68db generator

[randallb]

I made the jump last night because the price is to good to pass up. If it is a little noisy for the trailer it will work just fine as a back up in my shop. Home Depot has a Sportsman 4000W propane generator on sale for $299 with free shipping. The nice thing about this particular Sportsman is the 30A RV outlet.
Randy

[NLPRacing]

NLPRacing wrote:
It was delivered today! I am hoping to crank it up soon, I will let you know how I like it.

I put oil in it, and gave it a couple of pulls. Then I adjusted the choke to halfway and pulled it again and it started right up. I let it warm up a bit, then I plugged the trailer in. I have a 15K AC on my trailer. When I turned the AC on, the generator bogged a little, but then went back to running smoothly.

It's not quiet by any means, but it's no louder than the Onan 5500 I had on my old motorhome. Once I turned on the AC, I could only barely hear the generator inside the trailer. I only plan on using this for boondocking at rest areas, truck stops, etc. as well as at NASCAR races. All of which, noise isn't too much of an issue. But, I would never use this at a campground, it's too noisy for that.

I have less than $300 invested in it and based on that and how I will use it, it's going to work out just fine. But if you're looking for a "Honda" quiet generator, you will be disappointed.

[rbpru]

Your hearing is indeed logarithmic but so is dB measure. However "loudness" is subjective.

In any quiet setting there is no such thing as a quiet generator. In a campground full of kids and bicycles you never notice it.

[NLPRacing]

It was delivered today! I am hoping to crank it up soon, I will let you know how I like it.

[NLPRacing]

Home Depot had these on sale for Black Friday at $279 with free shipping, so I went ahead and bought one. I should have it in about a week or so.

[TomG2]

68db in a Walmart parking lot is about average. Ever had a refrigerated trailer park near you? Did those who advocate "Silencing" their neighbor with vandalism try that on the semi? I have moved in the middle of the night, as I don't expect things to be as silent as the woods in any paved parking lot. I am NOT talking about campgrounds.

[NLPRacing]

randallb, have you used this generator yet? If so, what are your thoughts? I'm thinking about getting the same one.

[martipr]

2oldman wrote:

randallb wrote:
If you read the entire thread you will see the reason for the generator purchase... once i build the "box" it will be every bit as quiet as the name brand models.

I did read the entire thread carefully, and I was completely in agreement with you until you made the Walmart comment. I've been in many WMs, and that's not the place for a loud generator. It draws too much attention to you and will annoy others. Batteries and an inverter are much more pleasant. I just wish more people had them.

As for the 'box', good luck with that. Many have tried, and many have failed. If it were that easy, Honda wouldn't be selling so well. I don't know what propane generator exhaust is like.

You can't run an air conditioner on batteries and inverter or solar unless you have mega mega bucks to spend. That limits my camping to those months that are cool enough to do without air conditioning. My personal take, I would much rather hear a 68 db generator a couple of hundred feet away in a forest than a "quite" built in 15 feet away in a campground.

[randallb]

The Generac 5500W propane generator I have set up at the house is not particularly quiet , if not down right loud, but for what I want to run when we lose power it was the best bang for the buck. If my neighbors want to complain about how noisy it is they are welcome to come over and discuss it over a cold beer or use the bathroom (since our well pump will still run) in a well lit house.
Randy

[Gr8life]

Complaining about a 68db generator in a Walmart parking lot is kind of silly when you realize that trucks and motorcycles are roaring by making a lot more noise than that. Besides, since I don't actually set up camp in a WM parking lot, I can move a hundred yards away in about two minutes.

[JiminDenver]

Randall

Not all of us can afford the very best for occasional use, we do what we can. I certainly can't afford the Yammy 4500 for $3000 and near 300 lbs for the few hours a day/ few weeks a year it might get hot where we camp.

Somewhere in a huge 3000w generator thread there is lots of discussion on making the boxes and how effective they are.

Sadly your box could be revolutionary and make it quieter than any, and it wouldn't be enough. Like us, you could camp miles from others or better yet, just never take the generator and it wouldn't be enough, some are just offended by the fact that it isn't a Honda.

