Noisey House Generator

[D_E_Bishop]

We were at the beach this last week and due to use of laptops we had to run the Onan to recharge the laptop batteries. Our genny is an ONAN 4GBEF82 and it is 26 years old. I feel it is very noisy and the cooling fan has a bottom discharge that clears away anything loose on the ground in about a 4 or 5 foot diameter area. I use a Gen-turi but the old style where the elbow does not go into the 3 in vertical tube. It helps with noise but not much.

I know most of us are in campgrounds to enjoy life in a less noisy environment than we find in the city and I hate to subject my neighbors or us to the noise, so my question is, are the new (made in the last 5 or 6 years) house generators significantly quieter? I'm not going to add solar to this rig, it's on it's way to someone else in January so I'm not going to spend that kind of money on it. We'll probably go solar on the replacement but for those times I really need it both on the road and at the S&B, I was thinking about either a Honda or a Yamaha 1K inverter type generator as a quiet backup.

I think I should add that without my hearing aides, I'm very hard of hearing and this Onan bothers me both when inside and outside. It is in good shape and the Tech at the Cummins/Onan shop assured me that it is not unusually noisy.

Just trying to be a nice neighbor and not drive myself nuts doing it.

[time2roll]

Solar and inverter (about 300 watts each) gets my vote for charging a laptop.

[mlts22]

I wonder if an Onan resonator might help.

In my experience, the install of the Onan is very important. I've seen very quiet installs, where the genset was installed with the proper rubber shock bolts, acoustic insulation on the top and sides (not the bottom of the enclosure, so it doesn't get saturated if there is a fuel leak), offsetting the intake vents from the cover (but still ensuring proper CFM coming in), using proper brackets for wires, pipes, and hoses, so vibrations are not transferred through those lines, and using a resonator. I've seem some people even use SuperTrapp kits to further reduce exhaust noise, but those might void the warranty of the generator due to possible back pressure.

[jsikora]

We have the 4K micro quiet in our 1990 bounder. Its under the table and to me is quiet, but not needed. Luckily when we had our 5th wheel we bought 2 of the EU2000I units and take these along also. I like the idea of solar and summer plans are to add some solar to the camper. I do have a 3K RV inverter also to install just trying to determine location of the battery bank.

We run the hondas most of the time and don't even know they are on.

One think I found with my Onon was the exaust flange was loose and exaust was leaking. Once that was fixed with the venturi tube its not that bad.

[2oldman]

joebedford wrote:
find inverter generators to be much more annoying - UP down UP down etc. but they are inherently quieter at full throttle because they're usually small.

The up and down usually happens around dinner time, when users are presumably running microwaves. The rest of the time it's battery charging or watching TV, which is not up and down.

[pnichols]

mkirsch wrote:
Nope.

Sound measurements are made in the most favorable conditions. Case in point, the Honda's dB claim is measured with minimal load. In the case of an RV generator that is designed to be installed in a compartment inside an RV, the sound is measured with the generator inside a compartment. Probably a well-insulated compartment, not typical of the average RV.

Every 3dB is a doubling of sound pressure, so even though going from 58dB to 66dB doesn't seem like much, it's a huge difference in the amount of noise.

Are you sure that Onan noise levels are measured with their generators, inside their green cases .... made with the whole thing inside some additional kind of enclosure? That doesn't make sense to me ... a substantiating link would be appreciated.

I don't take along my dB sound meter with us when we go RV camping ... but our built-in 4000 watt Onan generator sure SEEMS a lot quieter than any Honda EU2000i I've listened to close by when rev'd up providing it's full 1600 watt output. The Onan's particular sound frequency spectrum definitely makes it's sound less irritating, too.

That's one reason I appreciate our little 25+ year old Honda EX650 generator so much. It's constant 3600 RPM at a constant 54dB sound level - at all loads it can supply - is only a low frequency humming sound that is hardly noticeable at all outside and inside when we use it for battery charging at camp sites. Of course there is a price to pay - it's dry weight is around 51 lbs. due to an all steel case with plenty of insulation inside.

