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Old 10-20-2017, 08:59 AM   #1901
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1984 34.5' Airstream 345
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1984 Airstream 345 owner (Newbie) need advice!

Oh, Brad, could you describe the genset fuel pump primer you added in more detail?
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Old 10-21-2017, 06:30 AM   #1902
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Keyair View Post
Oh, Brad, could you describe the genset fuel pump primer you added in more detail?
Here's a sketch of what I did to the 310 Kohler generator.
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Basically what happens is when you are trying to start the generator the fuel pump is connected to the ignition coil so when ever you're cranking the motor to start not only does the starter pull the battery voltage down a little so does the generator electric fuel pump. To make matters worse if you haven't started the generator for a while the odds are the gas has mostly evaporated which means you have to crank even longer to get fuel up to the carburetor.

This circuit seemed to help on the Kohler to make it easier to start, especially after sitting for long periods of time. Just push the button to run the pump thereby drawing fuel up to the carburetor so it's ready to start.

In reality for any carbureted engine running on today's modern fuels this isn't a bad circuit to put in place. It doesn't provide quite the instantaneous start that fuel injection does but at least you know there's gas at the carburetor!

Hope this helps.

Brad
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Old 10-21-2017, 11:34 AM   #1903
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Awesome Brad, but I have questions....

1/ The 'Priming button" is in the genset housing?
2/ As I dont know the wiring of the Genset well... yet... did you just piggyback and run an additional wire to the pump or add a complete circuit?
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Old 10-21-2017, 01:02 PM   #1904
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Awesome Brad, but I have questions....

1/ The 'Priming button" is in the genset housing?
2/ As I dont know the wiring of the Genset well... yet... did you just piggyback and run an additional wire to the pump or add a complete circuit?
Steve,

Basically it's a complete separate wiring circuit. If I remember right I disconnected the wire at the coil from the fuel pump and ran it to the N.O. contact on the relay. One of the coil wires from the new relay go to the ignition coil where you disconnected the fuel pump wire and the other wire from the relay coil gets grounded.

Here's a picture of how I mounted the priming button.
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Here's how the relay was mounted.
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As an aside, while trouble shooting a starting problem on the Kohler I found that one of the fuse holders inside the control box had gone bad. Took a while to figure that one out!
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I also removed the large solenoid that mounts on the back of the side of the carburetor. That solenoid has something to do with anti-run on. The problem is the coil inside the anti-run on solenoid starts to short out inside and raises the current requirement on the starting circuit. That causes the starting circuit fuse to blow.

Brad
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Old 10-21-2017, 03:01 PM   #1905
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Perfect!
Got it!
Interesting that your fuse in the box is a 10a and mine was a 20a.....
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Old 10-21-2017, 04:17 PM   #1906
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Perfect!
Got it!
Interesting that your fuse in the box is a 10a and mine was a 20a.....
The manual indicates it should be a 10 amp fuse. If your's is 20 then it's likely because it's blown a time or two and someone decided to "fix" the problem with a larger fuse.

I'd change it back to a 10 and if it starts blowing then figure out what the problem is.
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Old 10-22-2017, 08:25 AM   #1907
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Mmm, That did occur to me.
I looked at the Kohler 7cm21rv manual, and interestingly, the control box described in that with the “”Decision Maker”, with fault lights, etc is not on either of our two units by the look... I bet Airstream bought them without that to save a few bucks. That control box specs a 15a fuse! 🙁

Gonna regroup on the panel this coming week, and buy a sheet of 3003, and some different welding filler rod. The 3003 is much softer to work and so I will see how that comes along.
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Old 10-23-2017, 04:57 PM   #1908
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Prototype panel for a new docking light system... mine are the stock abs units, complete with cracked housings, rusty light cans and melted lenses...[emoji3]
Uses 2x waterproof 10w LED floodlights that can be aimed where you want them.
My rig only had them on the curb side, so once I have the Design right, and the tooling dialed in, I will put some on the street side too.

Thoughts?
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Old 10-23-2017, 05:40 PM   #1909
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Uh-huh; be careful going anywhere near area 51 with that light show, you might get the locals all hot and bothered.

Cheers
Tony
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Old 10-23-2017, 06:07 PM   #1910
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Funny you should say that Tony, cos Derek "CrazyVW" and I were giggling about this one...

