Generator

[Kirwin]

It depends on what your going to use it for

I mounted a 12 Kw Onan Quiet Diesel in the back of my truck. It exhausts straight down and you can pipe it any where you want to. Best part is I can draw fuel off my 98 gallon transfer flow for about 200 hours of run time at 6 Kw. I wired in a transfer switch and a plug that runs off the front of the trailer and I can start the generator about two hours before I'm going to stop for the day and it will be nice and cool in the trailer when we get inside it. Onans are expensive but they are Cummins quality IMHO. This wouldn't work for a fifth wheel as the generator sticks up above the bed rails about 4 inches. Ken Irwin

 

[abdiver]

Kirwin, Yes I remember your set up it is really nice How noisey is the genset when running on a load for your TT. Aint diesel gens kind of loud??

 

[Kirwin]

Diesel noise

Well from Onan's website it says 68 dB. I know the loudest thing when it's running is the cooling fan. It doesn't have perceptible diesel rattle once it warms up unless your running at full load. Honestly you can't hear it run in my Holiday Rambler when the A/C is running. My generator exhaust runs just aft of, and parallel with the trucks exhaust. In my opinion the biggest draw back is the cost of the Onan Quiet Diesels. They are not noisy, they are relatively easy to service, and you can get parts for them anywhere theres a Cummins dealer. Ken Irwin

 

[KWheaton]

I've got an All-American sport 28ft. TT with 15K btu air, and purchased a Honda eu3000i to run everything when the occasion arose. I went to a wedding at a friends house this summer and parked in the yard for overflow sleeping and an extra bathroom / kitchen. That generator impressed everyone! Economy mode sips fuel, and automatically bumps up the rpm's to run the A/C when needed. Ran the rig, lights, AC, fridge, party lights for 3 days on 8 gal's fuel. Thats about $6. 75 a day, or $20 for the weekend. Bargain if you ask me. Most campgrounds with power want at least $25-$45 a day.



The drunks who wandered behind the trailer said they almost tripped over the generator cause they couldn't hear it running!!



It's only rated at 23. 7 amps with a surge capacity of 27. 5 amps or something like that, but it can be hooked up in parallel with another Honda. If your rig only has one AC unit, it's a nice unit to have, it'll save your fuel bills in the long run.



How much does it cost to run one of those propane 5500watt gensets?

 

[jimnance]

I have an Onan 4,000 watt unit. Very quiet, and is rated to burn about . 55 GPH at 50% power. I think the 5,000 watt unit is rated at about 2/3 GPH.



I can understand that Honda being very fuel efficient at low power draw with it's sophisticated RPM control. However, I find it hard to belive two 2,000 EU's only burning 7. 5 gallons total in 35 hours while running A/C etc. My Onan should use about 18 gallons with the same load. Watts are watts, and modern I/C engines don't vary a lot in terms of fuel specifics. Something is wrong with the math. Either the load is a lot less than it appears, or the number of hours is inflated.



I think Honda makes a fine unit, and the EU units are ultra quiet. They are also ultra desireable and more than a couple have been stolen, even while secured by a cable. I doubt they'll steal my built in Onan.

 

[GaryOwen]

The 7. 5 gal fuel usage sounds about right to me. I only have one EU2000, and it uses about 1 gal per 10 hours usage at about 50% load. I can run my 13500 btu unit on a single EU2000, but have to make sure everything else is off! So by using two units, you could run at <50% load to run A/C. Thus 70 hours run time X 1 gal/10 hours = 7 gal. I would have to say the math adds up.



They are certainly a desirable item for thieves however, and I am still working on a good method of theft prevention. The portability of the units are both attractive and a problem.

 

[Turbo Thom]

What you say about the fumes is a supprise to me. I've been around many diesel gensets and have yet to smell the exhaust of one. Could be I'm use to it. My 5. 5 Onan gas burner has more smell than those.

 

[GaryCarter]

I agree the fuel use for the Honda 2000 is as stated. I use about 1 gal. per day if running 8-12 hours. (one generator)



The Honda 3000 is the quietest thing going in a portable, but I went with the twin 2000's for less weight and more juice.



Gary



PS- don't forget propane has less energy per gallon than gasoline, so propane gens will use more fuel volume all things being equal.