rockmeupto125

I had fixed the problem with the supply voltage on the aux battery line. Now the unit starts and runs without the jumper switch Today I hope to test the isolator and see if the diode function is actually working. There are two safety switches at the bucket. One actuates the solenoid to open the hydraulic and drop the bucket as mentioned. The other actuates the "battery jumper" solenoid just like the one on under the dash. So if all is working well, if the aux battery has decreased power and won't start the Onan, from the bucket one can actuate the battery jumper solenoid and use both batteries to start the hydraulic. I suspect there's some wizardry in place so that there is only power to the Onan and the hydraulic controls when the engine is running. Once you push the start switch, everything stays on until the motor stops. I know the fuel pump does not run constantly. I'll disconnect the battery with the engine running. That should be conclusive as to whether the Onan makes its own juice or not. When crossing the wires I did not think to extend the range of the VOM. I'm stuck in an analog world thinking the "gauge/LCD" would just peg. I need to recheck them on the 660 VAC scale. The "no load" voltage rating is 132. One day my HF VOM (remember the free ones?) read 140, the next day my Klein read 144-145. Not THAT far off.

I labelled the four white wires 1 through 4. Not running, I tested continuity. 1 and 2 have continuity to chassis ground. 3 and 4 do not. 1 and 2 have continuity to each other. 3 and 4 have continuity to each other. Any other combination does not have continuity. Engine running, I tested for voltage. 1 and 2 make 145 VAC. 3 and 4 make 145 VAC. 1 and 3 make 10 VAC. 1 and 4 make .5 VAC 2 and 3 make .2-.4 VAC. 2 and 4 make 14 VAC. I tested 1-3, 1-4, 2-3, and 2-4 for DC without any reading. I did NOT test anything to ground while running, especially after the brilliant spark from either 3 or 4 , I think the alligator clip touched the casing. Apparently the control panel depends on the engine running to energize it. The emergency bypass to the lift valve (that opens the return line and allows the boom to lower) will only work with the engine running.

Will do. Right now I'm in the middle of a massive screwup on my part. Yeah, I'll help you out and change your tires for you. He didn't say his POS vulcan has TUBE tires. 😡

Cal, the battery isolator ir not a part of the genset, it's an add on device to keep the battery that powers the Onan from discharging the main system, but allowing it to be in the system to be charged by the truck's alternator. It's a separate issue at this point. One of the wires that are continuous with ground has both 2 and 4 stickers on it. I'll try to plot these out today.

Crossed the white wires today. The two that have continuity to chassis ground, when connected to my VOM, read 140 volts AC. Any connection with the A and B wires to C and D reads 10-14 volts AC. Ermagerd.

It's a power cable. That's where i used to hook up a jumper battery to start it. Headed to bed...

I just need to start isolating a bunch of stuff, starting with the isolator. PIA because of the distance, gotta use jumper cables to check everything. Do they make VOMs with bluetooth connections?

Thanks for everyone's continued thinktanking. From this morning: The four white wires come from the generator. There's two closest to the cable clamp. We'll call them D and C. Those two have continuity with each other, with a small amount of resistance. Neither has continuity with wires A, B, or chassis ground. Wire A has continuity with the chassis. Wire B has continuity with the chassis, but with a small amount of resistance. About the same amount of resistance as between wires C and D. The small box with the yellow crimp ends is a circuit breaker, and those wires are cut, they just look connected because of the angle. And then this: That solenoid has 4 posts, mains on the L and R, and controls on the front L and R. Voitage measured at the R main post is 9v. The same voltage is measured at the L and R control connections. Battery voltage on the main is 12.3, on the auxiliary is 12.0. When the fancy Battery Jumper switch is engaged, the voltage on those terminals rises to 12.3. I have to find out where the missing 3 volts went to.

I've used a pipe wrench on more automobiles than pipes. I ain't no steamfitter.

Makes sense, guess i can sacrifice a harbor freight voltmeter on the project. Blind in the dark, as i don't know if it works anyway.

It has remote start from the bucket. I'm not sure what point you are making.

So I check the device today. It appears that the are four white wires that exit the generator body and pass into the upper part of the control box. They are all white, and one is marked with a 2 and a 4. I'm lost.

Good call. I need to start thinking more.

