Gen hours

[Wildwoods22]

Is 753 hours on the generator a lot considering there are only 3,900 miles on our new-to-us 2018 Thor Axis 25.3? It's our first motorhome after 29 years of towing a trailer and never having a generator.

[Steve43]

Would think - yes it is . . . I have 1200 hrs and my coach has 70,000 miles. Somebody was boondocking ALOT?

[gnvrvin]

Wildwood22,
Generators were meant to be used. So that is a good sign.
Has maintenance been performed at the called out schedule? if no service history have it serviced.
I am not familiar with your generator but I suspect it is a Onan gas generator? look up the model or look at your manuals to get an idea.
We run our generator when traveling in hot climates and especially pulling higher elevations in the desert to have a generator running for the AC.
A cool wife is a happy wife

Enjoy the new rig,
greg

[Outbound]

I agree lots of boondocking, should be good for a long time if serviced correctly.

[96 Wideglide]

I would say it was probably running every time the coach was.

I have 53,000mi, and 295hrs on the gen.

[HarryStone]

Originally Posted by Wildwoods22

Is 753 hours on the generator a lot considering there are only 3,900 miles on our new-to-us 2018 Thor Axis 25.3? It's our first motorhome after 29 years of towing a trailer and never having a generator.

That's a year at 2 hours a day. Or, since yours is 2 years old, 1 hour a day everyday.

[HarryStone]

Originally Posted by gnvrvin

Wildwood22,
Generators were meant to be used. So that is a good sign.
Has maintenance been performed at the called out schedule? if no service history have it serviced.
I am not familiar with your generator but I suspect it is a Onan gas generator? look up the model or look at your manuals to get an idea.
We run our generator when traveling in hot climates and especially pulling higher elevations in the desert to have a generator running for the AC.
A cool wife is a happy wife

Enjoy the new rig,
greg

I agree. If you use it to run the AC while driving, that could be 4 or 5 hours a day. It adds up quickly

[okie mopar]

Our Onan has 7,000 hrs on it still works like new

[ThunderRidge]

I had well over 6000 hours on my Onan Diesel generator when I sold my 2003 Holiday Rambler Ambassador after 17 years. They are meant to be used.

[red300zx]

you have a genset for a reason use it. Onan's are good for 10,000 hours with out a major overhaul.

[edhiggins]

You might check the gen hours-meter while the generator is off and the engine running. Check to see if the meter is advancing... There was a story about a busted diode at the gen which caused the hours-meter to advance whenever the engine is running (whether gen running or not). This would account for higher number of hours so it might be worth a look... But, as was mentioned earlier, if the gen was properly maintained then the hours really shouldn't matter that much...

Good luck...
Ed

[AZ RV'r]

Best guess...+95% of the time my coach engine is running.... so is my generator.

Home base is in AZ so when I get ready to leave the garage I need the roof air's, the kids need the AC outlets, residential fridge... ETC. its just easier to keep the generator on. Sometimes when Ive been up to the northern states I turn it off for a while and have the windows open.

[R.Wold]

It’s a lot for it’s age comparatively speaking, but not for the generator which is probably a 10,000 hour machine. So as someone else said, as long as it’s had it’s routine maintenance, no worries. Better used more than average, than less. They need to run to stay healthy.

[Wildwoods22]

Thanks for all the comments. I'll check for the bad diode tomorrow.