is there a good cheap generator?

[nakman]

We're going camping at Lake Glendo in July... bringing the RV trailer. So before anyone gets all uppity about expo this and overland that, let's be clear this is red-blooded American car camping at its fullest.

And if you've never been to Glendo well you should, it's really cool. The lake is warm, it's got fish in it, there are a bunch of single track mountain bike trails around, and it's not that far away. Only one issue for RV living, most of the sites are non-electric. Which brings us to the situation here, I've been asked if we can have AC in the camper just in case it gets really hot out and doesn't cool off, or maybe someone in our group gets sick/sunburned/whatever and needs to chill somewhere during the day. Like everywhere, those afternoons from 3-7 can be downright brutal, particularly if you've been out all day and haven't been constantantly pounding water and putting on sunscreen. It might be nice to chill in the house for a few minutes.

I think I need at least 2500 watts, based on the specs of my AC unit. It looks like most inverters are either 2000ish or 4000ish, so I will just focus towards the 4000 variety. I see a few on CL, FB, offer up, but they're mostly $300-$500, questionable quality, etc. then I started looking at new ones.

Walmart, for example, has a 4000w dual fuel generator for $300. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sportsman-4000W-Dual-Fuel-Generator/46542325?athbdg=L1200 seems like it fits the bill perfectly, all the specs check out other than some high altitude warning, that it's not recommended over 3000'? so do I need to rejet the carb or something?

Harbor Freight has one for $350 https://www.harborfreight.com/elect...as-powered-portable-generator-carb-63089.html which is a tiny bit louder than the Walmart one (72 vs 68 db) and gas only. Not sure I really need dual fuel, but it kinda intrigues me to just run off the propane... I don't know how much hot water we'll be needing to heat, particularly when it could be close to 100 out anyway.

I don't think I care much about how quiet it is- it's going to sound like a generator either way. Plus I'll shut it down before 10:00pm either way regardless. I kinda like light weight, but then again not sure I'll notice +/- 20 pounds on a 4000 pound rig.

Does this generate any ideas with anyone?

 

[Romer]

Tim, I have a Yamaha 2000 watt generator you are welcome to borrow. I don't use it much. It would be a lot easier to move around if you can get by on 2000 watts

 

[DaveInDenver]

I have an older version (or maybe just different?) of the Harbor Freight generator. It's not dual fuel or any of the special EPA or CARB options. It's alright. No complaints so far but it's not an inverter so it's not quiet, small or light. Although I've never tested it formally it seems to be capable of what it says (~4kVA) based on the fact that it did power a 220V welder.

One thing I might suggest if you go with the HF anyway is budget break-in time. Meaning a couple of days of running and loading it for increasing time and then draining oil. Repeat. Also swap for higher altitude jets, that helped efficiency quite a bit.

 

[nakman]

thanks Ken, but I'm pretty sure I need a good 2800w at start-up. I know there are easy-start solutions which somehow dampen that spike, but the cost for that is more than an actual generator. If I were living out of this thing I might go further down that path, I've wasted too much time on it already on the Forest River forum though tbh... when/if the time comes for me to live off grid it's not going to be pulling a 20' trailer, I already know that. So just looking for something to get me by... maybe I could find another use for the generator in the future? but so far anything else I need to do with electricity I'm able to do from portable power stations and/or hard wired inverters that I already own.

Dave, can't I just break the thing in at the lake? edit: and just because I know you enjoy reading other guys talk about this stuff... https://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/f253/air-conditioner-to-run-off-the-grid-205382.html

 

[Shuksan]

All I know about these is that honda and yamaha seem to have very good reputation. You say quiet doesn't matter, but I have been around some of the hondas and they really are very quiet

How about a used setup like this:

Facebook

www.facebook.com

 

[RayRay27]

In my earlier career I was an industrial radiographer and we would drive around dark room trucks to process xray film. We would have to go really remote areas around Colorado and Wyoming to xray welded piping. In our dark room trucks we always either used a 2000 watt harbor freight generator to run our space heater in the winter and our window air conditioner in the summer. It worked no problem. Just with the 2000 watt generator it will go through gas fairly quickly.

For 350 bucks, you can't go wrong with the 4000 watt generator from harbor freight through.

 

[rover67]

If you’ve got the coin the quiet ones are indeed bad ass. You remember the Honda at our hot tub on the bank of lake Powell right? I think it was a 2kw machine. If you want a deal I may be able to set you up.

 

[SteveH]

I have a 2400w Yamaha that has ~2x the engine displacement of the 2000 watt generators. It will run the A/C on my camper at 7000' elevation (startup is a bit grim) but absolutely will not run the A/C in Leadville at 10K feet. Fortunately, you don't need A/C in Leadville. I bought it used and it's quiet and works well. I paid 700? in pre-COVID dollars. It's heavy (75#)- I put it on a Harbor Freight furniture dolly in my garage.

Like this:

Yamaha EF2400ISHC 2400W Gas Powered Portable Generator - Blue for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Yamaha EF2400ISHC 2400W Gas Powered Portable Generator - Blue at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[DaveInDenver]

Dave, can't I just break the thing in at the lake?

Sure, why not just bring a small container and some oil and do it in-situ? Just know that the engine holds slightly more than a quart. It was pretty dirty the first change or two, though, they're not assembled by Honda techs wearing white lab coats. I used an old plastic food storage box that fit under the frame. Just make sure it holds more than just one quart. Don't ask how I figured out that an old quart size sour cream tub isn't quite big enough...

