Full time, How Many Hours will my generator last? - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Parrish · RV-Dreams Community Member

Full time, How Many Hours will my generator last?

Bill and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

Assuming it is and Onan, which yours is, or one of similar quality – 10-15 years+ IF you maintain it.

I’ve had the 5500’s in commercial service for 10+ years and they are still going strong. However, they are maintained according to the manufacture’s recommendations and they are used – I.e. they don’t just sit.

This isn't to say it may not require serious maintenance service. But if you take care of it the coach may wear out first – just read on follow the directions and you should have a good experience for many years.

Bill

Parrish · RV-Dreams Community Member

That is great news. My wife is disabled and needs the air conditioning and enjoys the tv. Being in Del rio, Texas where we keep our boat at the moment, we have to hibernate in the luxery of our fifth wheel between early afternoon and near sunset. I'm super concious of the cost of running equipment (maintenance and fuel) now that we are on a fixed income.

Bill and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

Parrish wrote:
That is great news. My wife is disabled and needs the air conditioning and enjoys the tv. Being in Del rio, Texas where we keep our boat at the moment, we have to hibernate in the luxery of our fifth wheel between early afternoon and near sunset. I'm super concious of the cost of running equipment (maintenance and fuel) now that we are on a fixed income.

Parrish:

May I comment further that I said the generator, with proper maintenance, would last. I didn’t imply that running it would be inexpensive. Fuel, especially LP, for generators can really add up in the cost per hour column. 5500’s are very good “small” generators, but even under lighter loads they consume quite a bit of fuel per hour. Check you manual and it will have fuel consumption tables at various loads based on the type of fuel used. It will also have the recommended maintenance schedule.

Bill

Parrish · RV-Dreams Community Member

Yes sir, .34 gallons per hour and I realize how how fast that adds up. 8 hours of use at $4/gal is about 11 dollars for eight hours, not to mention the time and money to go refill tanks. We do a lot of boon-docking. Haven't yet figured out lifestyle as full timers but for now a lot boondocking. I have retired very early to care for my wife (disabled veteran with MS) and we are comfortable with south texas state and national parks and new mexico national forest and blm land. I would hope that the 10 year life span you mentioned would include less than the equivalent one or two rebuild type break down repairs beyond my capabilities.

Thanks again for the input.

MikeH · RV-Dreams Family Member

Parrish wrote:
That is great news. My wife is disabled and needs the air conditioning and enjoys the tv. Being in Del rio, Texas where we keep our boat at the moment, we have to hibernate in the luxery of our fifth wheel between early afternoon and near sunset. I'm super concious of the cost of running equipment (maintenance and fuel) now that we are on a fixed income.

Why not save up and run a solar panel kit? You'd probably need about 1000 watts worth of panels, but you could make certain by figuring out how much your AC unit uses.

blijil · RV-Dreams Family Member

Solar panels required to run AC exceeds the roof space on a normal RV, but work great to run fantastic fans, lights etc. The most economic thing is to find a cool place in the summer and a warm place in the winter.

Also if you are in an RV park electric is much cheaper than a generator so you have to balance the costs. In very warm climates we opt for the RV park because of the costs.

Generator maintenace is a must and requires an oil change every 100-200 hours but I know RVers have told me that their Onan will last much longer than their RV with good maintenance.

Larry