Electrical Power loss

Our deparatmet's back up Engine is a 1989 E1. I am wondering if any one has experiaced any problems with electrical power loss during pump opperations. We have experianced power loss a couple of times, both during normal opperations. The engine looses power completly and the motor turns off cutting all electrical power to the whole apparatus. Once the apparatus cools off 5 to 10 min later the Engine strarts right up. Problem in intermittent. We have check some of the switches but no luck, any feed back is welcome Thanks!

Might be an obvious question, but gotta ask…what’s the capacity of your generator vs. the load you are putting on it? Keep in mind starting amps might be (I believe) 5-7 times higher than normal running amps for motorized equipment.

With the limited information provided, I suspect that you have a short in a circuit that is only energized while you are in pump mode causing an ignition circuit overload. If a breaker in the ignition circuit is overloaded the engine could shut down and would restart with no problem when the breaker reset a few minutes later.

That kind of a critical issue perhaps?

If Larry and Bubba can't figure it out in about an hour of poking around maybe you should call your dealer and report you have a deadlined pumper and need help. If they don't show up within about 24hr call the factory.

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Originally Posted by gocanas

Our deparatmet's back up Engine is a 1989 E1. I am wondering if any one has experiaced any problems with electrical power loss during pump opperations. We have experianced power loss a couple of times, both during normal opperations. The engine looses power completly and the motor turns off cutting all electrical power to the whole apparatus. Once the apparatus cools off 5 to 10 min later the Engine strarts right up. Problem in intermittent. We have check some of the switches but no luck, any feed back is welcome Thanks!

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Reading the replies you received, you came to the wrong place for help. (Reply: What's your generator capacity???........ PLEASE!!!!)

Take it to your mechanic, and have him fix it. If he can't, then buy me round trip tickets, pay for full lodging, pay me $75hr, and I'll fix it for you.

(Notice the omission)

More detail needed. Engine type and size for one.Sounds like a GOOD mechanic is required. Several heat soak problems come to mind but without knowing which powerplant it's hard to be definitive. T.C.

Does all power shut down? Dash, warning lights, everything?

How many batteries does your truck have?

In 89 E1 had a seperate dedicated battery to run the engine electronics in case of a power failure so the engine should not shut down unless this system is compromised. The dedicated battery has an isolator/seperator and a cole hersee breaker (see photo) that feeds the engine computer that can fail. The engine needs 9 volts to run. The isolator and breaker are usually located in the left side battery box. The truck restarting indicates that the voltage is cutting out and this would generally rule out an alternator or regular battery bank problem. My guess is that the breaker is tripping due to age and heat from pumping stationary. This should be pretty easy to find with a couple tests and more info. I would suggest you call the E1 Tech Dept if this doesnt help you.

let us know how you make out. John

You know, I would start with all your battery switches, especially if they are electronic. Sounds like a relay, or battery solinoid could be going bad. These will work for a while, but if they are running at close to their maximum capacity, they will heat up. Normally this is ok, but it is 20 years old, so the contacts may not be in the greatest shape and fail to keep contact. It is hard to diagnose without seeing it myself, but this is where i would start. When it dies, check voltage on the switched side of your battery switches. then on the battery side. if there is noticible difference in voltage, Time for replacement.

I would say it is either that, or an alternator going out and sucky batteries. The batteries will allow it to start, but the alternator does not have enough "umph" to keep the truck running. Check voltage at the batteries while the engine is running, then check with the engine running and everything electrical turned on, if you start to get below 12 volts, then you most likely are pulling power out of the batteries to suppliment your poor performing alternator. Since the engine needs 9 volts to run, and electrical solinoids need about 10 volts to activate, this would cause your rig to shut down. Once the batteries "recover" you would be able to start again, in which you probably take it bck to the station and plug it in charging you batteries back up for the next trip out.

Let us know if you get it fixed and what it was.