New owner - Genny questions??????

[Wicky]

Signed for the new Sunset Trail 32 yesterday.....Genny time! All the regular electronics and a 13.5 A/C. Nothing extraordinary. Here's my dilemna. Do I parallel two 2Kw's or buy a 3Kw? Is 3Kw enough?
I don't see the reason to run 3Kw to run a tv and a couple lights. QUIET is of the utmost importance to me. A/C will seldom be used. Without the A/C running, what watts will I be drawing (on average)? Two TV's, two fridges, mostly LED lights, radio and a couple other low wattage things. I love the blue and red but have seen some way lower priced units (Dometic). I know I opened a can of worms here, but any and all advice MORE then welcome

[AmericaOverland]

Now, I have to come back to this topic. I did not get a generator as I thought I would because I was lucky to get power when I was there, but at Sherwood, during the full season, there is no possible way to get power. You either do without or get a generator.

My question is, what size continuous running (not peak) would I need to get if I'm using a computer, Dometic fridge, lights, water pump, and the propane furnace in the trailer (17,000 BTUs). I will load juggle carefully, like not running the range fan and furnace at the same time, the hair dryer and furnace at the same time, etc.

I'm looking at a propane model. Couple of them that I want to decide on. I'm not crazy about buying a large generator because I need to be able to move it myself.

[LEE3714]

Have a Honda 3000, were I to do it again, I'd go with two 2000's.

[AmericaOverland]

I finally got through to Dometic, and unfortunately, they require a 3.5Kw generator, which is too big for me to handle. I'll have to give up on that idea.

[JiminDenver]

It's not just the noise, it's the smell too. We hardly ever saw wildlife near camp when we used a generator for charging. Now with the solar we see daily visits from all kinds of critters.

One suggestion I haven't seen is to rent until you know what your needs are. You will have a hard time beating the Honda EU3000is for noise while running the air but that's over 2 grand for something you may not need.

[reed_cundiff]

Tvov
We just do not like the noise of a generator since it runs off birds and other wildlife. We do have a 1 kW Honda for possible extended shade/rain/snow but have not used it except to see if it is still working. Just go where you do not really need an a/c.
Reed and Elaine

[Tvov]

Wicky wrote:
I think I'm going to go with the Champion 2Kw in parallel. Half price. Same wattage. Build a box to dampen any additonal Db's. If I was smart I would just wait to see how/if/how often I'm going to even run a genny. Besides, I have all winter to chnage my mind 37 times. This is tougher then it was choosing a trailer!

"If I was smart I would just wait to see how/if/how often I'm going to even run a genny."

I think you answered your own question. When we bought our TT, being brand new to camping / RV'ing, I assumed we'd need a generator. A long time camper friend suggested waiting to see if we needed one. 11 years later, still don't "need" one.

I talked to a new fulltimer a few years ago. He had a really nice solar system installed, and parallel 2kw Hondas. After a year of camping he had only run the generators in order to exercise them.

When we dry camp, we actually use battery camping lanterns in the TT, and just greatly reduce our electrical use overall. Refrig runs fine for a week on a standard 12v RV battery if you are careful with everything else.

We also want quiet most times when dry camping, having a generator running (even a EU Honda) defeats that.

Having said all this, I also time our dry camping trips so that they are in the spring and fall, where up here (New England) A/C just isn't necessary.

And after having said all that, it would be nice to have parallel Hondas... lol!

[Lantley]

pitch wrote:
Not complicated at all if you have matching generators that are designed for it. Simple 3 wire harness/one ground two live leads. Google Honda parallel kit.

I agree they are not complicated, however dual units require more set up than a single unit, particularly if you need to use extended run tanks.
I went the built in route simply to have push button convenience.
No gas cans,no lifting no set up at all. Convenience is a factor often overlooked in the genset discussions.

[pitch]

Not complicated at all if you have matching generators that are designed for it. Simple 3 wire harness/one ground two live leads. Google Honda parallel kit.

[time2roll]

AmericaOverland wrote:
I forgot to mention that I am looking at the Predator 2500 generator from Harbor Freight because it is small enough that I can handle it by myself. The more powerful generators, I can't possibly move it in and out of my Jeep by myself.

What is this about turning off the "converter" when running the generator? My travel trailer is a very small one (18' with a 13' body on it), and I've NEVER run the AC above Low setting, temp set to about one-half to two thirds of the dial turn, all summer long. It is that good for such a small space that I have to crank the temp upwards or I'll get froze out.

Might work and 3500/4000 watts my recommendation.
Can you take it back if it fails to launch?

[AmericaOverland]

I might as well ask this - how do you run two generators together in parallel? I looked this up, and it seemed complicated...

[dave54]

Drew_K wrote:
I had a single 3K watt generator before, and now two Honda 2000's. I *much* prefer moving around 2 small generators than one heavy one. I can put the Hondas in the bed of my truck by myself. Definitely wasn't happening with the 3K watt genny.

x2. Although I can still lift both at once, one in each hand, to my PU bed I prefer not to. It is a real grunt and pretty much hits my limit leaving my arms/shoulders wiped out for the rest of the day. I am not a 20-something anymore.

Sometimes I only need one genny running to just top off the batteries, and if one genny won't run I still have a back up.

And somehow my gennies get 'volunteered' for the church and community projects. Having two is nice, one is running power tools while the other is helping the food preparation.

[Drew_K]

I had a single 3K watt generator before, and now two Honda 2000's. I *much* prefer moving around 2 small generators than one heavy one. I can put the Hondas in the bed of my truck by myself. Definitely wasn't happening with the 3K watt genny.

[TXiceman]

the bear II wrote:
I have two Honda 2KW with the parallel kit. I use the two when we need to run the A/C and one when no A/C will be required.

I like the flexibilty of the two but would prefer to haul just one. So my choice would be a 3000 or 3500 with a remote start feature (uses a key fob)and an extended run fuel setup. This will save trips outside to start, shutdown or fuel the genny.

But the two Hondas weigh about 51# each which i can handle. I can not handle a 3000.

Ken

[Sillybugs2]

We don't care about ac where we camp so got a single 2000 to charge batteries and charge laptop etc while doing so. We use laptop to watch a movie at night. If we wanted a tv we'd up batteries to golf cart ones and get an inverter.