Generator question

[Campinfan]

I am thinking of getting a generator for my fifth wheel. Not sure which route I should go and why. Do I go for an onboard generator or a portable and how big for either? I want to primarily use it for traveling to distant locations (the trip there) and not for when I get there. In other words, I will not be boondocking other than stopping for the night (or when tired) and catching some shut eye for a few hours or overnight. Any help would be appreciated. I have 2 AC's but not sure if I would be using both of them on the trip to lets say Florida for example.

[fj12ryder]

"What do you intend to run that requires AC power for the duration of that stop?" Air conditioner/s?

[deltabravo]

Campinfan wrote:
here is my example, I am heading out west and it is a long 2 day trip. Instead of stopping for the evening and night at a campground (and trying to find one that is easy access,etc, I could just stop at a rest area or a truck stop and get a few hours of sleep and then off we go again.

What are your power needs when stopped for a few hours of sleep?
What do you intend to run that requires AC power for the duration of that stop?

[fj12ryder]

"None is as quiet as the Honda."

May have something to do with a more powerful engine to drive the generator to produce more power?

[handsome51]

You know the old saying you get what you pay for. If you want a quiet generator you have to spend the extra money and buy a Honda generator.
Besides being a good generator they seem to be more quiet then the other brands which are cheaper. My first generator was a Honda 2200 watt I bought in 1983. It still works as good as it did back in 1983. And their is no telling how many hours are on it. I bought it to run my roof air in my cab over camper I bought. I had the cabover for 23 years. Right now I have a champion in my truck bed to run one 15,000btu coleman ac on my 5th wheel. It is not as quiet as my Honda. I also have a bigger Firman generator for power outages at the house when a Hurricane comes in or the power company wants to cut my electricity off during a freeze like they did in 2021. None is as quiet as the Honda.

[StirCrazy]

Lantley wrote:
While I understand some may be not concerned about sound. Decibel rating is an important parameter for most.
When it comes to sound it is not so much about the users interpretation of the sound. It becomes more important to consider the generator sound's impact on those in the area close enough to hear the genset

yup, I have seen people put there genny out in the bush so it is quiet at there site, but the people in the site next to them that there genny is now 20 feet away from, cant even thing because of the noise.

to me no genny is best, but thats just my opinion as in 39 years of camping in rv's I have only even needed ac once and that was during that heat wave we had two summers ago, but I do realize some people need them for AC down south, or if you camp in dense bush and get no sunlight. and ya for running ACs solar can get expensive but for the rest of the reasons for a genny you can usaly get set up with solar for cheeper.

After that heat wave I am thinking of getting a genny just for that one reason trying to be comfortable in 120 degree heat just sucks with out it. I don't think I have the space required for enough solar to be able to run a genny all day and I do have the genny compartment in the front of my 5th wheel where I curently have my batteries. when I move to LFP for the 5th wheel. my other option would be to just use my noisy champion 4000watt generator and leave it in the back of the truck for emergencys. not sure whats better. the other issue I face is the genny rules in parks around here.. 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening (8-10 and 6-8 normaly) during that heat wave last year they waved the restrictions in the areas that were in the heat dome.

I struggle with using the champion as I am the first person that gets ticked off when a genny starts up at 8 am while I am enjoying my peacefull coffee, so I don't want to be that guy so I think quietness would be the most important feature if I buy a new one.

[Veebyes]

Lantley wrote:
While I understand some may be not concerned about sound. Decibel rating is an important parameter for most.
When it comes to sound it is not so much about the users interpretation of the sound. It becomes more important to consider the generator sound's impact on those in the area close enough to hear the genset

BINGO! So often people post "Oh my generator is quiet. I can barely hear it". What they are not saying is that they are not outside listening to the thing roar away at 3600RPM using it's full potential output or not.

Your generator can be heard from a long long way away. It may not be loud but it is there.

Yes, there is a need for generators but if getting one, get an inverter generator. It produces PSW 120VAC. It will spend most of the time not much above idle. It will be much cheaper to run. It is truly quiet. Your neighbours will smile at at you instead of scowling at you.

[Lantley]

While I understand some may be not concerned about sound. Decibel rating is an important parameter for most.
When it comes to sound it is not so much about the users interpretation of the sound. It becomes more important to consider the generator sound's impact on those in the area close enough to hear the genset

[LMHS]

May I make a suggestion?

When you are looking at the fuel use of the generators, many manufacturers list it XX hours at XX gallons. What they often do not mention is that those figures are for operating at 50% of running watts.

When I sized for my bus, I added up what I wanted to operate. Upped the starting watts for all the compressors (I doubled running watts to get my compressor start ups). I only figured one AC unit since I would only run AC in the bedroom overnight. Then I doubled all that. That's how I came up with the running watts I needed.

Another thing you have to be very careful about, or ignore it completely, is the decibel ratings. Seems like no two manufacturers use the same distance. I have a cheap open frame contractor LP generator. I can stand at the from of my 40 ft bus and I can carry on a normal conversation with the generator running at the rear of the bus. For that my suggestion is to find youtube videos and listen to the generators.

Since I operate my generator in parking lots, normally next to a semi-truck that is idling all night long, I don't really care a whole lot about the decibel rating.

[Grit_dog]

samsontdog wrote:

Johnny G1 wrote:
Honda 3000i and you will have one of the best generators, a little heavy but will power pretty well everything including air.

I had a EU 3000 Honda, one yr old, that would not run my 13,500 AC in
Lake Tahoe, it would run for a while then die. I sold it and bought two
EU 2,000 Hondas and no more problems where I run them

There was a problem then. The genny was not undersized.

[Cptnvideo]

ScottG wrote:
I have no dog in this fight but I always thought a huge advantage of a built-in was that you could cool the interior off as your going down. Seems like it would be nice to do when driving all day in the heat.

We do that now (run an A/C), but without running a generator. Admittedly, we typically don't drive more than 3 hours per day.

[ScottG]

I have no dog in this fight but I always thought a huge advantage of a built-in was that you could cool the interior off as your going down. Seems like it would be nice to do when driving all day in the heat.

[Lantley]

It's hard to swallow the price of a built in. A retro fit install is even more expensive. A portable will do the job, it will just require more input from you!
After using a portable for awhile you will get a better understanding of the small additional conveniences the built in provides

[Campinfan]

When I make the purchase, I am leaning toward a portable unit. When I buy my next RV, I will look at an onboard unit. I would prefer that but at about 8 times the cost of more, plus installation, divided by the amount of times I will probably use it on this fifth wheel, it just makes more sense to use the smaller option now and if my usage of it increases, then I will know what to do next time.

[samsontdog]

Johnny G1 wrote:
Honda 3000i and you will have one of the best generators, a little heavy but will power pretty well everything including air.

I had a EU 3000 Honda, one yr old, that would not run my 13,500 AC in
Lake Tahoe, it would run for a while then die. I sold it and bought two
EU 2,000 Hondas and no more problems where I run them