Community Forums

max49 · 06-19-2005, 02:07 PM

My son races MX so we are at the races 25 or more weekends a year. We often run the generator 12 to 18 or more hours a day so I bought a 5000 watt ($500) generator from Home depot. That way there is'nt so much "wear and Tear" on my 5500 Watt Onan.
The genator is noisy but runs great and who cares when your at a motorcycle race.
The problem is even tho it is 5000 watt gen. it only has 3 15 amp recpticles. Does any one know if It could be changed to one 50 amp or even one 30 amp recpticle?
Also the Home Depot gen is only putting out about 108 volts w/ 1 AC, fridge running , where the Onan is at 120 volts with the same load. Does this hurt anything?

max49 · 06-19-2005, 02:07 PM

My son races MX so we are at the races 25 or more weekends a year. We often run the generator 12 to 18 or more hours a day so I bought a 5000 watt ($500) generator from Home depot. That way there is'nt so much "wear and Tear" on my 5500 Watt Onan.
The genator is noisy but runs great and who cares when your at a motorcycle race.
The problem is even tho it is 5000 watt gen. it only has 3 15 amp recpticles. Does any one know if It could be changed to one 50 amp or even one 30 amp recpticle?
Also the Home Depot gen is only putting out about 108 volts w/ 1 AC, fridge running , where the Onan is at 120 volts with the same load. Does this hurt anything?

RV Wizard · 06-19-2005, 11:56 PM

Without knowing the phasing of the windings of the outputs on the generator I can't tell you if you can put on a single 30 amp receptacle or not. I do know that you will probalby not be able to put on a 50 amp since it is 120/240 volt setup. The RV generator is designed to run for long hours and the contractor generator is not. Just make sure you run the RV generator a couple hours a month minimum, loaded with an air conditioner or you will have problems from it sitting too much.

06-20-2005, 09:10 PM

.....I have 3 contractor generators[generac] and a Miller generator/ welder....they make a bunch of noise but run for 14-16 hours a day for 7 months straight ....[if they are not stolen]-I have them gone over and tuned up or cleaned out and they go again the next season....all are in their 3-4 season...oil changed every week along with oil filter and air filter....sparkplugs are changed once a month.....I try to keep them out of the rain but sometimes I forget....they run on regular gasoline......no problems yet and they will shock the stuffin out of you if you are not checking the power chord ends for cracks in the insulaton and ground prongs[how do I know this?].......geofkaye

allendp · 06-21-2005, 07:20 AM

I bought the Generac 4000 EXL from home depot. It has a 30A as well as a 240V receptacle in addition to 2 standard 15A outlets. It surges to 6000 Watts, has electric start, and runs everything in my 5ver with no problems yet. Surprisingly quiet too.

max49 · 06-23-2005, 04:25 PM

allendp, I wish I would have got one like yours, I saw 5000 watts and did'nt think about each individual plug having only 15 amps.
It does run grteat and starts 1st pull every time. No oil filter tho.