There's an engine start/stop switch in the bucket that works just fine. It's part of the regular control "panel" so I'd suspect the plan is to shut down when not needed. Another reason the automatic choke would be appropriate (I think I found the wire for it).

I guess the wires coming out of the top of the control box would be the generator output. Why are they cut off? Did something happen to the generator? If so, why not just leave them connected? I guess this could be a replacement unit, but seems like that would be a lot of work to adapt something unless it was the exact same unit as original. I'll have to look for a schematic before I start poking a voltmeter in there.

As long as I have power. Like an auxiliary generator to power the battery charger....and around we go. Still this is a good exercise. I now know it is a 4.0 BFA-3CR, a 4kw two cylinder generator capable of producing 120 and 240 volts. But why is it in this truck? The genset is not powering anything. The engine is powering the hydraulic, and the truck electrics are powering the switching and electrics of the boom. More ??????

Sweet. Thank you.

Here's the isolation unit. Solenoid chicanery activated by the redneck switch. Redneck switch. My error, didn't mean to cloud the issue. The mounting point of the switch activation tether is the hood release, not the E-brake as originally stated. This may change the whole picture. Miscellaneous cables/wires I have no clue where they were supposed to go. Previously posted picture with control box. This is a view of the loose wires that stick out of the top of the control box. Close up of the aggravation in the control box. Right hand stud of the solenoid (yellow crimp) is where I put a cable from a battery to allow it to start when the start button is pressed. Same thing, different view. Here's the hydraulics and switchery on the boom stand itself. And the front side of that. This sits bolted quite aggressively to the mount. I have no clue what it does, I see only 2 hydraulic lines going to it, and nothing else. ???? The high pressure and supply lines to the hydraulic pump run underneath into the poney engine compartment to the left. Here's the back side of the engine with the hydraulic pump. Hard to get a good picture. Found the points cover. And the body of the choke control, just no guts.

I have no idea what is powered by the generator. I haven't checked any voltage recently. Do you mean what the generator is putting out? I'll post a picture of the isolation unit. I should verify a lot of things. More later. It's not a starter motor. No 12 volt. Makes some sense, or at least fits the picture. I found the points. Without the spring, or whatever was in the automatic choke body, that's history. I do it by hand. Should look on ebay for the right equipment. Excellent information about the starting, makes me feel less concerned for the behavior and also why I can't find a starter motor. Metal plate on the right. Ummm....brace mount for the hydraulic pump, powered by a belt and pulley off the right side of the unit with hoses that run to the hydraulic supply tank and to the high pressure side of the boom. I need to dig out my clamp-o-matic meter and start looking at draw. It's been in the 20's, so I didn't want to stress on the equipment, but 60's next week so I'll start poking at it.

I'm learning, or re-learning lots of stuff about it that I'm sure I knew and forgot. My heads at capacity, like my garage, and its really hard to find anything in it, even though I know that I knew this stuff a while ago. Hmm. I was surprised to find out it was a twin, and what's the generator stuff? if it makes electric, why can't it run itself? And where ARE the points, anyway? It runs off the truck tank, doesn't crank long to start with the choke and I only have to leave it on for a few seconds. I have a little loop of metal fit in the lever to keep the choke from closing as it runs. I's all redneck engineering. There's plugs in the bucket for AC and lots of disconnected wires in the whole mix. I know, I really need to start from scratch with it...(nails in eyes screaming)

This gets more confusing.

