running generator all night

We run our Honda 2000 all night very often. We are still here. No it isn't a mile away from our camper, it usually goes where the power cord runs out. We also hardly ever stay at a campground, we are boondocking on BLM land. Our group runs the generators at night to recharge things and run fans etc. We don't want to listen to them during the day. If we are fishing and it is a rainy weekend, it might not shut off all weekend.

I have measured the CO levels coming off of my Honda 2000 and it is not as high as some would have you believe. I know I might get blasted for this, but my flamesuit is on. ;)

The CO level at start up is extremely high, but CO is a product of combustion, and incomplete combustion will cause high CO levels. When any internal combustion engine is warming up, they are extremely inefficient. The little Hondas are no different. Once it got up to temp, the levels dropped low enough that I was comfortable with it. I am not saying it is safe to point at a tent, and I think our camper is sealed a little better than some also. PLUS, I do have a new CO detector in the bedroom, and it has never gone off. I play with CO sensors at work, and I take them seriously at play.

YMMV!

wbwood wrote:
Read somewhere lately where people were saying that the stacks are not advised by the generator companies and could void warranties.

Running a genset without a Genturi especially when parked in tight quarters like a Nascar event or an RV rally can void lives.

It's an easy decision.

It is a generic boiler plate statement to cover their butts. Its intended to warn against long runs of tubing which could create back pressure which COULD damage the engine.

The Genturi does not create any back pressure.

My genset has almost 5000 hours on it, almost all of it with a Genturi attached. There are gensets in the tailgate area with 20,000 hours, no ill affects.

I'll take my chances.

Read somewhere lately where people were saying that the stacks are not advised by the generator companies and could void warranties.

Hawkeye,
There is someone on EBay selling an attachment for the 3000.

I like the stack for the exhaust, but have a Honda 3000 that does not have a pipe coming out for exhaust, but rather a louvered vent across one side on the top.. has anyone rigged a stack for this?

We run our onboard genny as we see fit with regard to whatever rules are in place. We have on a couple of occasions run it through the night but it is rare. We do camp off the grid often in extreme temps (both hot & cold) and have run our genny extensively as required to keep comfortable but there was always a few hours daily where we would turn it off as our rig would remain cool or heated for the duration. I wouldn't hesitate to do so if the situation calls for it, we didn't buy an RV and a HD truck to rough it, just would have kept tenting it and saved a bunch of dough.

Effy wrote:
Everything I have ever read consistently states you should NOT run a genset overnight or while sleeping. I will never do it despite what equipment might be added. It's simply not worth the risk.

Show me a source. I have never read such a statement. We have been tailgating UF football games for over 20 years with hundreds of other RVs in the reserved RV lots. Everyone runs their genset from Friday thru Sunday 24 hours a day, 6-7 games per year and there has NEVER been an incident.

Portable gensets are not allowed and all gensets have to have a stack.

I HAVE heard of a few genset deaths and BOTH were portable with no stack. One was in Gainesville at the drags many years ago. And the other was a few years ago up north, tent campers and someone started their gen up, again, no stack and the exhaust filled their tent.

Fifty people a day die from prescription drug overdoses and 40K+ people die a year on our roads.

About twenty thousand people die a year in hospitals OF THINGS THEY CAUGHT IN THE HOSPITAL.

Those things are dangerous.

We run our generator over night a few times every year. When the low temp is 80 degrees and humidity is over 30%, I'm not toughing it, that's why we bought a motorhome. Actual this past November on our way to Greenville, SC we stop for a quick overnight stop at the Walmart in Columbia, SC. The low that night was 27 degrees. Ran the generator then too with the furnace going and the tank warmers on. It was below freezing when we pulled in after midnight and still below freezing when we drove away at 9 am.

If we are somewhere that we need a generator it is to get a few hours sleep before continuing on. Most likely it is in a Walmart parking lot. Pull in around midnight get on back on the road by 8 - 9 am at the latest. We park away from others and fire it up. The generator is upfront, right behind the cab. Our bed is in the back. The kids either share the dinette or the cabover. Carbon Monoxide detector is in working order on the back side of the dinette.

-Michael

Typically I don't run with the doom and gloom crowd but deaths by carbon monoxide poisoning do happen. I remember reading cases where the genset in particular was to blame. One article was in my local paper. RV's are poorly insulated and not airtight. Everything I have ever read consistently states you should NOT run a genset overnight or while sleeping. I will never do it despite what equipment might be added. It's simply not worth the risk.