Generator Wiring Question

Wilbur wrote:
My MH 5k gen is dead! Thinking about replacing it with a 2.8K to power roof air while on highway and maybe a coffee pot too. The MH has 2 circuits; a 30 amp and 20 amp. The power cord plugs into an on-board receptacle for genrator use. Since the 5K had L1 and L2 circuits, it seems that they can be wired together to connect to the new gen output wire. That should make both cicuits hot with a total limit of 30 amps. Is this correct?

The 20amp breaker on the genset is for the rear air only with a small plug in relay that senses where the power is coming from so that when on shore power, it's controlled by the rear air breaker on the house box. When on the genset, it's fed by this said 20amp breaker. Best way and this if for everybody, is to split the rear air circuit with a plug and outlet, known as a dual power adapter and use a separate circuit at the pedestal for the rear air. In your case for a different genset, use another or install another 20amp outlet. I don't think it would be wise to parallel these circuits in any event.

I had a 5K Kohler in my Georgieboy MH. I very seldom used the gen except when rolling on a highway for the roof air. The larger 4K Onan, which I prefer, will not have enough room in the compartment for air/cooling. You are correct, power management must be factored, but not a big issue in my case.

Wilbur, do I understand your question is this: You had two hot wires from motor home connected to the two circuit breakers on 5000 generator, now can both these wires be connected to the single output on the 2.8 gen?

Is the old gen an Onan 5BGE or BGM, and are you looking at using an Onan 2800 as replacement? Also is MoHo a Winnebago? You should be able to do do that, but the 2.8 gen is only going to have a 25Amp c/b, so you are limited to that amount. You are going to have to do some serious power management with the 2.8. Remenber that the power converter is an often forgotten load that you have to factor in when doing load calculations. Do you not have room for the 4000 Onan Microquiet unit which is only slightly larger than the 2.8?

Wilbur wrote:
My MH 5k gen is dead! Thinking about replacing it with a 2.8K to power roof air while on highway and maybe a coffee pot too. The MH has 2 circuits; a 30 amp and 20 amp. The power cord plugs into an on-board receptacle for genrator use. Since the 5K had L1 and L2 circuits, it seems that they can be wired together to connect to the new gen output wire. That should make both cicuits hot with a total limit of 30 amps. Is this correct?

Short answer: YES.

Longer answer... I am assuming your RV is a 50 amp... IF you plug in using a dogbone adapter at a 30 amp site.. This is EXACTLY what happens in the adapter

True 50 amp outlet
50 amp service
Neutral
L1 (Hot) l2
Ground

50 amp to 30 amp
Adapted outlet
neutral
Hot ------Hot
Ground

The two hots are connected together.

So the 30 amp dogbone does exactly what you are planing, IT WILL WORK

I'm confused. Do you have a single power cord that you are plugging into the existing generator to power both circuits? And now do you want to plug this cord into the new generator? If so, is it a 30 amp plug or a 50 amp plug (does it have 3 or 4 prongs?).

The size of the compartment prevents me from using the larger genset. Just have to be mindful not to overload the gen. My main concern is the described wiring setup. I would like to have both circuits hot/available in case I want to stop, turn off the front air, then snooze with the rear air over the bed. Nonetheless, thanks for the input.

My 4K recently went south so I replaced it with a 5K... I only have 1 roof air unit and the reason I went larger instead of smaller is that even with the 4K you would have to turn the roof air off if you wanted to run the microwave or make coffee as it would overtax the generator.. I would think a 2.8K would be working very hard to power 1 roof air unit alone.. If you want to figure your power output, Volts X Amps = Watts.. A coffeepot uses about 1200 watts alone and that is about half of your generator output already..