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Just purchased a 2017 Aliner Expedition. I'm hoping someone on here has already experience what size and brand of portable generator perhaps works better with regards to powering the entire unit at the same time. Meaning. for example powering the A/C (5K BTU), Small microwave, 3cu feet Refrigerator, all the lights (LED), A coffee maker and perhaps computer equipment. While charging cellular devices!!
Any assistance would be appreciated!!
-Tony
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You'd probably need a 3000 watt generator to power all the stuff you listed at the same time. ?Go out and find a 3000 watt generator and try and lift it. ?Once you find out how heavy it is, I doubt you'll want one. ?Unless you are really strong, it takes two people to store one in the car or truck bed. ?I think that pretty much everyone with small trailers use a minimal generator for ease of transport, and only run one major device at a time.
Running just one thing at a time you could certainly get by with a 2000 watt. ?You might even be able to get by with a 1000 watt unit, although you'd be pretty close to the limit on that for your ac, and if you tried to run the ac with a low battery the charger might draw too much current to run the ac at the same time.
Steve
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You'd probably need a 3000 watt generator to power all the stuff you listed at the same time. ?Go out and find a 3000 watt generator and try and lift it. ?Once you find out how heavy it is, I doubt you'll want one. ?Unless you are really strong, it takes
two people to store one in the car or truck bed. ?I think that pretty much everyone with small trailers use a minimal generator for ease of transport, and only run one major device at a time.
Running just one thing at a time you could certainly get by with a 2000 watt. ?You might even be able to get by with a 1000 watt unit, although you'd be pretty close to the limit on that for your ac, and if you tried to run the ac with a low battery the
charger might draw too much current to run the ac at the same time.
Steve
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I had a Honda 2000 for 9 years with my Expedition.? The 2000 weights about 45 Lbs.? Puts out 13 AMPS.? I ran a Cpap and O2 Concentrater at night no problems also The force air furnace and kept the batteries charged.? The Concentrater and the CPap pulled about 9 Amps.
From: "srtimm@... [alinerchaleta-frames]"
To: alinerchaleta-frames@...
Sent: Saturday, July 30, 2016 9:02 PM
Subject: [alinerchaleta-frames] Re: Best Generator to power "Entire" trailer at once?
?
You'd probably need a 3000 watt generator to power all the stuff you listed at the same time. ?Go out and find a 3000 watt generator and try and lift it. ?Once you find out how heavy it is, I doubt you'll want one. ?Unless you are really strong, it takes two people to store one in the car or truck bed. ?I think that pretty much everyone with small trailers use a minimal generator for ease of transport, and only run one major device at a time.
Running just one thing at a time you could certainly get by with a 2000 watt. ?You might even be able to get by with a 1000 watt unit, although you'd be pretty close to the limit on that for your ac, and if you tried to run the ac with a low battery the charger might draw too much current to run the ac at the same time.
Steve
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Thanks, Walley. I'm thinking the 2000, could handle the air condition/furnace and Refrigerator. Like Steve said I merely need to balance usage by priority and time of day, as needed.
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I had a Honda 2000 for 9 years with my Expedition.? The 2000 weights about 45 Lbs.? Puts out 13 AMPS.? I ran a Cpap and O2 Concentrater at night no problems also The force air furnace and kept the batteries charged.? The Concentrater and the CPap pulled about
9 Amps.
?
You'd probably need a 3000 watt generator to power all the stuff you listed at the same time. ?Go out and find a 3000 watt generator and try and lift it. ?Once you find out how heavy it is, I doubt you'll want
one. ?Unless you are really strong, it takes two people to store one in the car or truck bed. ?I think that pretty much everyone with small trailers use a minimal generator for ease of transport, and only run one major device at a time.
Running just one thing at a time you could certainly get by with a 2000 watt. ?You might even be able to get by with a 1000 watt unit, although you'd be pretty close to the limit on that for your ac, and if you tried to run the ac with a low battery the
charger might draw too much current to run the ac at the same time.
