Pagin all camper,HVAC or electrical peeps

1-tonmudder

1-tonmudder

Doin my part to stir the pot.
Joined
Apr 17, 2005
Location
Greeneville TN
I'm lookin for a new(read quieter) genorater for our camper the 5000 watt one we have now is too loud and just want one that will pull the A/C.We have a Dometic model # 57915441 that as near as I can tell is a 13500 BTU unit.So who can tell me what size gen I need to buy.I know bigger is usually better but I cant afford a Honda that is as big as the one we have ($4K) and just want one that will lets us sleep while its running.I dont know the amperage or voltage of the a/c unit.I barely found the BTU size.
 
Buy 2 1000 watt hondas and parrell them u can get them at northern on sale from time to time for $899 ea and the kit is $50.....
 
Two 1k Hondas is going to be pushing it. That'll be all they can run. You'll have to kill the AC if you want to use the microwave or coffee pot, tv, etc.

13,500 BTU unit uses about 15 amps, or 1800 watts.

I'd shoot for a 4k as a minimum. Two 2k Hondas teamed up, maybe. I'm saving up for a new 6500.
 
I've got the same a/c I just put on my enclosed trailer. They tell you you need to have at least a 20 amp service (120v btw) and a minimum 2500 watt generator. I run mine on a 8k continuous /13.5 starting watt gen and it barely affects it. Kind of loud but I have a hard cover that's open on one end to deaden some of the noise which helps a lot. Not to mention a 30' main feed cord and another 30' extension RV cord to get it away from the trailer. I've tried running it on one of the outside outlets at the house and after a little while it'll trip the breaker since it's only a 15 amp breaker. I've seriously thought about taking it to the muffler shop and having them add a silencer in line to quieten down a bit. Don't know if that'll work but I've seen them put on 4 wheelers and they seem to work fine.
 
Were planning a trip out west next summer and am really just concerned about keepin cool at night when at a truckstop or rest area,not too worried about microwave,ect and our TV can run off the cabin batteries.I have in mind to either mount it on the back bumper of the camper or just chainin it in the back of the truck.
 
if you use 2 of them, wouldnt putting them in series be better since amperage stays the same throughout the circuit? or i do have this backwards. i kno parallel the voltage stays the same, and series the amperage stays the same, or vise versa? sorry, in college right now studying electrical.

or, couldnt you just do a continuous load calculation of the the load youll have on it, and that should tell you what size you would need?
 
Not to hi jack your thread but I pulled my camper to the Bristol race a couple weeks ago and had to dry camp and was the first time ever I hooked my camper to a generator. It was a 5500 watt generator. Thinking 46 amps was plenty of power to run the complete camper including the a/c. Since we had all that amperage left over we thought we could run an outside fan and maybe a deep fryer. Boy were we wrong. We were lucky the a/c ran. We used a camper cord adapter and hooked it to the 220v side of the generator thinking it would pull 30 amp 120v off one leg. In the end after doing some net searching one leg of the 220v is 20 amp and the other is 15 amp. aparently we were pullling off the 15 amp leg. so we barely had enough power for the a/c. What I don't understand is the 220v plug said it was 30amp 220/120. I need to know if they make a generator that will produce 30 amp 120v that will run my camper as if I were plugged into shore power.
 
Did you have the adapter cord that changes it from a rv type plug in to a stnd 110 plug????
 
yoder519 said:
if you use 2 of them, wouldnt putting them in series be better since amperage stays the same throughout the circuit?
Click to expand...

You can't hook two generators together and get more power. They need to be phase-matched. The little Hondas have a cord that hooks two of them together to take care of that.

I'm not exactly sure what you do after that. I guess you'd just take two male 15A NEMAs and Y them into a 30A RV socket. Plug one end into each generator.
 
Shawn said:
Two 1k Hondas is going to be pushing it. That'll be all they can run. You'll have to kill the AC if you want to use the microwave or coffee pot, tv, etc.

13,500 BTU unit uses about 15 amps, or 1800 watts.