 

[Corbet]

I own a Honda EG2800i. It wasn’t cheap but it starts first pull when the power goes out and I can sleep with it running on the porch. Way easier on fuel than I expected it would be.

If you have any use for a generator beyond this trip I’d consider investing in a Honda. We loose power way too often. Did yesterday just long enough to trip everything in the house.

 

[Hulk]

I have the small Honda 2200-watt generator and it is light and quiet. I bought it because the music program at the high school owned a couple of off-brand generators that always seems to need repair — I would loan them my generator and get their generators repaired. Since buying it, we've used it for all sorts of things like powering a bunch of crock pots in the parking lot of the Air Force Academy. Would buy this one again.

 

[3rdGen4R]

We're going camping at Lake Glendo in July... bringing the RV trailer. So before anyone gets all uppity about expo this and overland that, let's be clear this is red-blooded American car camping at its fullest.

And if you've never been to Glendo well you should, it's really cool. The lake is warm, it's got fish in it, there are a bunch of single track mountain bike trails around, and it's not that far away. Only one issue for RV living, most of the sites are non-electric. Which brings us to the situation here, I've been asked if we can have AC in the camper just in case it gets really hot out and doesn't cool off, or maybe someone in our group gets sick/sunburned/whatever and needs to chill somewhere during the day. Like everywhere, those afternoons from 3-7 can be downright brutal, particularly if you've been out all day and haven't been constantantly pounding water and putting on sunscreen. It might be nice to chill in the house for a few minutes.

I think I need at least 2500 watts, based on the specs of my AC unit. It looks like most inverters are either 2000ish or 4000ish, so I will just focus towards the 4000 variety. I see a few on CL, FB, offer up, but they're mostly $300-$500, questionable quality, etc. then I started looking at new ones.

Walmart, for example, has a 4000w dual fuel generator for $300. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sportsman-4000W-Dual-Fuel-Generator/46542325?athbdg=L1200 seems like it fits the bill perfectly, all the specs check out other than some high altitude warning, that it's not recommended over 3000'? so do I need to rejet the carb or something?

Harbor Freight has one for $350 https://www.harborfreight.com/elect...as-powered-portable-generator-carb-63089.html which is a tiny bit louder than the Walmart one (72 vs 68 db) and gas only. Not sure I really need dual fuel, but it kinda intrigues me to just run off the propane... I don't know how much hot water we'll be needing to heat, particularly when it could be close to 100 out anyway.

I don't think I care much about how quiet it is- it's going to sound like a generator either way. Plus I'll shut it down before 10:00pm either way regardless. I kinda like light weight, but then again not sure I'll notice +/- 20 pounds on a 4000 pound rig.

Does this generate any ideas with anyone?

I have a nice 3500 Cham link in generator that is quite. You want to borrow it?

 

[3rdGen4R]

In my earlier career I was an industrial radiographer and we would drive around dark room trucks to process xray film. We would have to go really remote areas around Colorado and Wyoming to xray welded piping. In our dark room trucks we always either used a 2000 watt harbor freight generator to run our space heater in the winter and our window air conditioner in the summer. It worked no problem. Just with the 2000 watt generator it will go through gas fairly quickly.

For 350 bucks, you can't go wrong with the 4000 watt generator from harbor freight through.

Ray just basically said he is the guy when you go camping that runs the generator 24/7 and give one about noise pollution….. how can we give him a age hulk? Just kidding.

 

[60wag]

The Honda generators are cool because they are so quiet. I think they have a pretty clean power output too, if it matters. The ones over 2000W get expensive. Not sure what the starting load for the RV AC is but I think folkes were rec'ing at least 3500w? I recently bought a Firman generator to run my well until the temporary power gets installed. I needed 240VAC, so that ruled out most of the smaller, quieter options out there. Costco had the 7500W tri fuel Firman for a good price. This thing is way too heavy to consider for camping, also kinda loud. I assume that they would make them quiet like the Hondas if it was easy. They rec' the first oil change at 25 hours, then 100 hours after that. It takes a while to get to 25 hours, long enough that I wouldn't worry about an oil change if you just out for the weekend.

 

[DaveInDenver]

They rec' the first oil change at 25 hours, then 100 hours after that. It takes a while to get to 25 hours, long enough that I wouldn't worry about an oil change if you just out for the weekend.

My suggestion is mainly that there was quite a bit of bedding in on my HF cheap-o, enough that I'd want to have run it for a little while at heavy load and change the oil after an hour or so, just like when we used to have to break in new truck engines. The second change was after a few hours and it was still a little dirty. By the 3rd oil fill (about the 25 hour mark I'd guess) the engine oil didn't look like @jps8460's dash vents (full of glitter) anymore.

 

[twentyfooteighty]

I ran a Predator 3500 for a few years with our camper, never had a single issue. I would highly recommend it. It's a little overkill for what you are looking for, but the Predator line is one of the few things from HF that I would put my approval on.

3500 Watt SUPER QUIET Inverter Generator with CO SECURE Technology

Amazing deals on this 3500W Super Quiet Inverter Generator at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

 

[Jacket]

I’ve got a Honda 2200 as well. You can string them together in series and theoretically double the power, which would get you what you need. You are welcome to borrow mine and if you can get another one and some wires you’d be all set.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I’ve got a Honda 2200 as well. You can string them together in series and theoretically double the power, which would get you what you need. You are welcome to borrow mine and if you can get another one and some wires you’d be all set.

Honda Generators | EU Series Parallel Capability

Parallel capability gives you more power without sacrificing portability. Using a special cable or kit, you can link two Honda EU generators together to get as much as double the output.

powerequipment.honda.com