Generator explination please

[Brumeiser]

On our walk through last week the repair person said not to be afraid to run the generator in fact if you don't use you could hurt it more than not running it.
So when we go away for a week camping with the Motorhome lets say we go to a park and we will be away from the site for lets say 8 hours. It is best to run the generator while we are there correct to keep the food cold in the fridge? The generator runs off the gasoline in your tank correct? And the best estimate is 1/2 gallon of gas it uses per hour correct? So I probalby could run the a/c on low run the fridge and we would be fine for 8 hours?. We have had great mini weekends trips with it so far this summer but I just can't be at my site all weekend, I need to go out and have some adventure and I am to unsure of how the generator business works. Any explination from you knowledgeable people will help. Oh it is a Class C Coachman motor home.

 

[becky1960]

If I was at a park that had A/C I would use theirs, and wouldnt worry about using it at a park. I assume you use it while driving. If you have long periods of not using it I think it would be a good idea to run for a little while every now and then. Its like any gas engine, its best not to let sit up for very long time.

 

[JimmyB]

Your fridge will run via the 30 or 50 amp service you have the MH plugged into...... no need to run the generator.

 

[JPG]

As Becky and Jimmy have said....When traveling on the road, you can run the generator for electricity to power your A/C, fridge, or whatever. Once you are setup in your campsite, you will hook your power cord up the park's 30 or 50 amp power service, and run everything off of that. Thus, there is no need to run the generator while at the campground.

 

[Seahunt]

Hmmm - our refrigerators always had a built in switch that changed them to run off the LP gas (propane) when the electric (either plugged in or using the generator) was off. Does your 'fridge run on LP also?

I agree to use the park's power at your site and just plug in - it will run everything UNLESS you are at a park like we were one time in Indiana where their electric system was so bad that everytime someone turned on an air conditioner in their rig the whole park power would go out! Since it was August and hot and humid, eventually you heard one generator after another start up, which makes for a pretty loud park for the poor tent campers pitched beside you!

 

[Brumeiser]

I did not mean the rv park, I am talking about going to a park like Six Flags, or sightseeing where I will be away from the campground for up to 8 hours. Thanks everyone.

 

[Rhonda]

I did not mean the rv park, I am talking about going to a park like Six Flags, or sightseeing where I will be away from the campground for up to 8 hours. Thanks everyone.

It will be fine for that amount of time. He meant it's good to run it every once in awhile so the gas does not get bad. Do not let it sit for a month at a time without running it (like over the winter in your garage, etc.)

 

[John VN]

I did not mean the rv park, I am talking about going to a park like Six Flags, or sightseeing where I will be away from the campground for up to 8 hours. Thanks everyone.

If you want to come back to a cold MH after a hot day at the park, you will need to run the generator so the air conditioner can keep the MH cool. If the temperature in the MH does not matter, you do not need to run the generator because the refrigerator should be cooling on LP.

Once you get back to the MH, you can crank up the gen and then turn on the ac to cool things down.

If the MH is sitting at home and not being used you should exercise the gen at least once a month at 1/2 power for 1 to 2 hours. If you have an ONAN gen. it should mention this in the owners manual. The concern about not running the gen is not gas related but internal core parts of the gen.

One mistake people make when looking at a used RV is thinking that the fewer number of hours on a gen. the better. WRONG. The gen. should have 1 to 2 hours of run time for every month the unit is old. If the rv is 2 years old there should be 48 hrs on the gen at least. A 10 year old rv should have 240+ hours. Our rv is 13 years old and we have over 1000 hrs and it runs like new.

 

[Seahunt]

I did not mean the rv park, I am talking about going to a park like Six Flags, or sightseeing where I will be away from the campground for up to 8 hours. Thanks everyone.

Oh sorry! Unless you want to run the A/C the whole time you are in the parking lot I'd still check about the propane running the 'fridge. With a Coachman mini you should have a 40 -60 lb LP tank, which seems to last a loooooonnnggg time, compared to regular gas.

If there's no chance of rain, I'd open all my vents. Then you'd just have to start the generator when you get back to run the A/C to cool the rig off before you leave to go back to the campground - much less gas used!

If you do want to run the AC, then like everyone else says, no problem with running the generator the whole time. When my husband raced sometime we'd be at a track and run the coach a whole weekend on generator power, no problem but the $$$ fuel bill!

 

[Brumeiser]

yes my fridge runs on lp so I could use that to run the fridge while we are away from the campground. I will have to remeber to run the generator at least that much per month. I do have the Onan generator you talked about that. Only thing I am unsure is you said 1/2 power how is that done? After 2 weekend trips with the new home I get real itchy to go out and explore the area so maybe I should try it yet this year. Again thanks for clearing this up for me.

 

[Gatordad]

If you are plugged in at a campground, you DO NOT have to run the generator to keep the unit cool. As a matter of fact, you'll get yelled at in most places.......

 

[Seahunt]

If you are plugged in at a campground, you DO NOT have to run the generator to keep the unit cool. As a matter of fact, you'll get yelled at in most places.......

Yep, unless the entire campground electric goes out because their outdated fuses pop when everyone plugs in! Oh, it was a real fine place, let me tell you!

 

[John VN]

yes my fridge runs on lp so I could use that to run the fridge while we are away from the campground. I will have to remeber to run the generator at least that much per month. I do have the Onan generator you talked about that. Only thing I am unsure is you said 1/2 power how is that done? After 2 weekend trips with the new home I get real itchy to go out and explore the area so maybe I should try it yet this year. Again thanks for clearing this up for me.

My gen. is a 4KW and when I exercise it I turn on the AC. I will also turn on the micro for a really good draw but in the case of a smaller gen. that might be too much.