Old Generator is tired, 3500 watt enough for TT?

[RoyBell]

Every year I camp out at a music fest for 4 days. 5 years ago I picked up a little 3500/3000 watt Champion. It worked great for my pop-up. Last year I got the TT but shared my buddies generator. Don't think I even really ran the air.

This year they are calling for 95+ degrees and humid so I think we will be running the AC to prevent heatstroke. I changed the oil and plug on the champion to get it all ready. Ran it tonight and it wont stay running with the AC on. I tried putting the fridge on LP and it did better, but would only run for about 5 minutes with the AC cranking before it shuts down completely.

I am getting 118 volts inside the camper with the AC running, but it must just be too much for the 3000 watt generator to keep up at full load. Assuming 20 amps, thats around 2400 watts. Not sure how much the battery charger/inverter/lights/misc pull. Maybe another 800 watts which is putting it over the edge?

It is getting old and has some hours on it which may be part of the problem. I was at menards and you can either get a huge honking 5K+ watt or they had a 3500 running with 5200 surge (seems like a lot of surge). It has a 30 amp RV outlet on it with no 240v option like most of the larger ones have. Makes me think I can actually get 30 amps on one phase vs the others that will give me 20 amps per phase.

Any thoughts on this model: http://www.brutepower.com/portable-generators/30634/

I imagine it would be enough for my single AC unit. I run the fridge on propane all weekend and I put LED lights in all over last year.

Only potential issue I see is the tiny 3 gallon gas tank and I will be running it at almost 100% load so I can see it drinking that gas.

The alternative is going 5K, know I have enough power, but deal with lugging this massive generator around. I built a muffler box for the 3K and I am pretty sure the 3500 will fit in it because its about the same size. It makes it run as quiet as those expensive hondas, just not as pretty.

It should be enough, right?

[Need-A-Vacation]

Tvov,

I am sure the generator was still loud, but every little bit helps, right! Lol

I found the video I mentioned. I have not tried it myself, so can't give any personal feedback on this. In theory it makes sense I guess!

[RoyBell]

I will have to look into that generac one. We buy and install industrial (400-600KW) generators for work and Generac makes a good product in that line. Not sure how the home stuff is.

It's not too often I use a generator anyways. For a weekend you can run off the batteries if no power while camping. Unless of course it was like last weekend where it was super humid and 92+ degrees out.

[Tvov]

Need-A-Vacation wrote:
...
As for your quiet box, I found a YouTube video where a guy just used sheets of wood (can't recall exactly what he used!!!) and leaned them up against the generator at the top. The sheets were a little longer, guessing 4' or so, and directed the noise into the ground which absorbed a lot of it. I will try to find the video again. My thought was to line the wood with the heat resistant foil probably similar to what you did for your generator box.
...

After Hurricane Irene we were without power for 7 days, and I used a "classic" open frame contractor 4,000w generator. LOUD. I used a couple sheets of plywood, leaned up against the frame of the generator, to try to direct the sound away from the house. It helped... but it was still loud.

If I still planned on using that 4w gen, I would make the effort to build a "quiet box" with insulation. Now I have a twin cylinder 16hp 9,000 watt generator for the house... which interestingly enough, is quieter and smoother running than the 8hp generator. Still loud, though.

[Need-A-Vacation]

Roy,

Great to hear the Ryobi worked as planned. As I mentioned, I missed the Ryobi when searching. The warranty and slightly larger tank would have been a big selling feature for my decision. I just stated what helped me decide on the Brute over the Champion. I wondered about the startup watts also. Though the Brute with the sale price and rebate is about $100 cheaper vs the Ryobi. Just wish we had an easy way to carry our Troy Bilt XP7000 (no, not for use in cg's!!!).

As for your quiet box, I found a YouTube video where a guy just used sheets of wood (can't recall exactly what he used!!!) and leaned them up against the generator at the top. The sheets were a little longer, guessing 4' or so, and directed the noise into the ground which absorbed a lot of it. I will try to find the video again. My thought was to line the wood with the heat resistant foil probably similar to what you did for your generator box.

Sounds like the heat was brutal. Hope it was a fun time still.

[hawkeye-08]

Generac was advertising their IQ2000 last weekend. Inverter unit that is quieter than Honda and two can be paralleled. They were offering free shipping factory direct. I don't know anything about them other than the TV ad, but if I needed a generator I would be looking at a pair of them.

