Portable Generators Revisited... Chime in Please

[Pickledill]

I bought a predator 3500 in March before a trip west that included 8 nights boondocking. I now have 85 hrs. Of use, it has been quiet, fuel efficient, and inexpensive! Paid $650. on sale and bought 2 yr. replacement warranty for $129. My only wish is that it weighed less but 100 lbs is the low side for this size generator. Runs a/c fine, only overloaded it one time a/c, electric hot water, and curling iron is above units pay grade!

[RetiredLEO]

Originally Posted by Pickledill

I bought a predator 3500 in March before a trip west that included 8 nights boondocking. I now have 85 hrs. Of use, it has been quiet, fuel efficient, and inexpensive! Paid $650. on sale and bought 2 yr. replacement warranty for $129. My only wish is that it weighed less but 100 lbs is the low side for this size generator. Runs a/c fine, only overloaded it one time a/c, electric hot water, and curling iron is above units pay grade!

I look at it if you are going to buy a gen why not spend a little more and get a much quieter inverter/gen? I know Hondas, Yamaha's are pricey but they do have a great track record. The one I would probably end up with though would be a Champion. They are really getting great reviews from owners. They seem to be the leaders in gen development now.
The awful truth is nothing about rving is cheap. If we really wanted to "camp" ultra cheap we would be in the discounted tents from Wally world. Instead we want as many of the comforts and amenities that we have at home. They easily attainable with gens. and solar.
When we finally get to hit the road we'll probably have either a pair of Hondas that we can link together, or one decent sized Champion but no matter what we will have as much solar with a good battery bank that we can fit and afford.

[RetiredLEO]

I have to wonder about the guys who are "boxing in" their gens with plywood etc. Are they cutting off too much air hurting the gens?
I also wonder if they could attach sound deadening material to the plywood to help on the decibels?

[TxLoser]

With all this Gen talk going on, I have one question. With the dual fuel gens. Champion in particular. If you run propane, can you skip the high alt rejet. Thinking of a 3400 dual fuel and 8000' +/- a little with one 15K AC.

[Pickledill]

One issue to consider on propane is that generator is already down on power vs. Gas and will suffer just the same at altitude as it would on gas. I am curious if it will run your 15k on propane at that altitude. Keep us posted if you go that way.

[Pickledill]

Predator inverter gen is a Honda knockoff, I can't tell the difference in sound vs. Honda. I get that Honda is the gold standard, I just don't need "Gold " right now. If I full timed maybe? Time will tell on this unit, I have seen videos where people have exceed 6000 hrs with this unit.

[bdreinv]

We have the Champion 3500 remote start gas hog if running ac! And its heavy at 109lbs, gas gauge would be nice.Does everything its suppose to, remote start is nice. Ran a week at 7500' didn't bog down. Thanks

[33 RLDS]

I have a Champion dual fuel 3400 but also have a Yamaha 2400 Ishc (2000 watts running) and they both have been great. After adding the Micro air soft start the Yamaha has no problems starting and running my 15K AC unit.

Regardless of what brand or size generator you decide on, the micro air is a good addition.

[Bandit12]

Went camping at the lake this weekend. Second time out with this TT and first time I hooked up the generator. First trip was only 4 days and I had no need to run the genny. This trip I had to run the furnace at night and ran my genny once or twice to put some juice back in the battery. The genny is a Generac iX2000. It would not run my AC nor would it run my microwave. The camp host told me he was a retired electrical engineer and he opined that the 100 foot of extension cord might be a possible cause. I use that much to set the genny out a ways form our and others peoples campsite. Its not real loud but louder than a comparable Honda or Yamaha. This morning, my battery was completely flat. The lights would not even come on and the carbon monoxide detector was beeping at us. I had disconnected the 100 foot of extension cords and had the genny plugged into the RV cord only. Still would not run the microwave. Now I'm shopping for a bigger genny. I've looked at Champion units a lot of folks here are recommending, but I'm pretty set on a Yamaha. Little less expensive than the Honda, I saw one video of the two running side by side comparison for noise level and to my ear, the Yamaha was a bit quieter at load. Probably won't pull the trigger till next year on that. I am considering a second group 27 battery to increase my battery bank.

