Bounder: Generator

[okcnewbie]

Originally Posted by bigchick

what does the owners manual say? what is make / model of the generator?

This!

[Soppy]

I only run my generator when I need it. It sits for at least 6 months for winter storage. I will run it for 30 minutes or so when I take the motorhome out of storage . I do a fair amount of boondocking , so the generator is run at least every couple of months in the camping season. Exercising the generator does not guarantee it will operate the next time you need it . It only shows that it worked this time. I have seen many generators that worked one day and would not start / produce power the next.

[Wundertaker]

Originally Posted by Soppy

I only run my generator when I need it. It sits for at least 6 months for winter storage. I will run it for 30 minutes or so when I take the motorhome out of storage . I do a fair amount of boondocking , so the generator is run at least every couple of months in the camping season. Exercising the generator does not guarantee it will operate the next time you need it . It only shows that it worked this time. I have seen many generators that worked one day and would not start / produce power the next.

Sounds like you have a plan...not one I'd recommend though!

[Isaac-1]

Originally Posted by Soppy

I only run my generator when I need it. It sits for at least 6 months for winter storage. I will run it for 30 minutes or so when I take the motorhome out of storage . I do a fair amount of boondocking , so the generator is run at least every couple of months in the camping season. Exercising the generator does not guarantee it will operate the next time you need it . It only shows that it worked this time. I have seen many generators that worked one day and would not start / produce power the next.

No, but periodically running the generator does keep voltage regulator killing tarnish from building up on the slip rings.

[Off Road]

Originally Posted by twinboat

We are hopefully on the edge of moving to fuel injection on RV generators. That would practally elemenate the gas fouling issues.

I feel like installed RV generators, ie Cummins/Onan generators suffer from lack of competition. With all the great portable inverter generators out there I am surprised no one has brought one to market that is made to be factory installed in an RV. If I was to buy an RV with a factory generator I would still bring my little Yamaha along. It is quiet, easy starting, sips gas, and trouble free.

[vsheetz]

Originally Posted by TexasTom

The manual on every gen. that I have owned has said to exercise it if it's not used.

Yep.

30 minutes, 60 minutes, monthly. Etc. Just do it.

[Houdoxi71]

Originally Posted by vsheetz

Yep.

30 minutes, 60 minutes, monthly. Etc. Just do it.

Yep. Worst thing you can do for a car is park it.

Genset = same thing.

[ga traveler]

I went to factory school on Onan. At that time they called for running the generators under load 2 hours every month. I have always thought that was excessive. I have had 5 motorhomes and three of them had Onans. I ran them for 30 minutes every three months. I have never had a problem. On this coach I bought it in 2007 and have run it 30 minutes every 3 months and no problems. I was a service manager for 15 years and we ran the generators on the sales lot for 30 minutes every three months with no problems. I will state if you have a microlite generator you better run it at least every six months because the small carburators will gunk up over time. No one mentions cooling down generators. I think that is the most important thing to prolong the life. I always run my generator for 5 minutes after removing the load. If you shut down under load and it is hot weather, The temps on the generator really spike. Onan instructors stressed cooling down over every other aspect of operation. I kept forgetting to shut off the generator while driving so I installed a kitchen timer on my dash. when I shut off the load, I set the timer for 5 minutes. When the beeper starts I shut down the generator.