Old guys that can't lift a generator

rangerjean · 10-11-2019, 05:56 PM

I know we are not the only ones. We have a 2018 FR Sonoma...it does have ac but I understand that a large generator is needed for that. I can live without it. We are having to run the truck a couple times a day to keep the battery up. I am interested in your thoughts about purchase of a smaller generator and maybe a rack at the back of the trailer or just staying with running the truck.
My husband uses a cpap machine so that is an issue too.

babock · 10-11-2019, 06:20 PM

Running the truck will likely not charge the battery in the trailer very much. Best to buy a small 2000W generator.

Hclarkx · 10-11-2019, 06:57 PM

If you can't get through a typical 24 hour day without charging, then your battery is too small for your needs. Or you are not charging it fully. For normal deep-cycle lead-acid battery life, you want to start charging when the battery is about half discharged (voltage is down between 12.1 and 12.2 volts). If you are getting down to this voltage about half way through 24 hours of usage, then you need to about double the ampere hour capacity you have.

And I agree, a modest generator will be a far more effective way to re-charge.

**bikendan** · 10-11-2019, 06:59 PM

You are mistaken about needing a big generator to run stuff.
Many have two 2000w inverter generators with a parallel kit.
Each generator weighs around 50lbs. Unless you need a/c, you only need to take one of them, to run everything else.
You can go with the gold standard, a pair of Honda or Yamaha 2000w inverter generators. Or a pair of some of the lower priced brands, Champion, Westinghouse, Wen, Ryobi to name a few.
Running the Truck to recharge the battery is the MOST inefficient way to do that.
By the way, i was a Ventura County firefighter and resident of Camarillo.

5picker · 10-11-2019, 07:33 PM

For simply recharging the battery, you do not need a large, heavy generator. Smaller, lightweight units will do just fine. As mentioned, using your truck to put some charge back in your R/V is very inefficient.

Our local Aldi store (groceries no less) has 2000 watt Work Zone brand inverter generators on sale for $250.

NJKris · 10-11-2019, 07:45 PM

Got a pair of Champion 2000k watt generators for 350 bucks each. 50 lbs each too.

Hclarkx · 10-11-2019, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rangerjean

I know we are not the only ones. We have a 2018 FR Sonoma...it does have ac but I understand that a large generator is needed for that. I can live without it. We are having to run the truck a couple times a day to keep the battery up. I am interested in your thoughts about purchase of a smaller generator and maybe a rack at the back of the trailer or just staying with running the truck.
My husband uses a cpap machine so that is an issue too.

I just noticed that you said "run the truck a couple of times a day .......". As others have noted, the truck can't charge the battery more than slightly. They are talking about charging through the 7-pin trailer connector. If that's how you are charging, then it would take days to bring a battery up, from, say, 50%, to 100%. Now, if you are using battery jumper cables between the truck battery and the camper battery, then you will get faster charging from the truck, though it can take several hours if the battery is quite low.

Knowing when the battery is fully charged is tricky. You need to charge it until the voltage reaches 14.4 volts and then hold the voltage there until the charging current drops to a couple of amperes. I.e., it requires an ammeter.

When we suggest charging from a modest generator, we are talking about plugging the camper into the generator so the "converter" in the camper will charge the battery. Does the camper have a converter? It's often found in a compartment under the fuse and circuit breaker panel.

I hope we are getting closer to your actual situation. The information you provided leaves us guessing a bit as to what you need to do. I'm thinking that you are assuming the truck has charged the battery when it has brought the battery voltage up to 12.6 volts, but that it not the case. The voltage must reach 14.4V and be held there for hours as I mentioned above. A converter in the camper, if you have one, will do that. Typically converters are undersized and can take as much as 8 hours to impart a full charge.

TowPro · 10-11-2019, 09:10 PM

I have a honda 2000. it would run my AC on my truck camper that was 8800BTU if I turned off the hot water, and left refreg running on GAS. That thing is quiet, but cost $1K. It would run the AC but it would run at a pretty high rpm to run the AC.

than this summer I bought a harbor Fright 3500 inverter on sale for less than $700.
on same camper it runs the AC with no problem, in fact it sounds quieter running AC because generator does not have to run as fast to produce enough power.

