I am trying to decide if I really need a portable generator or not. I am purchasing a used camper, 2008 Northern Lite 9-6QSE. It does not have air conditioning, but I am looking in to having a small ac unit added. As part of this I am trying to decide if I would ever need a portable generator to either run the ac, or anything else for that matter. I would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.

We use ours for short periods of time. We charge batteries and sometimes operate 120 volt appliances like the AC, grill toaster. Whether YOU need a genset is based on your style of camping. If you do a lot of dry camping, then you should consider one. I am guessing you are looking at a Polar Cub sized AC unit. You would need to calculate your genset size based on the AC unit plus converter amperage and then what other 120 volt items you are considering.

almost every trip is dry camping and I run it to charge up the batteries each morning and to run the ac when needed

I have 2 generators and have never used them for "camping" even though that was the intended purpose when they were purchased. We always have electric hook up.Now, the generators come in REAL handy at home. We live in the country, and when we have a power failure, those generators come in real handy. I fire them up. Run a couple lines inside the house and split off of them.1 line goes to the freezer and refrigerator. I switch them every hour.1 line goes to the television and Dish Satellite receiver.1 line goes to the internet modem and router.1 line goes to a light bulb.in the winter:1 line goes to the blower on our fireplace.Nice thing about having a generator, you can take it anywhere. Many, many, many years ago, I went to a baptismal. It was at a small river along some guy's property in a cornfield. Someone brought a generator in the back of their pick-up truck and someone else brought their electric organ from their home in the back of their truck and someone else brought an electric guitar and someone else brought a set of drums. They plugged into the generator and it really gave new meaning to the old song, "Shall we gather at the river!"Bottom line of my rant: Generators come in handy for much more than just using your camper.

My wife likes to use her rollers and blow drier after washing her hair in the morning. I run the genny for that. I like to use my induction hot plate for boiling water for the dungeness crab or fish fry when camping at the coast. I have solar to keep the batteries topped off but, if it's hot, I'll run the AC for a few hours during the hottest time of the day. It's worth it to just have on hand when you don't know you might need one.

If you are dry camping for periods of more than your battery's will last then you should consider one.If you have an a/c and dry camp then you'll need one. I dry camp 98% of the time and have three battery's s which need to be charged several times in four to six week trip. When it's colder more charging as battery's loose amps as the temps drop.

How often do you use your portable generator? | Good Sam Community

75 Replies

Ski_Pro_3
Explorer
Jul 12, 2014
The purpose of fuses at each end is because there is a power source at each end. Say you only fused at the truck and the wire shorted between the fuse and the camper batteries. BAM! If there was a fuse at the camper batteries as well, then, no bam.
dadwolf2
Explorer
Jul 12, 2014
DiploStrat wrote:
skipro3 wrote:

Just to remind folks;
Every inch of this circuit needs to be the large gauge wire. From alternator through to your battery posts, or else you won't get the full current potential to rapid charge your batteries. That means bypassing the factory pigtail since it is a smaller gauge wire, and using a plug that is capable of large current loads at 12 volts DC.

Amen, and just to be pedantic:

-- I would recommend that you connect the camper batteries to the starter battery(s), not directly to the alternator(s). Buffers any surges that way.

-- Scholars debate, but I believe that the cable(s) must be fused at each end, as close to each battery as possible. You don't want a 20 foot arc welder under your truck should the cable short for any reason.

Could you provide any pictures of an installation? And are you running a ground wire all the way to the battery too? Assuming a diesel truck with dual batteries, are you running wires to one battery or both or? Not sure I follow have two fuses, one at each end of the cable? You really think it will change the outcome that much?
DiploStrat
Explorer
Jul 12, 2014
skipro3 wrote:

Just to remind folks;
Every inch of this circuit needs to be the large gauge wire. From alternator through to your battery posts, or else you won't get the full current potential to rapid charge your batteries. That means bypassing the factory pigtail since it is a smaller gauge wire, and using a plug that is capable of large current loads at 12 volts DC.

Amen, and just to be pedantic:

-- I would recommend that you connect the camper batteries to the starter battery(s), not directly to the alternator(s). Buffers any surges that way.

