Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 

Go Back   Keystone RV Forums > Keystone Tech Forums > Towing
Click Here to Login

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 05-24-2014, 07:43 AM   #1
Knucklehead
Member
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Troy
Posts: 65
Cool Running genset while driving

Have a raptor and was wanting to know if the last hour of the trip stopping and turning the gen on to cool the trailer down before arrival at cg would hurt it or the ac Tried to use search and either dont understand how to use it or there were no answers Thanks for all replies to this
__________________
Jo & Burt
1999 F350 7.3 MTans DRW 4Door 4X4 4:10 gears
2013 Raptor 297 SE
2005 Sprinter 276FWRLS
1990 Jayco 26 Special
1985 Jayco 1008 SG Popup
Knucklehead is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-24-2014, 07:58 AM   #2
Festus2
Site Team
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Fraser Valley BC Canada
Posts: 7,015
Quote:
Originally Posted by Knucklehead View Post
Have a raptor and was wanting to know if the last hour of the trip stopping and turning the gen on to cool the trailer down before arrival at cg would hurt it or the ac Tried to use search and either dont understand how to use it or there were no answers Thanks for all replies to this
I did a search (typed in "genset") and found that 3 members have done this and have reported no issues doing that. Jim & Kay, jje1960 and geo indicated that they run their Onan or other generator mainly to keep the unit cool for their pets.
Note- there were about 5 pages of posts that you have to look through - not all of them deal with running the genset while towing. Browsing through these to find the few that do talk about it will give you something to do and out of mischief.
__________________
2008 Cougar 5th Wheel 27RKS
2005 2500 GMC Duramax
Festus2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-24-2014, 09:12 AM   #3
Ken / Claudia
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Fruitland
Posts: 3,357
I have done it while driving a motorhome when the engine a/c was not cooling the rest of vehicle. I ran both rv a/cs, do not think there would be any problem in a trailer.
__________________
2013 24RKSWE (27ft TT) Cougar 1/2 ton series SOLD 10-2021
2013 Ford F350 4x4 CC 6.7 engine, 8 ft bed, 3.55 rear end, lariat package
Retired from Oregon State Police in 2011 than worked another 9.5 years as a small town traffic cop:
As of 05-2020, I am all done with 39 years total police work. No more uniforms for me.
Ken / Claudia is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-24-2014, 09:56 AM   #4
SAD
Permanent User Ban
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Bartlesville, Oklahoma
Posts: 1,124
Have done it. Was nice to arrive at camping spot and have the RV cool inside. When it was 104 degrees outside.
SAD is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-24-2014, 12:05 PM   #5
Knucklehead
Member
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Troy
Posts: 65
Talking Thank you

Thank you for the info i guess i typed in too much stuff when searching any way thanks for the replies
__________________
Jo & Burt
1999 F350 7.3 MTans DRW 4Door 4X4 4:10 gears
2013 Raptor 297 SE
2005 Sprinter 276FWRLS
1990 Jayco 26 Special
1985 Jayco 1008 SG Popup
Knucklehead is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-24-2014, 12:16 PM   #6
jje1960
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 692
Aircon while driving

Yup, have done this many times. Have the inverter generator running in the truck bed and a cord run to the unit. We actually figured out that ol' Lenard didn't give a hoot if it was about 95 deg in the unit, have opened windows and vents and it stays cool enough. BTW, Ol' Lenard is our cat.... Not an Uncle or something we throw in the 5Ver while driving...
__________________
2011 F350 DRW 4X4
"The Beast"
2011 Cougar 325 SRX
jje1960 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-25-2014, 06:29 AM   #7
Essness
Senior Member
 
Essness's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: near Lake Geneva, WI
Posts: 227
Just did it this week. Trip from Hilton Head to Asheville, NC temps were in the 90's. Stopped for gas, fired up the Onan, turned on the air.
worked great and also chilled the beer in the garage fridge real good
__________________
Scot
2014 Ram 1500 Laramie
2014 Raptor 27FS
2016 Polaris RZR S900
Essness is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-25-2014, 07:42 AM   #8
justlkn
Senior Member
 
justlkn's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: St. Augustine, Florida
Posts: 196
I have been wondering the same thing but I have a silly question. Running the generator while towing should cause the inverter to charge the battery as if it's running off shore power. Doesn't my TV provide charging power to the house battery as well? Wouldn't this cause an issue to have two power sources trying to charge the same battery? I am not familiar enough with the electrical system to know.
__________________

2016 3500HD Silverado Duramax LTZ
2012 Keystone Avalanche 341TG (Sold)
justlkn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-25-2014, 08:13 AM   #9
jje1960
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 692
Charge

Never really thought about it, both have overcharge protection, not sure if it even matters. At any-rate, didn't notice any problems when we did it.
__________________
2011 F350 DRW 4X4
"The Beast"
2011 Cougar 325 SRX
jje1960 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-25-2014, 09:59 AM   #10
JRTJH
Site Team
 
JRTJH's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Gaylord
Posts: 26,836
The tow vehicle will charge your RV battery. It provides about 13.6VDC. When you apply "shore power" or "generator power", the converter will monitor the battery voltage and charge it if necessary (at a high rate) or go into "trickle charge" mode if the battery is charged already. With the tow vehicle providing 13.6 VDC, the converter will "sense that the battery is charged" and will go into trickle charge. As long as the tow vehicle doesn't "overcharge the battery" the converter "trickle charger" won't either.

We're not talking "days of charging" here, we're talking an hour, or maybe two, so it's not likely that any battery damage could occur if both the TV and the RV converter are operating properly. Now if one or the other is damaged or malfunctioning, that's a different situation. However, that "battery damage" would occur if it were the converter as soon as you plug into shorepower overnight or if it were the TV alternator/charging circuit, the damage would occur even if the genset were never used. Of course, you'd likely be damaging your TV battery as well.

So, I'd suggest that if things are working "normally", no you won't damage or overcharge your battery while towing with the genset on for an hour or so.
__________________
John



2015 F250 6.7l 4x4
2014 Cougar X Lite 27RKS
JRTJH is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-25-2014, 10:06 AM   #11
justlkn
Senior Member
 
justlkn's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: St. Augustine, Florida
Posts: 196
Ahhh... Now I understand. Thanks for the explanation. I tried to search that topic but could not find the "right" search words to produce the results I was looking for.
__________________

2016 3500HD Silverado Duramax LTZ
2012 Keystone Avalanche 341TG (Sold)
justlkn is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Keystone RV Company or any of its affiliates in any way. Keystone RV® is a registered trademark of the Keystone RV Company.


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 01:15 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.