Thor Forums

[blw2]

yeah, I've considered the same thing many times...about the onan being loud and chassis engine alternators pulling the load instead, I mean...

I didn't go back to check if this is the same thread so maybe I've posted this previously...about fitrv.com ditching his generator for a big lithium battery and an inverter.

Anyway, I think the big key to all of this is if one has the need to run AC overnight. If it's cool enough so that this isn't necessary, then I think ideas like this start looking much more reasonable....IF big batteries were available at realistic pricing...

My thought is that when boondocking the only way we've ever done it...it's basically stopping for a night enroute. So we're basically running the chassis engine anyway for at least some time before stopping. A few hours in the evening using electric stuff... then if cool enough shut down the AC and most everything for the night. The next morning we're driving so the big alternators could do the recharge. We have boondocked in a national forest just a bit when we went out west, near the grand canyon. But even then is was basically the same model, just not driving as many miles....we'd break camp to drive to the visitor's center, store, or whatever... and we are doing this for several days in a row already now, with just the OEM alternator and a junk hybrid house battery. (we just don't have the inverter or enough to run AC or microwave)
So
it seems to me that the big alternators...and perhaps coupled with even just a moderate amount of solar would probably work well for limited AC use and such...

Anyway, when I start thinking around these ideas, I always circle back to the potential for needing something to run for more extended periods parked...like setting up camp and not moving for some time....and the chassis engine just doesn't seem to be the most efficient thing for that job.... so I land on an idea of something like this...
replace the onan with a large lithium battery bank + a small engine just to drive the alternator... like what's in a small honda genny but without its inverter. Super quiet and very fuel efficient. Not enough to do the job totally stand alone, but enough to significantly reduce the need for running the chassis engine and it's bigger alternators.