Ok so I recently bought a Champion 3100 inverter generator and used it last week end in the bed of my pick-up. It worked great but I got to thinking - My TH has a generator box built into the unit and I was wondering why couldn't put the portable in the housing and run a exhaust extension ( aval. on ebay ) out the bottom of the unit? The generator housing area has a fully louvered door so I assume it would get enough O2 to breath? I would prob need to order the external tank kit and mount it on the tongue. I figure you could wrap the exhaust with the high temp insulation stuff. Any reason why this isn't a viable option. Note - my unit already has a auto transfer switch installed so that makes wiring it up pretty easy - I think

As long as it got sufficient cooling it should work fine. I guess it would depend on how noisy it is as to whether it would be annoying from inside the trailer.

I would think it could be done as long you can divert exhaust away from TH and genny gets the airflow it needs to avoid overheating. Champion would no doubt frown on this type of installation and may not warranty unit (should they find out) used in this manner. We have a Champion 3100 with remote start and it would have been nice to use our genny compartment at least to store it while going down the road, won't happen as there is an Onan installed. No biggie we just roll it out of the garage when unloading the toys.I've heard of others mounting their portable generators in exterior compartments on a sliding tray, they then just slide their units out when they intend to operate them. Refueling the unit is an issue although adding an extended tank kit may alleviate the hassle.There is no reason you couldn't at least see if it will work for you if you have the time and money. I would be happy if I could just store our Champion 3100 in the genny compartment while traveling down the road. Upon arrival simply pop it out and plug in shorepower cord.

Because it's not designed to operate in a confined space. A built in generator has a fan that draws in a large volume of air for cooling and exits out the bottom of the compartment around the exhaust.

Good points - the air flow issues could be solved with electric fans I think. One of the main benefits in my mind is that it can run while being out of the rain / snow.

The exhaust extension is a concern. That will put more back pressure and I can see that resulting in shorter life. I've used one of the Gen-turi RV units, it doesn't any back pressure since it's the warm exhaust that flows up the "chimney". Above all you want to make sure that you are not getting exhaust fumes inside the RV. Check the location of your C0 detector and consider mounting one in the bedroom closer to the generator area.

mounting a portable gen in a gen housing on TH - why not?

deltabravo
Nomad
Jul 01, 2016
Y-Guy wrote:
The exhaust extension is a concern.

Also, Adding an extension to a generator that isn't designed for one is not going to meet UL / safety specs.
nayther
Explorer
Jul 01, 2016
I'd mount an exhaust fan on one side of the door louvers, blowing out and along with the exhaust extension it should work OK.

For safety definitely need a couple of CO detectors.
Txsurfer
Explorer
Jul 01, 2016
Thanks SoCal but I want to be able to run the unit it while driving. I'm just going to keep in the bed of my truck - I have a hard roll top cover and it fits under it so I can lock it up when needed. I think I will do the exhaust stub with about 12" of flex hose to divert some of the hot exhaust above the tail gate.
SoCalDesertRid1
Explorer
Jun 30, 2016
If you put it on a sliding drawer type frame that slides the generator all the way outboard of the compartment, your cooling and exhaust issues are solved...
colliehauler
Explorer III
Jun 30, 2016
Txsurfer wrote:
Good points - well I can always just keep it in the bed of my truck.. it works fine and is out of the elements for the most part. Just always looking for a better idea.. thanks everyone
Like I said I think it is doable, and with remote start and the electric hookup with transfer switch would be handy. Just would take some engineering to get it right. Get it wrong and the concequnce could be severe.
Txsurfer
Explorer
Jun 30, 2016
Good points - well I can always just keep it in the bed of my truck.. it works fine and is out of the elements for the most part. Just always looking for a better idea.. thanks everyone
colliehauler
Explorer III
Jun 30, 2016
Txsurfer wrote:
OK - how does a built in unit solve that problem? bigger fan? how does it evacuate the hot air out of the compartment?
See my reply to fj12ryder. You could do the same with a high volume fan exiting out the bottom of the compartment. It would draw fresh air in through the vents and exit out the bottom.

The other alternative is to buy a purpose built Onan that is designed for compartment mounting.
colliehauler
Explorer III
Jun 30, 2016
fj12ryder wrote:
On my Onan the bottom of the compartment is pretty open and I assume that's for ventilation. The sides and top are enclosed, but the bottom is vented pretty well. I see that yours looks like there is no way to pull air in other than the door. I would think you'd need some way to pull outside air in, then over the generator, and out the door.

If you ran it like that the compartment would be an oven in a pretty short period of time.
Your Onan pulls air in from the front vents with a fan that's part of the motor. The hot air flows out by the muffler and exhaust pipe through a large opening in the bottom of the compartment. This keeps the air in the compartment at a reasonable temperature.
fj12ryder
Explorer III
Jun 30, 2016
On my Onan the bottom of the compartment is pretty open and I assume that's for ventilation. The sides and top are enclosed, but the bottom is vented pretty well. I see that yours looks like there is no way to pull air in other than the door. I would think you'd need some way to pull outside air in, then over the generator, and out the door.

If you ran it like that the compartment would be an oven in a pretty short period of time.
Txsurfer
Explorer
Jun 30, 2016
OK - how does a built in unit solve that problem? bigger fan? how does it evacuate the hot air out of the compartment?

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mounting a portable gen in a gen housing on TH - why not?

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