Portable Generator

[BeemerJoe]

OK.. I'll bite.. what the heck is a "tire warmer".

[Essvar]

Originally Posted by BeemerJoe

OK.. I'll bite.. what the heck is a "tire warmer".

Hot socks to get race tires up to temperature without a warmup lap or two

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by Essvar

The redundancy comes in the the likely-hood of the onboard generator not working (most often due to battery issues) but there's a lot more going on with the onboard units that can fail. I've never had a pull start portable generator just "fail". I have had my onboard generators decide to not work based on a plethora of reasons.


As a side note, If I wasn't using my 3500 to run multiple sets of motorcycle tire warmers I would carry a 2000w as that's more than enough to power everything except the AC units and they are MUCH more transportable.

I know I have a different experience with generators as we only do campgrounds with electric and water min. My generator experience was years of boating with generators (Onans) and standby home generators. In my thinking if a generator in a fiver is that undepebdable then I'm not going to carry the extra weight. If something isn't reliable then I'd either replace it or omit it. JMHO

[Essvar]

Originally Posted by flybouy

I know I have a different experience with generators as we only do campgrounds with electric and water min. My generator experience was years of boating with generators (Onans) and standby home generators. In my thinking if a generator in a fiver is that undepebdable then I'm not going to carry the extra weight. If something isn't reliable then I'd either replace it or omit it. JMHO

I'd say that if the onboard generators were not installed in an RV they would be VERY reliable. However.... with that being said there's nothing worse than getting to a destination without services and having your generator not fire over, or the transfer switch doesn't work or it won't prime or a wire has rattled loose, or... or... or...

Having a backup has kept my DW happy while I worked on whatever issue happened to be the soup de jour.

[BeemerJoe]

I'd never heard of them. but I've never been in the racing scene.. thank you for the explanation.

[dutchmensport]

Originally Posted by BeemerJoe

thanks everyone.. guess my predator is going on marketplace lol.

Didn't read all the posts yet, but why not keep the predator as a back-up for when power goes out at your home? (Unless you live on the 25th floor of an apartment complex).

We purchased 2 Cumming Onan P4500I inverter generators. Someone offered to buy my old "King Craft" that is over 20 years old and everyone swore it was a piece of junk (it's still running flawless, it's just very noisy).

I decided to keep it anyway. Having an extra one at home, in the event of power outage will keep everything running in the camper at home, and also keep the refrigerator and freezer powered in the house. I wouldn't sell that generator now for a a thousand bucks! It's priceless now!

[BeemerJoe]

Because my rv is parked right next to my home. I have a very long and wide driveway and it's a perfect place for the rv. And truthfully, I've had the predator for over 2 years now, and it has 24 total hours.. Most of them put on just for exercise.

[roadglide]

There is nothing more aggravating boon-docking and running the batteries down where the Onan on board generator will not start . I agree with the op these newer Onan generator are cantankerous and do not like the high Ethanol fuel . I have learned if you need to run the AC it’s cheaper to go to rv park in the long run .

[Ken / Claudia]

When I had an Onan in my AF I never carried the spare genny I kept at home.
I used my fathers MH once, it had large Onan. He wanted me to take a 4,000w Coleman. He always took the Coleman and only used it because the Onan used more gas. He sat it on the floor in the bedroom and packed it in and out at every camp site.
I told him he was nuts, he told me I was nuts. I ran the Onan on the road to run the 2 A/Cs and at camp when needed. It ran off the MHs fuel tank and I never knew how much fuel it used and did not care. It worked.

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by Ken / Claudia

When I had an Onan in my AF I never carried the spare genny I kept at home.
I used my fathers MH once, it had large Onan. He wanted me to take a 4,000w Coleman. He always took the Coleman and only used it because the Onan used more gas. He sat it on the floor in the bedroom and packed it in and out at every camp site.
I told him he was nuts, he told me I was nuts. I ran the Onan on the road to run the 2 A/Cs and at camp when needed. It ran off the MHs fuel tank and I never knew how much fuel it used and did not care. It worked.

That was my experience with the boat. It had a 120 gal fuel tank so I could run the generator all night to run the a/c , make coffee on the electric stove, and never see the fuel gauge move.

