Quote:
Originally Posted by rogernorris01
Looking at changing out my Onan 4000watt generator with another option. Has anyone done this yet?
Thanks.
|
Yes, various manufacturers have already built motorhomes that do not rely on a traditional Onan generator, so I would start there to get ideas. And it’s not surprising that even they have come up with very different solutions because so much depends on how the motorhome will be used.
Using Muggs’ Onan generator data as an example, it highlights the importance of estimating how often and for how long the generator is run.
The 540 hours in 5 years is only 2 hours a week, or 9 hours a month on “average”, which isn’t much energy at all. And I’d bet many owners are well below that. In my case, I ran my Onan 4,000-Watt generator a small fraction of that, and rarely above 50% load. Unfortunately, daily generator use is hardly average every day for most of us. I mostly used my Onan a few minutes at a time during days when not on shore power, and only a couple of times to power air conditioner for more than 2 or 3 hours when we left dogs in motorhome.
The difficult part when thinking about replacing an Onan RV generator with something else is determining how that “average” of only 2 hours a week is distributed, assuming your generator needs are close to that.
Over 90% of time I could have replaced my Onan with an inverter and batteries totaling 200 Ah (useable capacity at 12V) or higher and been much happier. However, other 10% of time my generator was used to power A/C for a few hours or longer, and that’s where things get more complicated and more expensive.
I would look first at Winnebago and Coachmen Class B and C motorhomes because they are mass produced in larger numbers at “relatively” lower costs. There are many custom-type manufacturers also but often tend to go overboard as if cost is not an issue at all.
Thor Forums