More of a meandering whine than anything else, but describing my problem may garner some amusing ideas I haven't considered as a fix. Might even make me think through the problem. I have this van with a boom on it, or if you prefer, a bucket. We name most of our vehicles, even if its only for the color. Blue is blue, there's Big Red, and Pappy. Then there's the Big Fucking White Truck with the Bucket, or boom on it, which has shortened to The Bucket Truck, which is pretty good, only four syllables, but I think I'm going to name it Boom Shakala, which is only 1 syllable net shorter because the "boom" is implied but silent. Saying "the bucket truck" requires that you move your lips, and therefore your face, requiring more effort than just the open mouth and tongue wave after the initial jaw movement to make the "sh" sound, so Shakala will be easier. Plus, Shakala sounds cooler. Anyway, I digress..... The boom on Shakala is moved by hydraulic rams powered by a hydraulic pump which is powered by an Onan gas engine. This gas engine has an electric starter. Power for the starter and to run the Onan was originally coming from the left hand battery in the engine compartment. The right hand battery is the "main battery" for the truck operation. Before I owned the truck, a fancy electrical switch was installed that I believe allowed the alternator to charge both batteries when the truck was running, and automatically disconnect the main battery from the pony battery if the system voltage lowered to a critical point, presumably so you could still maintain power to start the truck. It makes sense this would occur if you were running the Onan engine with the truck off, and power was constantly draining from the system. Once the power reached, I don't know, 11 volts or whatever, the system would disconnect and leave the Onan engine running on one battery, so when that one discharged enough that the Onan engine stopped, you could still get a ladder, or maybe let yourself down on a rope, or crawl down the boom or something because you don't have hydraulics, and without power, the solenoid safety switches in the bucket controls don't work to let you down, so you're kinda screwed anyway, but at least you can start the truck and drive away after you fall trying to get out of the bucket and break your leg, because its an automatic (they thought of everything). I guess this system stopped working, maybe because the left battery wasn't strong enough, or well, who knows....but the point is, again before I got it, the system was "fixed." A momentary contact toggle switch was installed under the dash that when activated would power the solenoid that closed the circuit between the two batteries. Then a solid copper wire with blue insulation (to match the interior)was installed by looping one end around the emergency brake release, and the other wound with a loop to fit over the momentary contact switch toggle arm, making for a randomly variable, but temporarily permanent contact switch. This gave the system enough oomph to power the Onan starter and make putt-putt noises that enable the boom to go up and down and bypassed the aforementioned fancy electrical low current safety switch. You place this wire on the switch to hold it until you're done with the Onan, after which you slip it off the toggle and stop current to the pony motor. This is essentially how it was explained to me. Okay, it works, who cares? So here's my dilemma. The Onan engine seems to take a lot of electrical juices, and after a couple hours of on and off running, with multiple shut downs and restarts, there's enough drained from the tandem batteries that the truck won't start. Just to clarify, the Onan can be shut down and started from high in the bucket, so if you're working in one place, you don't have to have the engine running constantly. I don't know if the starter on the Onan is just drawing big current, because it's kinda slow to start up, and probably has been used quite a bit in its career. When the Onan is shut down, the circuit is still closed, so it's like leaving the ignition key on, just no ding-ding-dinging. Now how do I guarantee there is enough electrical juice to get me down from a height? Do I set a timer to come down and start the truck up every hour to run it for 15 minutes and charge the battery? Do I just leave the truck running all the time and run two engines? Those are my options now without making any changes. Gas is expensive, but it probably doesn't burn more than a gallon an hour, right? But there is wear and tear on the engine, and it's loud. And definitely hotter working over 350 cubic inches of combustion. So what else could I do? I could buy two BIG batteries, spending $150 each, and probably have enough reserve capacity for a few hours more. That's pricey, and I guess I could use them someplace else in the off season, but where? I could get a remote battery voltage gizmo that blutooths to my phone so I could check the voltage, and stop what I'm doing to come down and start the truck before it doesn't have the juice to spin over, floods out, and I end up sitting for half an hour before I can get the truck started and back to work. Nah. What I need is a small quiet gas powered source for power just for the Onan engine. A generator! I looked...those quiet ones are hella expensive! But wait........they won't provide enough amperage to run a starter....I'll have to have a battery reservoir as well. Then use the generator to recharge the battery? But I already have a battery, and a charger on the truck. I could get a small generator, and a battery charger and another battery, and hook that straight up to the Onan. That would have to run continuously, though. I could go to the junkyard, score an alternator and hook it up to an XX engine mounted in a jig on a pallet with pulleys and belts. Yeah, I have enough projects. I sure don't want to try to sort out the 50 or so pounds of unconnected copper wire floating around in this truck to try to fix it back to original spec. I just want a bandaid fix, redneck engineering style, that don't take much time and don't cost too much. Nothin's easy, I guess. Maybe I'll run up to the gunshop and see if they got any ammunition.

There's a lot of ebay material there, especially if you have an ebay consignment store in the area.

I believe it was Cee Bailey. Long out of production, never seen another like it. A four-legged deer ate mine one Easter Sunday right around noon between Hop Bottom and Brooklyn at well over 100mph in the early 2000's.