[RoyBell]

Actually after thinking about it, I really only put 4 cans of gas in. Thats roughly 20 gallons. No hour meter, but I assume it was on for conservatively 12 hours a day. That's 20 gallons for 48 hours or .42 gallons per hour. It is rated at 10 hours per tank (4 gal) at 75 percent load. So, right at .40 gal/hr. Based on the load I had, that seems like a pretty accurate fuel consumption rating.

[RoyBell]

Just got home from the fest. I ran the Ryobi for almost 4 days straight. 9am till midnight Thurs-Sunday. No issues. Ran the AC fine. Decided to put some box fans in the camper and then had the outdoor kitchen fridge going too. Cabin fridge was ran on propane.

I got roughly 6 hours I would guess per tank with AC running non-stop, fridge, box fans, chargers, etc. I would top it off every couple hours. 93 degrees out and super high humidity. Heat index 105 they said. No shade made it impossible to get under 80 degrees inside the camper when the sun was out.

Generator is pretty quiet. I used my muffler box for about 10 minutes before the attic fan inside burned up and the generator overheated and shut down. Since it was designed for my old generator it was a bad setup for the new one with the exhaust out the side vs the back. It was blowing hot exhaust right into the plywood vs towards the fan. So I ditched the box for the weekend. Couldn't even hear my little guy over all the 6Ks everyone had.

Next generator will just be a quiet honda. It's too much work lugging the big box around and takes up too much truck space. Since the new one is quieter than the old one I can deal with it as-is.

As far as the brute vs ryobi...Ryobi has a longer warranty and larger gas tank. I felt the brute starting amps was artificially high compared to all other gensets I've seen. I am sure it will get the job done though.

[Need-A-Vacation]

Roy,

Have you had a chance to try the new generator out yet? If so, how is it working???

Tvov wrote:
I noticed the "Brutepower" generator in the link you provided does not seem to list noise level... usually means it is LOUD! Looks like a perfectly good generator, same as all the others of that type (open frame, contractor type).

Actually, the Brute isn't that loud at all!!! I started searching for a generator after our family ruin and had settled on either the Champion at TSC (3650w/4500w I think it is) or the Brute that Roy was looking at. I did miss the Ryobi that he ended up going with, but I mentioned the Brute to my neighbor who just bought a trailer. He bought one and is pretty happy with it. I actually bought one also as it was on sale plus an 11% rebate from Menards. I went over to check his, and while it was running (no load) just inside the garage door (open), we were still talking just a few feet away. Now I need to decide if it is worth keeping or not (still haven't opened it!) based on how much we may or may not use it.... I leaned toward the Brute because of the B&S motor vs a China motor, and the higher start up watts. No idea if it was the right things to base a decision on. Only time will tell!

[keymastr]

You should be able to get an extended run kit for it that has much more fuel capacity. Or copy the Honda kit and make your own.

[RoyBell]

2oldman wrote:
Is this music fest the only time you have use for a generator?

Usually. Sometimes we used it for jobsites.

[RoyBell]

ScottG wrote:
I would check to see if the starting capacitor on the ac is blown.

Capacitor is only for starting motors. It starts and runs, although the generator struggles. If it needed a new capacitor it would trip the breaker in the camper or just kill the generator on startup.

[RoyBell]

I ended up taking the Brute back and getting the Ryobi one I posted. It has a 3 year warranty vs 2 year and a 4 gallon gas tank vs 3 gallon.

Those 2KW stackable champions only have 1 gallon of gas. Pair 2 and you have 2 gallons of gas. I would guess you might get 2 hours of run time at full load. It should also be noted it's only 1700 running watts. x 2 is 3400 running watts.

The one I got for $400: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-3-600-Watt-212cc-Gasoline-Powered-Portable-Generator-RY903600/206041609

Will use with my muffler box (hopefully it fits) to make it as quiet as the expensive hondas. I had one side by side a couple years ago at the fest and the guy couldn't believe how quiet it was.

[RavensFan24]

I've been considering the Champion 3100 for our trailer, which has a 15k AC unit. I know that's borderline for being able to run it, but I recently found the 2000 watt Champion that can be paired and stacked to make it a 4000 watt set up and it costs about the same (actually it's a little cheaper) as the new 3100 watt Champion. The Remote Start 3100 watt is $960 on Amazon and 2 2000 watt generators are $908. I like this option cause if I'm tailgating or something (with or without the RV) I only need the small one, but when I know I'll be running the AC I'll have the 2nd unit available. Another bonus is that I believe the 2 small units will fit in the front pass through, where the 3100 watt definitely wouldn't

Here is a link to the 2000 watt: Champion 2000 Watt

[2oldman]

Is this music fest the only time you have use for a generator?