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Old 01-05-2022, 05:00 AM   #21
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Originally Posted by dkoldman View Post
Ahhh but what about when at home getting ready to leave? You unplug to put shorepower cord up, but you have to run in and out the house to get things before everybody is all set to go. Without that genny on the coach would get hot within in 5 minutes.
Yep... that's ME... getting those "last few items" from in the house, while the wife stands at the gate giving me her "WTH?" look!

Then when I finally try to get into the driver's seat there's a 75# "Pitty" sitting in my seat like he wants to drive!

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Old 01-05-2022, 07:47 AM   #22
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We don’t camp at sites without services but we still use our generator a lot. Living out west pretty much anywhere you go in the summer it’s 100 degrees so you need to rub the house air conditioner. Add that if you are taking a break it’s nice to have power. Got to have a generator to run the microwave
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Old 01-05-2022, 12:59 PM   #23
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Originally Posted by Fweezal View Post
Dealer says the rig has a generator. We're going to look it over on Friday.
If he says it: triple-check for accuracy...
Good luck!
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Old 01-05-2022, 01:44 PM   #24
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Originally Posted by dkoldman View Post
Ahhh but what about when at home getting ready to leave? You unplug to put shorepower cord up, but you have to run in and out the house to get things before everybody is all set to go. Without that genny on the coach would get hot within in 5 minutes.
Shore cord is the last thing handled before hitting the road. If it’s not in the rig when disconnected it doesn’t go.
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Old 01-05-2022, 01:56 PM   #25
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Shore cord is the last thing handled before hitting the road. If it’s not in the rig when disconnected it doesn’t go.
It is kind of for me, but my experience says we don't physically leave the house until 30 minute to an hour after I have put shore power cord back into the electrical compartment. Disclaimer: Ok, I may be disqualified because I only have 26 months of experience owning an RV

The other thing is the Fridge... it stays running along with AC. I should qualify that part of my normal routine is to turn the AGS on before any trip; so when power is removed the AGS will come on if the coach is otherwise starting to get warm. That is throughout the trip.

I don't get the thinking of some, but by far the Generator is one of the most important things with my RV. I user and play with it all the time. With that said, when next generation technology arrives to the next coach I buy, I will embrace that too.
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Old 01-05-2022, 02:13 PM   #26
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We're about to downsize to (possibly) a 2009 Phoenix Cruiser 2551 (26 footer). It says it is "Generator prepped" which I assume means that it has no generator BUT it does have a 2000W inverter. If we don't anticipate boondocking/Wallydocking, how necessary is a generator? Please keep responses simple and to the point. Thanks.
Strait answer according with our experience is:
No you don't need a generator but probably you will buy one down the road if you get a rig w/o it.

Explaining:

We bought our first MH last year but we have being camping with a camper since 2016.
We also don't do boomdocking but we do overnights at Walmart .
The campers we had before this MH didn't have generator but in 2018 we bought a small generator mainly because during summer the camper would still be hot inside when we stop at Walmart around 10:30pm for overnight so we needed a generator to run the ACs for one hour before sleep.
Another occasion we used the generator was when my parents came with us and dad needed to run the apnea machine all night long.
That was the only occasion the gen. run all night with us.
So if you don't do boomdock and you don't do Walmart Overnight, you should be ok w/o gen. BUT after getting the MH, we noticed that during hot days you need to run the generator while on the road in order to run the ACs or the MH will be hot inside.
I'm not sure if in a smaller rig the engine AC can handle the entire coach but we know in ours it can't.
You could get the Rv w/o genny and buy a cheaper 2000W generator later but in this case you would not be able to run it while on the road if you find the rig gets too hot traveling....
So these are the reasons I would not buy a MH w/o a generator.
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Old 01-05-2022, 03:01 PM   #27
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We can always find uses for pretty much anything, including generators, but does that address question regarding actual “need”?

For our type of travel and camping, the main reason to have a generator is to power air conditioner for extended periods when shore power is not available. Beyond that, I can do without a generator, and have done so.

Most RV trailers, which outnumber motorhomes, don’t have built-in generators, and people camp in them all the time. Generator need is relative to our personal needs which can vary considerably in my opinion.
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Old 01-05-2022, 03:13 PM   #28
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Fweezal - from my personal experience, the only time I use my generator is when I am working inside the unit in the winter while stored so that I can have heat. I also might use it in the summer to run AC when I work on it as well. My dash air works great so I cannot say that I would need it while driving, but I have not gone south of Charlotte so far - so there may be times that I might "want one" in high heat conditions. That might be the only time (other than boondocking) that you might want one. It is really a cost / benefit question. But, me personally, would rather have it, than not. I hope that this helps.
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Old 01-05-2022, 03:33 PM   #29
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Another analogy...

We started out towing a Grand Design trailer. I bought a NEW 2-wheel drive F-150 to pull it with. After all, what do I need a 4-wheel drive truck for? I don't NEED it...

...until I buried the rear wheels in my new gravel drive while backing the trailer onto our property. I took a hit on that deal - trading a NEW 2016 truck for a NEW 2017 4-wheel drive.

Sometimes things aren't always what they seem...
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Old 01-05-2022, 04:47 PM   #30
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how necessary is a generator? Please keep responses simple and to the point. Thanks.[/QUOTE]


Emergency's !!!! Nice to have when you have to bug out or grid goes down.

