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Generator alternatives [message #271810] Thu, 12 February 2015 11:53 Go to previous message
kerry pinkerton is currently offline  kerry pinkerton   United States
Messages: 2565
Registered: July 2012
Location: Harvest, Al
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Senior Member
Kind of a rehash of some previous discussion but the other thread has me thinking about generators. My Onan gave me some trouble on the recent trip. We tried to start it during lunch and it sounded like crap. We came on home and I looked into it last week. Turns out that the exhaust pipe had come off the muffler and the 'crap' we were hearing was just an unmuffled two cylinder. It runs fine now but does put out a bit of blue smoke.

I was looking at a Honda EV6010 but haven't found one yet.

And then I got to thinking about OUR generator needs. We don't dry camp. Our generator needs would be the occasional use during a lunch or rest stop and the hopefully unlikely event of a roadside 'event'.

A Honda EV4010 or 6010 is the obvious state of the art but it's not really necessary. Plus they are pretty expensive. Even the Honda 3000's aren't exactly chump change and 3000W isn't quite 'enough'.

A few years ago a tornado took out a bunch of high tension towers and the entire area was without power for about 10 days. Fortunately the weather was good. During that process, I purchased, to supplement my other two generators, a 8250W electric start offshore generator. Works great, a little loud but not that bad. It's made in China. Mine is made by EQT

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200313480_200313480

Looks identical to this:

http://www.harborfreight.com/8750-peak7000-running-watts-13-hp-420cc-generator-epa-iii-68530.html

I've checked and it will fit in the 26' box barely but will fit easily if the battery is moved to the front.

No fuel pump but Ken Henderson and others have solved that problem with the flutter valve pumps.

It's a bit too much capacity than I really need but its the smallest electric start that HF offers. At 600 bucks it's about the same price as the new Onan control board and Bovee ignition I purchased, and the new muffler system I need to buy. And my Onan will still smoke after all that.

I believe that with a bit of fabrication, the HF unit will do the trick.

- Fuel Pump
- Re-routing exhaust
- Dealing with the 220 output (may not be an issue as it has three 20A 120V outlets??)
- Possible a bit more noise
- Possible needing a fan to provide more fresh air for cooling.

Yeah, it's not a Honda. It probably won't last as long and certainly is louder. Offset that by the price and availability of replacements at the corner Harbor Freight and it seems to make a good bit of sense for MY needs. There may be smaller units with electric start but the appealing thing to me about the HF unit is that if it were to fail, I could probably drive a couple hours, pick up a replacement, and install it in a few hours. If I was planning on dry camping a lot, I'd choose a different solution.

When I get a chance, I'll download the sound pressure level meter app for my Android phone and measure the DBA of the Onan and the Chinese unit. I know it sounds 'different', but I'm not sure it's really that much louder.

Kerry Pinkerton - North Alabama Had 5 over the years. Currently have a '06 Fleetwood Discovery 39L

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