Emergency Shut Down/Power Isolation

[NH Bill]

This may be of interest to all, but more so for FC owners with air slides.

I finally got around to installing an emergency shut off / power isolation switch for our generator.

Blue Bird equipped the coach with start-stop switches above the dash, in the galley and on the control box. However, this arrangement does not allow the generator to be shut down from the outside in an emergency situation. Also, power is always at the control box. The FCs came equipped with air slides and this is not a rapid response feature. In the almost 10-years we have owned our Bird, I never gave this consideration until last summer.

Lisa was on the Bird at the "Outpost", over an hour away, and I was dead asleep when I got a panic call at 2 AM... "Billy the bus is shaking and I can smell something burning"... ***.... : eek:OK, now I'm awake and trying to calm her down and trouble shoot this in a hurry!.... finally I figure that somehow the starter motor on the generator is turning and that's causing the "shaking" but the burning...who knows....

Even after having her unplug from the pedestal, turn off the 12 v disconnect. The generator is still trying to start. Now I'm thinking she's got to air-up the coach and unlock the generator slide and then bring out the slide to find out what is going on. That ain't gonna happen. At this point, I'm about to have her walk away and watch it burn when she tells me it stopped. Fortunately, the drained before any major damage.

Somehow, one of the relays in the control box went wonky and engaged the starter and the fuel solenoid burnt out in the process. In the end, I had to replace the bad relay, the fuel cut-off solenoid, and the starter. Lucky that was it.

I came up with a solution that I think will prevent something like this from happening again. I found a heavy duty waterproof 4 pole On/Off switch and mounted on the generator cover with the control knob outside.

It is switched between the battery and the starter on the 2 large poles to prevent it from starting. The 2 small poles are switching the hold coil on the fuel shut-off solenoid to shut it down. Also, this does not interrupt the charging circuit so the battery will retain its charge even when this switch is off. And it will be off unless we are using the generator.

Any feedback from you electrical guys who know more about this stuff than I do?

I got the switch from Performance Plus Connection in Charlotte. These guys could not be nicer and they have a lot of cool gearhead stuff!

https://www.performanceplusconnectio...y_4pole_Switch

NH Bill

[Mustang88]

Excellent post - I had similar experience, not fun! Could you post an inside shot of the wiring. Thanks for sharing, now another project!

Just got my water temp sensor from one of your earlier posts!

[gcyeaw]

I put a outside accessible cutoff switch on my gen battery in my FC as well, for the same reason. No way to get to the battery without air pressure to open the draw. When I stored it I could just turn it off eliminating any chance of some electrical issue..

[NH Bill]

Originally Posted by Mustang88

Excellent post - I had similar experience, not fun! Could you post an inside shot of the wiring. Thanks for sharing, now another project!

Just got my water temp sensor from one of your earlier posts!

I don't have an inside shot. Even if I did it wouldn't be too helpful. Here's a primitive wiring diagram. I hope this helps.

[Mustang88]

Thank you, that is eactly what I was looking for!

[Randy Dupree]

Nice job NHBill.
And a great mod for any of us.