[Flyrotor]

Did anybody else see the Yamaha generators on sale this summer at Costco? I bought 2 of them, the had a deal at $500 a piece, of the i2000 generators including the companion cord and 30 amp RV plug interface. I used them in August, ran my a/c perfectly during the hottest part of August. Last time I was in there they were sold out. They probably had about 200 of them in their in early August.

[Chet & Marie]

We have a Yamaha 2000 on our 23' Jay Feather and it runs the micro just fine even if we are using electricity to heat water but it will not under any circumstances run the AC. If the battery is down to 2 bars (50%) it will take it about 4-5 hours to fully charge the battery with some lights on and the radio playing. A fully charged battery lasts us 2-3 days tops but we use our shower etc.

[Screwby]

Originally Posted by Chet & Marie

We have a Yamaha 2000 on our 23' Jay Feather and it runs the micro just fine even if we are using electricity to heat water but it will not under any circumstances run the AC. If the battery is down to 2 bars (50%) it will take it about 4-5 hours to fully charge the battery with some lights on and the radio playing. A fully charged battery lasts us 2-3 days tops but we use our shower etc.

He has them running parallel so he’s running 4000w which is plenty. I’d love to have a pair, if they go on sale again I’m all over it!

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by Bandit12

Went camping at the lake this weekend. Second time out with this TT and first time I hooked up the generator. First trip was only 4 days and I had no need to run the genny. This trip I had to run the furnace at night and ran my genny once or twice to put some juice back in the battery. The genny is a Generac iX2000. It would not run my AC nor would it run my microwave. The camp host told me he was a retired electrical engineer and he opined that the 100 foot of extension cord might be a possible cause. I use that much to set the genny out a ways form our and others peoples campsite. Its not real loud but louder than a comparable Honda or Yamaha. This morning, my battery was completely flat. The lights would not even come on and the carbon monoxide detector was beeping at us. I had disconnected the 100 foot of extension cords and had the genny plugged into the RV cord only. Still would not run the microwave. Now I'm shopping for a bigger genny. I've looked at Champion units a lot of folks here are recommending, but I'm pretty set on a Yamaha. Little less expensive than the Honda, I saw one video of the two running side by side comparison for noise level and to my ear, the Yamaha was a bit quieter at load. Probably won't pull the trigger till next year on that. I am considering a second group 27 battery to increase my battery bank.

A few thoughts...
A quote I like: "Begin with the end in mind." Knowing how much 12v power you need for how long a time will help guide your decisions. Also, ask questions. This forum has a number of knowledgeable people (I'm not one of them) regarding 12v systems.

You will need a digital voltmeter to know what is happening with your 12v systems. The 'idiot' lights in trailers really don't help much. By measuring voltages, you'll probably find that running the genny "... once or twice to put some juice back in the battery" won't accomplish what you need.

Since you've already totally drained your TT battery, it may be permanently damaged. It's not advisable to pair that battery with a new one. And having 2 batteries will allow a longer time before recharging and that means that recharging probably will take longer.

I'll also mention the OEM Wifco converter/chargers are poor at battery charging. I know mine is! If it's true for yours, too, it means LONG genny runs for battery charging.

[Bandit12]

I had an electronic battery tester with me and when my "idiot" light on the control panel showed the battery was empty, I got it out and tested my battery before I charged it the first time with the generator. It showed the battery voltage at about 11.2 volts and the amps down to about 115 on a 575 amp battery. After running the genny for about 3.5 hours the meter in the TT showed full and I shut down the genny and rechecked the battery. It showed 12.9 volts and 510 amps. We continued running the radio, using the interior lights, the water pump and the furnace over night. 36 hours or so later the battery was completely flat. Once we got home and I plugged the TT into shore power, the converter ran for at least 8 hours straight. The meter shows full charge, and if I switch on the interior lights with the master switch, the converter runs until I shut them off. My plan for this weekend is to adjust the position of the single battery box installed at the factory, add a second box and group 27 deep cycle battery wired in parallel. I got the parts at work today. I considered switching over to a pair of 6 volt batteries wired in series, but the cost was going to be over $300 and the weight would be over 125 lbs. As it is, adding a second 12 volt adds 53 lbs and cost me $125. Kinda glad I work for an auto parts store.

