# Which Generator?



## Tieafly

Hello all. I am the proud new owner of a 2006 21RS (which I love so far). I am looking into purchasing a generator to power the TT, primarily when I am hunting in the fall and winter. I have been doing quite a bit of online research, looking at different brands, etc. I currently own a 5000 watt unit that is about as loud as your average bulldozer, but I would like an inverter type of generator. My question is this...I have no desire to be somewhere in the summer that doesn't have shore power (it gets hot down here in AR), so, is a 2000 watt Honda generator adequate to operate the furnace in the trailer? I have looked at several different brands, but I really only want to buy a generator once. I have decided on a Honda or Yamaha and would like to save a grand on a 2000 watt over a 3000 watt if possible.
Thanks in advance...


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## TwoElkhounds

Sounds like you just need a generator to keep your batteries charged. A 2000W Honda or Yamaha is more than adequate to do what you want to do. You might want to add a second battery as well.

DAN


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## Tieafly

TwoElkhounds said:


> Sounds like you just need a generator to keep your batteries charged. A 2000W Honda or Yamaha is more than adequate to do what you want to do. You might want to add a second battery as well.
> 
> DAN


Will the batteries run the furnace during the night? Say...6-7 hours? Please forgive me as I am new to this. I've always been too cheap to buy anything besides "deer camp special" campers!


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## my3chis

Tieafly said:


> Sounds like you just need a generator to keep your batteries charged. A 2000W Honda or Yamaha is more than adequate to do what you want to do. You might want to add a second battery as well.
> 
> DAN


Will the batteries run the furnace during the night? Say...6-7 hours? Please forgive me as I am new to this. I've always been too cheap to buy anything besides "deer camp special" campers!
[/quote]
We went dry camping last September. Our furnace ran off and on all weekend. We ended up using our Honda 2000 for about an hour just to top off the batteries.


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## TwoElkhounds

No need to apologize!! Your furnace runs off of propane, only the fan runs off of the battery. All the generator is used for is to keep the battery charged so you can run the fan through the night. Unless it is very cold out (i.e. the furnace fan runs all night), one battery should be adequate, assuming it is in good condition. To be safe and give you a bit of margin, you may want to consider a second battery. If you go with a second battery, be sure you get two new batteries at the same time, both identical.

We got our Honda EU2000 from Wisesales on the Internet. Cost around $850 delivered right to your door, no shipping or taxes. Highly recommended.

DAN


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## Tieafly

TwoElkhounds said:


> No need to apologize!! Your furnace runs off of propane, only the fan runs off of the battery. All the generator is used for is to keep the battery charged so you can run the fan through the night. Unless it is very cold out (i.e. the furnace fan runs all night), one battery should be adequate, assuming it is in good condition. To be safe and give you a bit of margin, you may want to consider a second battery. If you go with a second battery, be sure you get two new batteries at the same time, both identical.
> 
> We got our Honda EU2000 from Wisesales on the Internet. Cost around $850 delivered right to your door, no shipping or taxes. Highly recommended.
> 
> DAN


Thanks Dan! Very helpful. I am pleased to say that my local dealer really took care of us and topped off the tanks and wired up two spanking new batteries when we bought the camper! I will check out that link and probably order one in. That's a pretty good price from what I've seen. Guess I should opt for the 2000i with the 30 amp hookup? I'm sure the generator will come in handy for tailgating as well (we do it right in SEC country)!!!


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## Mgonzo2u

I myself am a proud owner of a KIPOR 3000TI (sinewave) which is now branded as a 2600TI. It can power the OB A/C or Microwave individually but not simulataneously and that is fine.

If all you are looking to do is run the furnace, you can go with even less power on a gen than 2000w.

But, to play along with the progress of the thread here, there is a relatively new player in the portable invertor generator game. We are no longer slaves to Honda or Yamaha anymore. They are lightweight and can be run in parallel if you need more power down the road.

Details:

MFG Details:

CHAMPION 73531i

http://championpowerequipment.com/doc/CPE%20Inverter%20White%20Paper.pdf

AMAZON reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/Champion-Portable-Inverter-Generator-2000/product-reviews/B0041K09D8/ref=cm_cr_pr_top_recent?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

**NOTE: I paid nearly $900 for my gen set years ago and IF I were in the gen set buying market today for my TT, this Champion would be in serious contention for my business.

Best of luck with your decision.