Steve
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We use a Powerhorse Portable Inverter Generator from Northern Tool. | | | | | | This Powerhorse Portable Inverter Generator is super quiet and super reliable for powering everything from sensitive electronics to power tools. Th... | | | | Preview by Yahoo | | | Last year we used it for a week with the following load: AC, fridge on gas, LED lights, charging as needed - 40w laptop, 2 tablets, and cell phone.? The key for us was to alternate the heavy loads. We turned off the AC to use the 900w convection/microwave oven.? The unit would occasionally surge when the AC or oven was running. The battery was charged adequately. Most campgrounds have limited hours for generator use. That campground was 8am to 8pm. I have seen more restrictive hours of 7-9am and 5-7pm. 2012 Expedition 2016 Pilot TV ---In alinerchaleta-frames@..., <srtimm@...> wrote : You'd probably need a 3000 watt generator to power all the stuff you listed at the same time. ?Go out and find a 3000 watt generator and try and lift it. ?Once you find out how heavy it is, I doubt you'll want one. ?Unless you are really strong, it takes two people to store one in the car or truck bed. ?I think that pretty much everyone with small trailers use a minimal generator for ease of transport, and only run one major device at a time.
Running just one thing at a time you could certainly get by with a 2000 watt. ?You might even be able to get by with a 1000 watt unit, although you'd be pretty close to the limit on that for your ac, and if you tried to run the ac with a low battery the charger might draw too much current to run the ac at the same time.
Steve
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For anyone wanting to purchase a genset for their camper there are SEVERAL things you MUST check and look into. First off from one year to the next appliances change, Microwaves, A/C units Furnaces, Fans TV's all made by different manufactures and may vary in wattage from year to year and company to company. I have found that a company making a microwave one year?may not draw the same wattage in the micro the next and as we all know these companies buy from the lowest bidder. To say?that you can run?your items on a 1000 unit and another says they can do it on a only on a 2000 shows that. It also is different among users on what you are doing at the time.?
It is best to find out how much wattage you need for all the appliances then figure out what you may be using at any one time day OR night. As we all know we do not cook while sleeping and do not need a cpap while cooking usually unless you decide to do that. But we may be using an A/C and fire up the micro at the same time.
Another thing to check is the genset themselves, what may say a 2000 may only be a 1800 and what may be a 1000 may actually only be a 850 producing unit. I have had the red one and have had a yellow one BOTH saying 2000 watt but when running them they run differently and required something to be turned off because of there surge pickup.....FWIW
John Midwest Aframe Repair and Service
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toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
?
For anyone wanting to purchase a genset for their camper there are SEVERAL things you MUST check and look into. First off from one year to the next appliances change, Microwaves, A/C units Furnaces, Fans TV's all made by different manufactures and may
vary in wattage from year to year and company to company. I have found that a company making a microwave one year?may not draw the same wattage in the micro the next and as we all know these companies buy from the lowest bidder. To say?that you can run?your
items on a 1000 unit and another says they can do it on a only on a 2000 shows that. It also is different among users on what you are doing at the time.?
It is best to find out how much wattage you need for all the appliances then figure out what you may be using at any one time day OR night. As we all know we do not cook while sleeping and do not need a cpap while cooking usually unless you decide to do
that. But we may be using an A/C and fire up the micro at the same time.
Another thing to check is the genset themselves, what may say a 2000 may only be a 1800 and what may be a 1000 may actually only be a 850 producing unit. I have had the red one and have had a yellow one BOTH saying 2000 watt but when running them they
run differently and required something to be turned off because of there surge pickup.....FWIW
John
Midwest Aframe Repair and Service
|
I have a generator which will run lights, furnace, refrigerator and most other things but it will not run the microwave. It lights up and the table goes around but it does not get hot. I am not an electrical engineer but I believe that it is because of the wave form. Sine wave as opposed to square wave??
Not really a problem for me. I do not even take a generator along with my camper. I am trying to get away from the clap trap, not bring it along. YMMV. To each his own.?
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If you
are running the Furnace it is cold outside and the
Refrigerator would run great on Propane. Limiting the total Amps.
Carl.
On 7/31/2016 12:10 AM, TONY LEWIS
fatherxtwo@... [alinerchaleta-frames] wrote:
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Thanks, Walley. I'm thinking the 2000, could handle the
air condition/furnace and Refrigerator. Like Steve said I
merely need to balance usage by priority and time of day,
as needed.
?
I had a Honda 2000 for 9 years with my Expedition.?
The 2000 weights about 45 Lbs.? Puts out 13 AMPS.? I
ran a Cpap and O2 Concentrater at night no problems
also The force air furnace and kept the batteries
charged.? The Concentrater and the CPap pulled about
9 Amps.
?
You'd
probably need a 3000 watt
generator to power all the stuff
you listed at the same time. ?Go
out and find a 3000 watt
generator and try and lift it.