[rauman84341]

I carry a Honda 2000 even though I have an Onan 5500 built-in generator, solar panels, and Lithium batteries. I'm a boondock most of the time at higher elevations around 6,000 ft where the temperatures even in July can be below freezing or close to it. Many times, we have camped under pine trees or when the sun never came out for days making the solar panels useless. The smaller generator uses less gas, is quieter, and on more than one occasion I’ve let others in our camping group use it that came unprepared for the cold weather and on one occasion the main generator failed.

[snoobler]

Originally Posted by rauman84341

I carry a Honda 2000 even though I have an Onan 5500 built-in generator, solar panels, and Lithium batteries. I'm a boondock most of the time at higher elevations around 6,000 ft where the temperatures even in July can be below freezing or close to it. Many times, we have camped under pine trees or when the sun never came out for days making the solar panels useless. The smaller generator uses less gas, is quieter, and on more than one occasion I’ve let others in our camping group use it that came unprepared for the cold weather and on one occasion the main generator failed.

That's where you need a deployable array made form flexible panels and PVC pipe frames that you can wire in parallel to your main system or with a dedicated charge controller.

[Beech50]

Originally Posted by BeemerJoe

thanks everyone.. guess my predator is going on marketplace lol.

I wouldn’t sell it. My 2007 5th wheel had an onan 5500. Around 2015, with about 400 hours on it it started giving me a lot of trouble. Their fuel pumps are garbage. Had to replace 3 of them. If you’ve got the room take it with you.

[K_N_L]

My buddies and I do a yearly small town festival and it's a 3 day dry camping event in November, We all have toy haulers with either 4K or 5.5K gens on board but we use a 2K Honda during the day to keep 2 units at a time charged up. We might burn 1 -2 gallons during the day, keeping everything on propane and only running the big gen units at as needed for the microwave or the girls using their hair tools

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by BeemerJoe

thanks everyone.. guess my predator is going on marketplace lol.

I’d keep it ..I have the same one and I installed a transfer switch and breakers for my house..may get a large permanent gen one day but for now I can just fire this up and have refrigerators and lights and my pellet stoves in an emergency..it won’t run my hvac systems but the pellet stoves will get us by..
Also can use it for either one of my kids home if they don’t have power and I do.
Generators are like snow blowers and insurance…you get to thinking you will never need it….until you do

[BSandersAZ]

I carry my Honda 3000 every time. The one time I needed it I had not packed it. Plus it’s much more quiet than the Onan underneath. Plus you can power the fridge going down road. I find Onan prone to shutoff going down the road.
Best
BradAZ

[ACJCF2]

I have a friend that carries a 2000W quiet generator for dry camping in the everglades. The onboard 5500W Onan is too loud. He hides the little 2000W in the woods and no complaints. I run Marine gas and Sta-Bil in my 30 gallon tank for my 5500W to ward of gas problems.

[WJQ]

When I had a 34-foot Bounder Motorhome, I carried a small Honda. I had two reasons: 1. Much lower fuel consumption if I wanted to watch TV for a few hours. 2. Much less noise.

For short power use, we still used the built-in as the extra generator was kind of a hassle.

[wiredgeorge]

I bought a Champion Dual Fuel 4750/3800 for camping and found it wasn't practical. Too heavy and you need to keep the rain off if in the elements. Used it to keep the house lit up if power went out. I have had a transfer switch installed under our home breaker panel and much of the house wired in room by room. Since it was a shade undersized and not an inverter generator I recently bought a Wen inverter generator. $685 from the US distributor with free shipping. It is more powerful and a bit more quiet. They include a wheel kit and a full set of tools in a bag. Very easy to start.

https://wenproducts.com/collections/...carb-compliant

This generator wouldn't make sense for camping due size/weight. About 125 lbs. Of course, the power will probably never go out again...

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

I bought a Champion Dual Fuel 4750/3800 for camping and found it wasn't practical. Too heavy and you need to keep the rain off if in the elements. Used it to keep the house lit up if power went out. I have had a transfer switch installed under our home breaker panel and much of the house wired in room by room. Since it was a shade undersized and not an inverter generator I recently bought a Wen inverter generator. $685 from the US distributor with free shipping. It is more powerful and a bit more quiet. They include a wheel kit and a full set of tools in a bag. Very easy to start.

https://wenproducts.com/collections/...carb-compliant

This generator wouldn't make sense for camping due size/weight. About 125 lbs. Of course, the power will probably never go out again...

“Of course, the power will probably never go out again”

Yep the best insurance for power outages is buying a generator…(won’t have to use it) …..just like snow blowers and snow…same protection where I live