Calss C motorhome - On board ONAN generator

Coach-man wrote:
Several people have asked why, I am not a mind reader but, you should "exercise" the gen set at least once a month!

Well yes but that doesn't have to be exactly a month.

I haven't done a LOT of trips yet but have yet to go out when I didn't need to run the gen at least once during the trip.

I do mine every month, without a problem, summer time, (if not actually camping) I turn the AC on, microwave a bag of popcorn, & watch a dvd, to put a load on the genny,(with a cold amber beverage).
NEVER had a problem.
WHY, too lazy to unplug, besides, never found a reason to.

Several people have asked why, I am not a mind reader but, you should "exercise" the gen set at least once a month! However, to the OP in order to properly exercise your gen set, you should put it under load. You need to determine if you have a transfer switch, or you must plug your power cord into the gen set. Then run it until it gets up to operating temperature for at least 15 minuets. Turn on something that draws enough amps to ensure that the coils dry out, I used to operate the A/C even in winter.

Our first Class C, an older Holiday Rambler, had the "outlet" arrangement, no Transfer Switch. Actually, it had "generator prep" but no generator when we bought it. I added a used ONAN BFA "RV 4.0 GenSet" and when I went to wire it, I found out that was how it worked.

Interestingly, it had an extra outlet in the kitchen, marked "Generator" and it would power up without plugging the shore tie into that outlet as pictured above. I guess the idea was you could stop and run the microwave, make a pot of coffee, etc. without plugging in outside.

We traveled plugged in, then switched at the campsite, plugged to travel home.

The scenario for Transfer Switch is Sudden Storm, Power Goes Out. Just crank the genny and stay dry. That happened exactly once, before we had an ATS.

I've found that the ATS transfer From Shore TO Generator is seamless. Going the other way is NOT. So, even though we have an ATS, I take the 120VAC load OFF before switching over.

Our Jayco (signature) is very Entry Level, but it has an ATS.

Sam Spade wrote:
...The most common arrangement for a C is like the last picture......and the power cord feeding the RV...

surprising... we have a relatively inexpensive rig and it has the Automatic Transfer Switch

to the OP ..... why?

Just because you can doesn't necessarily mean that you should.

Why would you want to ??

The most common arrangement for a C is like the last picture......and the power cord feeding the RV can get it's power from only ONE place at a time.
So if you leave that cord plugged into the shore power and run the gen, it will have no load at all.....and will be accomplishing nothing, except exercising it maybe.

Two ways gen powers an RV

Either it is hard wired to a 'transfer switch' along with shore power cord.
OR
You have to plug shore power cord into an outlet that is from generator output

Look for the plug in like this

While we are camping seasonally, 4 - 5 months in the summer, we still exercise the generator. We leave the camper plugged into shore power while doing so. That is the point of the Automatic Transfer Switch.

-Michael

I'm probably overly paranoid but, I always unplug from shore power before starting my generator.

Just in case.

Hi,

Switching under load may, over time, burn the contacts in the transfer switch.

It may not be "best practice" to run the generator while plugged into shore power.