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Old 10-30-2012, 07:24 AM   #1
fred
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generators

Was looking for some help on generators.Would a 4000 watt generator for the rv run some lights,heater,tv,coffee pot or go with something of more watts. Thanks
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Old 10-30-2012, 07:36 AM   #2
Festus2
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A 4000w generator should be sufficient for you to run many of your small appliances as well as the lights and TV. You should also be able to run your A/C. If you were to have the microwave, several appliances with "heating" elements and the A/C all on at the same time, you might run into difficulties.
You can add up all the wattages/amps of the items you will be using and calculate how much "wiggle" room you have. Don't forget to factor in the power converter and any other things in your RV that need electricity to operate.
Also, the continuous output of a generator is somewhat different from its stated/advertised output. In your case, you may have only 3500w of usable power.
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Old 10-30-2012, 08:01 AM   #3
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What size is your camper and do you have 1 or 2 A/C's? Should be enough but if you have to a/c's and a large camper may wabt to jump up to a 5k or 55k. I just went and bought a 6k but I think Im taking it back cause I dont need anything that big since we only have 1 a/c
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Old 10-30-2012, 08:36 AM   #4
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With a 7500 my sister can run everything in a 2500sq. foot house except her clothes dryer. (we are currently going through this in n.e. due to sandy). a 4000 should be good for a small camper. May need a little more if you have 2 ac's.
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Old 10-30-2012, 11:04 AM   #5
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Have used a Champion 4000 watt (Peak) that CW sells. Use it often for long weekends. 15000 btu AC, water pump, and all the lights inside and outside in the Georgia summer with no problem. Only shut it off to refuel. runs long enough on a full tank to get a good nights sleep.

That one is nice because it has a built in outlet that accepts the 30A camper plug
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Old 10-30-2012, 11:46 AM   #6
E597283
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Originally Posted by ziggyga View Post
Have used a Champion 4000 watt (Peak) that CW sells.
How quiet is it...I was thinking of buying one and everybody talks about the Honda models
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Old 10-30-2012, 12:26 PM   #7
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Have you tried using our forums "Search" button......?

There are probably a few topics there about generators...

On the other hand, we have 2 Honda's in our truck beds tool box
which power everything at once except we must use the a/c and
microwave seperate. Just turn a/c off a minute, then back on after
use of microwave.

In our experience, the 2 Honda's will run our a/c fine, and if you
try to use one it may run full blast and of course will use more
fuel that way.

Jo
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Old 11-01-2012, 03:06 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by E597283 View Post
How quiet is it...I was thinking of buying one and everybody talks about the Honda models
I had a smaller Champion generator and used it since 2006 several times, running it 2-3 days straight at a time, with no issues. That was paired with a travel trailer with 1 a/c. Now that we've upgraded our camper to a large 5th wheel with 2 a/c's, I also upgraded my generator to the Champion 7500. I understand that the Honda generators get great recommendations and they have a super low noise pollution, my father-in-law has one. Myself, I just can't justify the cost differential while both my wife and myself are still holding our full time jobs and raising two teenagers. I can't hear the generator running with the a/c on when I'm inside the RV. Of course, the only times I've used a generator camping one of two things were happening....1) we were secluded and by ourselves or 2) everyone else at the campsite was running generators also so, it sounded like a nascar track.

By the way, I handed my first champion generator over to my dad and I just talked to him the other day and that champion is still running strong.
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Old 11-01-2012, 05:18 PM   #9
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The Yamaha 2400 seems very interesting , dealers are guaranteeing them to run a 13500 btu a/c !!!
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Old 11-01-2012, 05:35 PM   #10
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I have the champion 4000 watt generator it runs every thing in the TT great .
I dont think it would handle a AC and the microwave at the same time.
But I think for 299.00 it is awsome.
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Old 11-02-2012, 07:41 AM   #11
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I have a Honda 3000IS and it is whisper quiet. I ran it for pretty much the whole weekend on about 3 gal of gas. Runs pretty much everything without an issue so far. they are pricey new. but I got a rippen deal off of CL just out of the box with 4 hours on it for 1750.00. Still had its first tank of fuel in it.
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Old 11-04-2012, 03:42 PM   #12
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When considering generators you should look at the AMP usage of whatever you want to run as well as the startup AMP requirements. We have (2) of Yamaha's EF2000is inverters paired up which work pretty well for our (1) AC TT. We do have to alternate AC and microwave usage however and we can not run much in general if the AC is running. Noise levels are very low. One other thing to consider is generator weight, which was one of our big considerations.
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