchased, since the panel arrived with no serial number.
They wont do anything without the ser#. I had the same problem but the panel should of had a data tag.
What's a good portable Generator you would recommend ? Good vid by the way ...
I own a Generac portable. I haven't had any problems with it but it's a 8kw higher end unit. I don't like any of the cheap 5kws by anyone
@@HVACRSurvival Thanx from E-Dawg ... Lol ...
I enjoy electrical-only calls every now and then , must be nice to be multi talented eh .
By the way , if you get the chance , could you do a quick review on your new Milwaukee light please , it just got on the Bezos store over here but it's double the price compared to the States !
Cheers Rick , good one 👍
How often do you change oil,time or hours on machine. Love your channel!
Factory says 200 hours or every 2 years what ever comes first
On Friday the 13th we had a big storm and had a big surge. There was a big clunk, clunk noise from the generator fuse box. I went to check it out and even though there is positive current in all the fuses only 7 out of 15 of them provide power to the house. we have changed the both solenoid inside the fuse panel
last year myself because it burned .
Now what shoud i check or replace.
Thanks for your respond .8/16
sounds like that fella needs a backup generator for his backup generator :)) DOH
🤣🤣🤣👍👍
My Knipex never makes the nut smacker noise. Was I ripped off?
How do I fix the RPM sensor?
Home standby generators do not a have a actual rpm sensor, they sense it off the magneto. Time to call the local service company.
..best to have a flex-hose line instead of hard gas line joining generator to house gas to reduce vibration on hard pipes.
I 100% agree.
Had one recently that transferred to standby but just stayed on and not transfering back with utility present. Course, didn't yet get approval to replace the $500 board yet. I feel like I am the only one in my area that does it but on those old model 004/005 V-Twins I pull the lift brackets off and it makes replacing plugs a cake walk. My company doesnt wanna buy the level 1 kit for anyone so I have a fun time fixing them during a long power outage I end up using used parts just so someone doesnt freeze in the winter until I get parts.
I feel your pain. We don't stock much of anything either.
@@HVACRSurvival They have a new breakout harness for Evo controllers for excitation testing on genservice and transfer switch stuff is now moving to its own diagnostic manual, thought I share the new stuff. Gotta love that now yearly re-cert.
@@HVACRSurvival ... worked on these for near 25 years and being a larger dealer I can throw you some pointers, specifically on this unit. If they have been sitting dormant for weeks / months (dead battery / gas problems?) the CMA board has lost it's mind. Back when these things were new Generac told us (not in so many words) there was a logic problem and in order to have it retransfer after a power failure the board needed a nudge.... but only the first time after sitting around. The procedure was to drop the house and let things power normally via gen set for a minute or two. Turn the power back on and count 10-12 seconds, turn it off for 10-12 seconds, then go back on. It should retransfer after cycling the utility once or twice.... then go into the cool down mode, which can be several minutes, depending on how long the power was out. Failure to do this power cycling will result in a failure to retransfer. There are some units that will actually go through the 3 minute cool down then shut off, and still fail to retransfer. As far as I know Generac never did straighten this out and even replacement boards had the same issue. Basically, this is not a problem with the ice cube relay, although overtightening the screws on that can cause binding within the relay itself.
@@rupe53 thanks again, I never heard that about the control🤦♂️. But it did act like a logic problem😖😖. I'll try that trick next time👍👍. I did catch that relay sticking, I had to put the camera down to get both hands on it so I didn't catch it on video. I'm very leery showing too much on video and having someone get hurt and then try suing me. That's why I was told to write it out and say it out especially on this one here where my hands are in dangerous spots several times.
@@HVACRSurvival ... BTW, that relay has 240 volts on it. I have a nut driver and screw driver with tape on the shaft to keep clear of the live terminals. I never tighten the ones on that end. Just slide it in and install the other screw.
Is putting it under a load a worthwhile thing to do? I don't really see that done on these
Yes, it's a great thing to test it under load but a load bank is expensive. You can make one with electric strips and a old blower.
With it being outside and affected by weather, would it not normally be a good idea when changing out components to add some dielectric grease to the contacts/wires to help protect them? or is that not a general thing to do?
Most of the connectors have a rubber seal just like an automotive connector does. On the ones that are exposed Generac does put some dielectric grease on there.
