My Jamboree Build
For a long time I have wanted to buy a small Class C motorhome that I could use throughout Colorado for riding events as well as outings with my 2 kids. As time went by, I decided to buy a used veh...
Forum Discussion
Your Onan 2800 cannot be started if the coach batteries are too low and if your rig does not have a boost switch in the cab to parallel a charged up engine battery with the coach batteries to temporarily make a large battery with enough energy left to turn over the Onan.
The boost switch can boost both ways - help start the engine if the engine battery is too low and help start the Onan generator if the coach batteries are too low.
However if, due to some unforeseen reason, you someday are faced with both sets of batteries being too low, you cannot start either the engine or the Onan. Hence a manually started little generator to bail you out of this situation.
The little generator of course can also quietly and fuel-efficiently charge your coach batteries during a long string of cloudy days even if you have solar.
Here's a recent real life example of a small Class C RV backup generator being worth it's weight in gold: Our traveling friends (they have a 24 foot Jamboree Class C) had their propane furnace quit working a couple of weeks ago when we were both drycamping in Quartzsite. The winter nights are sometimes cold there for sleeping - plus they like to relax a bit before bundling up for bed by reading and playing movies. To provide some evening heat and for pre-heating of their rig for sleeping they had a problem (... you have a unique small wood heater for this type of situation - if it can be relied on function-wise and safety-wise and if you always carry fuel for it).
They carry a backup little Honda generator along in addition to their built-in Onan - just like we do. They did not want the noise of their big Onan running late into the evening before bed time, so they just pulled out their little ultra-quiet Honda and connected their rig's shore cable up to it. They set up their small 1500 watt electric heater inside on it's low wattage setting, set up their TV for movies, and were snug as a bug in a rug the entire evening with the little generator running outside providing power for heat and entertainment while at the same time further charging their coach battery bank. Their small Honda could not be heard inside their motorhome and we could not hear it inside our motorhome parked 15 feet from them.
Part of the way we camp, due to our frequent drycamping, relies on options always being available - always have Plans A, B, and ideally a Plan C - just in case.
Since we're talking Class C motorhomes here with small interior volumes, the great V10 engine and cab heating/air conditioning systems in the fairly recent model Ford cutaway van chassis can be an excellet emergency and drycamping Plan C: Our entire motorhome can be kept cozy warm or cozy cool by only Ford's cab systems powered for hours by a very quietly idling V10 main engine fueled from a 55 gallon tank.
Again, of course feel free to ignore any of the over-the-top stuff above. :W
The boost switch can boost both ways - help start the engine if the engine battery is too low and help start the Onan generator if the coach batteries are too low.
However if, due to some unforeseen reason, you someday are faced with both sets of batteries being too low, you cannot start either the engine or the Onan. Hence a manually started little generator to bail you out of this situation.
The little generator of course can also quietly and fuel-efficiently charge your coach batteries during a long string of cloudy days even if you have solar.
Here's a recent real life example of a small Class C RV backup generator being worth it's weight in gold: Our traveling friends (they have a 24 foot Jamboree Class C) had their propane furnace quit working a couple of weeks ago when we were both drycamping in Quartzsite. The winter nights are sometimes cold there for sleeping - plus they like to relax a bit before bundling up for bed by reading and playing movies. To provide some evening heat and for pre-heating of their rig for sleeping they had a problem (... you have a unique small wood heater for this type of situation - if it can be relied on function-wise and safety-wise and if you always carry fuel for it).
They carry a backup little Honda generator along in addition to their built-in Onan - just like we do. They did not want the noise of their big Onan running late into the evening before bed time, so they just pulled out their little ultra-quiet Honda and connected their rig's shore cable up to it. They set up their small 1500 watt electric heater inside on it's low wattage setting, set up their TV for movies, and were snug as a bug in a rug the entire evening with the little generator running outside providing power for heat and entertainment while at the same time further charging their coach battery bank. Their small Honda could not be heard inside their motorhome and we could not hear it inside our motorhome parked 15 feet from them.
Part of the way we camp, due to our frequent drycamping, relies on options always being available - always have Plans A, B, and ideally a Plan C - just in case.
Since we're talking Class C motorhomes here with small interior volumes, the great V10 engine and cab heating/air conditioning systems in the fairly recent model Ford cutaway van chassis can be an excellet emergency and drycamping Plan C: Our entire motorhome can be kept cozy warm or cozy cool by only Ford's cab systems powered for hours by a very quietly idling V10 main engine fueled from a 55 gallon tank.
Again, of course feel free to ignore any of the over-the-top stuff above. :W
