B190 Enthusiasts

Does anyone have the general hookup for the generator or wiring harness diagram? Mines disconnected and I have a bundle of wires.

Does the generator provide two separate power feeds?


From what I remember on the shore power side there is a converter which switches the 120v shore power to 12v to charge the battery.... but does the generator being turned on also charge the battery or does it ONLY supply power to 120v systems?... with further thought, I guess the generator would be hooked up to the coach or auxilliary to crank over so it must auto charge one of those batteries directly by back feeding that part, while providing 120v feed to the other part?


Also, how does it avoid any shorting or back feeding if for example I were plugged into shorepower and then turned the generator on? (I know there has to be an automatic switch somewhere, I just can't remember seeing it or what it would be called)


...The way I picture the direction of flow of electricity is: Power source to battery(or panel), battery to 12volt systems... (except we have 2 power sources, shore and generator)... From what I can conclude(I bought mine with all components disconnected) both generator and shore power hook up to the bench seat electric panel on the 120v side, but must be SOMEHOW be separated or have a device which won't allow both to run simultaneously and that's where I'm stumped.

Finally a bit of sidetracking here, but does the shore power first run directly to the panel, and then a circuit on the panel powers the converter, which then runs to the battery?

I don't have a generator installed. So can't help you with those questions. I use shore power or solar/battery.

Regarding shore power and the converter, In my '93 B190 the shore power line flows to the power distribution box. There is a breaker installed in the power distribution box that powers the converter. The converter applies power to the 12 volt coach battery cables that is then present to simultaneously power the 12 volt accessory circuits and charge the battery.

Sector9surf wrote:Does anyone have the general hookup for the generator or wiring harness diagram? Mines disconnected and I have a bundle of wires.

Does the generator provide two separate power feeds?

I'm not sure what you mean by two separete power feeds.

From what I remember on the shore power side there is a converter which switches the 120v shore power to 12v to charge the battery.... but does the generator being turned on also charge the battery or does it ONLY supply power to 120v systems?... with further thought, I guess the generator would be hooked up to the coach or auxilliary to crank over so it must auto charge one of those batteries directly by back feeding that part, while providing 120v feed to the other part?

When the generator is running, it's usually powering the converter (unless you specifically turn it off), so it will charge the battery. It doesn't supply any direct power to the 12 volt feed as far as I know.

In fact, I'm pretty sure that the generator has to "see" 12 volts DC on the wire from the battery, or it will shut down.

Also, how does it avoid any shorting or back feeding if for example I were plugged into shorepower and then turned the generator on? (I know there has to be an automatic switch somewhere, I just can't remember seeing it or what it would be called)

There is a an automatic transfer switch mounted under the couch that defaults to shore power, but switches to the generator when the generator is producing 120 volt power. In mine, it's mounted on the outside wall, close to the stove. It's just a small metal box, much like you'd see mounted near an outside household air conditioning unit.

...The way I picture the direction of flow of electricity is: Power source to battery(or panel), battery to 12volt systems... (except we have 2 power sources, shore and generator)... From what I can conclude(I bought mine with all components disconnected) both generator and shore power hook up to the bench seat electric panel on the 120v side, but must be SOMEHOW be separated or have a device which won't allow both to run simultaneously and that's where I'm stumped.

Finally a bit of sidetracking here, but does the shore power first run directly to the panel, and then a circuit on the panel powers the converter, which then runs to the battery?

The shore power and generator both feed into the transfer switch, then from there to the 120 volt electrical panel. One of the breakers in that panel serves the converter, which then powers the 12 volt system (fuse board). Additionally, there should be a line from the coach battery feeding into the fuse board.

I have a writeup and diagram here that may help.

Thanks guys. Those were exactly the answers I was looking for!!!

I will throw in there - I have the RevA model of the gennie - I've disconnected the battery while it was running, and it continued to run. So, at least on this version, 12V is not required to run - only to start