I have used our rigs as mobile offices after hurricanes that tore up my area along the NC coast.

When station in San Diego, bug out with ours due to fires a few times.
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Old 01-05-2022, 05:52 PM   #31
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Originally Posted by dkoldman View Post
Ahhh but what about when at home getting ready to leave? You unplug to put shorepower cord up, but you have to run in and out the house to get things before everybody is all set to go. Without that genny on the coach would get hot within in 5 minutes.
agree exactly what happens and dogs inside..start gen and keep back cool!!
Will never go without a gen.
Even had a 2000w with our 18 ft camper.
When we posted gen to sell and montana camper said i never used a gen and nver thought i would but it was so hot off the grid that he begged me to hold it.
He came over with cash and took off!!
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Old 01-05-2022, 09:17 PM   #32
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We have used our generator when we evacuated from hurricanes. Live in Florida. 30 amp service at home so when I put the rig out on the street before a trip generator comes on, AC and refridgerator.
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Old 01-06-2022, 01:35 AM   #33
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We can always find uses for pretty much anything, including generators, but does that address question regarding actual “need”?
I am gonna take a Chance you don't get mad at me....

Yes, it addresses the question that the OP NEEDS a generator. In fact; I insist that he buys one

Until someone on this forum comes out the closet and confess that they own a RV with no generator and have no need for one. (a all electric RV or power Lithium battery user notwithstanding.)

I am gonna relay one of the best pieces of advise I got from this site BEFORE I bought my RV.

Every so often I would see the RV I wanted advertised with the right price, and dug in closer to find out that it came with only 1 AC Because I am admitted cheap ( I mean thrifty) this happened over and over again until one day I was trying to figure out much it would cost to install a 2nd unit on one, got into that only with shore power thing trying to make two work with a 4kw genset using soft start etc.

Then one day one of the wise posters told "look if you want two ACs by a coach with 2 ACs" The lights came on and I started to see rainbows, I never even looked at a 1 AC coach again. I can tell you now that I use two ACs all the time, somebody may say I don't NEED them, but they would be wrong. Best to have and not Need; than to Need and not have. Kind of like money
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Old 01-06-2022, 01:41 AM   #34
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agree exactly what happens and dogs inside..start gen and keep back cool!!
Will never go without a gen.
Even had a 2000w with our 18 ft camper.
When we posted gen to sell and montana camper said i never used a gen and nver thought i would but it was so hot off the grid that he begged me to hold it.
He came over with cash and took off!!
I had my AGS wired such that if have shorepower and if we lose power the AGS wil start the genset, and when / if power is restored it will shut down.


It also does the below which I have come to learn it confuses a lot Thor owners so I must say upfront it is the Cummins Onan EC-30 AGS controller. But lets say I pull into campsite and my genset is running off AGS keeping the coach cool. The RV engine is off. I may fiddle fardel around 10 - 15 minutes before I get to the point of plugging in the shorepower; but when I do, my Genny shuts down
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Old 01-06-2022, 01:53 AM   #35
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Nice setup!
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Old 01-06-2022, 02:08 AM   #36
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I've been retired and in the RV game for 14 years. You don't need a gen. If you have either a trailer or 5th and you think you "might" need something, then buy a Honda 2000 and carry it with you. If in a Class A or C, pending on room available, buy a Honda 2000.

Generally speaking, you will never need a gen.

One more very important point. Don't buy or do anything until you have actually experienced a need or shortcoming. Too many people go an buy whatever is "recommended" and then later end up giving stuff to goodwill or selling it. Go out on the road. If you need something, then buy it.
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Old 01-06-2022, 03:23 AM   #37
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Originally Posted by dkoldman View Post

Until someone on this forum comes out the closet and confess that they own a RV with no generator and have no need for one. (a all electric RV or power Lithium battery user notwithstanding.)
I've owned 4 RVs that did not have a generator. If I never boondocked, no generator would be needed with any of those RVs. But living in Florida and boondocking in the summer required a portable generator to run the A/C at night for us soft, old, people.
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Old 01-06-2022, 03:49 AM   #38
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I've owned 4 RVs that did not have a generator. If I never boondocked, no generator would be needed with any of those RVs. But living in Florida and boondocking in the summer required a portable generator to run the A/C at night for us soft, old, people.
I wish you could have seen my face the first I was in Minneapolis on my job, and got to spend some time with some co workers up there, and when they told me they had no ACs in their homes, I did not believe them

Before our RV we camped a lot in tents in Texas, but we never stayed in the tent during the day unless weather was nice, in most cases we only camped during the Fall or Spring.

Regardless IMO having a Class A RV without a generator defeats the ultimate experience factor of RV ownership not to mention lower value on a resale.

The first I did for every RV I considered to purchase was to verify that it had one of the Green monsters big enough for two ACs
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Old 01-06-2022, 03:51 AM   #39
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Generally speaking, you will never need a gen.
OP said short and simple, are you saying don't buy a gen?
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Old 01-06-2022, 04:24 AM   #40
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Everyone talking about honda generator or any portable generator do not forget all the gas one needs to carry.
That was a pain in the ASX for us!
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