Forum Discussion

evafla's avatar
evafla
Explorer
Dec 29, 2014

generator economic way

Please advice

Our old onan died
we need generator only for
charging bateries when weather is not sunny
what is the cheapest to buy
how you put gasoline to portable generator ?
do you have to carry contanier with gasoline,
when on distance from gas station ?
or can be portable conected the way so takes from
car tank ?
sorry for ignorance
we live in Mexico, have old Jayco c
2 years ago put small fortune
buying bateries and solar panels
we run fridge on solar
our concern are remote locations and
claudy weather
what to buy please and will any portable
generator work for us ?

thank you
e
Class C

7 Replies

  • Hank85713's avatar
    Hank85713
    Explorer
    Dec 30, 2014
    here are some examples as I dont know where you are:

    http://tucson.craigslist.org/rvs/4822528856.html

    http://yuma.craigslist.org/rvs/4823806204.html portable

    http://sandiego.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=rv%20generator&sort=rel

    http://palmsprings.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=generator&sort=rel

    this the $99.00 one harborfreight.com


    http://www.harborfreight.com/900-Peak700-Running-Watts-2-HP-63cc-2-Cycle-Gas-Generator-EPACARB-60338.html?ccdenc=eyJjb2RlIjoiNjk3OTQ2MzgiLCJza3UiOiI2MDMzOCIsImlzIjoiOTkuOTkiLCJwcm9kdWN0X2lk%0D%0AIjoiOTA1NyJ9%0D%0A
  • Dan_L1's avatar
    Dan_L1
    Explorer
    Dec 30, 2014
    Why don't you repair the Onan?
    Unless you fried the windings in the generator, just about everything else is easily repairable, even repairing or replacing the engine.

    Dan

    evafla wrote:
    Please advice

    Our old onan died
    e
  • Hank85713's avatar
    Hank85713
    Explorer
    Dec 30, 2014
    There are small generators that would do what you need for less than 100$. Not sure how loud they are but they may be 2 stroke (where you mix oil in gas). These can be had from harbor freight and are about 1K output.

    If money is tight there have been numerous ads on craigs list for rv gensets. SOme from calif. So if yours is a jayco it is a gas engine truck so fuel will be readily available for a gen, just have to siphon from the tank so really dont need to carry extra I would think.
  • pnichols's avatar
    pnichols
    Explorer II
    Dec 30, 2014
    Using your main engine and it's alternator to charge RV batteries occasionally when solar won't provide enough, is good advice if your main engine idles quiet and smooth.

    You can fuel an idling main engine an awful long time - total hours for many battery charges - for what you might pay up-front for a generator that you only use here and there over the same long time.

    We once had a superb Chinook Class C motorhome that came with no solar or generator. It was intended by design that we idle the main (GMC 350 V8) here and there to charge it's coach battery.
  • Shadow_Catcher's avatar
    Shadow_Catcher
    Explorer
    Dec 30, 2014
    If all you are looking to do is recharge your battery the easiest way is to use the RV alternator, to do it well http://www.balmar.net
  • pianotuna's avatar
    pianotuna
    Nomad III
    Dec 29, 2014
    Hi,

    Sorry to hear of the loss of the Onan. Do you know what happened?

    Until you can find an inexpensive generator you can just run the engine and the alternator will charge the house battery bank. This works well with the Ford V-10.

    I would go with a generator that can run the air conditioner, if need be.
  • enblethen's avatar
    enblethen
    Nomad
    Dec 29, 2014
    Best to look for a portable genset in the 2000-3000 watt range. If you do not care too much about noise level one like this would do. Remember that CA has some special emission requirements so you may need to get it in AZ.
    Genset
    Yes you would need to carry an extra can for gasoline. Maybe need a cargo rack for rear of MH.

About Motorhome Group

38,756 PostsLatest Activity: Oct 02, 2025