[Flyrotor]

Originally Posted by Screwby

He has them running parallel so he’s running 4000w which is plenty. I’d love to have a pair, if they go on sale again I’m all over it!

You are correct, I am running them in parallel as you mentioned.

Also earlier this spring I changed all my light bulbs to LED’s, 1 incandescent bulb is equal to 10 LED’s in power consumption.

Last year I purchased 2 of the 6 volt golf cart batteries from Costco ($90 a piece).

All in all, I am quite happy with my current setup.

[Chet & Marie]

We bought our Yamaha 2000 2 years ago and very happy with it The decider was the fuel shut off valve and the fuel gauge.

[mcwoods2]

These are nice, very quiet and have a 3 yr. parts and service. If air conditioner won't start with lower power gensets try a Hard Start kit for the AC from Costco or Lowes.

[Duke4857]

I am not sure if any one mentioned parts when it comes to generators. I know I can get parts to completely rebuild my Hondas. Most other brands are through away. If it breaks you toss the generator in the trash and buy a new one. Also I think that Honda has increased the wattage of the EU2000I to the EU2200I.

[GL243]

I got a Ryobi 1800/2300 inverter generator in early summer, have run about 1 or 1.5 tanks of gas through it thus far, used it mainly to recharge the single deep cycle battery I have with the TT. I have not tried to operate AC or anything more than lights, exhaust fans, and microwave, and on first couple trips did not notice any issues with it. I would recharge the battery in just a few hours of operation, at least per the "idiot light" battery gauge 4-light indicator. But on the last trip, it overloaded when I tried to run the microwave, which shows operating power of 900w and max power load of 1.35kw on the label. That was at about 9k elevation. On next trip I was camped at about 8500 feet and it overloaded again with the M-wave. Back down at 5k elevation where I live, it has not overloaded with the M-wave operation unless I had most of the lights on, 2 exhaust fans, and the trailer's inverter cooling fan running (and presumably also charging the battery). With the battery disconnected, the M-wave was showing to be using about 80% of the generator's load capacity on the generator LCD screen. So, I have it into a service center right now being checked for low power output issue, but they didn't think this sounded too out of whack to them with the altitude thing going on. Anyway, it's looking like I'm headed for disappointment with this $700 generator. I was expecting to maybe even be able to operated the 13K AC unit with it given it's higher starting amp rating being at 2300, but that's never going to happen. Now I'm wondering if all it's good for is to recharge my battery, which I expect I could have done with a much smaller and cheaper wattage output generator?

[Duke4857]

Originally Posted by GL243

I got a Ryobi 1800/2300 inverter generator in early summer, have run about 1 or 1.5 tanks of gas through it thus far, used it mainly to recharge the single deep cycle battery I have with the TT. I have not tried to operate AC or anything more than lights, exhaust fans, and microwave, and on first couple trips did not notice any issues with it. I would recharge the battery in just a few hours of operation, at least per the "idiot light" battery gauge 4-light indicator. But on the last trip, it overloaded when I tried to run the microwave, which shows operating power of 900w and max power load of 1.35kw on the label. That was at about 9k elevation. On next trip I was camped at about 8500 feet and it overloaded again with the M-wave. Back down at 5k elevation where I live, it has not overloaded with the M-wave operation unless I had most of the lights on, 2 exhaust fans, and the trailer's inverter cooling fan running (and presumably also charging the battery). With the battery disconnected, the M-wave was showing to be using about 80% of the generator's load capacity on the generator LCD screen. So, I have it into a service center right now being checked for low power output issue, but they didn't think this sounded too out of whack to them with the altitude thing going on. Anyway, it's looking like I'm headed for disappointment with this $700 generator. I was expecting to maybe even be able to operated the 13K AC unit with it given it's higher starting amp rating being at 2300, but that's never going to happen. Now I'm wondering if all it's good for is to recharge my battery, which I expect I could have done with a much smaller and cheaper wattage output generator?

Our EU2000i will run the trailer A/C here in our driveway, (4200 ft) but not at higher elevations. The honda is running maxed out all the time when we tested that. We gave up and bought the second one about 18 months later.