P.S. The trouble with solar is you gotta be camped in the sun for it to work ... which cannot be counted on anymore with the many U.S. weather patterns we find ourselves winding up in on RV trips. We're almost always in the sun when on the road, but the alternator charges things then. When camped, we count on one or the other of our two generators to always deliver the goods.

[ssia2485]

Add some vibration isolators under the generator where it mounts to the frame. as old as your is the rubber is probably hard as a rock. The older units are usually very quiet. I have an old Onan 4 kw. It runs at 1800 rpm. I have it mounted of vibration isolators and it has no vibration of loud noise. I got the vibration isolators at Grainger

[RJsfishin]

Be stubborn about solar, but a 60-100 watt solar panel w/ controller and 20 ft wire propped up against your RV will charge more than the laptops use, and mite cost you $100,.......but a lot cheaper than a generator, and you will have it for the next RV. Stubborness,......you loose.

[mkirsch]

pnichols wrote:
My 4000 watt Onan is spec'd at 66 dB ... I assume this also means if one should measure the Onan "out in the open".

Nope.

Sound measurements are made in the most favorable conditions. Case in point, the Honda's dB claim is measured with minimal load. In the case of an RV generator that is designed to be installed in a compartment inside an RV, the sound is measured with the generator inside a compartment. Probably a well-insulated compartment, not typical of the average RV.

Every 3dB is a doubling of sound pressure, so even though going from 58dB to 66dB doesn't seem like much, it's a huge difference in the amount of noise.

[pnichols]

joebedford wrote:
Personally, I can easily block the sound of the Onan - it's background white noise. I find inverter generators to be much more annoying - UP down UP down etc. but they are inherently quieter at full throttle because they're usually small.

X10!

The Honda 1000 and 2000 inverter generators are spec'd to top out at a noise level of 59dB. I assume this noise level means "out in the open", since they're portable generators designed to be carried and used in their case anywhere outside.

My 4000 watt Onan is spec'd at 66 dB ... I assume this also means if one should measure the Onan "out in the open". However since our Onan is never out in the open but enclosed in a storage cabinet, it sounds to me to be quieter than Honda 1000 (900 watt) and 2000 (1600 watt) inverter generators I've heard running full bore out in the open. Our Onan sounds about the same up to it's full 4000 watts output - little difference from putting out 100 watts to putting out full power.

I also prefer the low muffled humming plus cooling air sound of the Onan to the Hondas at full (high rate battery charging or microwave or air conditioning) power. I'm guessing that the reason users consider their little Hondas to be so quiet is because they seldom demand full power from them - or when they do - not for very long.

[joebedford]

My stick house generator is cheap and LOUD but I don't have any close neighbors.

My RV generator (Onan 5500) is quiet.

Personally, I can easily block the sound of the Onan - it's background white noise. I find inverter generators to be much more annoying - UP down UP down etc. but they are inherently quieter at full throttle because they're usually small.

[Jetta03]

AllegroD wrote:
If this MH is going to someone else in Jan, do nothing. You won't get very much back on any installs.

Look at the next one and think about what you want on/for it.

Would second this, January is just around the corner.

Consider solar/inverter on the new rig though, laptops batteries are only ~10 amp/hr and it seems like a horrific waste to charge them via a large generator.

[AllegroD]

If this MH is going to someone else in Jan, do nothing. You won't get very much back on any installs.

Look at the next one and think about what you want on/for it.

[pianotuna]

Hi hershey,

Quote We were at the beach this last week and due to use of laptops we had to run the Onan to recharge the laptop batteries. Unquote.

I stand by my statement that a 300 watt inverter would easily do this for the OP.

hershey wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
If all you are recharging/running are laptops (and phones) a 300 watt inverter will do the deed nicely and in 100% quiet (other than possibly a cooling fan running).

He indicated that he needed the generator to recharge the batteries, not operate the laptops.

[hershey]

pianotuna wrote:
If all you are recharging/running are laptops (and phones) a 300 watt inverter will do the deed nicely and in 100% quiet (other than possibly a cooling fan running).

He indicated that he needed the generator to recharge the batteries, not operate the laptops.