Portable Generator In Place of Onan Built In Generator
Has anyone replaced their Onan generator with a portable generator like a Honda or Yamaha 2000i in their truck camper?
Forum Discussion
The built-in generator is usually big enough to run the whole system where the portable is only good for smaller loads...
Depending where you are from East side or West side of the US you seem to be able to get away with running your generator anytime you want to if it is built-in. I guess no can tell if it is your truck motor running or the generator. This is really more of a problem on EAST side of the US since the WEST SIDE is more open country...
The Portable Generator will not have a good place to store it with the truck camper and is more prone to thief... It is never a good idea to mount the portable generator on the outside in plain view... It is also never a good idea to leave your equipment in plain view unattended...
We had to evaluate why we wanted to have the generator. In my case my 2KW Honda Generator is secured in the tail gate corner of my FOLD-A-COVER hard plastic lockable bed cover. When I need to use my generator I just pull it it out onto the tail gate. The generator is never left unattended at the camp site and goes where I go...
I only use my 2KW Generator to plug my trailer shore power into it at 8AM each day when allowed to run my generator using a RV30A-15A long dogbone type adapter. This re-charges my 255AH battery bank back up to its 90% charge state in a three hour run time so we can run some of our 120VAC items from a 600watt INVERTER and other 12VDC items direct connected to the battery bank. No air conditioner or high wattage items when camping off the power grid.
You may want to evaluate some of these same ideas for your generator setup...
Roy Ken
Depending where you are from East side or West side of the US you seem to be able to get away with running your generator anytime you want to if it is built-in. I guess no can tell if it is your truck motor running or the generator. This is really more of a problem on EAST side of the US since the WEST SIDE is more open country...
The Portable Generator will not have a good place to store it with the truck camper and is more prone to thief... It is never a good idea to mount the portable generator on the outside in plain view... It is also never a good idea to leave your equipment in plain view unattended...
We had to evaluate why we wanted to have the generator. In my case my 2KW Honda Generator is secured in the tail gate corner of my FOLD-A-COVER hard plastic lockable bed cover. When I need to use my generator I just pull it it out onto the tail gate. The generator is never left unattended at the camp site and goes where I go...
I only use my 2KW Generator to plug my trailer shore power into it at 8AM each day when allowed to run my generator using a RV30A-15A long dogbone type adapter. This re-charges my 255AH battery bank back up to its 90% charge state in a three hour run time so we can run some of our 120VAC items from a 600watt INVERTER and other 12VDC items direct connected to the battery bank. No air conditioner or high wattage items when camping off the power grid.
You may want to evaluate some of these same ideas for your generator setup...
Roy Ken
