Generator advice

[Monster1]

I'm looking at buying a generator. 95% of what I need it for is charging house battery while dry camping. The other 5% is to run the microwave for hot pockets and pizza for the kids. I borrowed a 2000w champion that falls right on its face and dies when trying to run the microwave. My friends 2200w power(something) will run the microwave but its wound out doing it. I should have bought the 3200w firman from costco when it dropped to $469 with manufactures discount before Christmas. That generator went up in price to 639. Still a good deal but I'm trying to explore other options. My other thought was to buy two 2000w ipower generators. One fir charging or both when needing more power. Would I be better suited with a large generator or two smaller in parallel when needed? IMO a large generator to just charge up a 12v battery might be overkill and inefficient. And yes, I know Honda is the best, but for only being used s few times a year, spending that kind of money is a waste.

[BFL13]

pnichols wrote:

BFL13 wrote:
"Real camping " is when you join the army and have to sleep in a mud-muddle. I chose the navy instead. No mud-puddles. I feel the same about RVing!

BF ... no,no. "Real camping" is when you're in the Air Force and sleep in the heated and air conditioned barracks before jumping into the heated and air conditioned plane. No cold ocean water. :C and :B

We leave the RV to hunt rocks fish, hike, photograph, bird watch, etc.. But when back in the RV we like the environment inside the box to be completely under our control at all times - unlike my backpacking days in a tent at 10,000 feet.

Dad took us camping up-Island in a tent when I was a kid. A bear tried to get in the tent with us. Mum was not amused! After that, Dad got us a TT. Lesson learned 🙂

[pnichols]

BFL13 wrote:
"Real camping " is when you join the army and have to sleep in a mud-muddle. I chose the navy instead. No mud-puddles. I feel the same about RVing!

BF ... no,no. "Real camping" is when you're in the Air Force and sleep in the heated and air conditioned barracks before jumping into the heated and air conditioned plane. No cold ocean water. :C and :B

We leave the RV to hunt rocks fish, hike, photograph, bird watch, etc.. But when back in the RV we like the environment inside the box to be completely under our control at all times - unlike my backpacking days in a tent at 10,000 feet.

[ppine]

Or teach your kids to eat things that can be warmed up on a stove.

[BFL13]

Monster1 wrote:

BFL13 wrote:
You guys are entitled to choose whatever "camping lifestyle" you like. There are many reasons to be out there in an RV instead of at home.

The RV lets you modify it from as new, so that you can live the "camping style" that suits you.

Just remember that not everyone chooses the same "camping style", and everyone's "style" is equally valid.

You don't get extra points for depriving yourself of the available comforts, but it might make you feel virtuous in your own right. 🙂

In our case, not being on a "downed pilot's survival course", we like having as many comforts as possible. 🙂

I'm sorry my post offends you.

I was not the least bit offended! ( My goodness!) Oh well.

[Monster1]

BFL13 wrote:
You guys are entitled to choose whatever "camping lifestyle" you like. There are many reasons to be out there in an RV instead of at home.

The RV lets you modify it from as new, so that you can live the "camping style" that suits you.

Just remember that not everyone chooses the same "camping style", and everyone's "style" is equally valid.

You don't get extra points for depriving yourself of the available comforts, but it might make you feel virtuous in your own right. 🙂

In our case, not being on a "downed pilot's survival course", we like having as many comforts as possible. 🙂

I'm sorry my post offends you.

[4nomads]

Cummins ONAN generator diesel leak not fun when you’re on the road here is a link to my YouTube channel so I can share the experience I had at a authorized Cummins dealer.
Spoiler alert this was one costly diesel leak
https://youtu.be/eHJ13QYxvzU

[BFL13]

Boon Docker wrote:
So you are not interested in "real camping" I take it. :B

"Real camping " is when you join the army and have to sleep in a mud-muddle. I chose the navy instead. No mud-puddles. I feel the same about RVing! 🙂

[Boon_Docker]

So you are not interested in "real camping" I take it. :B

[BFL13]

You guys are entitled to choose whatever "camping lifestyle" you like. There are many reasons to be out there in an RV instead of at home.

The RV lets you modify it from as new, so that you can live the "camping style" that suits you.

Just remember that not everyone chooses the same "camping style", and everyone's "style" is equally valid.

You don't get extra points for depriving yourself of the available comforts, but it might make you feel virtuous in your own right. 🙂

In our case, not being on a "downed pilot's survival course", we like having as many comforts as possible. 🙂

[Boon_Docker]

Monster1 wrote:

ppine wrote:
Just a thought. The whole point of camping to me is get away from modern life. Buying a large generator to run a microwave seems odd to me. You can easily make pizza in a Dutch oven on a fire. It is not instant, but it is quiet and you will always have enough fuel. No hookups, no generator, no problem. Teach your kids.

