Thinking of a class A but have one question about the gen

[Plumber101010]

Coming from the travel trailer I already have two 2000 Honda companions. From what I understand the class A has a built-in Olan. Is there any reason I would want to keep these generators, is there any use for them with the class a or should I sell?

[discovery4us]

Plumber101010 wrote:


Anyway I’m not trying to change the course of the thread 🙂 I also have a champion 7500 W with electric start, has anybody tried extending the key ignition with longer wires to the inside of the unit to see if they can make it a remote start?

Thanks everyone your replies were awesome

We extend the wires for the generators of our service trucks and have had no issues. Shortest is about 4' and longest is about 8'.

There are also wireless key fob starting systems. I haven't researched them but was camped near a trailer that had one installed on his 4000 Honda. He had come over to say hi, probable 40 yards away form his trailer, when his DW started yelling that the microwave wouldn't work. He reached in his pocket and hit the button on the fob and yelled back "try it now". Generator started right up and she was happy.

[Plumber101010]

Well Mile High, the way you explained it...question is not if I’m making the right choice, but why had I made the wrong choice so long 🙂

[wa8yxm]

I can think of two reasons
The biggest How long does it take that Honda to go through a gallon of gas at 1/2 load

About an hour with the Onan.

Second is noise.. The honda may (or not) Be easier on the ears

[Mile_High]

I don't think you are crazy at all! About a decade or two ago, I was out in a wet snow in my tennis shoes setting a jack under my 5th wheel and looking for my cord to get power. Suddenly a great big American Coach pulled in, set the jacks, pushed out the slides, popped on the TV and I watched him and his poodle watch the Football Game in his warm coach and he NEVER left the rig! Not even for power! His inverter kept him powered all night and he was gone in the morning. 🙂 :).

I told my wife that was on the bucket list! Took a few years, but now I certainly understand what the feeling is. I also got real tired of driving around a dually truck to haul that 5er. Nice to have a Jeep.

[Plumber101010]

Well sounds like everyone thinks I should keep them, which works well, as they are just too sweet to sell anyway!!! Having a back up source of power can never be a bad thing.

Hope I’m making the right decision as most people seem to be doing the opposite of what I am doing, going from a class a to a travel trailer. I have read all the pros and cons and way too many articles, but when it’s all said and done, it always comes down to the same thing as with most decisions in life. It’s all about personal choice!

One thing that confuses me the most is it always seems one of the main reasons most people state is always the convenience of being able to park it somewhere and then having a vehicle for personal use. That has never made any sense to me and should not even be listed as a reason, as its just way too easy to tow a vehicle behind a class a and almost every one I see on the road is in fact towing some type of vehicle.

Well ok, not almost all, but enough to say it shouldn’t be a reason to downsize to a travel trailer. For me, I just love the fact, well the concept least ways don’t own it yet, of being able to pull over or park anywhere, put it in park and hop in the back and go to sleep. Or use the bathroom. I find it somewhat quite absurd to be towing a $40,000 portable house behind yourself, but having to pull over to use the bathroom!

We do a lot of traveling and it’s always feels a little weird pull into a rest area, then have to get out of your truck and walk into your travel trailer. It just doesn’t seem as safe or makes me feel less secure that way.

Anyway I’m not trying to change the course of the thread 🙂 I also have a champion 7500 W with electric start, has anybody tried extending the key ignition with longer wires to the inside of the unit to see if they can make it a remote start?

Thanks everyone your replies were awesome

[10forty2]

Another vote for not selling the portables. My reasoning for not using the on-board while camping is not the noise or the fuel consumption.....it's the Carbon Monoxide. The background level of CO that it produces and that gets into the camper when sitting still is less than enough to make the detector sound out, but more than I want to be in it asleep. On an actual CO meter, it was creating about 12-15PPM inside. Like I said, not enough to set the detector off, but enough to cause long-term health problems. I've added a Gen-Turi and it does reduce the CO levels to below 7ppm, but not enough to where I'm comfortable being in the rig sleeping or just hanging out in general. I do run the on-board genset when underway to keep the house A/Cs running, but there's enough wind blowing the exhaust to keep the CO levels under control. We purchased a Champion 3,500 Watt, dual fuel, inverter generator to use when on the rare occasion we camp without utility availability....like we are doing this weekend. The 30amp RV plug on it will provide enough juice to run one A/C and most everything else we need.

[discovery4us]

I carry a Honda 2000 mostly for running power in my cargo trailer. The MH has a propane Onan so in the rare event I would run out of propane I can fall back on the Honda.

It did come in handy one boondocking trip when my LP detector went hay wire and shut off the MH propane. No problem, fired up the Honda and finished out the trip on the little Honda. Since that trip it gets to go every time.

[Mile_High]

We have a diesel 8K variable speed on-board generator and it is reasonably efficient and super quiet inside and actually pretty quiet outside. It is well integrated into the MH with AGS so it is starts when batteries are low, when AC calls for it, and it can even be set to sleep time hours and daily charging. It is always our first option.

I wouldn't sell the Hondas if I already owned them, but I wouldn't go out any buy any either. My buddy was in the same predicament as you, and he ended up selling them because he never used them and continuously had to spend time with them every spring cleaning out gummy fuel.

[micpib1]

I carry one when we are Boondocking. I would rather run that quite little Honda for 2 hrs per day to charge my batteries and I can get 4 days of use out of it's on board tank. JH

[Sandia_Man]

It really is your call, from our experience it never hurts to have a portable genny as well. Our RV has an Onan onboard genny that powers our entire rig as if plugged into shore power along with all the convenience of one button starting/stopping. That being said, we love our Onan but it is major overkill most of the time producing way more power than we actually need.

After nearly a decade of heavy usage from our very reliable Onan, I decided to get a portable inverter genny to save on fuel and reduce noise output. Main objective for portable genny is to run our rig's AC unit and still have the convenience of one button starting/stopping. We purchased a Champion 3100 with remote start and our Onan has been on vacation ever since.

[Plumber101010]

Well I guess is just like my travel trailer, I only run one unless I need the AC so I guess the same would apply to the class A. I just like the convenience of having everything built in and not having to go outside and hook anything up so I never thought in those terms. It was a convenience issue for me not a fuel issue but I guess I won’t really know just how much fuel it burns until I actually purchase one and I could change my mind rapidly 🙂

[imgoin4it]

Talked to a guy who was dry camping in Alaska who was running a small Honda generator most of the day. Ask him why he was doing that when he had the on board generator. He said that was all the power he needed most of the time. It was enough to charge the batteries, make coffee, watch s little tv etc and it was far cheaper to operate than running his on board diesel generator.

[Plumber101010]

Thought was 50 amp and my gens won’t produce that? Should do more research 🙂

[wildtoad]

I would not waste the space to carry two gens plus the gas when I already have a gen that is sized to support the motorhome.