Generators

[Bouch70]

Opinions needed! Our onboard generator went kaput and we can either replace it or just buy a portable one. The new onboard gen would be 4000 watts, it's convenient, charges the coach batteries, uses gas from gas tank, can start it from inside but would probably end up costing us $8000 CAD. A portable one is about 3000 watts, ultra quiet and light, needs to be carried in cargo as well as extra gas for it. Probably couldn't use it at a Walmart or other rest stops. The cost to us would be about $4000 CAD. The gen is needed to run our AC. It gets very hot here in the summer.
We are very new at RVing, we will be taking several trips a year from 2 days to 2 weeks. We have a new to us 2008 24' Gulfstream. We are looking for experienced RVers... what do you recommend? Onboard or portable?

Also, we did look at getting it repaired. The generator guy wanted $2000 just to remove and reinstall back in the RV. Other shops want the generator removed from the RV before looking at it. We live in a small city so our options are limited.

[Bouch70]

PartyOf Five wrote:
Come to Chicago, or at least call Katie repair in Batavia and describe your problem and ask for a ballpark estimate. They are very honest and you'll have your second opinion.

Edit: KD Repair

Thanks, we did call around to a few more places but it's pretty much all the same quote. We aren't near a US border so it would be impossible for us to do that.

[PartyOf_Five]

Come to Chicago, or at least call Katie repair in Batavia and describe your problem and ask for a ballpark estimate. They are very honest and you'll have your second opinion.

Edit: KD Repair

[Bouch70]

We contacted an onan service shop and they quoted us the same price as the other generator guy.
Our transfer switch is working fine, our RV tech guy tested it it, as did another RV mechanic at the dealership. The breaker was checked out as well.

[OLYLEN]

Quick search Ebay $1400 for used serviced and $3000 for new. This is US $$ and someone to R and R sould be under $1000. Think I would go this route. But if it still starts ans runs but just doesn't power Cumins dealer could be cheaper.

LEN

[the_bear_II]

Here's my two cents....

Many years ago our Onan up and decided it was tired of putting out electricity. The engine would run but the genny part didn't generate.

So I found a good deal on two Honda 2000i generators with the parallel kit.
Although it is a little cumbersome to deal with the two generators when we need to run the air conditioner I did find it very convenient to have portable generators. Here's why:

> If we only need one generator on the trip I only bring one and leave the other one at home.
>We had a 35 hour power outage at home. I hooked up the refrigerator, lights and TV to one of the Hondas and we were the only house on the block that wasn't dark.
>A friend was building a cabin in a remote area, we used one of the Hondas to power the tools and compressor

There have been a few other times I have found having a portable generator (or two) a very flexible solution to replacing our dead Onan.

[theoldwizard1]

Bouch70 wrote:
And that's our problem. We really are not mechanically savvy... we can't do this ourselves.

If you are physically able then you CAN do it yourself ! First watch some YouTube videos. I'm sure there are many. Second take lots of pictures, including close ups, step by step. Third, label all connectors even if you just use color code tape.

Ask around the neighborhood or at the local senior center to find someone who does lawnmower or light auto repair to get them to help you with the removal.

[DrewE]

If it starts and runs and stays running, but there's no power to the coach, the problem most likely is not the generator itself. It has control circuitry to shut it down if it is not producing power (for safety, as one main reason for no output is an internal short in the windings that can get hot and cause a fire).

Assuming the shore power supply works reliably, the problem would be in the wiring between the generator and the RV's electric panel. I would have the transfer switch checked out, assuming you have a transfer switch--which you do if you don't have a socket to plug the shore power cord into for generator use. This should be a relatively straightforward repair in any case.

One easy thing to check is the output breaker on the generator itself: flip it off and then back on. Sometimes when they trip they don't look tripped.

Good luck whatever you end up doing.

3200 hours is a good bit more than most RV generators get used, but the Onan generators have a long life when used consistently and maintained properly.

[ndrorder]

IMHO, anyone willing to charge $2000 to remove a generator is trying to communicate that they aren't interested in the work and I wouldn't trust them with the job.

I'd look elsewhere, even out of town, and make a trip of it. Travel out, spend a day for them to remove it, do some tourist while they remove it from the RV, and travel home. Repeat in a week or two once repaired.

[Bouch70]

Is 3200 hours a lot for an RV generator? We are very new to RVing. Still learning the ins and outs.

[Bouch70]

Artum Snowbird wrote:
I removed my Microlite 4K myself quite easily.

The most difficult part is pulling back the generator output wires. In my IMPULSE 26QP I found the wires in a junction box underneath a small cupboard fairly close to the generator.

The exhaust and the gas flow in are easily stopped. After that I use the neighbors motorcycle jack and had the generator on the floor in about 45 minutes. Four bolts hold it in.

I found my problem was just a loose nut holding the starter wire onto the starter positive terminal, cleaned up the unit and re-installed it easily, again by myself.

Again, the hardest part was getting the wires back into the flexible conduit, but with the DW pouring a little dish soap on the wires, me pulling and she pushing, we got them back in intact.

And that's our problem. We really are not mechanically savvy... we can't do this ourselves.

[Bouch70]

DrewE wrote:
I would look into getting the existing generator fixed if it were me. $2000 Canadian to remove and replace the generator is crazy. It's a tedious process, for sure, and may take a few hours all told, but those are crazy labor rates.

What are the symptoms of it going kaput--what does it do or not do? The most common causes of generator problems seem to be carburetor or fuel pump ills and loose wires or connections, and those are fairly readily repaired without needing to drop the generator.

Many people do use portable generators at Wal-Mart and similar stops. It's probably a good idea to not leave it unattended in such places lest it grow legs and walk away, but otherwise I don't think there's any big problems involved.

Last fall we had it serviced. The generator worked well all winter when we would exercise it once a month. In the spring, it sometimes would power the coach. It starts and runs great but sometimes we had power sometime we didn't until finally, it just doesn't power at all. We had an RV tech guy check everything out.

[Bouch70]

ScottG wrote:
The term "light" is subjective but personally I don't consider any 3KW gen light since each one is well over 100#.

It's 77.6 lbs dry weight.

[Bouch70]

Kit Carson wrote:
Just got mine out of the shop today. Serviced by changing oil, fuel filter, and air filter replaced the fuel pump. All for the price of $329.40. Runs like new on my 2008 Winnie Outlook.

We did that last fall before going in storage.

[Bouch70]

2oldman wrote:

Bouch70 wrote:
A portable one is about 3000 watts, ultra quiet and light, needs to be carried in cargo as well as extra gas for it..

What brand?

The one I was looking at was a Honda.