Running roof air on TH using a portable gen while driving?

NP, I have done it many times going down the road with the AC on and a pair of honda eu2000's in the bed of the pickup strapped down and running.

What is rated? Does your built in generator has some super duper in motion carburetor? I don't think so.

Might want to check if your generator can handle bouncing around. My Kipor has vent lines from the carb that dump out the bottom. I would be worried about fuel in the carb, making its way out and causing a fire. I doubt if a portable generator is rated to run while going down the road.

Robert Wynkoop

Txsurfer wrote:
Thx Drew - not sure I follow the adapter issue - when you use a cord that has a 30A male on the Gen side to a 50A femail on RV side doesn't it bridge the 30A betwen both sided of the panel? I am pretty sure I can run everything in the RV with this arangement - just not at the same time.

A standard adapter cable will do that, connecting both hots of the 50A connection to the one hot of the 30A (and hence powering all the circuits in the panel).

You wrote in a previous post "I think I read that this arrangement will actually only feed juice to one leg of the 50A plug which should provide enough to run my AC." That's what I was addressing those comments about. It should feed the juice to both legs, though you are naturally limited in total power consumption to what the generator can actually supply.

Thx Drew - not sure I follow the adapter issue - when you use a cord that has a 30A male on the Gen side to a 50A femail on RV side doesn't it bridge the 30A betwen both sided of the panel? I am pretty sure I can run everything in the RV with this arangement - just not at the same time.

Wire the 30A cable up (assuming this is RV-standard 120V 30A and not 120/240V 30A four wire service) so that the 30A hot feeds both hots of the trailer system. That's the way the adapters work, and that way you won't have to worry about which appliances etc. will work in your trailer under generator power. That also means you can use your new cable with a 30A pedestal if needed for some reason (assuming of course it's a TT-30 plug you have for the generator end).

While in motion, it seems to me the chance of CO buildup from the generator, regardless of the fuel source, is extremely low. There's simply too much airflow blowing the fumes away. When parked it is a valid concern to consider and take appropriate steps to ensure safety. Personally, I would probably use the generator on gasoline while on the road, mainly because (at least around here) it's less expensive and a little more handily available.

I plan to run the generator on propane while driving thus minimizing any carbon monoxide risks. I would think that with the bed cover open ( I have a roll-up type hard cover ) while driving the risk would be low.

Swamp coolers are only effective in very low humidity areas. Swamp cooler in Alabama would be miserable!

An Alternative is a Swamp Cooler.. Fill the water tray with ice, then water. then run it on an inverter, ONly needs less than 100 watts since it is no more than a small water pump and a small fan... Buy Ice at the camp store or make it yourself when parked.

Managing the power cord is easy.

My concern is that the Generator exhaust will be UNDER the "Bunk" in the Trailer and may infiltrate the Trailer.

I'd rather see the Genny on a cargo Tray on the back of the trailer and with plumbing to make sure the exhaust goes away (Strange things happen to air flow back there too so you do need to plumb).