Generator use

[gja1000]

I have used my generator intermittently a lot in the past couple of years, but next week, I will need to use it for about 65 -70 hours, non-stop. I know generators are made to be used, but I just want to check to see if it is a problem using one for that long. I will be in Houston where it is very hot and humid and will have to run the AC day and night. Is this a problem? Should I turn it off and let it rest every so often? If so, this is a bit of a problem as I will have a couple of dogs with me. Anyway, just checking in with the experts here. Thanks for the advice.

[j-d]

Gia, Drew, Phil, Am I correct thinking all of you, myself as well, have 4KW ONAN generators in the "4KY" Series?

Phil, Please post the specifics of the oil you've chosen for your generator and application. I'm not trying to start an oil debate. LORD Knows there are plenty of them. Just thinking the 10W-40 Valvoline Dino that's in ours now probably isn't the best choice I could make. You think things through and I'd like hear your pick.

For 4KY Owners Everywhere: ONAN builds good equipment. The small engine many think of when they think ONAN is a two cylinder horizontally opposed pressure lubricated engine that runs at 1800 RPM in RV Generator applications. It has low oil pressure protection built in, and might (haven't researched this) also low oil level protection. TMI? Read on. 4KY has a single cylinder, splash lubricated engine that runs at 3600 RPM. It cannot have oil PRESSURE protection due to being splash lubed. No oil pump and that's why 4KY doesn't have an oil filter. Early 4KY's had low oil LEVEL protection but it was deleted years ago. I understand it had so many false positives (shutting down when level was OK) that most 4KY's now in use never had the low level feature.
What all this has to do "with the price of eggs" is that we can run a 4KY till it dies of oil starvation and never know it unless we check the oil level regularly. Generator level, engine stopped, with the dipstick part of the filler cap. The "price" in all this is that a few years ago, several OP's right here at RV.net lost the engines in their 4KY's because they hadn't kept up on checking the oil and keeping them full. I have the carburetor off one that failed in a horse trailer and scrapped after engine ran low on oil. So I check the oil in ours way more often than the limited use it has (400-some hours on the counter and most of current use is exercise).
So Gia, for you... My suggestion is start with a full crankcase of oil that isn't many hours or many seasons old. Have a quart or two of oil with you and check it after say 8-12 hours. If you didn't have to add oil, check it at least daily. I don't think there'll be a problem, but if there is, the downside cost is too high to ignore. You belt in and buckle up on the road. Do the same thing for your generator partner.

[MitchF150]

I dunno... My gen switch has dual watt gauges because it runs on two 4 switch circuits and the circuit that was running just the tv/entertainment center, and the kitchen fridge was at around 1000w when it was all running. The other circuit was running the garage fridge, computer, fish tank, and some other low watt lines and it was pulling around 400 watts when everything was running..

I've not run my trailers AC unit for that long on the gen alone, so can't really say one way or the other.. Just from what I saw my gen switch saying it was drawing. I did have it on eco mode during that time too, so just dunno.. 😉

Mitch

[pianotuna]

Mitch,

The air conditioner is going to draw between 1200 and 1900 watts. Even in eco mode you won't get by on 5 gallons per day.

If the OP can find an inexpensive campground he will be money ahead. https://freecampsites.net/

[MitchF150]

Holly gas consumption Batman! .4 gal an hour.... I ran my Honda 3000i gen hooked up to my house thru a gen switch to run my 2 residential fridges, most lights, computer, tv, microwave and such for about 36 hours during a power outage and it used a whopping 5 gallons of gas...

Ok, the microwave didn't run for the whole time like an AC unit would, but still...

Hope you got a lotta gas!

Good luck..

Mitch

[Isaac-1]

Generally it is a good idea to check the oil about every 24 hours

[pnichols]

For what it's worth, I use somewhat expensive 15,000 mile rated synthetic oil of the recommended high temperatues weight in our built-in generator so as to always be ready for long hot weather runs - just in case we get expectedly or unexpectedly into a situation like the OP describes.

I estimate a fuel usage rate of around 0.4 gallons per hour when powering our air conditioner with the built-in generator, so when starting out with a full 55 gallons in the main engine gas tank we could run our generator for around 70-80 continuous hours before the automatic cutoff that preserves a reserve in the main tank.

[D_E_Bishop]

Assuming you have a 4.0KW Onan gas generator, you can expect to use at a minimum 0.5 gallons per hour running one ac in your class C. This is the generally accepted consumption.

I have an 80 gallon tank so I could probably be okay for the entire time, your rig on the other hand may need refueling either by pump or by manual can transfer.

More information would have gotten more and better answers.

[romore]

What generator do you have? I would hesitate to subject a cheap HF unit to that kind of use. Other than going through a lot of fuel you should be alright although you may get tired of listening to it. Change the oil before you go and check the level each time you refill the tank or every five hours or so. DO NOT refuel with the unit running.

[DrewE]

That's not a problem at all so far as the generator is concerned. Stopping and letting it cool down and restarting it cold would be harder on it than letting it run. It's not going to be any hotter after ten hours than after one or two.

You'll probably have to purchase gasoline at least once and possibly twice for that length of runtime, or obviously more frequently if traveling. If perchance it's a propane generator, you'll need propane several times. The generator should be shut down while refueling, just as for the main engine; that is legally required in most if not all states, besides just being good common sense. It would not hurt to check the oil level and add some if needed at the same time.