Is that Aliens arriving, or just Keyair with his Docking lights on?
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Old 10-23-2017, 06:33 PM   #1911
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Playing Manfred Manns "Blinded by the Light"; followed by "City of Blinding Lights" by U2 and lastly "Light up the Sky" by Van Halen.

My LMAO emojis won't work.....Arrgh!

Cheers
Tony
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Old 10-24-2017, 12:23 AM   #1912
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Too funny Tony, and now those songs will be stuck in my head while I beat on the metal!

I will be interested to see how these lights perform, but for sure they will be better than the originals and use less juice!
Having two pointable lamps should provide a forward/Rearward pool of light for driving/reversing into a spot, and the inward pointing lamps should provide light into the awning area for setup. I also found RGB color changing versions that might make mood lighting an option.... [emoji2]

I was hoping to get a bunch of things done today, but a surprise late October 103f/40c heatwave hit, and our home AC decided it was gonna go on strike! My Honey called 3 Companies and they told us call out charges of at least $100 and a minimum of 24 hrs before they could arrive. I watched some videos on HVAC diagnostics and within an hour had figured out the furnace blower was not starting because the “Start Capacitor” had failed! I eventually found the correct one at Grainger for $4.60, and after a 20 mile round trip I plugged it in, we were chillin, and The Honey was a happy girl... and so was I!
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Old 10-25-2017, 01:23 PM   #1913
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Looking behind the dash on my MH had me more than a little freaked out.
The more I learn about the original wiring and any hack changes or additions, the more worried I get. The melted starter wire I found last year was a warning!
With that in mind, electrics are one of my fears, and a short and or electrical fire is a very real.
So, I have been trying to educate myself, and grabbed a couple of books to read...
These two I have now read, and can recommend.
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Volume 2 has some great specific tasks such as how to add electric fans the right way, and a total bombshell section for me, on how to wire electric seats from another vehicle!

The thing that really scared me was this:
All thru the books he talks about NEVER having a power feed wire to a component that is not fused somehow....
Guess what I have on my Motorhome... and probably yours too....
The main chassis battery wire AND the House battery cables that are huge 0/0 or larger coming from the battery tray, snaking up to the front of the Motorhome, over exhausts and other danger areas to the front drivers bulkhead, and relays, etc... completely un-fused!
Imagining a simple accident that crushed the bodywork against these open and unprotected connections.... or a failed zip tie allowing a cable to drop on the exhaust.... 1000’s of Amps available for a unstoppable fire.
Freaked me out, so I will be working on that too...
Food for thought...
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Old 10-25-2017, 02:54 PM   #1914
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Review my site on the dash wiring, mine is highly customized, but still has the basic wiring. I also have a lot of behind the dash photos that are not online, but could be.
http://theouterlimits.ws/projects/ai...d_Rebuild.html
As for the battery wiring, I just added 300 amp fuses to my house batteries, I did not do the starter cable, but I bet it could be done, but you will need more than 600 amps of fuse.
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Old 10-25-2017, 05:29 PM   #1915
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Quote:
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The Honey was a happy girl... and so was I!
"If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."

With mine, the start capacitor was just stuck open; one good knock and a way she went.....caveat, there is a fair bit of amperes in that capacitor, so treat it with a dose of healthy respect.

Cheers
Tony
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Old 10-25-2017, 05:53 PM   #1916
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I def fall into the latter category, Tony!
Yes, I did my homework, and nulled the terminals with a screwdriver... apparently while it looks like a 9v battery, testing on the tongue is not suggested! [emoji45]
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Old 10-27-2017, 10:06 AM   #1917
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1984 Airstream 345 owner (Newbie) need advice!

Thanks for the input Wayne.
I have read your great work with gusto, and have learned a lot. Thanks for sharing.
I am reading up in these two books and again, in volume 2 there is a detailed description in chapter 8 on how he uses 2x 200a circuit breakers in parallel to handle the starter circuit. He states that these can easily handle the draw of a high torque starter etc. I found the breakers he used online for about $15 each.
They also have 300a versions.
Reading the book, it looks like I need to figure out what the total draw for the whole system is. Easier said than done, x2!
Digging deeper!
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Old 10-27-2017, 12:36 PM   #1918
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Man that's looking good!
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Old 10-27-2017, 01:41 PM   #1919
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The panel, Mayco?
Cos you can’t be talking about me! ��

Thanks either way.....��
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Old 10-27-2017, 02:16 PM   #1920
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HA....yes the panel! Some great work/skills. Fascinating to watch.
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