After owning an inverter, I wouldn't have a conventional. The difference is in the fuel usage, electric output quality, and usually the decibel rating.

Electrical quality is important if you run anything that is sensitive to voltage and/or amperage spikes, etc. I run a PC sometimes for internet stuff when I'm away, so the inverter's square wave works happily with the computer.

Same deal...seems like every winter when the weatherman predicts and ice storm, we get inundated with portables and el-cheapo's with gummed carbs and/or failed generators (caps, windings, brushes, etc)...and sometimes it's just simpler and cheaper to replace the unit as opposed to repairing it. Especially the cheap stuff. The control board for some of the more expensive/premium gensets is just as expensive as a new generator in it's entirety...and a new genset comes with a better warranty than the board does (2 yr vs 90 days). One winter I remember in particular...I know this is going to be slightly off topic, we were slow at the shop, so myself and another guy grabbed a 4x8 sheet of plywood from a shipping crate and spray painted "we have generators" on it. Barely legible. We weren't pro's at "tagging". Anyway, within 24 hours we had more work than parts to fix them with...sold about 40 generators, ordered 50 more and the transporter showed up with a 48' van full of them...said take them all, he didn't know how many we were supposed to get, all he knew was that his boss said we got the whole load. There were 282 of them and we sold almost all of them within 5 business days. But keep in mind that was a nasty winter storm where folks were without power for weeks...up to a month for some people. This state is certainly not prepared for that type of weather! You folks up north laugh at us, but we laugh at y'all when y'all are complainin' about 90 degree air temps. Psh...it's 90 at 9am here, and stays 90+ until about 10 or 11pm.

quote:

Originally posted by dragstermike:
My brother has living quarters in his trailer. He uses The predator gen for everything. We use it on the motorhome at night to save on noise. It only tripped once and that was with the AC running in the RV, trailer, and I plugged in the kobalt air compressor. The air compressor usually kicks the breaker on any of the generators. I don't know why, but that compressor is hard to start. The only negative I have with the HF predator is the fuel cell. It'll run for about 6-8 hrs with the AC running full tilt in the RV. You'll have to get up and fill it in the early morning.

That's about what my current Champion will run time wise. The one I posted has a 3 gallon fuel tank though. I guess I can buy one and take it back if it is objectionably louder than the one I have now. This one is an inverter as well.

Many air compressors will trip the breaker, even on larger units that already have somewhat of a load.
We keep the air compressor off and let it drain completely. The start up load is then almost zero.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeB4963:
Many air compressors will trip the breaker, even on larger units that already have somewhat of a load.
We keep the air compressor off and let it drain completely. The start up load is then almost zero.

Sorry I meant the AC compressor in my post. The 3000 watt champion was marginal with fridge, converter and a/c kicking on and off during the night. If you kept the ac compressor on all the time it could do it. But the high start amps even with a hard start cap was too much immediate draw.

Hi Rich. Yamaha? Hear or use them? I have Honda’s but I’m hearing great things about them. Getting the 6300 quiet.

Anyone experience the Westinghouse IGEN4500? Has a good resume. But that's just the cover of the book.

quote:

Originally posted by stk 758 BP!:
Hi Rich. Yamaha? Hear or use them? I have Honda’s but I’m hearing great things about them. Getting the 6300 quiet.

I bought a Yamaha EF6300iSDE inverter generator for my trailer with living quarters. Super quiet and runs everything with no problems. It's a little large in size and weighs a little over 200 lbs with fuel. I get 10-12 hours of running on a 4.5 gal tank. Biggest downfall.... PRICE. They run $3500 on Amazon but well worth the price.

I have no direct experience with the Yamaha’s but saw the smaller inverter versions years ago. Very quiet and aside from the odd look they have a rep right up there with Honda’s inverters. Price is high for both Honda and Yamaha but their reliability record speaks for itself.

Yamaha bought Subaru, i wonder if that's the engine they are using?

Onan does not build engines for their generators and has not for probably 20 years.

I have not been able to confirm it but thought Subaru/Robin built the gas engines for Onan.

I cant find anything on them that I can ID as to who builds these engines...

Bottom line they do not like added heat and will and do fail on a regular basis.

Pretty rinky dink valve train and heads. Bottom end not much of a problem......

I just did a 7kw....a typical repair, replace both cylinder heads. Intake guide hole in one head worn like a keyhole from the guide moving with the valve....and it still ran....

Guides are pressed in and loosen up to the point of failure. Seats get pounded out and valves as well.

Might take as little as 1000hrs or even less.

I had a poorly installed machine on a digital sign truck with bad heads with under 1000hrs.

These machines need cool air going in and cannot be drawing hot exhaust air in.

I have seen numerous machines installed with no regard for this issue.....they fail much sooner.

The current repair sitting on my bench has over 3000hrs.....

Mobile Dog Groomer van.....I have to reinstall probably next week....

I have 2 Onan 4KW machines and they just flat out are usually shot (engines) by 3000hrs....or less if neglected....

