New Generator Install

[MunizTravels]

Hello Keystone Alpine Family.

Earlier this year i took on the endeavor of installing 4x 200 watt solar panels a Victron Multiplus 3000 and 4 Battle Born Batteries. you can find the post on this forum. While that was all great I'm in Florida and with batteries you can only get about 2 1/2 hrs of A/C before you need to charge again. If you want to stay in a rest area over night you risk losing your inverter generator.

SO I'm taking on the task of installing a built in Onan 5500 EVAP in the front compartment. I have a Alpine 3401RS does anyone have pictures of one installed already and where did you put the gas tank? Do you guys have any warnings for me that i should know?

Thanks in advance
Armando
2018 Alpine 3401RS
2019 F350 King Ranch Dually

[chuckster57]

Why gas powered? They make a 5500W that runs on LP. Just need to T off one of the propane cylinders.

Did your unit come with “gen prep”? If not then there are things you will need to get besides the gen.

[MunizTravels]

I didn't want to use up the propane which is used for the water heater and furnace. No it did not come with generator prep, so i'm going to pull the under belly and find a spot for a custom gas tank.

Armando

[chuckster57]

If you find a spot, you will need to route the feed and return line. And figure out a way to fill the tank. You’ll need a transfer switch and if your looking to have remote start you’ll need to run that harness. I would seriously think about LP and a spare tank as it would be cheaper.

[travelin texans]

X2 on the LP.

[MunizTravels]

I'll tell you guys why I think LP would not work for me. My RV is sitting at U-Haul in Pompano Beach, FL. I purchased a new adjustable bed so I went down to install the bed and mattress yesterday. It's realllly hot down here right now, so I used my Champion dual fuel with a 20 lbs propane tank. within a few hours the tank was almost empty yes i was only running the air conditioner in the Bed room and a few lights.

The reason for the Generator is to be able to self sustain ourselves as we boondock around the country we have been selling everything in our house, my Job is fully remote now. we are planning to leave in the winter this year for atleast 2 years and after reading post from many users on this forum i realize boondocking is a reality and a must. I would love to be fully prepared to be out for 4 to 5 days on our own.

I hired a professional installer that has done many 5th wheel retrofits to help me. I will do most of the work and he has the guy that can make a custom tank for me.

I feel very fortunate to be able to learn from the RV community before ever leaving on the first trip. We were ready to leave last January 2018 and my mother in-law got sick and my wife had to come down to Florida to take care of her while I stayed in Tennessee packed and sold the house. Since then her father passed away and we no longer have anything keeping us here.

Full time RV-ing is soon to be a reality and I'm just trying to be comfortable and prepared.

[chuckster57]

I totally understand your reasons for not wanting to run the gen on LP but the ones We have installed and I have seen from the factory don't run out in a few hours. I live by the KISS principle and practicality. IMO your going to spend a LOT of money to do it the way you want and it would buy a whole lot of propane.

[MunizTravels]

Chuck,

I already have a Onan 5500 gas Generator sitting in my living room. But I'm curious to know how long you can run your Generator on 2 LP tanks. Assuming your 5th wheel came with 2 40 lbs tanks? I attached a pic of the generator and accessories.

[chuckster57]

I don't have an onboard gen. I work as an RV tech and have installed a number of them. IIRC a customer has stated that his will run for something like 6 hrs at full load on a single 30Lb bottle.

[lt_cowboy]

Here's my Onan 5500 LP... Although I'm not crazy about placement of the exhaust, it's awesome.

[cookinwitdiesel]

The dual fuel engines are designed to run badly in either mode pretty much. They are compromised designs that sounds cute but are not practical or efficient. Ethanol/gas have the same problem. Either one in a dedicated engine can do well but the hybrids are compromised and suck. So comparing your Champion to the Onan on consumption is not a fair comparison.

