Mastervolt WhisperGen 3500 Problem

[Mrhigherbeing]

Hi, I have had to try a new forum as my existing boating forum as I cant seem to get any decent advice. I have a Whispergen 3500 on my new boat, its only done 100hours but has not been used much in years. After holding heat for 10secs she starts perfectly but stops running with fault alarm after 10 secs or so. Plenty of water is coming out and oil seems to be full. If I hold the start button down she runs fine and charges batteries, but no matter how long I hold it for it will go off when I release button. Please help, I cant seem to find an engineer to ask at all! thanks and appreciate any help. Ian

[skipmac]

Some additional information might help although there may be some Whispergen experts on the forum that can diagnose the problem from what you've given.

I am not one of those experts but can offer some suggestions based on general diesel and mechanical knowledge.

Obviously the engine has an automatic shutdown feature to prevent damage to the engine in case of some fault, usually low oil pressure, overheating, or overload on the generator output. You say yours shuts down with a fault alarm. Do you get any information about what fault, oil pressure, temp or other? Does the engine have gauges so you can see that the oil pressure, temp, etc are within correct range?

I would think the shutdown would have to be either one of the following:

1. There really is a problem with the engine. To test this you will need gauges or some other method to get data on actual engine operating parameters.

2. There is bad data going to the shutdown system from one of the sensors on the engine. So the shutdown is thinking the oil pressure it too low or the temp to high, etc. Check oil pressure and engine temp sensors to confirm they are connected and sending correct voltage out to the shutdown system. Also check for good connection or corrosion on the wires from the senders to the shutdown system.

3. The shutdown system itself is bad and is stopping the engine even though it is getting correct data.

I would suspect #2 first but could be any of these or perhaps something else I didn't think of.

[speciald@ocens.]

Try their website for technical assistance or reference to a local service center. Where are you? I wouln't run the unit holding down the fault by-pass button - it is stopping for a reason - oil pressure, etc. The oil pressure sender my be bad, or other minor problems or it could reflect a more serious problem.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Ian.

I suppose you’ve read & understood the User’s Manual.

Here ➥ http://www.whispergen.com/content/li...ers_Manual.pdf

Excerpt beginning page 16:
“... To manually start the WhisperGenTM:
1. Check that the STANDBY indicator on the control panel is lit. If the fault indicator is constantly lit, you will need to clear the fault – see
section entitled Clearing Faults and Warnings.
If nothing is displayed on the control panel, check that the WhisperGenTM is connected to the battery bank and that the 3A fuse (F2 position as marked on PCB) is not blown ...”

[Mrhigherbeing]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Ian.

I suppose you’ve read & understood the User’s Manual.

Here ➥ http://www.whispergen.com/content/li...ers_Manual.pdf

Excerpt beginning page 16:
“... To manually start the WhisperGenTM:
1. Check that the STANDBY indicator on the control panel is lit. If the fault indicator is constantly lit, you will need to clear the fault – see
section entitled Clearing Faults and Warnings.
If nothing is displayed on the control panel, check that the WhisperGenTM is connected to the battery bank and that the 3A fuse (F2 position as marked on PCB) is not blown ...”

DOH!! Sorry, should have also mentioned it is actually a Mastervolt Whispergen 3500! I have the original manual and it has nothing to help in troubleshooting.

Thanks for response, and glad to be seeing some helpfull responses!
Ian

[Mrhigherbeing]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Some additional information might help although there may be some Whispergen experts on the forum that can diagnose the problem from what you've given.

I am not one of those experts but can offer some suggestions based on general diesel and mechanical knowledge.

Obviously the engine has an automatic shutdown feature to prevent damage to the engine in case of some fault, usually low oil pressure, overheating, or overload on the generator output. You say yours shuts down with a fault alarm. Do you get any information about what fault, oil pressure, temp or other? Does the engine have gauges so you can see that the oil pressure, temp, etc are within correct range?

I would think the shutdown would have to be either one of the following:

1. There really is a problem with the engine. To test this you will need gauges or some other method to get data on actual engine operating parameters.

2. There is bad data going to the shutdown system from one of the sensors on the engine. So the shutdown is thinking the oil pressure it too low or the temp to high, etc. Check oil pressure and engine temp sensors to confirm they are connected and sending correct voltage out to the shutdown system. Also check for good connection or corrosion on the wires from the senders to the shutdown system.

3. The shutdown system itself is bad and is stopping the engine even though it is getting correct data.

I would suspect #2 first but could be any of these or perhaps something else I didn't think of.

Very helpful, and my thoughts exactly. I will have a play about and see what I can do.
Thanks
Ian

[Mrhigherbeing]

Originally Posted by speciald@ocens.