Where and how is Cummins involved with Onan? Or does Cummins own Onan now. Like on a 2800. Never had my hands on one. But a Perkins yes.. Isn't Perkins a sub of Cat? just curious. Do you think Perkins produces a better engine?. Understandable heat is a killer on all engine lines.

Cummins owns Onan and has for quite a while.

For right now its Cummins-Onan...

Perkins has been around a long time. Not sure if they are import but always thought they were. English ? don't really know....

Smallish diesels....and I think Cat probably owns them and rebadges them as their own....

Not real sure about all that though...


PowerTech in Florida builds diesel units that I see some of....and some have Cat labeled engines.

8-10-12 KW units in Toters and trailers. Nice units and pretty reliable...

I have one to look at next week on a sewer pipe camera truck....been here before for same issue....dead controller....no start..

I just fixed a 40kw PowerTech......don't know what that engine was.

It was in a box truck used for training sessions of some kind. Generator was mounted up in box somewhere and the truck hit a low bridge....!!

Box wrecked, Generator survived.....it's radiator did not.....Had a new one made using some parts of old one....

PowerTech said we don't have those, machine is obsolete........and if we did the price was $800 for a simple smallish radiator....

Geeze, Sounds like every day is an "Adventure" for you in that racket. lol You ever have time to get the car out?

I just bought a 40ft. toy hauler with a 7500 onan diesel enclosed generator that has 1455 hrs. that runs good and is quite. I'm going to pull it out and the fuel tank to have room for the race car . What would be a good portable unit big enough to run the a/c and normal junk at the race track ? What would the onan be worth if I sell it?

So, for RV use, can a 30 amp twist lock as on this unit: https://www.electricgenerators...enerator/p75239.html
be used to supply the rv's 50 amp plug in? In this case 20 amps per 120v leg times two legs?
I would think this one could run two rv air cons as long as no much else was running. Am I looking at this right?

I purchased the Briggs And Stratton Q6500. I haven't been able to successfully run two air con units yet. But I have had a transfer switch issue that I need to fix. Also have one air con that is a bit hard to start too.
The Q is quiet for its output. About the same as the Champion 3000 running one air con. Uses about the same amount of fuel. Pretty nice unit. The twist lock conversion to 50 amp rv works fine.

My 15,000 BTU Dometic AC unit on my MH will trip a 15 amp circuit breaker in my garage fed from a 100' cord.

That is a new AC unit I installed and works fine.

My point is one AC unit alone needs 15 amps running....and momentarily a lot more when the compressor starts.

An older Ac unit can have a hard starting issue with the compressor.....a Hard start capacitor can be added that might help...they sell for maybe $20 and are easy to get and wire in.

A 30 amp adapter plug is good for 15 amps per leg.....not 20......

The breaker on the machine is the governing point for how many amps you will be able to draw from the machine before it trips...

2 AC units alone would draw 30 amps and could trip the machines breaker at times.


If you supply your RV's 50 amp shore cord with a 30 amp circuit you will be limited as to what you can run all at the same time....

Agreed on the amps needed. But.....a 30 amp 220V circuit twist lock should carry 30 amps on each leg. Making two 120 legs of up to 30 amps. Isn't that correct? This generator, according to the manufacturer, supplies two 120 legs from the twist lock with 20.3 amps per leg. Are they incorrect? I was guessing that the air con units would be on either leg. RV power is a little different to me.

There is a lot confusion possible here...

Some generators are configured to supply 120 volts ONLY and not 120/240

A 120 only configuraton means there is only one hot leg and they may run it thru a 2 pole breaker.


A generator with a 5KW rating configured for 120 volts only could supply 42 amps and you could have a 2 pole breaker with a 20 or 25 amp rating on each hot. They are from the same source and can be connected together and will not short out .......A Typical setup on an Onan RV unit.....The wire size typically can only carry 30 amps max......Silvered 12 wire ...carries higher amps than straight copper...All Onans use this wire....


You could take both hots from that 2 pole breaker and touch them together and they will not short out.....They are already common before the breaker.....



The same 5KW generator configured to produce 120/240 volts with 2 seperate hot legs just like a typical home service. Each leg would be good for 21 amps......2 x 21 = 42 same as the earlier version.

You could not touch the 2 legs together as they would short......just like in a typical home service....


Without having a unit in front of me and looking at what it is rated for and what the output is configured for, I cant say what its good for....


I test generators with a resistive load bank and it is switchable to work on either voltage.


30 amps per leg at 240 is 60 amps total....
30 amps per leg at 120 is 30 amps total.....there is really only one hot leg.....

Here is a response from Briggs about this unit to someone having the same issue as Bucky.

Hello, the Q6500 inverter generator is designed primarily for home back-up power utilizing a transfer switch connected through the twist lock outlet. When connecting in this manner, the full capacity of 5000 watts is available (per the PGMA rating standard /ANSI/PGMA G300-2015). However, when using an RV adapter in the twist lock, 120V (half) is available through that outlet while the remaining 120V is available through the duplex outlets. We are adding this information to the product page so customers can make the best purchase decision based on their application.