May 23rd - 30th, 2022 - Homer Generator Problem and Memorial Day Weekend at Lake Perry

Last week we got Homer out of storage and put Marge in until we head back to Florida the end of November. 

HOMER GENERATOR PROBLEM:

I got Homer de-winterized in no time and everything worked perfectly except the generator would not run. It started right up for a couple of seconds, then died and would not restart. The first thing to always check is the level of fuel in the RV fuel tank. I did that and had 3/8 of a tank, plenty to run the generator. 

I suspected the bad effects of Ethanol, even with Sta-Bil in the tank over the winter. I pulled the air cleaner off and shot it multiple times with carburetor cleaner (actually two cans of the stuff) in an effort to get it to run. It would run great on the carb cleaner but immediately die. I decided to check to see if the carburetor was getting gas and disconnected the gas line from the bottom of the carburetor. As I expected, no gas came out when I tried to start the generator. I disconnected the fuel line from the RV gas tank and connected the fuel pump to a hose I stuck into a five-gallon tank of gasoline. If fired right up and ran until I killed it. I tried to start it again, but it would not start. I disconnected the fuel line at the carburetor again and no gas, even from the five gallon tank.  I took a small fuel pump I had and connected it to the RV fuel line to draw fuel out of the main tank. Apparently, the pump was too small because it barely spit any gas out. 

Since it wouldn't restart on the five-gallon tank of gas I suspected the fuel pump was bad and decided to pull it off to bench check it. To get to the bottom screw attaching the pump to the generator I had to cut a hole in the side of the metal generator slide out drawer. I took the pump off and tested it with a battery. It ran fine. I then suspected that the pump was not getting voltage from the generator. I visually checked the wiring and it all looked good. Clearly no critters had gotten in there. At this point I decided the pump was good but it wasn't getting voltage from the generator to start pumping. I called the Onan generator repair place in St. Louis that worked on it about five years ago. They said they could probably get me in next week and would call me this week with a date when to bring it up. They warned me that their repair rate is now $168.50 per hour, with a minimum of one hour diagnostic time. I would await their call because I was at a dead end.

I went to bed that night and the "no fuel issue" kept me up all night. I thought that, while I had checked the pump to see if it ran, I had not tested it off the generator to see if it was actually pumping fuel when running. The next morning I hooked the pump up to a five gallon gas tank and it would not pump. I decided that the pump was bad and I ordered a new one for $42.50 (a Chinese knockoff because Onan had none available at $99.00). The pump came two days later and I put it in. Here is a picture of the new pump installed. To get out the old pump and to install a new pump I had to cut a hole in the metal side of the slide out tray the generator is mounted on. The arrow points to the access hole I cut.

The new pump immediately pumped out of the five gallon can and the generator ran like a top. I hooked it back up to the RV gas tank line - no gas. I decided I had a fuel line problem from the RV fuel tank. I would need to take it to my local mechanic for that, not Onan. (A lot closer and a lot less expensive.)

Before heading to the lake for the Memorial Day weekend  I filled up the RV fuel tank. I got home and tried the generator again and it fired right up off the main RV tank and ran until I killed it. I started it back up several times and it popped right over. PROBLEM SOLVED? IF SO, HOW? 3/8 OF A TANK OF GAS HAS ALWAYS BEEN PLENTY. 

Side note:

RV generator lines into the main fuel tank are intentionally set to quit drawing out of the RV fuel tank when it gets down to a 1/4 of a tank. This is so the generator doesn't run you out of fuel while camping. When I first got Homer the fuel line for the generator was rotten and they had to drop the fuel tank and replace it all the way into the tank. My mechanic told me he did me a favor and ran the line all the way to the bottom of the tank. He didn't know any better and I wasn't about to pay him to correct it. I know about it, that's good enough.

Saturday morning we got to the lake and set up. We could smell gasoline at the entrance door. I looked everywhere and could not see any gasoline leaking. I couldn't smell it anywhere but by the entrance door, which is on the opposite side of Homer from the fuel tank filler and the generator. I started the generator and there were no leaks anywhere around it. Homer obviously needs to go to the shop to see what is going on with this smell. 

THE MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND:

It was a beautiful weekend at the lake. The weather was perfect. Here is a picture from our lot looking at the new docks they put in across from us. There is a small beach there for kids to play in which was quite busy this weekend.

One of our first chores when we go to our lot is to pick up sticks before mowing. We have lots of trees and they lose lots of small limbs regularly. Here are a couple of weeks' worth of sticks piled up for burning. The pile outside the fire ring was this weekend's pile.

Sunday morning, while Kelly was still sleeping, I sat outside and drank my coffee. I then looked to see if there was a fishing pole in the shed. There was one pole with one lure on it so I thought I would try my luck. Within a few minutes I caught this guy just two lots down.

He was about ten inches long so I threw him back. About fifteen minutes later I caught another. He may have been the same fish. LOL

No more bites so after a while I quit. I definitely need to bring some fishing tackle and rods back out to the lake.

On Sunday daughter, Alexa, and her friend, Aaron, came down from St. Louis for the day.  Here is a picture of Kelly and Alexa enjoying the campfire.

Here is a picture of Aaron bring everyone cupcakes for dessert after a meal of grilled brats, corn on cob, and pork and beans.

We had brought out the golf cart a couple of days earlier because on Saturday we had to register it with the lake association and provide proof of insurance so that we can use it at the lake. The cart had to be physically there so they could put a sticker on it showing we were registered. The golf cart fits in the shed but I have to revise the ramp I built to get it in and out. Another project, another blog.

Monday morning we packed up Homer, dumped our tanks, and headed home. Upon getting home I backed into the driveway to unload. We could immediately smell gas at the entrance door and it was strong! I looked around and upon crawling down to look underneath, I saw gasoline almost running out of the top of the tank. Whoa! I found the problem. I took the gas cap off to release the pressure in the tank and the leak immediately stopped. Here is a picture of the front side of the tank where the gas was running out. The arrows point to the dark, wet streaks where the gas was running down the tank from the top. 

I'll call tomorrow and get Homer a repair appointment. Of course, he has a full tank of gas, which has to be emptied before they can drop the tank to see what is going on. Also since coming out of storage, the "Rear ABS BRAKE" warning light is on. I'll have that checked out as well. That warning light came on one time a couple of years ago after sitting for the winter and it was low fluid. Hopefully that is it again. A third item for repair is the emergency brake. I had this worked on in the fall but it is not fixed right. Sometimes it catches, sometimes it does not. I'll get that worked on as well.

I'll keep you posted on the repairs. The squirrels had eaten one of the gas lines up front last year, maybe they got up on top of the tank, who knows.