Gas or diesel?

wincrasher65 wrote:

Davydd wrote:
I might be able to shed a little light on a diesel generator in a Class B. As I said before I know of one person with a Sprinter that he built DIY with a diesel generator. He told me at Advanced RV Fest and Open House last May that when he installed his it fit in his T1N model (pre 2007). He also told me since then they had modified the generator design that he bought and it is now deeper. I'm not sure which generator he used but he indicated he couldn't do it again.

Those diesel generators in Class B Sprinters are all old links. Advanced RV never followed through or there would have been something mentioned after 2012. When we discussed options at Advanced RV Fest the subject never came up. When I negotiated options for my RV at Advanced RV it was never listed, offered or suggested.

Advanced RV has pushed the envelope on a lot of things. That's their forte. They will build to what a customer wants but if it is simply not feasible they won't do it. In that link all they said is they were going to get one and test it. They never said it was available. There was never any followup. Isn't that telling?

I think if a diesel generator was feasible in a Sprinter Class B van all the manufacturer/converters would be jumping on the idea.

The one that sportsmobile is offering is a fairly large package - 28" x 23" x15". That is a pretty big box you have to find a place for. I suspect the only possible location is behind the rear axle, which makes some tank placement choices difficult depending on your interior layout. Knowing this, it would certainly seem more attractive to a van builder to want to do the 2nd alternator route if they can make it workable. It gets even worse if you select a short wheelbase van and are trying to place both a lp tank and lp generator in an even more limited space.

That's a big generator. I just checked the generator on my Great West Van Legend. It is 22" x 16.3" x 12.8" deep. The clearance of the generator itself from the ground is 9.5" but there is an exhaust pipe that routes out from the bottom and makes a tight bend before going parallel to the ground. That clearance is 7" If you add 2.2" to the generator as that Powertech is then that exhaust pipe clearance would reduce to 4.8". That to me is not feasible. The smallest Onan diesel generator is 18" deep. With that it would mean the exhaust pipe would be 2.2" off the ground and the generator 4.3" off the ground.