Rv 50amp generator

[sierradenali]

50 amp quiet generator to use on the road to power my cougar 23mls 5th wheel.
Any suggestions?

[Matty Rich]

The Honda EU7000 is a tank. Will last forever and is very quiet. But also very pricey. You’re paying for the brand.
Harbor Freights Predator 9500 is pretty good as well. Much cheaper than the Honda. More power than the Honda but also louder than than the Honda.
Never had issues with either one.

Most quiet inverter generators nowadays are good as long as you maintain them.

I have a Onan P4500 portable generator that has over 1000 hrs on it. Still runs like it’s brand new.

[NH_Bulldog]

Is your intent to power the trailer with the generator like it was plugged in to shore power? If so you need the size generator that Matty Rich mentioned. Otherwise, you can consider something much smaller that is still capable of running one air conditioner (with a soft start) plus a few other items. Much quieter, less expensive and a lot easier to handle a smaller generator.

[xrated]

Originally Posted by NH_Bulldog

Is your intent to power the trailer with the generator like it was plugged in to shore power? If so you need the size generator that Matty Rich mentioned. Otherwise, you can consider something much smaller that is still capable of running one air conditioner (with a soft start) plus a few other items. Much quieter, less expensive and a lot easier to handle a smaller generator.

Like it is plugged into shore power??.....not even close! The Honda EU7000 is still 5000 Watts short of power as compared to plugging into shore power. A 50
A service in the RV has the ability to bring 50A per leg (6000W) times two legs equal 12000 Watts.

[Matty Rich]

Originally Posted by xrated

Like it is plugged into shore power??.....not even close! The Honda EU7000 is still 5000 Watts short of power as compared to plugging into shore power. A 50
A service in the RV has the ability to bring 50A per leg (6000W) times two legs equal 12000 Watts.

The Onan on board is 5500 and can run the whole trailer. I’ve ran my trailer on both a Honda 7000 and Predator 9500 with no problems. Not sure who would need 12000 watts for a fifth wheel.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Matty Rich

The Onan on board is 5500 and can run the whole trailer. I’ve ran my trailer on both a Honda 7000 and Predator 9500 with no problems. Not sure who would need 12000 watts for a fifth wheel.

The fact that you "can run the whole trailer" on a 5500 watt generator does not mean that it provides THE SAME power input as shore power.

Using a 5500 watt generator to "replace" a 12000 watt source is very much like putting a 3 cylinder 1100 cc diesel engine in a F350 to "replace" the 6700 CC V8 engine. It'll likely get you to town and back, but hitch a heavy load behind it and it'll start having "brown outs and power surges" just like that ONAN strains to keep up when "running the whole trailer"....

There is no way 5500 watts can "replace" 12000 watts. Once you turn on two air conditioners, the refrigerator, using hot water (on electric power), turn on a electric griddle or fry pan and using the microwave, that 5500 watts won't be providing sufficient power to prevent a low voltage/high amperage condition... That is a "perfect storm condition" that puts your compressors in the air conditioners and the refrigerator at risk.....

Simply put, a 5500 watt Onan generator is capable of running a 50 amp RV USING GOOD ENERGY MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES, but is less than one half of what shore power provides (5500 watts vs 12000 watts).

[Matty Rich]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

The fact that you "can run the whole trailer" on a 5500 watt generator does not mean that it provides THE SAME power input as shore power.

Using a 5500 watt generator to "replace" a 12000 watt source is very much like putting a 3 cylinder 1100 cc diesel engine in a F350 to "replace" the 6700 CC V8 engine. It'll likely get you to town and back, but hitch a heavy load behind it and it'll start having "brown outs and power surges" just like that ONAN strains to keep up when "running the whole trailer"....

There is no way 5500 watts can "replace" 12000 watts. Once you turn on two air conditioners, the refrigerator, using hot water (on electric power), turn on a electric griddle or fry pan and using the microwave, that 5500 watts won't be providing sufficient power to prevent a low voltage/high amperage condition... That is a "perfect storm condition" that puts your compressors in the air conditioners and the refrigerator at risk.....