?Once you find out how heavy it
is, I doubt you'll want one.
?Unless you are really strong,
it takes two people to store one
in the car or truck bed. ?I
think that pretty much everyone
with small trailers use a
minimal generator for ease of
transport, and only run one
major device at a time.
Running just one thing at a
time you could certainly get by
with a 2000 watt. ?You might
even be able to get by with a
1000 watt unit, although you'd
be pretty close to the limit on
that for your ac, and if you
tried to run the ac with a low
battery the charger might draw
too much current to run the ac
at the same time.
Steve
|
Years
ago I had a 1600w Sears generator and needed to run my 1hp
table saw. If I just flipped the switch the starting current
would kill the gas motor. I found if I loosened the belt the
generator could start the saw's motor spinning. When the motor
was up to speed I could lower the motor to tighten the belt
and then the saw blade would spin up to speed and everything
was fine. When I was at a campground and used the table saw I
would turn off the fridge to lessen the load on the 10GA
extension cord.
Carl.
On 7/31/2016 9:56 AM, PFEIL5787@...
[alinerchaleta-frames] wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
?
For anyone wanting to purchase a genset for their
camper there are SEVERAL things you MUST check and look
into. First off from one year to the next appliances
change, Microwaves, A/C units Furnaces, Fans TV's all made
by different manufactures and may vary in wattage from
year to year and company to company. I have found that a
company making a microwave one year?may not draw the same
wattage in the micro the next and as we all know these
companies buy from the lowest bidder. To say?that you can
run?your items on a 1000 unit and another says they can do
it on a only on a 2000 shows that. It also is different
among users on what you are doing at the time.?
It is best to find out how much wattage you need for
all the appliances then figure out what you may be using
at any one time day OR night. As we all know we do not
cook while sleeping and do not need a cpap while cooking
usually unless you decide to do that. But we may be using
an A/C and fire up the micro at the same time.
Another thing to check is the genset themselves, what
may say a 2000 may only be a 1800 and what may be a 1000
may actually only be a 850 producing unit. I have had the
red one and have had a yellow one BOTH saying 2000 watt
but when running them they run differently and required
something to be turned off because of there surge
pickup.....FWIW
John
Midwest Aframe Repair and Service
|
Ditto to John!
Helpful comments from all on this subject!
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Show quoted text
?
Thanks John!
?
For anyone wanting to purchase a genset for their camper there are SEVERAL things you MUST check and look into. First off from one year to the next appliances change, Microwaves, A/C units Furnaces, Fans TV's all made by different manufactures and may
vary in wattage from year to year and company to company. I have found that a company making a microwave one year?may not draw the same wattage in the micro the next and as we all know these companies buy from the lowest bidder. To say?that you can run?your
items on a 1000 unit and another says they can do it on a only on a 2000 shows that. It also is different among users on what you are doing at the time.?
It is best to find out how much wattage you need for all the appliances then figure out what you may be using at any one time day OR night. As we all know we do not cook while sleeping and do not need a cpap while cooking usually unless you decide to do
that. But we may be using an A/C and fire up the micro at the same time.
Another thing to check is the genset themselves, what may say a 2000 may only be a 1800 and what may be a 1000 may actually only be a 850 producing unit. I have had the red one and have had a yellow one BOTH saying 2000 watt but when running them they
run differently and required something to be turned off because of there surge pickup.....FWIW
John
Midwest Aframe Repair and Service
|
When selecting a generator brand there are the Hondas and Yamahas which are the gold standard, and then many no name brands of lesser or unknown quality. ?If you pick a no name brand, research it thoroughly. ?Here's an article about good bearings vs bad bearings. ?You can bet the Hondas and Yamahas have good bearings, and a generator for one third the price has bad, and others you just don't know:
| | | | | | In a very simple test of reliability.? | | | | Preview by Yahoo | | | ? Then there's the serviceability issues:
| | | | | | ?-?Forums - Register/Sign Up - Reply - Search - Statistics - ???? ? Small Cabin Forum / Off-Grid Living / Buyer Beware Westinghouse Portable Generator Scam ? | | | | Preview by Yahoo | | | ? Westinghouse actually gets pretty good ratings. ?But if you can't service it, that's a pretty big ding in value. ?There are a bunch of generator brands that you can't get serviced.