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## Tieafly

I've been looking online and the Yamaha 2400 is looking pretty good. Looks like with the addition of a start capacitor, it will run the Carrier air v 13500. Any experiences with this?


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## Jewellfamily

You could probably go with less than a 2000w unit if all your going to be doing is charging batteries. The nice thing about the 2000w unit though is that if you do decide to do the boondocking in the summer, you can get another one and a parallel cable kit and hook the 2 together to run the AC but not kill yourself trying to lug them around. Make sure if you get a 2000w unit it is parallel cable ready. Honda and Yamaha are the big dogs and very quiet, but expensive. You should take a look at Kipor and Champion as well. Both make inverter generators in the same low DB range (53 - 59) depending on load, but cost about 1/2 of the Honda's or Yamaha's. There are some people on the forum that swear by them.


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## Mgonzo2u

Jewellfamily said:


> You could probably go with less than a 2000w unit if all your going to be doing is charging batteries. The nice thing about the 2000w unit though is that if you do decide to do the boondocking in the summer, you can get another one and a parallel cable kit and hook the 2 together to run the AC but not kill yourself trying to lug them around. Make sure if you get a 2000w unit it is parallel cable ready. Honda and Yamaha are the big dogs and very quiet, but expensive. *You should take a look at Kipor *and Champion as well. Both make inverter generators in the same low DB range (53 - 59) depending on load, but cost about 1/2 of the Honda's or Yamaha's. There are some people on the forum that swear by them.


I swear (by my Kipor)!


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## mrw

TwoElkhounds said:


> No need to apologize!! Your furnace runs off of propane, only the fan runs off of the battery. All the generator is used for is to keep the battery charged so you can run the fan through the night. Unless it is very cold out (i.e. the furnace fan runs all night), one battery should be adequate, assuming it is in good condition. To be safe and give you a bit of margin, you may want to consider a second battery. If you go with a second battery, be sure you get two new batteries at the same time, both identical.
> 
> We got our Honda EU2000 from Wisesales on the Internet. Cost around $850 delivered right to your door, no shipping or taxes. Highly recommended.
> 
> DAN


That is a really good price for the Honda 2000, I've been shopping for a deal on one. I've used a buddy's and know it easily will charge a 2 12 volt battery setup on my 21rs in about 1 1/2 hours.


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## john7349

Can't go wrong with the Honda 2000i. I also have the Honda 2000i Companian. During hunting seasion, I just carry one with me. It runs the furnace while charging the batteries, Microwave (by itself), Tv etc.


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## Dale

I bought the Yamaha 2400ishc at Cabella's for around $1050 during a sale they had this winter. It starts my air conditioner with no problem and according to the specs, the sound db is rated the same as the Honda. I really like it.


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## Tieafly

Dale said:


> I bought the Yamaha 2400ishc at Cabella's for around $1050 during a sale they had this winter. It starts my air conditioner with no problem and according to the specs, the sound db is rated the same as the Honda. I really like it.


13500 Carrier Air V? Everything I've read looks hit or miss on whether it will run the air or not.


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## letscamp

If you looking for cheap and something that can keep the batteries charged up and run everything but the a/c and microwave get the 800watt 900 watt max generator from harbor freight. I bought this little generator last year and used and abused it, not a single problem get about 15hours out of it on one gallon of gas. That's even running the fan to keep it quiet for the kids naps and wife and I watching a movies, charging laptops, fridge, you name it. They use to be sold as 1100 watt 1200 max, but I'm guessing they burned out so they changed the sticker to 900watt. The little generator even makes my 900w pot of coffee in the mornings with ease







. It really quiet. Best part I got it on sale with a 20% coupon for $67.00 inc tax. Just something to keep in mind as long as you don't need to use the a/c and microwave. Even with out the coupon they a 129.

Its about as loud as a quiet Honda running full load.

Good luck. Have 60+ hours on it and no problems.

http://www.harborfreight.com/800-rated-watts-900-max-watts-portable-generator-66619.html?utm_medium=cse&utm_source=googlebase&hft_adv=40010&mr:trackingCode=EA6E0F9E-782A-E011-B31E-001B2163195C&mr:referralID=NA


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## hautevue

My 2000 watt Honeywell inverter generator "knockoff" of the Honda 2000i works fine for running the air conditioner AFTER I put in a hard start capacitor. Just shut off everything in the power panel so there is no load on the 120vac line except the air conditioner. Turn the fan on to run. Let the genset absorb that, and let the fan run for 5 - 10 seconds. Then turn the compressor on. The genset will groan for about 2 seconds as the compressor starts, but it does not trip now that I have the hard-start capacitor installed.

