A new perspective on generators

Over the weekend we used a dry campground on a lake instead of our usual boondocking off by ourselves. We have never heard a generator other than our own near us and I have to tell you it was a real ear opener.

There was a MH on the other side of the CG running their generator when we got there, not real loud but we knew it was running. Soon a second class C pulls in and at dinner time their generator starts also. Both run from dinner to bedtime. Across the lake someone runs a open frame past 10 pm and I'm glad we are on this side.

Saturday the two MHs run their gennys for breakfast and the rest of the 7 place CG fills with another Class C, a trailer, a 5er and a tent. The 5er no more than gets its slides out when they put out a Honda 3000 and start it. The three MHs all start theirs at dinner again and the four gennys run late into the night. I felt bad for the tenters.

Now I've never heard a Honda 3000 and I have to say I am impressed with how much quieter it is than our Champion 3500/4000. That said it never shut off unless the people left to go hunting. It was running when I went to bed at midnight and again when I woke before 6 am. As quiet as it was, I had no problem hearing it inside unless a TV or radio was going.

Luckily no one in our CG had a open frame and ours has been silent since the solar went in to use. I was a bit worried when Sunday turned out to be cold and cloudy but the single grp 27 kept the trailer at 74 degrees, Honey ran a good 10 DVDs thru the player or a radio for back ground noise and we used the LEDs like normal. Monday showed a 12.3v reading before the solar started up again but had it became a issue, I would have tapped the 8-D we run the inverter with even though Honey wanted to start the Champ for a few hours just to get even. lol

Two of the people that ran their genny the most came and asked me about the panel, where to get it, how much, what could it do, etc.

So now I can read the generator threads with a new perspective and appreciate our solar, battery banks and inverter even more. We will visit the lake again but only during the week when it's empty. Come Friday we will pack up and head back into the hills where I can drink my coffee listening to birds singing, not gennys idling all day long.

Boondocking

Dry Camping

Public Lands

Terryallan
Explorer II
Sep 24, 2013
Yep. The Generator folks have turned most primitive quiet CGs in to a truck stop like atmosphere. and have chased a lot of us to the more quieter full hookup CGs. But they "can" so they do.

Result is. CGs like Julian Price that stayed full all the time, Are now mostly empty, and run down from lack of use. No one there but a few of the generator crowd. But it only takes one to disturb the entire place.
korbe
Explorer
Sep 24, 2013
I have commented on RV.net many times about generator noise. Over the years, I have attempted to let members know how inconsiderate it was to run them in an otherwise quiet campground environment. I have noticed over these same years that the generator users seem to be increasing and consideration of fellow campers has become less. The argument is that "if it's allowed within the rules, and you don't like it, go somewhere else!".

My thoughts on the campground rules argument is that rules are only written because people are becoming inconsiderate of their fellow campers. IMHO.
RoyB
Explorer II
Sep 24, 2013
The big MH's and RV's that have built-in generators seem to operate on a different standard than the portable setup generators do. Its most likely one of those things that heck it has a ON/OFF switch on the dash so why not run it...

You almost sometimes have a hard time telling if it is the generator or the truck motor running on those big rigs...

I know management will not go after someone running their built-in generator as quick as they will with us portable generators guys here on the East side of US...

Almost a double standard haha...

I very seldom complain about anything but sometimes it seems like I am the only one following the rules sometimes haha...

If I know I am bothering someone I will shut down in a heartbeat...

This is exactly why I started spending my efforts on getting successful running off my batteries... This makes me only have to run my generator three hours a day to re-charge my batteries and I can very easily do this is the allowed generator run time restrictions sites we end up going to here on the East side of the US.

We did alot of dispersed camping back in the 60s and 70s when we lived out West in the Phoenix area but here on the East side of the US those places are almost non-existent...

We are very successful now camping off the power grid sites in the Natl Forest areas.

Roy Ken
JayGee
Explorer
Sep 24, 2013
I find it interesting that often people that run genies in a campground put it behind their unit which is many times in front of someone else's campsite.
gbopp
Explorer
Sep 24, 2013
It's the "all about me" attitude.
As long as the people running the generators are not inconvenienced, it does not matter if they bother others. :(
2oldman
Explorer II
Sep 24, 2013
I have to admit I get quite irritated when I know people are running generators to watch TV. I'll bet they don't even know what an inverter is.

JiminDenver wrote:
Two of the people that ran their genny the most came and asked me about the panel, where to get it, how much, what could it do, etc.
If the question was "What can you run with that?" , how did you answer it? I get this all the time and I try to explain it charges the battery, but they don't seem to understand.
JiminDenver
Explorer II
Sep 24, 2013
Sadly the rules for the four CGs around the lake are camp only in the numbered spots, don't go off the path and no trash in the toilet. No host, no quiet times and everyone did their thing.

My comments on the generator threads have been related to our use of the Champ while boondocking where WE are the only ones listening to it just long enough to keep the battery up for another day. Something drastic would have to happen before I'd run it around others. Even with a "quiet" generator I tell people to be considerate of others in a CG as "quiet" isn't silent by any means. I never heard a bird all weekend.

As for us, we will avoid the noise and I'll beef up the systems even more. The grp 27 is 3 years old and I'll probably go with a pair of 6v to replace it. The inverter will be replaced with a PSW 3000w and its own 220w solar system only because I had no idea how much power Honey could use. We barely scratched the 8-D over the weekend with the DVDs and radio but that's because the 500w inverter can't run a hair dryer, vacuum or microwave. Honey wants all of those and its up to me to provide because the more comfy Honey is, the more we camp.
Mello_Mike
Explorer
Sep 24, 2013
Yep, I sold my Honda EU2000i a couple years ago and don't even miss it. Solar Power, BABY!!! The only way to go (a wind turbine is a great way to go as well).
Terryallan
Explorer II
Sep 24, 2013
It has always amazed me that folks need electricity so much. WE can camp in a NP on the BRP for 3 days, and not need one second of 120V electricity. Other's can't go 4 hours. Why?
Every thing we have runs off either propane or batteries. They will all last 3 days.
camperdave
Explorer
Sep 24, 2013
as with everything, it's all about context. I have no problem running my loud ass Champion 3000w generator all day long at the track where you can't even hear it over the sound of open piped MX bikes. In a campground? I'll run the 2000w inverter gen a bit to charge batteries, but I don't like it. I won't even fire up the Champion.

I used to be annoyed by the motorhomers that use their generators like just another appliance, but I'm over it now. In the big picture, it's not worth worrying about. I'm much more bothered by drunks yelling and partying late into the night.

Once they figure out how to make solar work when I'm in the shade, I'll be all over that. Until then, it's a few batteries, a 60amp converter, and some generator usage.