Which Generator?

My Onan 4K Microquiet is loud. Have heard many Onan 5500's and they turn a much lower RPM and are quieter. Most of the noise from mine comes from the intake fan and underneath the unit, not the exhaust. Doubt the venture thing would do much for mine

Properly installed at the factory an Onan is not emitting 70db of sound. No matter which brand of paralleled 2K watt inverter generators you use they will sound louder when called on to provide max wattage, as noted you will need three 2K watt generators to reliably run both AC units under most circumstances such as high elevations and extreme temperatures.

My vote is go for the onboard Onan, we love and use ours heavily, over 1K hours and a decade of reliable, one button operation thus far. We did purchase a Champion 3100 with remote start being babied by the convenience offered by our Onan, it easily runs our rig's AC unit on eco-mode and at high elevation. Pairing a couple of the Champion 3400's would be my second choice.

I'll make the question even more confused, what do you think the Onan's noise level would be with a Gen-turi added?

I put a built in Honda generator into my 5er shortly after we bought it new. It has less than 200 hours run time on it.

I would think the advantages and disadvantages would be the same. Here is what I have found:

Advantages:
Don't worry about theft
Runs everything in the trailer
Much more convenient


Trade offs:
Louder than the Hondas
Uses a lot of propane
Wife would rather run an inverter if all we are doing is charging batteries

If I were to do it again, I probably wouldn't install an generator, I'd just go with two inverters and the parallel kits.

paulbeauchemin wrote:
My Jayco Pinnacle fifth wheel is pre-wired for I assume an Onan 5500 Generator

My original plan was to buy a couple of Honda 2000's and hook them together

Looking at the specs for the Onan the sound rating is about 70 dB while the Honda's is 59 (since dB is logarithmic, that is twice as loud)

Just curious what others opinions are of having an on-board generator Vs the Honda's?

Have 2 A/C units to run. Like the quiet of the honda's and the convenience of the Onan

The main advantage to the Onan is that the coach is not only pre-wired, but has knock-outs for the vents and inlets already in place, so no extra jerry-rigging is necessary. A properly installed Onan =should= have no issues with fueling, exhaust and cooling; a DIY install, if not done very carefully, can be downright dangerous. That being said, it still blows my mind that Honda, Yamaha, Champion, etc., all haven't started building gensets for the same application that the Onans are, but are inverters instead of straight generators. OTOH, it still blows my mind that Onan hasn't made an inverter genset, which makes a =whole= lot more sense, since they already have all the patterns and enclosures.

Lyle

I opted for the 6500 when getting my Onan, I upgraded from the twin Honda's. The sound is not noticeable, and the convenience is un matched.... Mine can run the entire trailer without worrying

I would upgrade to the microair easy start kit on each air conditioner. I'd get a Champion 3400 watt inverter generator with remote electric start.

There are kits to put 3 Hondas in parallel. Extended run fuel tanks also.

Are two Honda 2000s going to run two A/Cs?

Bill

Our on board Onan is quieter than our in-laws paired Hondas that sit outside, by far. Side by side maybe the Onan is louder but since it's built in vs sitting outside, you don't notice it.