Gotcha, Thanks :)
I'm not sure if you still monitor this channel or not but on the off chance... I have a solar system that I put a generac 200amp, nema 3, service entrance rated ats into and everything works fine ( if I open s1 and then manually transfer than close my s2 contact ) except it will not transfer to emergency automatically, it will however re transfer with no issues once I close s1 back. I have dual EG4 6500 inverters with 8 EG4 48vdc batteries. After looking at the limited wiring schematics from generac on this ats my only conclusion is I need to power the relay with 12vdc to make it transfer to emergency position. Looking at your video it looks like this is what your doing to make the ats transfer to emergency (apply 12vdc and ground) and then lift it to make it re-transfer to normal. Am I correct in my thinking? thanks for the video, I will continue checking my theory but hope to hear back from you on this.
I'm making one to two videos every week, so yep I'm still here. You're partially correct, generac Powers the transfer switch with constant 12 volts positive and they ground the other side when it needs to transfer to auxiliary power. Then they remove the ground to transfer back to the utility and that happens as long as there's utility voltage there. They use the power from the generator to pull the solenoid down into auxiliary and they use the utility power to power it back into standby.
@@HVACRSurvival Awesome news, I'll click the sub for you. I think what I will do then is put a small 12v battery in the ats and a charge controller with a small panel outside and then do a 120vac relay that will hold contacts open on a ground wire while powered by normal source. When power drops out contacts will close and complete the ground circuit. Thanks again for the confirmation on the 12vdc.
Don't forget you may want to put a time delay on there also, otherwise it might rapid cycle back and forth at the power flickers.
@@HVACRSurvival I was thinking about that... lol I don't have access to the Grainger account anymore so I'll have to hunt ebay. I may need to add a second enclosure for all these components hahahaha. Thinking about the charge controller and solar panel, I may just go with a battery charger powered obviously on the S1 side...
Amazon has about everything we sell and sometimes it's cheaper than the supply house
Thank you for making the video. What year is your generator?
It's not my generator, it was likely a 2005-2008
@@HVACRSurvival thanks. I’m looking to put one in, but still couldn’t decide between Generac/Kohler/Brigg&Stratton
@@spacey7215 I definitely would not go with Briggs & Stratton, the new generics are fine, Kohler's always been good but more money.
@@HVACRSurvival thanks again.
Great video Rick. I have same model generator and it just wont start automatically when the power goes out, i have to manually start it and then it works perfectly, but obviously this is no good if im not home. I presume transfer switch but i was windering if you jad any thoughts? I look forward to hearing back from you. Danny
It's hard to guess not being in front of it.
I have this same generator that was just installed. It was acquired by trade. Everything works well other than the engine does not like to start once warm. Once it runs it runs great voltage is good and frequency is good. I checked the valve lash and it was at .003 - .004 and from what I could find that is in tolerance. When it is trying to restart it pops through the intake. Does this sound like a gas valve issue or are the valves not in spec and I have Mis information
That is the spec for the valves, I would go through and check your incoming gas pressure, make sure your stepper motor and choke is working properly. Also check what your gas pressure does on the incoming side of the valve during startup see if it's dropping really low. I've had times where the valve at the street clamps down because it thinks you've got a big leak as if the gas meter was hit by a car or something.
Popping through the intake might also be a sticking intake valve due to worn parts (guide/seat) or carbon buildup. I've done Seafoam decarbonizing treatment on these older units with some success.
What would it cost to do the electronic upgrades?
Upgrades or repair? I didn't upgrade anything? And I don't know prices without asking.
Where can I get that diagnostic book?
When you go through the Generac class they give you them.
Do you have to be an electrical contractor to work on them.?
@@chainoflakesrefrigerationa2906 I'm Generac certified for warranty, the company has all the state licenses that we need from a legal standpoint.
At what point do you tell your customer it's time to upgrade? I work on transport refrigeration units(reefers) and get a lot of customers who love to keep kicking the can down the road. Very exhausting for us techs.
I express it whenever I think it's in there best interest but that doesn't mean they will do it. I just note it on the paperwork and they can pound sand when it breaks again and they complain.
do they make better systems now or would i be beter get a different brand generator?
The current versions are day n night better.
@@HVACRSurvival thanks. I have been thinking of getting one sometime in the future.
The price of new technology is why your wife doesn't get rid of you .. lol 😆 you did a
great job
Thanks man!
I like your videos can you please tell me where you purchased the pro tips the long ones that work like alligator clips I seen them before but yours looks like good quality can you tell me the brand and the part number thank you
Are you talking about the meter leads?
