onan 5500 running AC

Google 'Genturi'. For those who run gens all night these are a Godsend. I never could sleep with a gen running because of worrying about the fumes until I got one of these. I do not open the cabinet door and have never heard anyone complaining about one overheating. I'm sure Onan has an overheat protection function built in but I have never heard of one tripping it.

Leave the cabinet door closed. It helps with sound reduction and yes to the Genturi. The Onan 5500 is designed for use in an enclosed cabinet and mine has never ever overheated even with both my a/c's running. The hot air exiting down from the Onan will turn green grass brown very quickly however.

At our races, we would run two ACs all night in the wicked southern humid heat. As per my dealer's recommendation, we would always leave the door closed. The way its built, the design is supposed to help it cool better with the door closed. At least that's what they told me. But never a problem for hundreds of hours.

The only time we had problems with fumes was when we had to lower the front end of the camper to get it level. Twice, we had to lower the front end quite a bit to get level and both times, we were awakened around 1:00am by the CO detector going off. I had to put a fan underneath the camper those nights to blow the fumes away but after that, we never picked a spot where we had to lower the front.

Genturi kit yes

Interesting answers about the cabinet door....

I just got my first Onan last year, and while at the races, ALMOST every trailer with one had the door open ??

I run my Onan with the doors closed. The only foolproof way to be safe from CO and exhaust fumes is to use a Genturi.
Otherwise you are taking a gamble. Not only are you gambling with those inside you own RV but you are gambling with those around you if you are parked close like at a race track.
There has been more than one incident of CO poisoning caused by the rig next door.

Lots of good opinions. I had heard they were designed to run with the door closed but not from a reliable source. Consensus here seems to be Door closed.

Good to hear many have run all night with AC on. Will look into the Genturi kit.
Usually Very disperest camping so not worried about trailers near me but oldest son and I do drag race a ford lightning so it will spend some weekends in the pits.

ford truck guy wrote:

I just got my first Onan last year, and while at the races, ALMOST every trailer with one had the door open ??

Opening the door on the RV compartment is OK; opening the door on the actual generator housing is NOT.

I have a little fan that I put under there to redirect the HOT cooling air out from under the frame. Otherwise it rises and makes the floor hot(er).

lightning driver wrote:
I had heard they were designed to run with the door closed but not from a reliable source.

My reliable source is a sticker that Onan puts right on the generator door.

As to the original question, you won't know for sure until you get there. Many times, in the desert SW the temp goes WAY down as the sun sets and you might be able to turn it off around midnight. I do that even in the SE where the humidity stays high at night.

Bring lots of gas with you. I only ran mine 24/7 one time over Labor Day weekend at Fontana Speedway. I had the AC running the whole time and it was paradise inside. I went through a lot of gas though.