Is an RV generator worth it?
My RV has an Onan Microlite 4000 generator that has been well maintained. It now starts but stops running as soon as I release the Start button. My mechanic identifies the problem as electrical and ...
Forum Discussion
jharrell wrote:pnichols wrote:
Here ya go ... 120V AC belt driven "generators" for underhood installation on various vehicles: https://www.fabcopower.com/generat/bgen.htm
Interesting I could not find any googling but thought someone must make them, although it doesn't do anything to regulate the frequency its a 3600 rpm alternator just like my Onan 4000 has so you have to get the pully right and then make sure to high idle the engine at the correct rpm to get 60hz. Their docs warn not to have anything plugged in when not at specific rpm. Any idea on price?
Think I would prefer high output 24 or 48v alternator with rectification charging batteries then running inverter for 120v so it would charge properly driving down the road too.
Hmmm ... they do say it's designed to "operate" at 1200-1500 engine RPM ... maybe that's to insure proper control of frequency (i.e. to keep frequency "around" 60 Hz in that RPM band).
But they do say it will not be damaged at up to 10K RPM spin speed. This is a bit misleading in that customers could possibly infer that the frequency of 60 Hz was somehow kept constant regardless of spin speed up to 10K RPM.
Note at the bottom of the page that they sell an optional solid state voltage regulator to insure constant voltage level regardless of spin speed.
All of the above begs a question: What good does it do to have constant voltage level at any spin speed but at the same time having frequency (Hz) not maintained regardless of spin speed?
I guess that's the solid engineering that Honda uses in their inverter generators to insure constant voltage and frequency at all engine speeds - with only the amount of available current being affected by engine RPM?
