Generator advise

[teekay]

We will be full timing soon and I want to get a generator for boondocking. I have never used one with my RV and I have a hundred questions. Any advise and input would be appreciated. I have a 36' fifth wheel with 2 ACs and 50amp hookup. What amp size would be suggested? What is best, gas, diesel or propane?
Is there a special electrical hookup or jack required? Is it better to get a portable or one mounted in the RV? Are there prefered brands? Yamaha and Honda have been suggested.

[LindaH]

We will be full timing soon and I want to get a generator for boondocking. I have never used one with my RV and I have a hundred questions. Any advise and input would be appreciated. I have a 36' fifth wheel with 2 ACs and 50amp hookup. What amp size would be suggested? What is best, gas, diesel or propane?
Is there a special electrical hookup or jack required? Is it better to get a portable or one mounted in the RV? Are there prefered brands? Yamaha and Honda have been suggested.

The most convenient, of course, would be one mounted in the fifth wheel.  However, to make that economically feasible (unless you have deep pockets), your fifth wheel should already be pre-wired and pre-plumbed for a generator.  The biggest downside to a generator mounted in a fifth wheel is that it would almost certainly have to be propane powered...and propane generators are notorious fuel hogs.

My suggestion...and what we've done ourselves...is to get two Honda 2000's with the parallel kit so that we can run one or both (the two of them hooked together with run our 15K A/C unit...you would not be able to run both A/C's at the same time).  Our two Honda's are mounted in the rear of our truck and chained down.  While not absolutely impossible for someone to steal, it would take more time than most thieves are willing to spend trying to steal something.

One generator will require a 50-amp to 20-amp adapter.  The two run together with the parallel kit will require a 50-amp to 30-amp adapter.

Whatever you do, don't try to cheap out and get a contractors generator...too loud and won't win you friends in the campgrounds!  Not to mention they don't have the "clean" power to run sensitive electronic equipment.

Depending on how much boondocking you plan on doing, you might want to consider adding solar...quiet, clean power without the noise or fumes of a generator (you'd still want a generator as a backup, though).

[junglejim0745]

Your questions can have many answers, if you plan to be able to run the full 50 amp capability in your RV you will want a minimum of 5500 watt generator. There are many to choose from, some are quiet and some are not.

There is a Truck Bed generator that is very quiet and mounts in the front of your pick up bed, and can have a large fuel tank or a small fuel tank and a tool box included in it. Of course they are pricey, so it depends on how much money you want to spend. We have an 8000 watt generator that we take with us and use if we are planning to boon dock in a hot area, primarily to run both a/c units. It is very quiet, but there are still many places that have generator hours even when boon docking.

Shop around and you will see there are many different gensets to choose from. Go online and look is one good way to find what is out there.

Happy RVing. [/j]
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[teekay]

My fifth wheel is a Carriage Carry Lite. It is prewired and all set up for a generator. It is an option with Carriage to purchase a generator, so the prewire them. I have seen other Carry Lites with the generator installed in that large compartment right behind the hitch. My concern in that location would be noise and vibration. It is right under the bedroom. I was thinking portable so i could set it up off to the side. I have done quite a bit of reseach on solar. I find it to be expensive and technically complicated. You need the perfect equipment installed by the best technician. I would still need a generator as a backup on cloudy days. I did go on line to one of the generator companies advertising on this web site. They emailed me back wanting to know how many watts my AC and microwave were and i didnt have that info.Thank you Linda and Junglejim. Good advise from both of you. I am leaning towards a quite, gasoline powered, 6000 t0 8000 watt. My truck is diesel fuel. It may be more practical to use the same fuel. ?

[LindaH]

It may be more practical to use the same fuel. ?

Unless you can find some way of taking diesel fuel from your truck's fuel tank, you'd still have to carry an extra fuel can with you, so I don't see the advantage of having a diesel generator just because your truck is diesel.  And do they even make small, portable...quiet...diesel generators?

Maybe you can get a truck bed generator like Jungle Jim mentioned and have it plumbed into your truck's fuel tank...assuming they come in diesel models???

As far as solar, we have 400 watts of solar, 4 AGM batteries, an HPV-22B solar controller, and a 2000-watt inverter/charger (all from AM Solar in Springfield, OR).  With this setup, we can run everything inside our rig with the exception of the A/C.  We have the 2 Honda 2000's as a backup for those times when we have several cloudy days in a row, or are under trees (something we try not to do).  We don't travel in weather extremes...for example, in the Southwest during the summer, or in the north during the winter...so we rarely have any use for the generators...we've used them once for running our A/C, and sometimes individually to provide power on cloudy days.  And 99% of the time, we have clean, quiet power.

As far as being expensive, how much do you think it's going to cost to buy one of the large generators you're talking about, not to mention all the fuel to run it?  Over a period of time, I'd be willing to bet that you'd spend less in total outlay for solar than for a large generator plus fuel.

[teekay]

All good points Linda. You have me thinking and reconsidering. I had read that they sell diesel generators. I hadnt cosidered them being noisier. With my fifth wheel trailer hitch and my behind the cab tool box I really dont have room to mount a generator. Are your solar panels mounted on the roof or are they portable? How many batteries do you have and are they the 6v golf cart batteries?

[junglejim0745]

I know may people have the little Honda generators, but two of them hooked electrically is still not enough to run a 50 amp RV. Don't believe that Honda is the only one that makes a quiet generator, and there are Diesel generators that are whisper quiet. If you need to run all the amenities of your 50 amp rig including Air Conditioners you will probably find the solar set up and all the batteries needed for it will be prohibitive just from the added weight stand point. If you can do without A/C then solar is a good choice as you won't need so many batteries.

I understand about your truck box and all, but my brother just bought a 10KW diesel generator/welder and we can stand right beside it and talk like we are just sitting on the back porch. It is quieter than my 8KW by a considerable amount. Now, diesel generators are not cheap and probably never will be, but longevity on them usually makes them a great bargain even at a higher price. My brother had his mounted in the front of his pickup bed and still has room to turn his fifth wheel without hitting anything. The dealer he bought it from plumbed it directly into his truck diesel fuel tank.

The main thing is to get what is right for you and what will do the job you need done. Then you will be happy with your choice.

Happy RVing.