I get 11-12 hours out of one tank of fuel (2.5 gallons) (Honda held 1 gallon and went about 7 hours)
it weighs 100 lbs, I carry it in a little box trailer (with my motorcycle) behind my truck camper and I just wheel it up the ramp. it could go on a bumper rack if you got one that can hold it, just lock it down good. Oh, it also has electric start

and it will run the 1500 BTu AC on my new motorhome. Its much quieter than the onan that came on my new MH. and probably much cheaper to run since my propane onan.

Forgot, the harbor freight generator has this "2 years no questions asked warranty" for under $200. Just bring it back and they will give you a new one, or a better one if you pay the difference.

rangerjean · 10-11-2019, 09:41 PM

Thank all of for the great responses to our question. There's one bit of information, I use a Cpap at night. There's enough battery to get through the night, but it's down to 12.1volts in the morning or less. The trouble is I usually can not run the truck to recharge until we are past the camp ground quite time. I am up by 5Am so beyond LED reading lights we are very limited in battery use. So if I am only charging to 12.6 volts, and I know this for sure I have tested it and I also carry a amp gauge with me,never thought of testing the amps. I feel like I'm at a small generator

dward51 · 10-11-2019, 09:41 PM

I've been on CPAP since 1993 so I had to deal with powering mine on the road when I dry camped. The thing that eats power in my old one was the water heater element. My new one uses much less power (Resmed AirSense 10 Autoset).

I bought a pair of Honda EU2000i generators back in 2002 when I had my first trailer, and built my own parallel kit (this was before the parallel kits were easy to obtain at a decent price). I can lift them one at a time, and in eco mode even in the Georgia heat of summer, I can run them about 11 hours on the internal gas tanks to keep my AC running and the trailer cool. You can also get kits to use a larger external gas tank so they can run for days now.

Back when I bought mine, the Honda's were the only inverter type generators you could put in parallel to add wattage. Now there are a number of similar ones available. With my 2, I can get 3,600 watts (about 33 amps) continuous and 4kw short term. So basically I can run a 30 amp trailer like it's plugged into shore power (including the AC with no problems). The newer ones have a little more power. You should be able to keep the battery charged and run like normal with no problems.

Just make sure you are getting inverter type generators. They are the quiet ones and many of those can be hooked in parallel to combine the output for more watts/amps. The Hondas (and most other quality units) will have spark arresters in the muffler so they can be used in federal lands for dry camping (unless there is ban due to very dry conditions).

Another plus is those portable generators can do double duty in a power outage at your house. Keep the fridge running along with the microwave and TV. I can't run the house AC, but we bought a portable roll around LG 14,000 btu unit and I can keep either the den or bedroom nice and frosty in the hot summer during a power outage. I can also run the whole house furnace on one of them with no problems (basically only need to power the fan and control board and igniter as ours is a natural gas furnace for the heat). It's nice to have options without needing to move into the trailer (which is always plan B).

I'm also assuming you have a 30 amp 110v trailer shore power and not 220v 50 amp to your trailer. If it's 220v 50 amp the process is very different.

**bikendan** · 10-11-2019, 09:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rangerjean

Thank all of for the great responses to our question. There's one bit of information, I use a Cpap at night. There's enough battery to get through the night, but it's down to 12.1volts in the morning or less. The trouble is I usually can not run the truck to recharge until we are past the camp ground quite time. I am up by 5Am so beyond LED reading lights we are very limited in battery use. So if I am only charging to 12.6 volts, and I know this for sure I have tested it and I also carry a amp gauge with me,never thought of testing the amps. I feel like I'm at a small generator

How many batteries do you have on your trailer? If only one, you need to increase your battery bank. Best would be two 6v golf cart batteries. Since campgrounds don't allow running generators overnight, having two 6v golf cart batteries will allow you to use the CPAP overnight without needing a generator. Then just plug the shore cord into the generator the next day to recharge the batteries. A 2000w inverter generator will be perfect for this.

dward51 · 10-11-2019, 11:24 PM

I sort of presumed they were dry camping/boondocking. Otherwise would they not have shore power? Generator noise may be prohibited during certain hours if others are nearby, but if you are alone dry camping in the sticks, it should not be an issue.

Also be careful about adding a storage rack to the back of the camper. Most bumpers are not re-enforced from the factory. I transport my generators in the truck bed (but I have a Leer cap I can lock also).

Hclarkx · 10-12-2019, 12:17 AM

I'm curious how you are getting to 12.6 Volts using the truck. Is this via the 7 pin connector or jumpers to the truck battery?

