portable generators/inverters running Monaco Executive coach

[JeNkHat]

Is anyone using a predator 3500 quit generator to run a 2007 Monaco Executive or Dynasty for dry camping?

[philcarrell]

Why don't you use your on board generator?

 

[cbr046]

2 hours ago, philcarrell said:

Why don't you use your on board generator?

That noisy thing?

I run a Predator 3500 on our 2003 HR Endeavor.  I mainly use it to run the TV, lights, microwave and keep the batteries charged.  It will run one AC / heat pump but not two.  The Predator has a sticker not to exceed 23A which is well under 3000W continuous load.  Our AC's do have soft starts installed. 

The Predator is by far the most popular generator in the campgrounds I visit (no power).  Most campers are in trailers, toy haulers or Class C's.

- bob

[Dr4Film]

3000 watts of usable power isn't even close to the 8000Kw-10,000Kw of power needed to run a 2007 Monaco Executive or Dynasty unless you are just interested in using it for VERY limited power.

Once AC will use 1800 watts of power leaving you with 1200 watts to use for ancillary purposes.

Do the math before investing in the Predator 3500.

[Tom Wallis]

I use a Champion 2000 inverter generator when dry camping. My wife uses an oxygen concentrator at night and it will deplete my batteries by morning. Where ever possible I start the Champion before we go to bed and let it go till it uses up it's one gallon of gas, usually 7 or 8 hours. In the morning my batteries are full and handle most of our needs through the day. Obviously, if AC is needed we will run the Onan. The advantages of the Champion are, it uses much less gas, it is quieter, we never get any fumes from it and in some cases we can locate it a little way away from the motorhome. It only weighs 48 pounds and only cost a bit over $500.

[JeNkHat]

Thank you all for your responses. I should have been more specific as to my intended use. Our Onan works great but is a little loud and very thirsty meaning it uses quite a bit fuel. We often dry camping for several days to a week at a time and just want to keep the batteries charged, use the lights, microwave, and TV at night. We have a residential refrigerator, which runs on electricity only, not propane and it can drain down the batteries after all day on the inverter. It would be nice to run a quiet generator at night to recharge the 8- house batteries. If it is hot out, we would definitely use the larger Onan to run both ACs.  Our last coach was a Tiffin Allegro Bus, the fridge would switch over to  propane and we could use a small Honda and a gallon of gas at night to recharge the batteries. The Monaco doesn't even recognize the Honda as been there, so we were looking at the Predators and wondered at what level, if any would work for our coach.

Thank you Tom Wallis- your reply was very helpful, but I still don't know if that would be enough to run an Executive even under limited use. More comments are welcome and Thank you.

[jacwjames]

What size Honda were you trying to use.  You say it didn't recognize it, what does that mean, did the transfer switch not pass power when using the Honda??

In the past I was able to use a 20 amp plug/extension cord to maintain my batteries.  This would be equivalent to ~2500 watt generator.

[Dr4Film]

17 minutes ago, JeNkHat said:

Thank you all for your responses. I should have been more specific as to my intended use. Our Onan works great but is a little loud and very thirsty meaning it uses quite a bit fuel. We often dry camping for several days to a week at a time and just want to keep the batteries charged, use the lights, microwave, and TV at night. We have a residential refrigerator, which runs on electricity only, not propane and it can drain down the batteries after all day on the inverter. It would be nice to run a quiet generator at night to recharge the 8- house batteries.

I am assuming that you would use the generator in combination with a fairly hefty battery charger to keep your 8 house batteries charged plus use the items listed above while having your Inverter on. Is that correct? Or do you plan to hook the shore power cord directly to the generator?

[Tom Wallis]

1 hour ago, JeNkHat said:

Thank you all for your responses. I should have been more specific as to my intended use. Our Onan works great but is a little loud and very thirsty meaning it uses quite a bit fuel. We often dry camping for several days to a week at a time and just want to keep the batteries charged, use the lights, microwave, and TV at night. We have a residential refrigerator, which runs on electricity only, not propane and it can drain down the batteries after all day on the inverter. It would be nice to run a quiet generator at night to recharge the 8- house batteries. If it is hot out, we would definitely use the larger Onan to run both ACs.  Our last coach was a Tiffin Allegro Bus, the fridge would switch over to  propane and we could use a small Honda and a gallon of gas at night to recharge the batteries. The Monaco doesn't even recognize the Honda as been there, so we were looking at the Predators and wondered at what level, if any would work for our coach.

Thank you Tom Wallis- your reply was very helpful, but I still don't know if that would be enough to run an Executive even under limited use. More comments are welcome and Thank you.