AND, if your truck is a Diesel, you now have 3 different fuels to maintain! If you plan to do any amount of boondocking beyond the occasional day here and there, solar/batteries/inverters will be a must as well. Unless you really like listening to that generator and refilling it!

[MunizTravels]

How long does the LP last at full load?

[cookinwitdiesel]

The generator will be less efficient at 100% load (although the link seems to suggest otherwise). Will you be running at 5500W constantly ever?

https://powersuite.cummins.com/PS5/P...ets/a-1425.pdf

[n0arp]

The couple times we've boondocked with our Onan 5500 and used LP, we got right around 24 hours out of the two cylinders between refills. So roughly 12 hours per tank. We had a third tank and kept filling/swapping it out with the empties.

I bought everything to convert mine from LP to gas, including carb, fuel tank, pump, lines, etc, but decided in the end I'd rather have LP. I'm not interested in storing another flammable fuel in the RV, having to worry about ethanol, bad fuel, etc. The motivation to look into that is that I didn't have a safe way to transport additional propane cylinders - and I still don't really have a great solution to that.

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by n0arp

The couple times we've boondocked with our Onan 5500 and used LP, we got right around 24 hours out of the two cylinders between refills. So roughly 12 hours per tank. We had a third tank and kept filling/swapping it out with the empties.

I bought everything to convert mine from LP to gas, including carb, fuel tank, pump, lines, etc, but decided in the end I'd rather have LP. I'm not interested in storing another flammable fuel in the RV, having to worry about ethanol, bad fuel, etc. The motivation to look into that is that I didn't have a safe way to transport additional propane cylinders - and I still don't really have a great solution to that.

Which brings a good point, once out of gasoline the only refill option is to break camp & tow to a gas station as opposed to disconnecting the bottle & getting it filled.
Those that are mentioning run times per bottle it would be helpful to list size of the propane tank you're using. If running 12 hours on a 20lber then should get 24+ hours from a 40lber & somewhere between for a 30.
The dual fuel generators are like the newer flex fuel vehicle motors, yes they'll run just fine on E85, 10% ethanol, but optimum mileage/performance will be with 100% gasoline.

[n0arp]

Originally Posted by travelin texans

Those that are mentioning run times per bottle it would be helpful to list size of the propane tank you're using. If running 12 hours on a 20lber then should get 24+ hours from a 40lber & somewhere between for a 30.

All Alpines, as far as I know, come with 30lb cylinders. Op and I both have Alpines so I left out that information.


Speaking of fueling, I'd love to swap out my LP for a diesel model so I could just pull fuel from my aux tank in the truck. Not going to happen, though.

[MunizTravels]

Thank you guys for all the answers.

I'll give you some more background. I already have solar installed 4 x 200 watt solar panels. 4 x 100ah Battle Born Batteries, Victron Multiplus 12/3000/120 and MPPT controller. I just found from AM Solar something calls a Smart Phase selector which will allow me to use my hole power panel instead of splitting it in half that i will be installing with the Gen set. I have a guy coming out in the next 2 days that makes extended fuel tanks for trucks and we are going to take out the underbelly of the RV and see if there is a spot we can use for a gas tank with a fill nozzle like a car.

If that doesn't work i will try to replace the parts for LP on the generator. 30 lbs LP 12 hours not bad but i was looking a week. not running it for the whole day of course.

[cookinwitdiesel]

I doubt you would be able to carry enough gasoline to run for a week anyways.....and if you could, that would be very heavy!

Nice solar setup!

[Racebug]

I was pretty impressed that my onan could run 48 hours on less than 30 gallons of gas. I don't remember the real numbers, but I think I could run close to a week on the 60 gallons my toy hauler has onboard. I would not be happy if I had to replace a 30pound LP bottle every 12 hours!

[n0arp]

Originally Posted by Racebug

I would not be happy if I had to replace a 30pound LP bottle every 12 hours!

I agree, it's a PITA. But my concern has moved from changing fuel type, to just finding a safe way to carry more LP.