Generator year.

Guysakar wrote:

tatest wrote:
Don't expect to find a more "modern" gasoline RV generator with "Eco" mode and reduced idle speeds. Even Honda's RV generators (as opposed to portable) are constant speed.

There is a reason for this, RV onboard generators are primarily used to power air conditioning, and a "constant" speed generator uses rotational energy to handle the surge of A/C compressor startup, slowing slightly to give the engine time to power up for the load. An inverter genset running reduced idle simply has no energy source to supply that surge of power (which might be 3X to 6X the rated output), which is why Honda tells you not to use Eco for air conditioning.

Some high-end RV/Marine gensets, all diesel that I know of, have inverters, but the inverters are rated for the A/C starting loads, and some are part of a hybrid system that stores electrical energy in a battery bank to provide the surge of power that the engine cannot supply until it spins up.

So you have essentially given yourself a set of rules that say you will not use the on-board genset in a low-cost motorhome.

I disagree. If a Honda EU2000i can start most 8K BTU AC units on Eco mode (and even some 10K units) I highly doubt that a 4K W genset will have trouble starting a 1350 BTU on an eco mode type setting.

What's more, all an RV company has to do is put a hard start capacitor on the AC and it is a near guarantee that it will run the AC in eco mode.



Plus, you can take one of these portable generators and place them on the dining room table during dinner and (other than the carbon dioxide poisoning) not really be bothered by it.

Why can't they put this tech in an RV gen?

I just cannot make since of it. The tech has been there for a quiet, fuel efficient generator for sometime, yet you have to buy the most expensive of rigs to get it?


I'm going to go down to the dealership and listen to gens tomorrow, but I have been listening to them on videos just now and, coming from the Honda EU series, I don't think I am going to be very happy.

My Honda 2000 Generator running an air conditioner is a roaring little beast. So is yours
IF you had one on your living room table it would drive you out of the room in 30 seconds. Powering laptops idled down to a few hundred watts sure - but at full output- go try it.


I put a supco SUPP6 hard start capacitor on the 13.5 AC on my toy hauler and a single honda 2K will start it with eco OFF the second the compressor when to start it instantly killed it capacitor or not.

There are variable RPM gensets but you have to go to a diesel to get it my RVQD 8000 is variable RPM and inverted just like a 2K, but has the rotational mass and torque to kick over a 15K domestic from "idle."

Oddly even with the variable RPM feature it is not really more efficient than my power tech single speed 1800RPM diesel - and both are far quieter when running an ac unit than a one or even two hondas by a large amount.