Pappy224

[Pappy224]

My generator will not crank ! Unless I just from one of the house batteries ! It started fine last season . I guess my question is what am I missing the shop tester says it’s a good battery and it’s charging ok ! ?

[oldjohnt]

Hey Pappy, good question BUT there are a lot of unknowns for me to provide a good (let alone any) answer.

For one what sort of a "shop tester" are you using ??? Is it a Load Tester or merely a Volt Meter. A battery might still show adequate voltage but still be too week to crank a load. Got another battery you might try??  Most auto parts houses will load test a battery for free that's one other possibility. It doesn't take huge battery capacity to crank many gensets they don't draw that much current as compared to an automotive engine 

With a good battery there are other reasons she may not crank over: Faulty starter solenoid,,,,,,,,,,,,Faulty Start/Run switch or wiring,,,,,,,,,, If it has BOTH an inside plus an on board Start/Stop switch see if either will make it crank,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Faulty low oil pressure shut down switch or wiring,,,,,,,,,,,Faulty over temp switch or wiring,,,,,,,,,,,,Faulty Circuit Control Board,,,,,,,,,Some gensets display Error Codes to help diagnose problems...........What make and model is it ??????????????,,,,,,,,,,,,,Have an Owners Manual with Troubleshooting Tips???? NOTE on some gensets pressure or high temp safety cut off may ONLY kill the ignition but NOT allowing it to crank I cant say what yours has but am leaning more towards a battery or connection or ground or control circuit problem for now. 

Does it have its own battery or is it wired to your house batteries for cranking ???????????? Insure good connections and grounds !!! with luck that may be all it is CHECK EASY FREE SIMPLE THINGS FIRST 

Wires come loose especially those to the inside Start/Stop switch so insure you have a good battery GOOD CONNECTIONS AND GROUNDS and check for an onboard switch and see what happens or look for Error Codes...........

John T

Edited July 27, 2019 by oldjohnt

[Kirk W]

Welcome to the Escapee forums!

By shop tester, do you mean that you have had the battery load tested? Another test is to measure voltage between the positive and negative while someone pushs the start switch. If the voltage falls too low that indicates either a bad battery or a shorted starter. Starter motors do fail and when they do the result is often excessive current draw. Have you tried jumping the battery with a second one or from a car to see if that will get it to turn over? Also, does it help get it to crank over if you have motorhome engine running?