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EagleFixer's avatar
EagleFixer
Explorer
Nov 11, 2015

Running A Generator While On The Road

Hi All,
Sorry if this has been asked before but here goes. We just purchased our first toy hauler. It's a KZ Sportsmen Sportster 355TH12 fifth-wheel. This is also our first fifth-wheel. The unit came with an Onan RV QG 4000 EVAP generator. It also has an outside kitchen with a dorm-style refrigerator. I've been wondering how would items in the fridge keep cold while on the road and not connected to shore power. While reading through the genny handbook, in the Q&A section one of the questions is "Is it practical to power the roof air conditioner with my generator while traveling on the road?" and the answer is "Yes, that is what a generator is for, portable electrical power". Am I reading this wrong or does it mean the generator can be operating while the RV is in motion?

Thanks in advance for your replies.
Eagle Fixer
  • We do it to start the AC on a hot day before we get to the campground. Works great... No worries.... You may stall it from time to time if it's a carb version. I am considering swapping ours out for an EFI model next year to avoid this issue...
  • Sounds like the outdoor kitchen has a dorm-style fridge which is presumably electric only. I would keep everything in the propane/electric fridge if possible and run that on propane. Transfer what you need outside when you're hooked up to shore power. The generator will be using a lot of fuel to run that little fridge. As others mentioned you'll also find that stuff will stay cold in the fridge for a long time. I cool my fridge down a day before I leave, shut it off while I'm on the road, and fire it back up when I get where I'm going (so long as where I'm going is 3 hours away or less). When I do use the fridge on the road I use propane.

    And, like others have said, there's no reason you can't run the generator while you're moving but the question is whether it's efficient to do so. I only run mine for the A/C, not the fridge. Although if I happen to be running the genny for the A/C I'll switch the fridge to electric.
  • if just wanting to run the frig just use propane, if you are worried about it be cold, alot of people have put small computer type fans in the fridge to keep the air moving and have said it did wonders on another site(glamisdunes.com) there was a whole thread on it. do some research and you should find a bunch on it. this is something i want to do with my fridge, it helps alot when it is hot outside. running the gen should not get it any colder than propane will, and while driving the flowing air will help cool the vent and coils on the outside of the fridge.
  • Sam Spade wrote:
    GordonThree wrote:
    just wanted to point out, the fridge will stay cold for a long time, provided you're not in and out of it too often while I has no power


    And the inside fridge should be a dual and propane works well and uses surprisingly little fuel; a LOT less than the gen. will.

    I would have no qualms running the gen going down the road......but not JUST for that little fridge. Keep the stuff that needs to stay cold in the inside one until you are at or near your destination.


    what Sam Spade said ^. We have run our generator to run the furnace when travelling in cold weather but not to run the fridge in warm weather. We run it on propane.
  • GordonThree wrote:
    just wanted to point out, the fridge will stay cold for a long time, provided you're not in and out of it too often while I has no power


    And the inside fridge should be a dual and propane works well and uses surprisingly little fuel; a LOT less than the gen. will.

    I would have no qualms running the gen going down the road......but not JUST for that little fridge. Keep the stuff that needs to stay cold in the inside one until you are at or near your destination.
  • just wanted to point out, the fridge will stay cold for a long time, provided you're not in and out of it too often while I has no power
  • People with motor homes do this all the time. The fact that you have a fifth wheel instead makes me pause to ponder that .... you cannot monitor the generator operation as closely while towing .... still, there is probably no problem doing that anyway. Others will probably chime in here to that effect, I expect.
  • Every Class A Motorhome does so why not a TH? Have run the generator for many hours at a time while underway just to power the roof A/C.