Hi Jeff, I agree with you, and I can clearly see that there is a rat's nest inside the generator, which must be doing the initial sensing of the power in the first place, as you mentioned.
I think my task is EASIER than looking at that rat's nest inside the generator though, since all I need are the wires coming OUT of the generator.
I'm not sure yet where to FIND those wires inside the transfer switch, but I think the first (and only?) place I need to look is at what the pins of that "plastic solenoid" do... since that solenoid seems to send the purple and blue wire 12VDC to the "double-fisted solenoid" to switch power from the mains to the generator.
I understand and appreciate this assessment, where there's LOTS I didn't mention (which is always the case in such things), mainly the fact being I "think" it was me who pulled those fuses long ago and forgot to put them back (I think I was testing them but I don't actually recall).
Also, you're actually correct that the battery in the generator WAS dead, since I had disconnected it to charge it, and then I had left it disconnected where the charge eventually bled off. I actually had to jumpstart the generator when the power last went out, but I have since charged the battery (I'm gonna put quick connect clamps on the battery at some point, which will help in the charging process since I have multiple spare batteries I swap in and out of that generator).
This is good to know, for two reasons:
- This is dangerous stuff so having safe tests is required, and,
- Most of what I read suggested testing MONTHLY (which is crazy frequent)
Thanks for that advice, Jeff, as I'm well aware of the power, but I'm not sure yet how to test a transfer switch. It does seem prudent to test the transfer switch ISOLATED from BOTH the mains and the generator.
Preventing the generator from turning on should be easy as it has a power switch and it requires the battery so it's easy to prevent it from turning on.
I'm not totally sure simply turning OFF the mains will isolate the transfer switch - but that's simply because I'm currently ignorant of the wiring diagram (which is one reason you said to do that first).
If the power goes from the power pole to the utility meter to the main 200 Amp breaker switch, and THEN to the transfer switch, then doing all tests with the main 200Amp circuit breaker off is prudent. (Obviously I'd doublecheck with the Fluke DMM.)
Yup. I agree. I had wanted from this question on Usenet to first get a general idea of how these transfer switches work - which - I think I kind of now have - but the exact wiring of every connection is still needed before I can effectively troubleshoot.
Generac sent me the owners manual for my 09067-9 generator, which contains exploded diagrams, for example, here's the exploded diagram of the 09067-9 Generator Control Panel: And the wiring diagram for the 09067-9 generator itself:
And here's the exploded view for the 79848A transfer switch: And the wiring diagram for the 79848A transfer switch:
Once, I called a well pump guy, and told him I had a problem, which he fixed, but I told him before he came out to charge me based on the fact I would be standing there right next to him as he debugged, asking him questions while he did the work in front of me.
It was then that I noticed he simply replaced entire circuit boards, simply by the process of pulling them out, putting the new one in, and finding that it worked, so he was about to take the old circuit board "home" with him, where I said if I'm paying for the new one, I want the old one (I still have it). Some day I'll figure out specifically what's "wrong" with it. :)
A similar thing happened with the heater repairman, who simply replaced the main circuit board, but he insisted that there was a core charge which _he_ wanted back - and that he's have to charge me for that - so he got the core charge, not me.
I learned from that that these guys replace the entire board rather than figure out what's wrong ON the board.
Given that replacing things seems to be what the repair techs do also, in this case, I think I have three options, two of which are what many people use, while the third option is the approach I'm currently trying:
- Replace everything, one by one, until the damn thing works
- Pay State Electric or Spiess Electric to fix it (in my presence)
- Debug the damn thing (after first figuring out how it works)
Personally, I like to debug first, where simply UNDERSTANDING how the circuit works usually causes the offending part to SCREAM OUT that it's broken.
To that end, I'll follow your advice and start marking up the panel with a label of the purpose of each of the myriad connections.