Simply put, a 5500 watt Onan generator is capable of running a 50 amp RV USING GOOD ENERGY MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES, but is less than one half of what shore power provides (5500 watts vs 12000 watts).

You’re absolutely right that the Onan and shore power will never be the same.
But the OP asked for a solution. And an Onan 5500 onboard, or an other generator I posted above is a solution.
There is a reason most trailers that come with generators have the Onan 5500.
If Onan made a 12000watt onboard, sign me up. I’ll buy one right now. But that’s not realistic.
You OBVIOUSLY have to watch your power management. If you’re dry camping you also obviously understand power restrictions and the need to conserve power, which is also why trailers come with propane refrigerators and water heaters.

[xrated]

Originally Posted by Matty Rich

The Onan on board is 5500 and can run the whole trailer. I’ve ran my trailer on both a Honda 7000 and Predator 9500 with no problems. Not sure who would need 12000 watts for a fifth wheel.

Maybe you can, on your trailer.....mine, not so much. Three A/C units, a microwave, an 1500W electric fireplace, electric water heater, the Charger/Converter....it just ain't happening.

And, I'm NOT suggesting that the OP get a 12Kw generator for his trailer. My statement is just a correction of some wrong information that the Honda 7000 is just like being plugged into shore power, which is simply NOT true.

[Matty Rich]

Originally Posted by xrated

Maybe you can, on your trailer.....mine, not so much. Three A/C units, a microwave, an 1500W electric fireplace, electric water heater, the Charger/Converter....it just ain't happening.

And, I'm NOT suggesting that the OP get a 12Kw generator for his trailer. My statement is just a correction of some wrong information that the Honda 7000 is just like being plugged into shore power, which is simply NOT true.

Maybe I misunderstood what the OP is trying to do here. But sounds like they need an option for Dry Camping. I spend 90% of my time dry camping. I run the Onan on board most of the time and have no problems what’s so ever.

Running 3 ACs and an electric fireplace at the same time seems a little counter productive? If the rig has 3 AC then it should have a power management system to handle all of that. I can run my 2 AC’s and the microwave all together no problem, I also run propane for my fridge and water heater.

Again maybe I missed something here but I’m assuming the whole idea behind this is for dry camping, and you learn your limits of that pretty quick once you’re out there.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by Matty Rich

The Onan on board is 5500 and can run the whole trailer. I’ve ran my trailer on both a Honda 7000 and Predator 9500 with no problems. Not sure who would need 12000 watts for a fifth wheel.

The fact that the 5500 can power up the trailer does not mean it can "run the whole trailer". Trying to do that will only harm the components as the gen set becomes overloaded...quickly. 5500 watts cannot do the same thing as 12000 watts. It's more like trying to run a 100A trailer on about 45 amps...not a good thing if you try to run the whole trailer. It would be more like trying to use your trailer, fully equipped with items to utilize 100A (like 2 A/Cs) on a 30A outlet; you will have to juggle what is on if you don't want to continually throw the breaker or damage components.

[dutchmensport]

Cummins Onan P4500i inverter generator (2 of them, run in parallel). That's what we use. Most of the time, we just run 1 generator. Very quiet, you can stand directly on top of them them (both running) and have a normal conversation without raising your voice. Decibels are around 56 standing right on top of them, normal talking is more than that and a television is much more than that. They are darn good generators, but you also pay a darn good price for them. But it's all a matter of what is most important to you. Cummins has been doing generators for a long, long, long time. In my opinion, they are the best.

[SargeW]

My last RV was a 40' diesel pusher, all electric. It had an on board 10,000 watt Onan that easily ran the whole RV, including 3 15,000 roof AC units. The key to success was a good on board energy management system (EMS) that would move loads, or turn them off and on as needed.

The point of the story is that you can do the same with a smaller generator, as long as you act as the EMS. Because the reality is that how often are you going to try to power every appliance in the rig at one time? Not often. A smaller sized capable generator will most likely serve you fine, with a little common sense.