I fully agree with this. I grew up in the RV business and the boy scouts so I grew up both RV'ing and camping. I'm 45 years old now and this is my first RV. My family and I have been tent camping up till this point. It wasn't a light decision to buy our trailer. I knew there was a chance that we'd never be "camping" again. We've seen so many people pull up to a camp site, back there RV into the site and scramble out of the rig, look around and climb back into the unit never seeing them again unless it's to get into an outside compartment only to go back inside. To me, that isn't camping or even livin. I told the family if we were going to buy a trailer, it's for sleeping and getting out of inclement weather only (two years ago we were in a down pour for three days in our tent and I loved it!) Even though we now have the trailer, we still cook outside on the fire, sit around outside even though there is a nice comfortable couch inside, and we eat outside as well. The microwave is just for quick snacks and lunch when we don't have time to build a cook fire between adventures.

I totally agree with your camping style.
My wife and I are 70 years old and graduated to a trailer 11 years ago when we retired. We spend less time in this trailer than we did in our tent. Now when it rains we sit out under the awning instead have having to hide in a tent.
All the cooking is done outside on a camp stove or campfire along with eating and washing dishes outside.
The trailer is basically a place to sleep and shower. We also have an outdoor potty so we can extend our boon docking.
A generator is great for heating up left overs (in the mic) from the previous day.
Camp on my friend and enjoy!

[burningman]

Solar is great for people who don’t have AC.

[pnichols]

We often camp in the desert where it's cold at night and hot during the day.

I was raised in an unheated room in Michigan with winter snow sometimes on the inside of the window sill next to my bed. I left that stuff at age 19, never looked back, and vowed never again. We also don't care to sit in an RV super heated by the sun to 95+ degrees to eat lunch in the desert when out there hunting for rocks.

We keep our RV's furnace set to 65 degrees at night, and love our RV's built-in generator and the backup portable generator we carry along. Why have a self-contained RV that is only self-contained under a narrow set of conditions?

To us, the sound of a generator is the sound of complete and extreme independence.

[Monster1]

ppine wrote:
Just a thought. The whole point of camping to me is get away from modern life. Buying a large generator to run a microwave seems odd to me. You can easily make pizza in a Dutch oven on a fire. It is not instant, but it is quiet and you will always have enough fuel. No hookups, no generator, no problem. Teach your kids.

I fully agree with this. I grew up in the RV business and the boy scouts so I grew up both RV'ing and camping. I'm 45 years old now and this is my first RV. My family and I have been tent camping up till this point. It wasn't a light decision to buy our trailer. I knew there was a chance that we'd never be "camping" again. We've seen so many people pull up to a camp site, back there RV into the site and scramble out of the rig, look around and climb back into the unit never seeing them again unless it's to get into an outside compartment only to go back inside. To me, that isn't camping or even livin. I told the family if we were going to buy a trailer, it's for sleeping and getting out of inclement weather only (two years ago we were in a down pour for three days in our tent and I loved it!) Even though we now have the trailer, we still cook outside on the fire, sit around outside even though there is a nice comfortable couch inside, and we eat outside as well. The microwave is just for quick snacks and lunch when we don't have time to build a cook fire between adventures.

[Monster1]

HadEnough wrote:
Sounds so expensive, heavy and like a chore.

A solar array, battery bank and inverter is a much more suitable setup for this situation. Microwaves don't need generators at all. They pull a lot of current but only for 10-15 minutes here and there, so Amp HOURS used is actually small.

Solar keeps the batteries topped off at all times too, unlike generator only setups. It's silent, always on and working and handles a situation like this with ease and no need for fuel.

These is no better case for solar than this one.

I agree and would love solar. I have solar on my house btw. But, the places I plan to go are not usually sunny. My two favorite places are the mountains and the coast so I'm dealing with shady forest and coastal overcast and fog respectively.

[BFL13]

Many of the companies that make 2000w gens are now going to a 2200 model with a bigger engine. Bigger engine means more watts for the continuous rating.

Forget the 2000w when buying new, and go for a 2200 that has the highest continuous watts (VA actually) rating for the money.

The Honda 2200 has 1800w but costs twice as much as another gen that is also a 2200 but with 1700w. The Honda has a 122 ish CC engine and the other a 111 CC. so that is why the Honda can do 1800 instead of 1700.

so you can see where one with an 80 CC engine would fit in.