I'd shoot for a 4k as a minimum. Two 2k Hondas teamed up, maybe. I'm saving up for a new 6500.
Click to expand...

let me know if you find a good one.. I need one also
 
I've also read good things about Champion Generators, 3500w for $299 68db and pretty reliable. I've been very tempted.

They also have a 2000w inverter gen that will parallel and stack for ~ $550 per. + $80 for the parrallel kit.

again, tempted, but until I see someone using one and can check it out, I'll wait.
 
Let me throw this into the mix. When you are running a gen to supply power to a RV AC. you have to realize that the controls and the fans are 12volt, so to run the AC you must also charge the batteries at the same time and this is even more amps the gen has to supply. And even the fridge is on propane, the control's that tells the flame what to do are 12volts also. Water heater is also drawing 12volts even when turned to propane for the controls. Counting for parasitic loss due to wiring and connections, you are pulling more than just the AC. Turn on a few lights and water pump and a fan and the charger to charge the batteries and guess what, gen won't keep up especially on 50 or 60 feet of cord to be more tolerable. I have a digital meter built into mine and it pulls 3-6 amps with nothing on at all. TV's and DVD, VCR, Stereo's and such draws power ALL the time. Even the thermostat draws power. And when you "brown power" the system it's gets expensive eventually! Most campers come with at least 7K gen's, mine is a 10K and it pull's everything fine. When it's under full load it burns .6 gallons a hour which is very cheap. When traveling we run everything (including the roof AC's) and run the dash fan to save fuel.
 
I have the Honda E3000s
It is as quiet of a generator as you will find. you could literally site around it like it was the campfire and hold a conversation. BIG difference in 58db and 68 db don't think of the difference in noise as 10, it's more like 100 when comparing.
If you happen to be at the Flats this weekend, you can find Cris Coley, he is up there in his camper, with my Generator.
Had an issue a while back with it, and replaced the carb and servo. He tested it out on his camper, and it ran all the lights, AC, Heat(fan) Microwave, and TV. All at the same time.

It is heavy as mentioned, 134 dry. But uses little fuel because it will idle down when not pulling power. I used less than 3 gallons last invite at The Flats, for the entire weekend.
Rated at 3000 watts, but from what I have read and what I have experienced, very much underrated.
 
I had a Honda E3000is. It was very quiet and good running gen set. Mine did not like to run the a/c and microwave at the same time. It would handle everything with the a/c other than the microwave. I would just turn off the a/c for a minute when using it.
 
upnover said:
don't think of the difference in noise as 10, it's more like 100 when .
Click to expand...
db is a logarithmic scale, so every change of 10 db is a double...or exactly 100%change.

This is a question of how long you want to use it. Spend 1,000 and replace it in 2-3 years or spend 3-5k, get what Terry has and it will outlast the axles on your Rv,.....
 
I'm pretty sure Terry's diesel 10kw cost a lot more than $3-5k. I figured a genset salesman would know such things... :flipoff2:
 
Steve you might try to find a used onan 4k from a class C. They are insulated and mine is decently quiet. Nothing like my 10kv that i use as my home backup its super loud.

Yamaha has some decent Gen's as well. Might be worth a look.
 
Ron said:
db is a logarithmic scale, so every change of 10 db is a double...or exactly 100%change.
This is a question of how long you want to use it. Spend 1,000 and replace it in 2-3 years or spend 3-5k, get what Terry has and it will outlast the axles on your Rv,.....
Click to expand...

Actually, every 6db is double.
But Rons advice is good...I have one of those Yamaha 2800s and its prolly the last gen I'll ever hafta buy.
 
Look into rv salvage, this might be able to score one at a reasonable price. Some are available with "Auto Start", this can be set to not crank during certain quiet hours, crank when the AC thermostat calls for cooling, or when the batteries are drained to a pre set volts. Also can be programmed to crank and run each month to keep the warranty good. You need to excercise some brands every 30 days under load or it will void the warranty. A friend of mine bought a 10,000 kw diesel for his boat and saved a ton from a RV salvage co. several years ago. Sorry, don't know where. Mine is a Onan and is very quiet for the size. Fuel use is very economical, .6 tenths of a gallon under full load of three AC's and everything else in the camper. I ought to get off the grid and use that!
 
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