Forum Discussion

biknvikn's avatar
biknvikn
Explorer
Mar 30, 2014

Newbie with questions

By way of introduction, we purchased a 2014 Thor ACE 29.2 (we have been very pleased with it)last September. We go camping for about 5 days every month, and hopefully for a month or two this summer. Previously we had a truck and trailer, but since we are raising our granddaughter, it was just too small and inconvenient. Up to now the farthest that we have traveled to camp is 90 miles (whoops, I forgot about Vegas). However, this summer we want to go much farther to No. Cal. and Southern OR. So a question:

Does running the generator while driving cost a lot in mileage? (I get 8.5 now, 8.0 would still be good). Does it hurt the generator? How many hours of useful generator run time can I expect over the life of the RV?

I thank you all in advance for your feedback.
Class A
  • Tinstar's avatar
    Tinstar
    Explorer
    Mar 31, 2014
    An RV genset can run for 20 years or more with proper maintenance. There is no major service that has to be done. Change your oil, run it a couple of hours every month, fix minor problems when they happen (which isn't very often) and it will last a long time.
  • Dale_Traveling's avatar
    Dale_Traveling
    Explorer II
    Mar 31, 2014
    During the summer I normally shut off the dash AC and run the generator and roof unit. I'm getting close to 2000 hours on the generator being 8 years old and as second owner going on four years haven't done anything to it other than oil and air filter changes.

    I think it's a wash between the dash and generator/roof AC concerning fuel usage when considering the additional load on the engine. Run the generator, stay current on recommended maintenance and enjoy the coach.

    And I sitting back with a beverage and popcorn watching this one. Almost but not quite as good as a which chassis is better or tire pressure question.
  • 1BryNelson's avatar
    1BryNelson
    Explorer
    Mar 31, 2014
    Whoaaa. Another forum off to the races. pugslyyy must have been stinkin rather than thinkin when that was written. Just can't believe an rv'er could believe that.

    My 1999 Lance camper with that cheap little Onan rattler had around 780 hours when I sold the camper with nothing more than very routine maintenance and a couple shop visits for it. One was a circut board $200, the other the propane feed controller $160. I do a lot of prevent maintenance also. Replace it before it breaks.

    It's OK to run generator while driving. I've never checked variance in mileage.

    Hope this helps.
    Bry.
  • kyclassa's avatar
    kyclassa
    Explorer
    Mar 30, 2014
    pugslyyy wrote:
    Looks like it is about 0.5 gallons per hour. If you are getting 8.5 mpg at say 60 mph, then you would go down to around 8 mpg.

    I don't know what they expected life is of one of these gensets - they are not particularly long-lived (they aren't built to be run 24 hours a day for years at a time) and need a fairly major service every 450 hours of operation (pulling the cylinder head)


    Really? You will need to pull the cylinder head and have major service done after only 450 hours?? Even if you get it serviced as required?
  • pugslyyy's avatar
    pugslyyy
    Explorer
    Mar 30, 2014
    Looks like it is about 0.5 gallons per hour. If you are getting 8.5 mpg at say 60 mph, then you would go down to around 8 mpg.

    I don't know what they expected life is of one of these gensets - they are not particularly long-lived (they aren't built to be run 24 hours a day for years at a time) and need a fairly major service every 450 hours of operation (pulling the cylinder head)
  • Bob___Ann's avatar
    Bob___Ann
    Explorer
    Mar 30, 2014
    I would think that you will still get at least 8 MPG. It really does not cost that much to run and of course you would need to do that for the AC. As far as useful life you will never wear it out. They will run with very minor maintenance for many thousand hours. I like to keep the oil changed as well as the filter. It is better to over service it and it is also better to run it under load then to let it sit. Even if you don't plan to use it you need to run it for at least 45 minutes per month under load. Just go and have a great time.

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