When I read the reviews on Amazon, I always look at how many one star ratings there are. ?If it's above 10%, I've found that a good indicator the product will have problems. ?Plus look at the content of the complaints. ?Saying the carburator clogged up on a generator is a user problem, because if you let any generator sit with old gas in it the carburator will clog. ?But reviews that say something metal broke in the engine and it seized up is a serious problem.
One other thing to think about when buying a generator. ?Get one they sell a propane conversion for. ?Running on propane gets rid of the problem of old gas gumming up the carburator. ?It also eliminates the problem of trying to safely transport gasoline.
Steve
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When Air Conditioning is in the mix, I would recommend minimum of a 2400 watt high current/surge unit like the Yamaha?EF2400iSHC. If running the AC, microwave, and coffee maker at the same time is required, you will need a minimum of a 3000 watt unit. If you can borrow/rent first, that is the best way to see if the generator will meet your needs. Stick with Red (Honda) or Blue (Yamaha) if you want an easy reliable experience. Other options may work well, but unless you can find find someone who has direct experience with that make/model (or rent one), you are taking a chance. I took a chance on a PowerHouse that was a complete waste of money and effort. We got rid of it and purchased a Blue 2000 (No AC) which has been a pleasure to use and quiet. Without the coffee maker, AC, and microwave, you can get by with a 500-1000 watt unit. The fridge will use less than 250 watts, the converter 200-500 watts depending on battery/load, lights and other stuff like phones 100-200 watts.
Hope that helps, Tim
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toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
?
When Air Conditioning is in the mix, I would recommend minimum of a 2400 watt high current/surge unit like the Yamaha?EF2400iSHC. If running the AC, microwave, and coffee maker at the same time is required, you will need a minimum of a 3000 watt unit. If
you can borrow/rent first, that is the best way to see if the generator will meet your needs.
Stick with Red (Honda) or Blue (Yamaha) if you want an easy reliable experience. Other options may work well, but unless you can find find someone who has direct experience with that make/model (or rent one), you are taking a chance. I took a chance on
a PowerHouse that was a complete waste of money and effort. We got rid of it and purchased a Blue 2000 (No AC) which has been a pleasure to use and quiet.
Without the coffee maker, AC, and microwave, you can get by with a 500-1000 watt unit. The fridge will use less than 250 watts, the converter 200-500 watts depending on battery/load, lights and other stuff like phones 100-200 watts.
Hope that helps,
Tim
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With that small 5000 btu ac, I think he can get by with a 2000 watt. ?I run a 10000 btu ac with a 2000 watt, but can't run anything else at the same time. ---In alinerchaleta-frames@..., <tim@...> wrote : When Air Conditioning is in the mix, I would recommend minimum of a 2400 watt high current/surge unit like the Yamaha?EF2400iSHC. If running the AC, microwave, and coffee maker at the same time is required, you will need a minimum of a 3000 watt unit. If you can borrow/rent first, that is the best way to see if the generator will meet your needs. Stick with Red (Honda) or Blue (Yamaha) if you want an easy reliable experience. Other options may work well, but unless you can find find someone who has direct experience with that make/model (or rent one), you are taking a chance. I took a chance on a PowerHouse that was a complete waste of money and effort. We got rid of it and purchased a Blue 2000 (No AC) which has been a pleasure to use and quiet. Without the coffee maker, AC, and microwave, you can get by with a 500-1000 watt unit. The fridge will use less than 250 watts, the converter 200-500 watts depending on battery/load, lights and other stuff like phones 100-200 watts.
Hope that helps, Tim
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toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
?
With that small 5000 btu ac, I think he can get by with a 2000 watt. ?I run a 10000 btu ac with a 2000 watt, but can't run anything else at the same time.
---In alinerchaleta-frames@..., wrote :
When Air Conditioning is in the mix, I would recommend minimum of a 2400 watt high current/surge unit like the Yamaha?EF2400iSHC. If running the AC, microwave, and coffee maker at the same time is required, you will need a minimum
of a 3000 watt unit. If you can borrow/rent first, that is the best way to see if the generator will meet your needs.
Stick with Red (Honda) or Blue (Yamaha) if you want an easy reliable experience. Other options may work well, but unless you can find find someone who has direct experience with that make/model (or rent one), you are taking a chance. I took a chance on
a PowerHouse that was a complete waste of money and effort. We got rid of it and purchased a Blue 2000 (No AC) which has been a pleasure to use and quiet.