-- Scholars debate, but I believe that the cable(s) must be fused at each end, as close to each battery as possible. You don't want a 20 foot arc welder under your truck should the cable short for any reason.
2oldman
Explorer II
Jul 12, 2014
skipro3 wrote:
Every inch of this circuit needs to be the large gauge wire. From alternator through to your battery posts, or else you won't get the full current potential to rapid charge your batteries.
Good job old man. :)
Ski_Pro_3
Explorer
Jul 12, 2014
DiploStrat wrote:
A 6 AWG will pass about 50A. You will be stunned by the improvement in going to a pair of 1/0 or larger. Especially on a twenty foot long truck. This is one time when size REALLY does matter.

I have people tell me that I can't achieve the results that I do until they slap an ammeter on the wires. Most people get poor performance from their engine alternator because they have undersized wires with too many connectors.

N.B. I use exactly the same type of control you do for exactly the same reasons and you are exactly right - it works! ;)

Just to remind folks;
Every inch of this circuit needs to be the large gauge wire. From alternator through to your battery posts, or else you won't get the full current potential to rapid charge your batteries. That means bypassing the factory pigtail since it is a smaller gauge wire, and using a plug that is capable of large current loads at 12 volts DC.
DiploStrat
Explorer
Jul 12, 2014
A 6 AWG will pass about 50A. You will be stunned by the improvement in going to a pair of 1/0 or larger. Especially on a twenty foot long truck. This is one time when size REALLY does matter.

I have people tell me that I can't achieve the results that I do until they slap an ammeter on the wires. Most people get poor performance from their engine alternator because they have undersized wires with too many connectors.

N.B. I use exactly the same type of control you do for exactly the same reasons and you are exactly right - it works! ;)
Ski_Pro_3
Explorer
Jul 12, 2014
Wire gauge will determine the current at the remote batteries. A small wire gauge will drop volts and the batteries won't fully take advantage of the alternator's potential, causing a longer charge time.

I don't think there is concern that the wires will burn up or melt their insulation if sized less than the alternator's max output though.

I use 4 gauge stranded doubled up with a tie for return ground through the truck's frame. Lance sizes their plug for a truck to take some advantage of an alternator's size, but not all of it. I think they use a 6 gauge wire for 12 volt and ground.
DiploStrat
Explorer
Jul 12, 2014
2oldman wrote:

What is the smallest size wire in the circuit when charging the coach from the truck?

With a pair of 125A alternators, I use a pair of 1/0 cables for a 20 foot run. You don't want to go any smaller; a pair of 2/0 would be safer.
2oldman
Explorer II
Jul 12, 2014
skipro3 wrote:
Now, when the Blue Sea senses that the camper batteries are 12.8v or less, it isolates the truck from the camper.
Pretty cool.

What is the smallest size wire in the circuit when charging the coach from the truck?
Ski_Pro_3
Explorer
Jul 12, 2014
2oldman wrote:
skipro3 wrote:
.. they are floating at 13.8 when finished. Close enough for government work! Ha!
Floating on solar? How do you connect your coach batteries to the big alternator to take advantage of it?

Through the Blue Sea battery isolator/automatic charging relay that Lance has on the camper.

The beauty of DC is that you can parallel in several charging sources without too much bother. Unlike AC where the phase must be synch'd first, before cutting into a 'grid'.

So, in my case, I have my solar and my Lance AC battery chargers in parallel to my Lance batteries and to my Blue Sea. Then my truck batteries, with the trucks alternator, on the other side of the Blue Sea.
Now, when the Blue Sea senses that the camper batteries are 12.8v or less, it isolates the truck from the camper. When either truck or camper is above 12.8, then the Blue Sea connects them back again. Great because the solar will charge the camper batteries first, then once those are up to 12.8volts, will begin charging the truck in parallel as well. If the truck batteries are already 12.8 or higher, no problem because they don't represent a load to the charger(s).

It works, I've tested it every which way and my truck and camper batteries are isolated when needed to keep the one from draining the other's batteries and combined when a source, any source allows one or the other to charge above 12.8vdc.

BTW I use a Morningstar solar charger.

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How often do you use your portable generator?

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