Generator vs. Honda generator inverter

[davidjsimons]

I may be doing some dry camping for three to four days at a time soon. My wife may be doing some visiting teaching at a sister school and I own some property in the area. Noise is not an issue, there are no neighbors. I currently own a 8kw generator that I use at home for power outages. Other than less noise and less weight, what would be the advantage to a Honda generator inverter? As stated, I have no neighbors and I have an overhead winch to load the generator. Payload on the truck is nowhere near being in question. I'm just looking for technical reasons of which I may not be aware. Thanks in advance.


2013 Cougar 28 RBS
2012 Ram 3500 Dually
6.7 Cummins H.O.
4.10 rears.

[Festus2]

David -
Are you aware of any issues that might arise if you will be using "sensitive" electronics - computers, iPads or ??? with the 8Kw generator? I would imagine that the Honda gen/inverter might produce a "purer sine wave" than an 8kw generator and I'm not sure if you will be plugging the 8kw directly into the RV. Perhaps someone who knows about how sensitive electronics might be affected by this kind of set up will chime in.

If you can get that 8kw beast onto your truck by using the winch and the increased noise given off by the beast won't affect anyone, and it sounds like just a short-term use, I can't see why you would spend $$$$$ on a Honda when you already have more than enough portable watts sitting at home.

[davidjsimons]

The question you brought up about the sensitive electronics was the main area of concern in my question. I do not use a computer in my camper but do charge my phone and iPad. If my gen set is suitable, I don't want to buy a generator/inverter. But if there is a credible risk of me damaging some items, I may need to make a sound decision.


2013 Cougar 28 RBS
2012 Ram 3500 Dually
6.7 Cummins H.O.
4.10 rears.

[JRTJH]

David,

Go to this thread and read post #19. Raytronx is responding to my comments about sine wave inverter generators vs "standard" generator heads like you and I have. Pretty much what he's saying (and I agree with him) is that as long as our kind of generator is functioning properly that there's no real problem operating "sensitive" electronics and that the "high priced models" that synthesize AC current (inverter generators) might cause problems with some of the "sensitive" electronics where they run just fine on our generators.....

Check it out: http://www.keystonerv.org/forums/showthread.php?t=11813&highlight=inverter&page=2

[davidjsimons]

John,
Thanks for the information. My gut feeling is that I'm okay. I know I don't know much in this field and felt that I had better ask a group that had some experience in this matter.


2013 Cougar 28 RBS
2012 Ram 3500 Dually
6.7 Cummins H.O.
4.10 rears.

[f6bits]

Is it possible to buy a high-power contractor generator, then with the money saved, buy a nice low-power 12V pure sine wave inverter? If you only have a few hundred watts of sensitive electronics, this sounds like a possibility.

[jje1960]

Is it possible to buy a high-power contractor generator, then with the money saved, buy a nice low-power 12V pure sine wave inverter? If you only have a few hundred watts of sensitive electronics, this sounds like a possibility.

X2 with this post, exactly as I was thinking. No reason to go spend $2K for nothing when you have what you need. Besides, you will be needing all the $ you can get for keeping that 8K genset filled with fuel..... Suggest you look into a fuel caddy, we have a John Dow and have been very happy with it.

[JRTJH]

Is it possible to buy a high-power contractor generator, then with the money saved, buy a nice low-power 12V pure sine wave inverter? If you only have a few hundred watts of sensitive electronics, this sounds like a possibility.

Really, no need to even buy a sine-wave inverter. There are some electronic devices that actually won't power up on the "artificial AC". See the link in my previous post that directs to Raytronx's comments about that subject.

And, most any computer UPS is a battery operated inverter as well as a "power conditioner" in that you can use the generator, plug the UPS into any wall outlet and benefit from "surge protected, power regulated output" that doesn't go away when you turn the generator off. Most any mid-sized UPS will stay charged overnight and provide enough power from its internal batteries to charge cellphones, smart phones, tablet readers and other similar devices. For the really "frugal", just take the UPS from home when you travel......

[f6bits]

The Raytronx post covers modified sine waves. Good inverter generators produce pure sine waves, as do good inverters.

I hadn't thought about using a UPS since a) most of my brain time on the topic is for boon docking, and b) I wasn't sure if *all* power through the UPS is routed through the inverter. That'd be a great option in this situation.

I'd still feel better about feeding clean power to more sensitive electronics.

[davidjsimons]

X2 with this post, exactly as I was thinking. No reason to go spend $2K for nothing when you have what you need. Besides, you will be needing all the $ you can get for keeping that 8K genset filled with fuel..... Suggest you look into a fuel caddy, we have a John Dow and have been very happy with it.


The generator holds 12 gallons of fuel and will run over 21 hours on a tank. I do have a forty gallon transfer tank already.


2013 Cougar 28 RBS
2012 Ram 3500 Dually
6.7 Cummins H.O.
4.10 rears.

[unyalli]

Are we saying standard generators do not produce a 60hz sine wave output? I'm pretty sure they do. My old standard champion 3500/4000 powered my 30 amp TT just fine, 13,500 Air Conditioner, Microwave, laptop computer, everything.

Jeff

[f6bits]

Here's a good post with info. Scroll down to the oscilloscope images:
http://www.rv.net/forums/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/15131645/print/true/pging/true/page/610.cfm

[unyalli]

There ya go f6bits, that's why my champ 3500 powered everything fine.

Jeff

[jje1960]

Ouch.... $1250.00 per month (full run time) in fuel.... Plus 4 or 5 oil changes per month. This is sounding pretty expensive.