Without the coffee maker, AC, and microwave, you can get by with a 500-1000 watt unit. The fridge will use less than 250 watts, the converter 200-500 watts depending on battery/load, lights and other stuff like phones 100-200 watts.
Hope that helps,
Tim
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Tim,
I had never heard of the Powerhouse brand and thought you meant the Powerhorse brand by Northern Tool which I have.? The Powerhouse 2000 and 2100 do claim impressive specs for the price. Reviews are so-so - no 5 star reviews.
I went with Northern's Powerhorse because of price and? 20 years of? good experience with Northern Tool. It is designed by Northern and made in China to Northern's specifications. Northern backs it with a 2 yr warranty. Support from Northern is also very good. Lots of reviews and answered questions.
One surprise for me is that genset dB ratings are done at 5 meters. 59 dB on that scale at surge is noisy beside the camper. 52dB otherwise.
Fred
2012 Expedition
2016 Pilot TV
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Fred wrote: "I had never heard of the Powerhouse brand and thought you meant the Powerhorse brand by Northern Tool which I have.? The Powerhouse 2000 and 2100 do claim impressive specs for the price. Reviews are so-so - no 5 star reviews." One of those two or three star reviews would be mine on Amazon. :) We had the 2100 with an impressive feature set like remote electric start (no need to go outside to start the generator in winter). What is the point of a remote electric start if the motor doesn't start, or starts and stalls right away, and you wear out the battery trying to restart it. :( I couldn't find a solution and I played around with everything, returned it to the manufacturer for a "tune up" that didn't make a difference. I even entertained the idea of changing out the delay valve on the automatic vacuum choke. If you didn't run it often it fouled plugs due to oil leaking past the rings, so I had to change the plug almost every time we needed to use it. It was very heavy with the extra weight of the starter motor and battery. Louder than we hopped, but not offensive. The final issue was the motor stalling out when we turned on the coffee maker. The motor could not provide enough power to handle the surge required from economy mode unless it was already under some load (like a quick microwave startup). We sold it for a 1/3 of what we paid for it and picked up a Yamaha at the next RV show sale price, no Honda's were on sales/display that year. We are completely satisfied with the Yamaha, no issues. I have started it up with one or two pulls in -20 Celsius, it detects the cold and warms itself up before going into economy mode, plus no stalls when the coffee maker starts up.
If you have read this far, I suspect you can understand why I suggest sticking with a known good solution of Blue or Red, unless you have direct experience and feedback on the colour you are looking at.
Hope that helps, Tim
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Wow, you had quite a struggle with that unit. Just for grins, the Powerhorse brand is also blue :) and it just works... with more capacity than advertised. Perhaps due to the copper windings they brag about. So far it has started by the third pull every time regardless how long ago it was last used. ---In alinerchaleta-frames@..., <tim@...> wrote : Fred wrote: "I had never heard of the Powerhouse brand and thought you meant the Powerhorse brand by Northern Tool which I have.? The Powerhouse 2000 and 2100 do claim impressive specs for the price. Reviews are so-so - no 5 star reviews." One of those two or three star reviews would be mine on Amazon. :) We had the 2100 with an impressive feature set like remote electric start (no need to go outside to start the generator in winter). What is the point of a remote electric start if the motor doesn't start, or starts and stalls right away, and you wear out the battery trying to restart it. :( I couldn't find a solution and I played around with everything, returned it to the manufacturer for a "tune up" that didn't make a difference. I even entertained the idea of changing out the delay valve on the automatic vacuum choke. If you didn't run it often it fouled plugs due to oil leaking past the rings, so I had to change the plug almost every time we needed to use it. It was very heavy with the extra weight of the starter motor and battery. Louder than we hopped, but not offensive. The final issue was the motor stalling out when we turned on the coffee maker. The motor could not provide enough power to handle the surge required from economy mode unless it was already under some load (like a quick microwave startup). We sold it for a 1/3 of what we paid for it and picked up a Yamaha at the next RV show sale price, no Honda's were on sales/display that year. We are completely satisfied with the Yamaha, no issues. I have started it up with one or two pulls in -20 Celsius, it detects the cold and warms itself up before going into economy mode, plus no stalls when the coffee maker starts up.
If you have read this far, I suspect you can understand why I suggest sticking with a known good solution of Blue or Red, unless you have direct experience and feedback on the colour you are looking at.
Hope that helps, Tim
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Carl