Try their website for technical assistance or reference to a local service center. Where are you? I wouln't run the unit holding down the fault by-pass button - it is stopping for a reason - oil pressure, etc. The oil pressure sender my be bad, or other minor problems or it could reflect a more serious problem.

I am in London on Grand Union Canal. I might just run it with button depressed, I need to do laundry!

Ian

[Cruisingdad]

I have a Whisper 3.5.

First, make sure you have enough oil. Sounds dumb, but they are sensitive. I personally stick my finger in the tube about half way down the threads and let it touch the end of my finger. I assume the 3500 would be the same.

MV had an issue with a vendor on one of their Oil Pressure Sending Units giving a false failure. We had to replace ours after not many hours. Check with them on that. It is a VERY EASY fix.

I have found their customer service responsive and interested in helping. I think I worked with a fellow out of Miami from MV directly. They are your best source for a fix.

Good luck with it. Hope I helped some.

Brian

[Cruisingdad]

By the way, after a fault, we simply press stop and start again. I think I can also press just start to get it running. We do not need to do any resets on ours. But there could be a difference between ours and yours.

[Sailmonkey]

I've never worked on a mastervolt generator, but the logic is the same for the control circut on most every gernerator. Usually what happens is one of the series of sensors will go bad and cause a false shutdown. you should be able to trace these out, usually wired in series such as an oil switch that will be NO and close with pressure, a NC water temp switch that will open with excess heat, and a NC exh temp sensor that will open with heat. You can get the unit to run by holding the start button since this bypasses the shutdowns for a predetermined amount of time to allow normal operating parameters to be obtained (oil pressure). The two most common failures I saw were a wire having slipped off of a sensor, or the exahust temperature sensor going open.

[Mrhigherbeing]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

I've never worked on a mastervolt generator, but the logic is the same for the control circut on most every gernerator. Usually what happens is one of the series of sensors will go bad and cause a false shutdown. you should be able to trace these out, usually wired in series such as an oil switch that will be NO and close with pressure, a NC water temp switch that will open with excess heat, and a NC exh temp sensor that will open with heat. You can get the unit to run by holding the start button since this bypasses the shutdowns for a predetermined amount of time to allow normal operating parameters to be obtained (oil pressure). The two most common failures I saw were a wire having slipped off of a sensor, or the exahust temperature sensor going open.

HORAHHHH
Sorted. And yes it was a faulty Ex temp switch. SO for time being bypassing this until i can get a new one. Annoying to get to the switch though!
Thanks everyone!

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by Mrhigherbeing

HORAHHHH
Sorted. And yes it was a faulty Ex temp switch. SO for time being bypassing this until i can get a new one. Annoying to get to the switch though!
Thanks everyone!

It's things like this that make my head big

[rjnichols]

Just installed a Whisper 3.5 for a customer in Portsmouth, England and from first start got warnings of low oil pressure! Took sensor out and it had a bit of hard thread lock in the sensor which once removed fixed the problem, quality control!!! The part had Italy stamped on it which was a giveaway. The same genset has developed an exhaust temp fault and after replacing the sensor all is good at the moment but I've given my customer spares of oil temp and exhaust temp sensors!

[moose]

Originally Posted by Mrhigherbeing

HORAHHHH
Sorted. And yes it was a faulty Ex temp switch. SO for time being bypassing this until i can get a new one. Annoying to get to the switch though!
Thanks everyone!

Dear Mrhigherbeing,
I have the same mastervolt gen (with 19hrs only, on a boat we recently purchased) which seems to be suffering from the same problem. I was wondering whether I could ask for some tips as to how to bypass it, as well as info regarding were to get the part. Thanks! and a happy new year.

[Seahunter]

Originally Posted by Mrhigherbeing

Hi, I have had to try a new forum as my existing boating forum as I cant seem to get any decent advice. I have a Whispergen 3500 on my new boat, its only done 100hours but has not been used much in years. After holding heat for 10secs she starts perfectly but stops running with fault alarm after 10 secs or so. Plenty of water is coming out and oil seems to be full. If I hold the start button down she runs fine and charges batteries, but no matter how long I hold it for it will go off when I release button. Please help, I cant seem to find an engineer to ask at all! thanks and appreciate any help. Ian

Firstly, if you don't have the control panel; get one. Most auto shut downs are from low oil pressure. Change the oil. Before adding oil, remove the oil pressure sensor and clean it out with air (or replace). Second issue is overheating. I've seen where the water screen is plugged or the temp sensor is faulty and the genset shuts down. The other issues are a modified program. You'll need to have someone come out to restore the program to factory specs.