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05-17-2014, 11:05 AM
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#1
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Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Florida Keys
Posts: 81
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Campground or Wal*Mart
my 5th wheel did not come with a generator. For $6500 i can have a propane unit installed, or place honda (2-2000w) or 1 3000w on rear bumper to run the ac. my question is, "do most 5th wheelers go campground to campground and not need a generator or have you got a generator so that they have more options? The reason you went one way or the other would be greatly appreciated. Most of our travels will be in the summer months for 5-7 months. rv has 13,500 btu and a 15,000 btu ac.
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05-17-2014, 11:26 AM
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 8,777
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Quote:
Originally Posted by flcountryboy
my 5th wheel did not come with a generator. For $6500 i can have a propane unit installed, or place honda (2-2000w) or 1 3000w on rear bumper to run the ac. my question is, "do most 5th wheelers go campground to campground and not need a generator or have you got a generator so that they have more options? The reason you went one way or the other would be greatly appreciated. Most of our travels will be in the summer months for 5-7 months. rv has 13,500 btu and a 15,000 btu ac.
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flcountryboy
I have a coach, (not a 5er), with a generator.
When traveling we often stop for the night in Walmarts, truck stops or rest areas, but in 14 years, we have never needed/used the generator when "overnighting".
IMO, a generator is only useful/needed for long term stays in rustic campgrounds, with no electrical hookups, and when boondocking.
Mel
'96 Safari, 132k miles
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05-17-2014, 03:18 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Canada
Posts: 352
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Quote:
Originally Posted by flcountryboy
my 5th wheel did not come with a generator. For $6500 i can have a propane unit installed, or place honda (2-2000w) or 1 3000w on rear bumper to run the ac. my question is, "do most 5th wheelers go campground to campground and not need a generator or have you got a generator so that they have more options? The reason you went one way or the other would be greatly appreciated. Most of our travels will be in the summer months for 5-7 months. rv has 13,500 btu and a 15,000 btu ac.
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A 2,000 W Honda type Generator Inverter, does the job for most appliances, TV, coffee maker, charging batteries ..... everything except maybe for the A/C, and the electric water heater. I have it setup in front of the pickup box, very quiet and economical.
Mike
__________________
Mike, Martina and Maya our yellow Lab
2013 CrossRoads, Cruiser 29,5 ft 5thWeel, 2010 Ram HEMI 1500
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05-18-2014, 01:15 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: North Lake Tahoe
Posts: 164
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My first thought is where you plan to travel will make a difference. If it is going to be hot, then you will need the AC. And then decide how long will it take to make up the cost of installing the generator vs. staying in an RV park with electricity.
We travel in the southwest in the spring and fall and the northwest in between. Seldom need the AC but if we do we stay in a full hookup park.
When we dry camp, which is not often, our solar panel keeps the batteries changed so we have lights and the slides will be powered when time to move on.
We have a small Honda generator to run the coffee maker etc. but not the AC.
Been traveling with a FW, not full time, since 1999. Got beyond wanting to backpack for days without a shower, etc.
GT
__________________
2016 Rockwood Signature Ulta Lite 8280WS
2004 Dodge 2500 4x4 crew cab long bed, 5.9 Cummins, 6 speed New Venture, Pac Brake
English Shepherd, Australian Shepherd, 7 year old puppies keeping us young
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05-19-2014, 03:25 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Sarasota, Fl USA
Posts: 338
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We use WalMart quite often, but have never needed the AC. We do sometimes run a fan all night on the inverter. Just make sure you have plenty of battery. If you boondock, you need to be able to recharge batteries, that means generator. If you anticipate the use of the AC, then you need a pretty good size one. I would never put one on the back bumper - - junky looking - - sort of like step ladders hanging on the back ladder to the roof. Portable gennies are that - - portable, meaning easily carried away. I think the suggestion to seriously consider the cost to buy,
maintain and run a generator a few nights/days a year versus the cost for a park with electric. You can usually work in some fairly cheap parks if you work at it and with the help of something like Passport America.
Bob
__________________
2003 Dodge HO 6 speed Laramie Dually, Jordan controller, RDS fuel tank, Air Ride 25K hitch
Carriage 36' fiver, Onan 6500, Prosine 2K inverter, 3 slides, MORyde IS and Kingpin
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05-19-2014, 05:06 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Durant, Ok
Posts: 403
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Propane Generator.
A propane generator producing 5,000W is going to use close to 1 gal/hr.
Most 5vers carry two 7.5 gal tanks or two 30 lb. However you want to say it.
You are going to spend a lot of time getting propane tanks filled.
Years ago I had a propane 7.5 Onan in our 5ver. We didn't use it much.
The little Honda's seem to work well.
Keith
__________________
2007 40ft Phaeton, Cat 350 hp
Dingy - 2021 Gladiator Rubicon
Keith & Shirley,Durant, OK
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05-19-2014, 11:14 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Alberta - East of the Rockies, West of the Rest
Posts: 835
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We have a semi permanent site with no power and rely on our solar setup (3 160Watt panels and 6 6Volt AGM batteries) and decided on a built in Onan 5500 to run the AC's and W/D. Pricey but convenient, when spending this much on an RV the extra cost of the built in generator is minor and to many older campgrounds have 30Amp power at best, so saving $5 or $10 per night and running the generator for an hour or two to cool the unit down works for me.
__________________
2018 Ram 5500 with 2021 Arctic Fox 1140
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05-20-2014, 09:07 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Oregon
Posts: 6,657
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We only camp at Walmarts. If it's really hot out we just go inside and sit in their furniture and use the stores AC. We'll even go to the food section and get some grub to munch on. Sometimes we just get lawn chairs from the garden section and move them over to the electronic section so we can watch tv. Only had a couple problems with grumpy store mangers. Those problems were probably brought on by our cousin Eddy. We try and keep it a secret about where we're going but he sometimes shows up.
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05-20-2014, 09:17 AM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 829
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Howdy!
We have a generator that is capable of running our AC but I would not run it during the night while sleeping. You can look at numerious stories where people have been killed by running generators at night. If its to hot to sleep at night find a campground/RV park.
"Happy Trails"
Chiefneon
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05-20-2014, 10:43 AM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Centennial, CO
Posts: 406
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cumminsfan
We only camp at Walmarts. If it's really hot out we just go inside and sit in their furniture and use the stores AC. We'll even go to the food section and get some grub to munch on. Sometimes we just get lawn chairs from the garden section and move them over to the electronic section so we can watch tv. Only had a couple problems with grumpy store mangers. Those problems were probably brought on by our cousin Eddy. We try and keep it a secret about where we're going but he sometimes shows up.
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__________________
2002 Holiday Rambler 30RKD
2000 F250 diesel extended cab short bed
2014 Demco Autoslide 18K
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05-20-2014, 04:55 PM
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#11
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Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 68
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One more thing to think about. Neither of the Honda set ups listed will safely run everything in you rig especially 2 A/Cs. The 5000+ kW units will, or you will need to pick and choose what to run.
Mark and Cecelia still doing that "W" thing
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05-20-2014, 06:26 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,303
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As others have mentioned, unless it is really hot a Fantastic fan moving air through the coach can do wonders, especially at night. Usually you can run one all night on your batteries with ease. If it's so hot that you absolutely must have A/C then it usually makes more sense to find an inexpensive campground, which won't cost much more (or maybe even less) than running a generator all night.
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05-20-2014, 07:33 PM
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#14
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Oregon
Posts: 6,657
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Muddypaws
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Keep an eye out for me, I'll be eating a bag of Funyuns and drinking a 64oz Pepsi.
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