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Old 11-27-2019, 10:49 PM   #1
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Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Pike Road
Posts: 17
Alabama
Battery/Generator

Hey Guys. I’ve had an Endurance for about 7 months now. Regularly run gas to Onan generator to keep clean gas running through. Last week I started having a problem with it not starting. I would hit start and fuel pump comes on and nothing else happens. I dropped it off at storage on Monday and did not battery disconnect because I knew I was coming back in 2 days to pick up. I had no juice when I picked up today, surprised at that.. I drove over an hour to setup for a tailgate for this weekend. Just happen to try and start generator and it started up on 1st try. Ran for 20-25 minutes and it got really hot. Not sure how hot they get because I don’t usually run them very long during the months. Disconnected from truck and tried to start again but got the previous results, fuel pump comes on and nothing else. Could a bad battery be causing me these issues? It has a Roadhawk Predator battery. I can’t find a ton of info but I see mostly bad things being said about them.
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Old 11-28-2019, 05:34 AM   #2
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California
I think you might be onto something with the battery. Keep in mind that while traveling your tow vehicle is charging the battery and if that battery is in bad shape you could still easily get enough of a charge to start it. That fact that it doesn’t start again could be a bad inverter which doesn’t allow your generator to charge your battery.

I would check the water level in the battery if not sealed too.

I bet a new battery will work but the question is for how long. If your inverter is not charging the battery then it will go dead eventually and batteries lose capacity if they go dead more than once or twice in most cases. Deep cycle batteries fare better but still can have issues.

Not sure what would cause the generator to get hot. That could be another unrelated issue or could be related and mean the generator is not functioning correctly as well. You might want to put a multi meter on your battery when the generator is running and see what it shows. Should be more than 13 or 14 volts when charging.

Good luck.
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Old 11-29-2019, 05:56 PM   #3
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Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Beaver Dam
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Wisconsin
Quick battery test

Start testing by measuring the voltage on the house battery before plugging in or starting the generator or starting the RV or tow vehicle engine.

Fully charged, you should read above 12.7 to 13.0 volts. 12.4 volts and below means it needs a full 14 to 18 hour charge.
If battery is charged, the generator should start.
If not, plug in the shore power for a day.

Battery dead in two days could mean:
Battery is not charged
Battery is past useful life.
Battery charger/converter/inverter is not working properly.
Some appliance is drawing a lot of 12 volt power.
Battery is not getting a full 14 to 18 hour charge.
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