low hrs. on Gen. when selling?

[frederick w]

Why do many people state how many hrs. are on their
Gen. when posting an add?

One add said that they had 48 hrs. on their gen. It
was a 2001 MH. I wonder how well the output is? I
run mine 20 min. every other month with a load on it.

My friend is in the news business and they have over
3000 hrs. on their Onan Gen. in their news van. It's
still going strong.

Just my thoughts, thanks

[sc3283]

Our new to us 1996 had 206hr when purchasing...works perfectly

the genny is a wear item, why not advertise low hours? Seller is just giving an accurate description

[Martino78]

I have always heard that a generator with super low hours isn't necessarily a good thing. Generators are made to be used and if a generator is over 10 years old with under 100 hours it hasn't been used as much as it should. I also heard you should run your generator for at least 1 hour a month with a load to "exercise" it. I am pretty new to the RV world myself but, I have heard a lot of good things so far.
Mike

[srydve]

Whether you believe high hours are good or bad it's a question a purchaser is likely to ask, just like the mileage, so sellers state the hours as part of the selling information.

[Mr_D]

Low hours is bad, they need to be run a couple hours a month with a load in order to keep the windings dried out. I run mine with one heat pump on cool and the other on heat, after an hour I reverse them.

[FDchief]

Onan recommends my generator is run monthly for 2 hours at half load of rated capacity.

[Aguyfromcalg]

I was told by an RV Rep that when he get a unit in on trade with low hours on the generator, he will lower his offering price. He knows he has to at least rebuild the carb.

[Hootie-Owl]

What would be considered a high number of hours on a generator?

[WeatherTodd]

My rig only had 100hrs on the genny when purchased.
Personally low usage isnt a bad thing. And the gas carbs arent hard to rebuild.
I would soak the spark plugs in penetrating oil, remove & inspect, change the oil to some quality synthetic, check the air filter, and let er rip.
Even at a shop that service is less than $150.

[wb7auk]

Getting hung up on the hours are too low or too high which might be an indicator
knowing the environment it was in as well as the maintenance records and what
service it preformed are far more important.

[tncruiser]

Originally Posted by Aguyfromcalg

I was told by an RV Rep that when he get a unit in on trade with low hours on the generator, he will lower his offering price. He knows he has to at least rebuild the carb.

now there is a great salesman NOT
modern genny's dont have a carb
they are fuel injected
i am not picking on Aguyfromcalg
just saying
briamj

[Steve N Sal]

It's good to excersize the generator at least twice monthly for a half hour or so with a load applied. The a/c's are probably the best option for that. As long as I'm typing this I now should get off my butt walk up front and start ours for a while. Thanks for reminding me. See these posts work as reminders also.

[hamguy]

Originally Posted by sc3283

Our new to us 1996 had 206hr when purchasing...works perfectly

the genny is a wear item, why not advertise low hours? Seller is just giving an accurate description

Low hours on a year old unit is great. The same number of hours on a 6 YO gene is horrible. These units need to be used. A 6 YO unit should have at least 50+ hours. JMHO

[WeatherTodd]

Originally Posted by tncruiser

now there is a great salesman NOT
modern genny's dont have a carb
they are fuel injected
i am not picking on Aguyfromcalg
just saying
briamj

interesting... which model genny do you have thats fuel injected?
Generators typically run at a set rpm range. Fuel injection would only add to the cost of a unit. (talking gas not diesel)