Generator Hours Maintenance

[Spen64]

Hello All!

Happened upon this forum searching for info on my 77 26' Pace Arrow.  Great Stuff!!

I am a Ham Radio guy and last weekend we were out for 'Field Day'.  This is a yearly event where 35,000 of us try to contact each other in a 24 hour period across the nation.  I'll post a pic in the Hello section of my rig and antenna setup.

I had the generator running 24 hours straight and the hour meter turned over 1000 hours.

Are there any Maintenance things I should be doing besides the periodic exercising and oil changes?

Barring any failures can I expect the Onan Generator to last over 5000 hour like I've seen others post about?

Thanks!

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Basically, just change your oil religiously every 100 hours, change your fuel filter every 500 hours or so, and give her a tune up every 500 hours.  Change your air filter every 100 hours too...at least that is what we do.  If you are running the genny often in dusty and hot conditions, its a good idea to change the oil every 50 hours, filter and all.  It doesn't take much oil, so its cheap insurance to keep your genny runny for years and years.  Tuneup is easy enough, just change out the spark plugs, the wires if they look cruddy, and if you have points, either clean and adjust them, or replace them as needed, and make sure your running at the right RPMs and adjust accordingly.

Brushes on the genny side need attention once in a while too.

You can download the manual for your genny right here on the member's site, so I would recommend doing so...it will tell you all the maintenance proceedures and intervals better than I can just from memory.

Kev

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

If you need a OPerators and/or Service manual please post the model information off of the generator ID plate fist so I can make sure you get what you need.  There are a zillion different Onan manuals.

This Onan document contains a lot of information about general care and upkeep
http://www.cumminsonan.com/www/html/Common/pdf/rv/F-1123%20-RV-Generator-Handbook-2010.pdf