Towing with gen running??

[mowdoc]

I have read some of you will start the generator an hour before arriving at destinations. Here is my dilemma;

I am pulling the Fusion to Lake Havasu City AZ after work tomorrow. It will be 121 degrees when I get there!! I plan to run the A/C all night tonight and tomorrow plugged into the pedestal at home but the trip is 3.25 hours and the ONLY chance I have for sleeping comfortably Wednesday night is if I run the gen and both A/Cs for the trip on the road.

What do you think?? Am I alright running down the hiway for 3 hours with genny and A/Cs running?? Or should I plan to sleep on an air mattress in the lake!!!

[KATOOM]

People choose to live in these climates? :h

[64thunderbolt]

wayward1 wrote:

KATOOM wrote:
Does anyone run a thicker viscosity oil in their gen during triple digit camping temps? That "may" help the long constant run times under heavy load.

We run Amsoil or Mobil One synthetic in the generators. Use the right viscosity for the expected temps. Run the Onan 5500 on the road all the time. Our HR stays cool. Another trick is to park with the awning toward the rising sun, darn near eliminates the gain from the sun in the morning till the sun gets to the roof. Most units don’t gain as much through the roof as the sides. If possible have the driver’s side in the shade in the afternoon. Lots to think about but where you park can make a huge difference! Another trick is to have foil backed Styrofoam panels cut for your windows. Place them on the sunny side, these help in winter to hold in more heat at night.

In our Az temps it really wouldn't help if you had an awning on both sides. When you are in temps approaching 120 and overnight lows in the 90's you are just screwed trying to cool them.

[wayward1]

KATOOM wrote:
Does anyone run a thicker viscosity oil in their gen during triple digit camping temps? That "may" help the long constant run times under heavy load.

We run Amsoil or Mobil One synthetic in the generators. Use the right viscosity for the expected temps. Run the Onan 5500 on the road all the time. Our HR stays cool. Another trick is to park with the awning toward the rising sun, darn near eliminates the gain from the sun in the morning till the sun gets to the roof. Most units don’t gain as much through the roof as the sides. If possible have the driver’s side in the shade in the afternoon. Lots to think about but where you park can make a huge difference! Another trick is to have foil backed Styrofoam panels cut for your windows. Place them on the sunny side, these help in winter to hold in more heat at night.

[dedmiston]

Sorry to hear the trip was a bust.

Sturgis should be a completely different animal though.

Don't worry about your rig. Things are always bound to come up. You just have to be creative and adapt. You'll get through it.

[thinkpt]

steiny93 wrote:
ouch
crazy temps; our -30 really don't seem so bad right now 🙂

Sorry, they still seem that bad to us:)

[mowdoc]

Trip update

I manage all equipment at a 54 hole golf resort. I know a little about small air cooled engines. My main concern was the A/C units.

I had ran the A/C off shore power at the house for 24 hours before we hooked up to leave. It was 74 inside and all the furniture and cabinets were cooled down to room temps. I started the genny and ran the front A/C during the 3 hour pull to the campground. The outside temp hit 123 in a couple places as we got close to the destination but was 122 where we camped. The genny ran fine as did the A/C except it was no help at all. The inside temp was 122 as we started setting up camp!! I guess the Fuzion insulation can't handle hiway speed.

Once on shore power again I started both A/C units and they were busy. They ran all night and had the camper down to 78 by 5:00am Thursday morning. Shortly after sunrise the inside temp began climbing at a very fast pace?? I began looking around and found the rear A/C was not cooling. I took the cover off and could see the fans was running as was the compressor. It got over 100 degrees inside that day as one A/C had no chance in this heat.

We packed up and left for home at 1:30am Friday morning and the trip was a total bust. Dealer has a complete new A/C unit ordered and should be here early next week. He said the old one had "lost some oil". I did not notice that when I had the cover off but it was very hot at the time and I was mainly looking at the compressor and fan.

I am very disappointed in the Fuzion's insulation and the fact that an almost brand new A/C failed so early. It prolly doe not have 100 hours on that rear A/C unit.

Our next trip with this camper is two weeks at the Sturgis motorcycle rally in S.D. and we leave in 15 days. I am a little nervous to be going that far from home with a now undependable rig.

So, to answer the original question in this thread. . . . YES, you can run the genny at high temps on the road, , , but it won't help!!!

[KATOOM]

mapguy wrote:

KATOOM wrote:
Does anyone run a thicker viscosity oil in their gen during triple digit camping temps? That "may" help the long constant run times under heavy load.

Sure, but always stay in the class and weight range the owners manual chart details.

Absolutely, but more often than not, most people treat their generator like a rented mule. Run it hard, long, and never bother making sure the oil is the right viscosity.....or rarely ever changed. I've seen gen's running in situations where I'm shocked its even supplying electricity its so hot out.

[capt205]

We do it all the time when its hot out, for that very reason...Nice cool AC.

[mapguy]

KATOOM wrote:
Does anyone run a thicker viscosity oil in their gen during triple digit camping temps? That "may" help the long constant run times under heavy load.

Sure, but always stay in the class and weight range the owners manual chart details.

[KATOOM]

Does anyone run a thicker viscosity oil in their gen during triple digit camping temps? That "may" help the long constant run times under heavy load.

[Doughboy12]

steiny93 wrote:
ouch
crazy temps; our -30 really don't seem so bad right now 🙂

That's what I was thinking... -10 in Minneapolis is a great temp this time of year...:C

[Sandia_Man]

Go for it, I've done it countless times with no issues at both high temps and elevation. I do all my own maintenance and know genny is in top shape so working it hard doesn't bother me at all.

[steiny93]

ouch
crazy temps; our -30 really don't seem so bad right now 🙂

[mowdoc]

lumpy790 wrote:
guess I dont really understand why you would want to?

LP frig?

My AC cools it off quick?

There is a huge difference between the desert and SC. The local TV station baked cookies on the dash of a car Monday. It takes DAYS to cool a hot RV around here. Once you get it cooled off you gotta keep it cool or start all over again.

I started one A/C in my RV at 3:00pm yesterday. It was 117 at the time and 124 inside. I checked this morning after an over night low of 95 and the inside temp was down to 79. I will keep it running all day while I am working then go onto the genny when I hook up to leave town. If I am lucky, the inside will stay below 85 until I can get on shore power at the campground (Crazyhorse). It will be over 120 degrees when I arrive and if the inside temps don't jump up fast while I am setting up, I may be cooled enough to sleep tonight.

If the RV was allowed to set in the sun with no A/C running, , , it would not be livable until tomorrow morning even with two A/C units running all night tonight. The sun is hot, the temps are hotter but the fun at Havasu is worth the effort. (opinion)