I'm not sure why a 2000kw generator wouldn't work for you. I would guess that the oxygen concentrator is about the equivalent of your refrigerator. I run that and charge the batteries at the same time. During the day we use all the normal stuff on battery, things like lights, coffee maker, fans, Starlink, computer etc. The Champion generator doesn't even run at full load usually.

[cbr046]

1 hour ago, JeNkHat said:

The Monaco doesn't even recognize the Honda as been there, so we were looking at the Predators and wondered at what level, if any would work for our coach.

 

A Honda 1000 might not be enough.  When I plug in after driving the battery monitor says 100% but the batteries seem to go into an equalizer mode (or something).  4 coach batteries draw mucho current until the Intellitec runs through it's battery charge cycle.  It's totally bogus. 

So if you have 8 coach batteries it could be too much for a wee wittle honda 1000 and maybe a 2000, which I used for years until getting the Endeavor.  The Predator 3500 works just fine but . . . .

It weighs 100 lbs.  It has wheels that work fine on hard surface but a bit more challenging to drag in sand or tall grass.  I can lower it by myself but lifting is another matter.  Pretty easy with a friend but I travel solo most of the time.  It's also jetted pretty rich so frequent cleaning of the exhaust screen is required.  There's some videos on re-jetting but it's no Kehin (those that know, know). 

Still, the Predator is the most popular outdoor generator at the races.  And if you look hard enough you can find blems for $550. 

- bob

[Tom Cherry]

Just some hypothetical speculating.  If you used the 1000 Honda, that would power a Small charger.  Amazon has one that is a Three Stage.  What you would do, IMHO, is to hook it up to the Battery Bank.  The output voltage is a little high...14.6 VDC.  BUT, it says it is a maintainer and a 3 stage charger.  You can NOT use a standard old clunky one as it would have the potential to boil off the electrolyte and over charge.  If you started out with a fully charged bank at night, then this one would pump in 55 amps to keep the batteries topped off.  

BUT, the Honda only has a 0.6 Gallon tank.  It will run up to 6.8 Hours....but at less than 50% Load.  You only get 3 Hours with a full load.  OPPS.  SO, the charger would have to be a little more sophisticated to reduce the charge and maintain the voltage.

The O2 Concentrator pulls a constant 4 A @ 120 VAC.  The average Samsung, on a reduced setting is maybe in the 1,75 range.  Been a while since I visited that number.  That would be maybe 5.5 amps, constant, at 120 VAC or 660 Watts.  So, you MIGHT get 5 - 5.5 Hours from the fuel tank, assuming the battery charger did not keep trying to top off the batteries.  Bottom line, somewhere in the middle of the night, the Honda is gonna shut off.  And THAT will be in the circuitry and design of the Charger.

The challenge is to find a happy medium.  In theory, the Honda will deliver 3 KW of power....or run at full load for 3 hours.  That 3KW of AC equates to 25 amps of AC power spread over a 3 hour period or around 8 amps per hour.  That would be your 1000 watts....in reverse.  SO, you could put out upwards of 60 amps....allowing for some losses. 

The 55 Amp DC model would not be over driven.  

Looks to me like, in theory, it would work.  If the batteries (House Bank) are not being depleted due to the Honda and the Charger running at half load, then you would get 6.8 hours of run time from the Honda.  Basically, the Honda will put out 1000 Watts for 3 Hours....  or about half that for almost 7 hours.  The O2 draws 4 A or about half a KW, per hour.  SO, the Honda/Charger would deliver about 6 hours of use.  The other 2 - 3 hours would come from the House, not being charged.  That is NOT really a big load....even with a Res Refer.  You have a 8 bank set.  The "RULE OF THUMB" is that you can run a Res Refer with a 4 Bank set for about 20 hours or so....or you have to run the genny for 3 hours every 24 hours.  You have twice that.  You will probably have to run the Honda at might and run the Onan for 5 hours every 40 hours.

You can NOT run the O2 concentrator on a single Honda....as the fuel would cut off.  NOW, Honda does make a "combiner" where you put two in series and, in theory, it draws half the load from each.  SO, then you would definitely make the 9 or so hours of run time....  

BUT, that is a $2000+ outlay.  The single would be $1200 for the singe Honda and charger...

I would NOT try to power the MH from a 115 extension cord hooked up to each.  I would use the supplemental generator to keep the batteries topped off at night.

Now the Predator is a 100 pound package.  It has a 2.4 Gallon tank and will run up to 11 hours.  If you can put up with the weight and hassle.....it will work.  It also has a 30 amp cord, so you can charge the batteries with a a locking adapter to a 30 amp plug (receptacle).,  All in how your can move it around and such and also secure it when you leave....or keep it in the back of a truck....