Can I run my Onan while plugged into shore power?
My new to me 5th wheel has an Onan 5500 generator. Can I exercise the Onan while being plugged into shore power at home?
Forum Discussion
mr_andyj wrote:
The main reason to run the gen is to move the awful ethanol gas through. For this you do not need a load to be placed on the generator head or the engine.
The other reason is to exercise the generator head, which you DO NOT need to do weekly or even monthly. It is good to do once a month or every two months, but depending on the gen it is not really that necessary.
On my old Onan I would let it sit all winter, and even a few years for one sitting, and all was fine. I could not tell any difference in either the gen or the engine.
If you will not use it for a while it is best to run the carb dry or at least use Stabil gas additive to keep the gas from turning to varnish in the carb. There are other methods of course...
As for transfer switches or circuit breakers or however your particular RV switches I, nor anyone, can say, that is particular to your setup.
Are these recommendations comming from Cummins Onan? I can't find those recommendations anywhere. Cummins suggests 30 days for a load exercise and it is to warm up the generator head and expell any moisture causing corrosion. Time would likely depend a lot on environment of storage. Gascondition is, again, greatly affected by storage conditions, mostly moisture.