It seems to work nicely. Of course, a 2000 w unit cannot run more than the air conditioner (which uses about 15 amps of the 17 amps available) and maybe the power converter if you do not run everything on dc that makes the converter work hard.

Best of all, the Honeywell is as quiet as the Honda and Yamaha, but only cost in the $450 range including shipping, in the fall of 2010. I haven't priced them lately.


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## JLAnderson

We got the 2kW (actually, 1.6 kW) Champion inverter generator (73531i) from Sam's for around $500, and took it on a trip out west (Wyoming).

Near sea level (Illinois, anyway), one unit will run the microwave; at around at around 8,000' (Atlantic City, WY), it kept our battery happy and ran our small coffee pot, but would not run the microwave. I tried starting the 15K BTU A/C exactly once here at home; it couldn't do it.

That said, I was satisfied with it for what we wanted - to be able to dry camp in cold conditions with the furnace running often (it got cold at night). I didn't precisely track the fuel usage, but it seemed to do pretty well on gas (which was good, since I only brought an extra couple of gallons and the nearest gas station was a LONG way away), and was pretty quiet, especially in the economy mode. It is light enough to haul around, and started easily

Our battery is getting a bit weak - the furnace and other loading had it down to where it couldn't run the furnace after about 6 hrs. w/o the generator.

We're hoping to go out this weekend near here to an outing where there won't be shore power, and it's supposed to be warm. I'm bringing my big dog - a Cummins Onan P4300ie which will, from experience, run the A/C just fine. Unfortunately, that sucker is HEAVY, and isn't any where near as easy on gas, especially under the heavy A/C load.


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## GaryS

Would the Honda 2000i start a high efficiency air conditioner? I know Dale, and that his Yamaha 2400 easily starts his air conditioner. Can anyone share whether they have had the same performance from their Honda? Live in Michigan, so it is rarely oppressively hot (90 degree days are very rare). I have a 295RE.
Thanks.


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## CamperAndy

GaryS said:


> Would the Honda 2000i start a high efficiency air conditioner? I know Dale, and that his Yamaha 2400 easily starts his air conditioner. Can anyone share whether they have had the same performance from their Honda? Live in Michigan, so it is rarely oppressively hot (90 degree days are very rare). I have a 295RE.
> Thanks.


Altitude effects the the performance, losing 4% for every 1000 foot, so keep that in mind.

The Honda 2000 has been reported to start the AC but it would be very marginal.


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## moonshot

I have a Honda 2000Eu. Works great. I suspect the Yamaha works great as well. I do a fair amount of fall hunting and winter and spring skiing in my trailer. I dont usually have the furnace run on the batteries for both noise and battery draw. I have a catalytic heater that I run off a propane bottle on dining room table at night. Crack a window so you dont die. Keeps the interior temps in the 40's usually. Dont underestimate an electric blanket if you have shore power- that is pretty close to nirvana.


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## NorskBoy

I'm in the same mode right now looking for generator for our TT. Want to make sure whatever I get will start the AC. I rented a 2000 Honda and it worked for the AC even though it says it won't. Although it worked I have settled on the Yamaha 2400. You can order it with the Trifuel option direct from US Carberator.

If you have not looked at the Trifuel option I would highly suggest it. You can run your generator on propane, natural gas, or gasoline. Almost any generator can be converted $180.00 for the kit. US carberation sells them already converted with the warrantee intact. Think about it no gas to deal with and 5 gallons of propane hooked up direct to the generator. No mess no fuss. I hate hauling gas cans.


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## kjdj

What about saving the cost of a generator? If you run low on the battery plug the trailer into the tow vehicle? My truck charges the Outback batteries quicker and at a higher rate.


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## CamperAndy

kjdj said:


> What about saving the cost of a generator? If you run low on the battery plug the trailer into the tow vehicle? My truck charges the Outback batteries quicker and at a higher rate.


Not very often will the trucks alternator charge the trailer quicker and for many the price of diesel fuel along with the noise of the truck idling is much worse then most of the small inverter type generators. Plus you cant run the microwave from your truck.

I would consider charging from the truck as a last resort.


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