@@HVACRSurvival yes
kit.co/hvacrsurvival/my-main-tool-bag-and-what-i-use-on-most-calls/fluke-test-leads-twi 👉 this will take you to Amazon. You still pay the same price but you help support the channel. If you look in the description I have my kits of everything I use.
@@HVACRSurvival thank you
@@dvega992 I'm glad you liked it👍👍
If it does run, it will only run for an hour or so. Generac seems like more of a marketing company than an engineering company. But, that's just my opinion.
Made in the USA if it were made in Japan I would buy one..
In my experience 3/4 of those old avr's fail full flash. Every time I see one I make sure the customer is aware of the weakpoint and them show them how to regularly test the generator with only basement lights on (if ats is in basement) monthly! If the lights get reallly bright then CALL ME ASAP! Then I have them sign my maintenance / service sheet with me writing up Generator is known to produce overvoltage and is running within specs at this time! I still have around 40 in my area that I service and I was sued once already. If you want any old gen 2,3, nexus, evo books let me know I have 5+ sets floating around!
Thanks Rob👍👍. I had another viewer tell me about that field flash issue, I hadn't heard that the module has an issue of losing its mind. I have had the over voltage issue several times. Something about 320 volts doesn't go so well 🤦♂️
That generator sure brought back memories. I took an IT job years ago for a family owned business that had one for the server room and dedicated outlets in the back office. I did basic maintenance like oil and air filter changes and replaced the battery when I found one that had exploded. Sound familiar? I had a love/ hate relationship with the thing. Most of the time it worked as expected and kept the servers up but it did fail at times. The small UPS units we used for desktop computers hated the voltage it put out. Glad I’m not involved with that unit anymore. LOL
To many memories. Things get better with time I guess
Is there any class to learn? 😊
Yes Generac is now doing it all online and making you take the class every year if you want to be certified to do warranty, whereas before it used to be good for 2 years. I'm not impressed so unless you sell a lot of generators, I would not waste your time.
No i am an old fart . 75 year old . I am trying to fix it by myself . 2 years ago i changed the transfer switch . They want 1000 $ it cost me both selnoid 245.$
The whole thing was on fire i had to by pass it till we got money .I use to be electrician & mechanic & handyman & do anything to be alive , but i am disabled now . I am trying my best by the help of my LORD . ❤✟✟✟
If you can buy one of those older generec generators.
It would be a great project to completely gut the software,hardware and governer.
Rework it to your standards.
Just sayin..
Larry
Please don’t service mine . OMG
You're in luck, I don't just show up randomly and service people's generator. 🤣👍👍
That’s a baby generator lol 😂
Tbh I hate anything with oil now ugh idk man it just sickens me
The older ones were crap, they learned a lot from the mistakes, the current ones are day and night better. I have a hard time justifying the price for the convenience. That's why I have a portable unit.
FOR SALE;
Huge Generac paperweight sitting in my yard. Owned 6 years but has less than 30 hours on it.
Sounds very familiar, sorry 2 hear that.
@@HVACRSurvival , it's been a headache for sure. Generac kicked me to the curb tonight on it, again. I have been haggling with them for 3 years in November. 2 weeks after it was installed was the first breakdown, it has broke down periodically after that. It's practically brand new still. Just sucks.
It's honestly hit and miss, some of them never have a problem others just have problems from day one
@@HVACRSurvival that's a good point. Lol, they told me my soil is too active. Its causing power surges to my machine. They said they took a look at one of my control boards that had been returned to them (they didnt say which one, I returned 5 of them and a bad one is still on the machine). Last board was replaced last November. I am not denying that something is killing the machine, but they had 6 years to fix the problem. Now it's my problem. I have a electrician coming out next week to rewire everything now that the Generac techs are out of the picture. This will be the 4th time it's been rewired. Crossing my fingers on this one.
@@sonder2164 have the control board dipped or sprayed in a protective layer. Where do you live if your having control board failures over and over? This sounds weird to me🤔
all rounder lol
You had negative 13vdc because you had your probes clearly reversed at 10.49, you literally changed the control board for no reason
Even if the probes were reversed you wouldn't have the full 13 volts DC going to the relay, you'd have no reference point to ground or to the positive whichever one you want to look at it as. The problem was it wouldn't switch back to standby.
@@HVACRSurvival the meter gives you a reference as to where the ground is.
Help plese I have Generac 4645 generator 15kw. will not start or turn over all lights are no the control panel
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