My favorite was when I posted my plans to get the solar etc. to make so that we don't need the generator that we ran where no one could hear it. The very next post was someone attacking the generator saying they had a Honda, it was quieter and that they would be knocking on my door demanding that I shut mine off. I told him that he missed the solar part, that it was silent and it may very well be me knocking on his door asking that he shut down his Honda.

His response was well let me know how that works out but in all the years I have never seen him to tell just how wonderful having everything from air conditioning on down silently is.

[Gdetrailer]

2oldman wrote:

randallb wrote:
If you read the entire thread you will see the reason for the generator purchase... once i build the "box" it will be every bit as quiet as the name brand models.

I did read the entire thread carefully, and I was completely in agreement with you until you made the Walmart comment. I've been in many WMs, and that's not the place for a loud generator. It draws too much attention to you and will annoy others. Batteries and an inverter are much more pleasant. I just wish more people had them.

As for the 'box', good luck with that. Many have tried, and many have failed. If it were that easy, Honda wouldn't be selling so well. I don't know what propane generator exhaust is like.

Propane powered forklifts and even big floor sweepers are used indoors in large warehouses.. Walmarts ALSO use propane powered floor sweepers in the stores I have been at..

I personally don't like or enjoy the exhaust smell of propane powered engines..

I would however not recommend ANYONE using a propane (or even gasoline) powered gen INSIDE their home/garage or camper..

Just recently there was a bunch of kids killed because the family didn't have the money to pay the power bill.. The emergency responders found a gas powered generator sitting in the kitchen with an empty gas tank..

[2oldman]

randallb wrote:
If you read the entire thread you will see the reason for the generator purchase... once i build the "box" it will be every bit as quiet as the name brand models.

I did read the entire thread carefully, and I was completely in agreement with you until you made the Walmart comment. I've been in many WMs, and that's not the place for a loud generator. It draws too much attention to you and will annoy others. Batteries and an inverter are much more pleasant. I just wish more people had them.

As for the 'box', good luck with that. Many have tried, and many have failed. If it were that easy, Honda wouldn't be selling so well. I don't know what propane generator exhaust is like.

[randallb]

Hey oldman,
If you read the entire thread you will see the reason for the generator purchase. We do not boondock and the generator will be used for circumstances beyond our control. If I was going to be using it in a primitive CG I would have purchased a better known brand but this one will do and I am sure once i build the "box" it will be every bit as quiet as the name brand models. Did you also notice that it is a propane generator so there will not be the annoying odor of spilled gasoline and gas genny exhaust. What it loses in one area it makes up in another.
Randy

[Gdetrailer]

hawkeye-08 wrote:

2oldman wrote:

randallb wrote:
$299 for 4000Ws of propane powered generator is worth annoying the neighbors if I find myself at a WallyWorld.

That's very considerate of you. I'm sure everyone will ignore the noise and congratulate you on your wise purchase.

Congrats on the nice purchase, I appreciate folks that live within their means. Sometimes we have to make choices with our money and can't have the quietest or nicest generator. I much rather see a family enjoying what they have than folks with fancy rigs and best of everything, but not being able to enjoy it because they can't afford it..

WELL SAID!

Sadly around here many folks seem to make rather quick harsh and unjustifiable judgements due to the perceived noise pollution that might offend them..

Yes, it is not a "Honda" but they are rather amazing quiet for what they are.

To force folks into the idea that they must make a choice of spending $1000 or more for a gen just so the few on this forum are not offended (which they most likely will never meet the person that started this thread) is just plain silly.

Not everyone is going to use their gen in a official campground and we as fellow campers should take that into consideration..

Honestly, I would rather listen to the gen the OP bought right beside my trailer instead of a built in Onan gen in a motorhome several campsites away. Those built in gens are no quieter than the gen the OP bought and in fact the gen the OP bought IS quieter than MOST built in gens..

Perhaps those who judge these gens should jump all over everyone with a built in gen :R