12.6V would be nearly full charge (for some lead-acid batteries it's closer to 12.7V) if you see that voltage an hour after disconnecting the battery from the truck.

If you are indeed getting a full charge (charge current goes quite high and drops to a couple of amps after charging for a while at 14.4V), then it's time for more battery capacity (a pair of 6's or a second 12 in parallel if that's what you have now).

And a generator if running the truck once per day is a nuisance.

BTW, I've read that putting warm water in the CPAP machine let's you get away without running the energy gobbling heater. Maybe once you are asleep the heater isn't needed? I have a prescription for a CPAP machine but it has not arrived yet.

NJKris · 10-12-2019, 06:45 AM

As a CPAP user, I've found there's usually plenty of humidity in the trailer (borderline too much). Use the CPAP without the water tank heater and heated hose, which consume a lot of power. Shut the heaters off. And if you have a CPAP that can run on a DC power cord, use that instead of the A/C to D/C converter plugged into an outlet that requires an inverter to run all night.

Trawlerphil · 10-12-2019, 01:11 PM

I think I qualify at 74. The CPAP problem is simple, a Harbor Freight 80 watt modified sine wave inverter will work. I verified this with the vendor. We have a FR Flagstaff Classic 8528RKWS 5th wheel. I replaced the single battery with 2 golf cart batteries and bought a Harbor Freight inverter generator. It is quiet as a mouse and produces 3500 watts with electric start. We boondocked in Montana for 2 weeks running off the generator which was in the back of the pickup. I just drove the pickup around where the power cord would connect. The generator only weighs 115 lbs full, but it was just easier for us to leave it forward of the 5th wheel hitch.

**bikendan** · 10-12-2019, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trawlerphil

I think I qualify at 74. The CPAP problem is simple, a Harbor Freight 80 watt modified sine wave inverter will work. I verified this with the vendor. We have a FR Flagstaff Classic 8528RKWS 5th wheel. I replaced the single battery with 2 golf cart batteries and bought a Harbor Freight inverter generator. It is quiet as a mouse and produces 3500 watts with electric start. We boondocked in Montana for 2 weeks running off the generator which was in the back of the pickup. I just drove the pickup around where the power cord would connect. The generator only weighs 115 lbs full, but it was just easier for us to leave it forward of the 5th wheel hitch.

Your generator ONLY weighs 115lbs? [emoji1786]
The OP is looking for less heavy solutions.
Hence the thread title "Old guys that can't lift a generator".

JimMorrell · 10-12-2019, 02:09 PM

We have carried a 2000 W Honda Gen for several years anytime we expect to dry camp. I'm 84 now. I can get it up to and down off my tailgate with a little extra effort. I have a folding 200 Lb capacity hand truck that I use to move it where I want to set it up. Not much of a problem. I use the same gen to power my refrigerator at home in northern California when we lose power. The gen weighs in around 40 Lbs.

tmsimmons56 · 10-12-2019, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rangerjean

I know we are not the only ones. We have a 2018 FR Sonoma...it does have ac but I understand that a large generator is needed for that. I can live without it. We are having to run the truck a couple times a day to keep the battery up. I am interested in your thoughts about purchase of a smaller generator and maybe a rack at the back of the trailer or just staying with running the truck.
My husband uses a cpap machine so that is an issue too.

I purchased the Honda EU3000is, it’s heavy, but rock solid, and very quiet. A weekend at the coast, I used half a tank of gas. ¼ load runtime is 20 hours. My neighbor has the same, with a Harbor Freight ramp and he loads it by himself. I can lift mine with my son’s help. I run it from the back of my truck. I can’t hear it running when I’m in the trailer.

NJKris · 10-12-2019, 02:22 PM

Trawlerphil, kill the heat to the water tank and hose and your power consumption will go from 80w to about 40-50W, depending on your pressure setting. Depending on your model, you can plug directly into 12v and skip the inverter and save even more power.

babock · 10-12-2019, 03:02 PM

I had a 3000W Yamaha generator I bought as a backup for my house when we used to have many blackouts. It was still never run when I sold it knowing there was know way I was lifting that thing into my PU truck and I was only in my 50s. I bought a 2000W HarborFreight generator to replace it. Now that I have two Battleborn batteries and 700W of solar, I don't even bother bringing the new generator camping. I used to bring it and I have never used it once.

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