What model generator? - RV-Dreams Community Forum

phyllen · RV-Dreams Family Member

What model generator?

Darrell and Judy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Take a real long hard look at what your RV lifestyle will be and how often you would use the generator. We have a Cedar Creek Custom and were going to have the generator installed but it was going to take up most of the front compartment which I wanted for storage. We purchased a Honda 2000 watt which we carry in the tool box in the truck bed and have only used the generator once in ten months. The Honda will not run the A/C's or the water heater but will operate everything else (not all at once of course) but it is just a back up for those times when we have no power. You can buy two 2000s and link them together - that would run the A/C and be cheaper than buying a unit that installs into your rig. They only weigh 46 pounds a piece and both could be stored in the tool box - actually you could set them up to run from the tool box. Down side is they have small fuel capacity and need to be filled after a few hours of use but again we have only used ours once and that was for about six hours.

Otherwise, you can go online to http://forestriverinc.com and see what the specs are for the generator they install in the Cedar Creek. I think it is a 5500 watt unit, it will be listed under their options.

Another thought, if you are going to do a lot of "boondocking" you might want to look at solar systems instead.

Darrell and Judy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Here's another thought. I don't know what your lifestyle is going to be but if you are outfitting your rig for fulltime living consider this. A 5500 Onan Marquis Gold is what Cedar Creek installs and it will cost between $5,000 to $6,000 which I feel is a "nice to have" rather than a necessity (depending on your lifestyle). But a Big Foot leveling system is moving quickly to my "necessity" list. The more I have to use planks and leveling blocks the more I hate them. Big Foot and HWH make hydraulic leveling systems for fifthwheels that work just like the motorhome systems, they cost around $4,200 to have installed. Big Foot has a website and Camping World installs the HWH. You might appreciate this option a whole lot more than a generator.

phyllen · RV-Dreams Family Member

My (Phyllis) feelings exactly. Why put out all that money for a generator when we really don't know if we will need it. I have been arguing the point for a while with the other half here. He is a lot more impulsive than me. He thinks because we had one in our old MH, we could not live without it. I say wait and see. What does he say? That's another story.

Thanks.

Luvglass · RV-Dreams Family Member

I consider the Onan 5500 LP gas generator we ordered with our trailer, one of the biggest mistakes we made. It's turned out we spend most of our time in commercial campgrounds, and when we do go to a state or federal CG, we sense very little happiness from our fellow campers when we fire it up to watch TV or surf the internet. In a year and a half it's only been on 37 hours and most of that has come from running it monthly as recommended.

If we were doing it over I'd get a portable Honda and put about $3500 toward the leveling system mentioned above. If we were going to really go off the grid, I think the best investment would be a good solar system, not a big generator.

Fred

Ken & Sarah · RV-Dreams Family Member

This is a good topic for those of us still in the planning stages. I use a CPAP for sleep apnea, in my mind a generator would be a necessity for boondocking. Or are you stuck in having to be in a campground that has electricity. Can you have enough batteries or solar power to power a CPAP? I know nothing about electricity except when you flip the switch a light should go on.

Darrell and Judy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Phyllis,

If I owned a motorhome I wouldn't be without a generator. You need it for the A/C while traveling down the road because the dash unit is just not large enough to cool the unit on a hot day. Good Luck on your decision.

Ken and Sarah,

I don't know what a CPAP is or how much power it requires to run it but this lifestyle is not a "one size fits all". There are times when a generator is required depending on the lifestyle. I would not depend entirely on a solar system for a medical condition - ya just can't depend on the sun to be there everyday to fully charge your batteries. Glad you weighed in on the issue to make others aware that there are various needs out there.

Dennie and Dottie Beaman · RV-Dreams Community Member

I was in a National Forest Camp Ground over Memorial Day and a camper across from us had a Honda 3000 EU in the bed of his pickup. You could barely hear the thing. I have a littte Honda 700 just for charging batteries mostly and the 3000 was quieter than my smaller one and went a lot longer on gas consumption. For what its worth.
Dennie B

Luvglass · RV-Dreams Family Member

khoenig wrote:

This is a good topic for those of us still in the planning stages. I use a CPAP for sleep apnea, in my mind a generator would be a necessity for boondocking. Or are you stuck in having to be in a campground that has electricity. Can you have enough batteries or solar power to power a CPAP? I know nothing about electricity except when you flip the switch a light should go on.

I believe all campgrounds have "quiet hours" at night which would preclude running a generator.
I'm not sure, but would expect that an adequate solar system would provide service for your CPAP. You should check with a solar company.

Fred

Niles and Deb · RV-Dreams Family Member

I also thought about having a onboard gen,but have decieded that a Honda 3000 or a Yamaha 3000 would be a better deal, as they are portable and can be put in the bed of your truck, they are also very quiet. As for the CPAP, I think if your batteries were charged up good in the evening, a good inverter at the bedside would do the trick.

Jmo, Niles

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

A CPAP without heated humidifier should use under 20 amp-hours per night through an inverter, with heated humidifier it is up to 50 amp-hours per night using a small inverter. These are for high pressure numbers, like 11 to 15, when you get high numbers about everyone requires heated humidity. Many CPAPs can be powered directly with 12volt without the humidifier and would probably use under 15 amp-hours per night. A dedicated group 27 deep cycle battery ($70 at Costco) would work overnight with a small 300-400 watt inverter to about 50% discharge with a heated humidifier.
We use a 400watt Xantrex inverter that cost $25 hooked up to our (4) golf cart batteries to run a CPAP at 11 pressure with heated humidity. We don't run the generator over night.

Edit: There is a much longer discussion about CPAP's and inverters in the Solar/Boondocking section under topic "inverter vs converter".

There are many using CPAPs in Quartzsite during the winter and dry camping. They are not running their generators overnight, they are using inverters. Many have enough solar to recover the battery drain overnight, others charge with a generator in the daytime.

-- Edited by bjoyce at 20:32, 2007-06-28

SKOOBDO · RV-Dreams Family Member

Luvglass wrote:

I consider the Onan 5500 LP gas generator we ordered with our trailer, one of the biggest mistakes we made. It's turned out we spend most of our time in commercial campgrounds, and when we do go to a state or federal CG, we sense very little happiness from our fellow campers when we fire it up to watch TV or surf the internet. In a year and a half it's only been on 37 hours and most of that has come from running it monthly as recommended.

If we were doing it over I'd get a portable Honda and put about $3500 toward the leveling system mentioned above. If we were going to really go off the grid, I think the best investment would be a good solar system, not a big generator.

Fred

I was ready to do the same thing. I ordered my unit with generator prep and was planning on getting the Onan Marquis installed, but thought about it really hard and the times I would really use it. I recently bought a Yamaha EF2400IS, which will power a 13,500btu A/C without using the microwave. I'm happy I didn't buy the on-board Onan, as it would have been a total waste of money for me. As I have been traveling, I've stayed at campground (that have electric) and walmart shopping parking lots for overnight. Usually if i'm staying overnight I'm not watching much television etc so I just want some rest to hit the road the following day. I haven't had a need yet to even use my yamaha unit, but I have it for emergencies and the fact I will be going to Quartzite in the winter months. If your lifesytle doesn't involve a lot of boondocking you can live without the Onan and just get a small quiet inverter generator to use when you need it. By the way, the 2400 model fills in the void between a 2000 and 3000 model. However, a Honda 2000 will provide you power for all the things in your MH except the A/C, and it weighs a little less than the one I have. I also suggest putting your money instead into something that will make your life easier or enhance the performance of your MH. just my 2cents