What's up with my GenSet?

Maybe better said, what's up with me? Can't figure it out.

So I have the Cummins Onan Generator. I believe it's the MicroLite 2800 series. So first of all if I press down on the stop to prime, light doesn't go on showing it primed. If I go to start it, It makes one click and that's it. It's not like when you have a dead battery and it clicks multiple times. It's one louder click and that's it. Generator has 80 hours on it. I checked fuse and oil level and everything there is good. Now first dumb question. Does it have a battery within the generator or does it run off the Aux battery? Second of all, anyone else experience this or know what it might be?

Boludo,
A couple of "guesses".
It could have it's own starting battery or it could use the AUX battery but most I've seen
have a gen set staring battery so if you run the Aux Battery and the Sprinter starting battery
down, the gen set will still start to charge everything back up.
Are you sure you have every thing in your coach turned off? No appliances plugged in or
turned on if they are hard wired?
Sometimes gen sets will not start if there is a demand already drawing from the system.
Also check the battery disconnect switch (if you have one) to ensure that all the other
batteries are disconnected from the gen set and whatever inverter (s) you may have.
When storing your RV I would think it's best to turn the battery disconnect to OFF so a
bad battery will not discharge all the others. Also a good idea to keep your RV plugged into shore power if you have 110 v 30 amps available.
Then take a digital volt meter and check the charge in each of your batteries.
Engine starting
House or Aux battery
Gen set battery.
All should be at least 11.5-12.5 volts.
If any of the batteries are < 12 volts, get a small trickle charger and bring the voltage
back up in each battery individually.
Also check the resistance of all your ground connections. Should be near 0.00 ohms.
Hope this helps,
Roger

The generator uses the house batteries to start. The house batteries must be in the on position for the generator to run, (large red dial rotated clockwise to the 1st position from off). If your Interstate sat on the dealers lot for an extended period, you should check the condition of the batteries. I ended up replacing both batteries with Lifeline 24's at which point I found out that the dip switches for the Tripplite were set incorrectly for AGM batteries. I don't know it this contributed to the early death of the original set but that's water under the bridge now. That said, since your still under warranty, stop by a AS dealer and let them look at it if you still can't get the generator to start.

Do you guys get a constant buzzing sound when you open the cabinet door to the tripplite (where the dip switches are). I hear a constant buzzing sound from there even when nothing is running or turned on. I even turned off the main large dial switch and buzzing still coming from it.
Anyways my house battery is at 12.38. I made sure nothing was on. I may just run this to the dealer but I have had nothing but problems over there and the next closest one in SoCal is too far.

Constant buzzing is not normal. Check your Tripplite manual for correct dip switch position, (assuming you know what type of batteries came installed). 12.38V should be fine with nothing on it. A final check might be to pop the panel off the generator, (easy with 2 slide latches), and make sure the rocker switch is set to run and not off but since you had it running before this should not be a problem. You could also call/email Tripplite to see what their diagnosis would be for the buzzing.

So a few things I've observed.
1. dip switches are correct
2. on the TRIPP-LITE in the overhead cabinet where it says RV Inverter/Charger, you have 2 options to switch to. You can flip switch to left which is Auto/Invert. You can turn switch to the right which is Line/Charge Only. What do you guys have yours on when it's in use? When it's flipped on the left it makes that buzzing sound from the unit where the dip switches are. When it's on the right it does not make a buzzing sound.
3. I've attached a picture which shows green lights when switched to the right. However this picture was from a month ago. Now if it's switched to the right, there are no lights at all.

Sounds like I just need to take this in to the dealer.
Thanks guys for all your help. I will also call Tripp-Lite to see what they say.

We only use the auto invert when we need AC power, otherwise it's always in line charge mode. When the house batteries are on, the pump, lights, fridge will all work so no need to use the converter.

ben322 said:

We only use the auto invert when we need AC power, otherwise it's always in line charge mode. When the house batteries are on, the pump, lights, fridge will all work so no need to use the converter.

Click to expand...

Ben, That's good to know. I'm knew at all this so this kind of stuff is very helpful. How about when running the microwave? Do you switch to auto invert?

Thanks!

On edit: I meant inverter, not converter.

You'll need to run the generator or be connected to shore power to run the microwave. Only on the generator will you need to invert as shore power will provide AC.

Just got a 2008 interstae. What is the correct procedure for set up shore power

steps to set un shore power. also what does the red switch do behind the passenger seat by the sliding door.
can tell i just got it.
Thanks
garageguy

Red switch turns on the tank warming blankets as the I3500 is the only all season RV in its class, I believe.
Road Jager

Re: Just got a 2008 interstae. What is the correct procedure for set up shore power

garageguy: Welcome to the forum.

I leave the inverter on "AUTO" when on shore power.

I found it very helpful to put a small label by each of the multitude of switches since I don't use the RV every day and also for other folks unfamiliar w/ the RV.