onan gen vs portable gen?

westend wrote:
Do these Onan gensets have a good fuel filter? Is the tank steel or plastic?

I don't have a dog in this fight but am always curious about small engines. From postings on this Forum I know the replacement of the carb is the typical fix for fuel related problems and some folks seem to have a rash of them. I've had my hands on more than a few fuel systems and constant fuel related problems typically is related to tanks or the quality of the fuel.

Also, I seem to recall that the OP had a failed furnace so was thinking about running the genset while underway, powering electric heaters. I don't know if that became SOP but is a sure fire way to stir up any residue in the tank and consequent carb problems.

The bit about the lying A-hole mechanic is just the reason I ended my career as a wrench turner. I wasn't too happy crawling around under someone's rig just to be treated like a thief when the work was completed. My suggestion would be to buy $5K worth of tools, tune your memory to remember more parts than a Doctor, douse yourself in petroleum, and perform some of this work. BTW, be prepared to be treated like a thief because your customer doesn't understand how things work.

True story, but like any industry there are plenty of shady rip off wrench turners.
Like the "best trans shop in town" that wanted $2300 labor just for starters to replace a clutch in my truck. Because "they tear down the trans to make sure there are no other problems". Funny, took me 8 hrs to do the first one about 6 years ago with a trans jack in my garage and a decent honest shop charged me like $600 labor and about another $150 for machining and new pilot bearing.
$300 labor to put a new carb on a gen set is hiway robbery unless you have to disassemble the camper for 2 hours to get to it.