MoHo Generator sliders, anyone do this?

[Jjona5]

So I'm still waiting on my harness and want to fix some other mechanical issues while I wait. Has anyone installed sliders on your generator? I want to do this on my Onan. Apparently the generator weighs about 240lbs so I need sliders that hold 300 lbs. I need to measure how wide the gen tray is but these are a good start. Lots of reviews say they were used for generators.

https://www.amazon.com/Drawer-Slide-.../dp/B0009ODZMM

[OTRA15]

No experience with MH generator slides personally, but plenty of cabinetmaking experience, so some general considerations follow.

Those slides mount to the sides of the generator enclosure, with the drawer fitting between them. Do you have the necessary width to permit this? Does the enclosure have stable, and more importantly parallel, sides? The drawer slides are fairly demanding that they be mounted exactly parallel to each other, and that the structure of the enclosure sides permit cantilevering the heavy load mostly outside of the MH. Your slides are 22" full extension but is this enough? You might need access to the back of the gen for wiring and plugs.

There are also slides which mount under the "drawer" being moved in and out, but in this case available height may be an issue. Most MH generators are fairly well crammed in to their spaces IMO. The good news about under-mount slides is that you don't need your generator enclosure to have sides at all, just a "floor" that is reasonably flat and level +/-.

The new search function above with the blue border works well, and here are the results for "generator slides" which include some motorhome threads it appears:

https://www.google.com/search?q=gene...=airforums.com

A MH thread: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f311...-144957-3.html

When you get the Google-powered search results on their own page in your browser, you can edit the search parameters as you wish. Just make sure to leave "site:airforums.com" as one of the search terms.

Good luck!

Peter

[WayneG]

Dont forget disconnects for the battery, exhaust & fuel.
I thought about slides for mine but eventually figured that unless it needs servicing frequently, the stock mounting is probably best.
If it needs servicing frequently, a new gen set would be less effort in the long run.

[bkahler]

I installed drawer slides on my 84 310 with the Kohler generator and I just finished drawer slides on my 74 Argosy. Of the two the 310 was the easiest by far. A lot depends on the type of generator cover that is installed. On some models the cover is hinged on the side and there is no way a generator can be mounted on slides. On my 310 the cover was fastened with screws on the bottom half and hinged on the upper half. To pull it out on the drawer slides the cover had to be removed. Which was 6 screws and it was off.

310 generator drawer slides install

On my Argosy the original Generac generator was welded in place from the bottom so the only way to remove it was to torch the welds. I decided to replace the Generac with an Onan 6.5 Emerald which is ironically smaller than the typical Onan 4.0 that is usually used in the smaller motorhomes.

The 6.5 was a shoe horn fit but it did fit

If you start at post #707 you'll see my Argosy generator installation.

There are varioius styles of drawer slides available. On my 310 I inadvertently bought slides that only extend about 2/3 of their overall length. On my Argosy I bought full length slides. Weight is something else to consider. Generators typically weight between 250 and 300 pounds. I bought 300 pound slides for the 310 and 500 pound slides for my Argosy. They also sell latching and non-latching slides. Go for the latching style.

The bottom line is slides are definitely nice to have, especially with older generators where it seems you need to service them more often. I was having issues on my 310 generator and I would have had to remove and install the generator multiple times before the problem was resolved.

The only real hassle using slides is the exhaust pipe. No matter how you do it the exhaust pipe(s) will need to be removed before you can extend the slides. Not a big deal, I just run the generator without a muffler while I have the slides extended.

For the electrical I bought a 30 amp plug & socket so the power could be disconnected easily without having to open any electrical panels to unhook wires.

For the fuel I added a T in the line with two shutoff valves. One side of the Tee went to the fuel tank, the other side of the Tee had a section of hose attached that I could stick into a gas can that I set on the ground by the generator. The other leg of the Tee goes to the carburetor.


Brad

[Jjona5]

Thanks so much for the input! I'll take it all in before I decide.

[cazual6]

I ran into the same issues. It was more problematic than convenient. Once you go through the motions and actually planning it out, you will likely come to the same conclusion.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by cazual6

I ran into the same issues. It was more problematic than convenient. Once you go through the motions and actually planning it out, you will likely come to the same conclusion.

I guess that would depend on your point of view and what you're trying to accomplish. I found the conversion on the 310 to be pretty straight forward and wasn't all that hard to accomplish. On my Argosy if I had to hard mount the generator then I would never be able to work on it, period.

So I guess for me it wasn't problematic at all, more of a relief to be able to work on them out in the open when needed.

[Jjona5]

Well I am kind of a clean freak when it comes to engines and not being able to truly clean up after maintenance is kind of a nightmare for me. I hate looking at the generator as it is. On an unrelated note, changing a fan motor on a duo therm air conditioner is a nightmare.

[WayneG]

Originally Posted by Jjona5

Well I am kind of a clean freak when it comes to engines and not being able to truly clean up after maintenance is kind of a nightmare for me. I hate looking at the generator as it is.

You must not have hit "Engineer middle age" yet.
At a certain point in your years you will say "Fudge It, If it works, dont mess with it"

[Jjona5]

Not quite yet! My older friends constantly give me crap about painting engines and engine bays light colors. I want to see the leaks!

[starboard]

The 3320 Accuride drawer slide showing in your message is Not rated at 500 lbs.
Check with Accuride at Accuride.com for ratings and add 20% to your Onan generator depending on the extention length. Be very careful or it will FAIL!
Didier

[rmkrum]

Originally Posted by Jjona5

Not quite yet! My older friends constantly give me crap about painting engines and engine bays light colors. I want to see the leaks!

My late father had white walls and floor tile in the engine room occupied by two GM-12/71 marine diesels. We maintained those beasts to total leak-free perfection. The space could pass a white-glove inspection even after a day of hard running. He was amazing as a ship-handler as well.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by WayneG

You must not have hit "Engineer middle age" yet.
At a certain point in your years you will say "Fudge It, If it works, dont mess with it"

After working on my Argosy for the last 4 or 5 years and also being in the middle of a TR6 frame off restoration I think I'm fast approaching the "don't mess with it" phase

[Jjona5]

MGB but it doesn't have a frame

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by cazual6

I ran into the same issues. It was more problematic than convenient. Once you go through the motions and actually planning it out, you will likely come to the same conclusion.

Are you referring to your AS trailer or to a motor home installation (like here)?

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Jjona5

Attachment 291074Attachment 291075Attachment 291076

MGB but it doesn't have a frame

Lookin good!

That's about the stage I'm at right now on my TR6. In about a week I'll have a rolling chassis, one week after that the engine and transmission will be installed and probably two weeks after that the painted body will be bolted back in place.

After that I can start back on my Argosy.

[Jjona5]

So I went a different direction with my generator. I traded for an EV6010 Honda two cylinder water cooled AMAZING generator. It had some issues when I picked it up but most of the kinks are worked out now. Fixed some wiring issues in the genset part. Ordered some parts. Now I have a SUPER quiet 6k generator that is actually slightly smaller than the 4k. I'm going to do all the maintenance on it before it goes in the RV but man it is a beauty of a generator.


Picture stolen from the internet but she runs perfectly, is super clean, and I really cant get over how quiet it is. The airflow is perfect for the Argosy and even has the right amount of louvers. I think the guy that made the trade thought he was scamming me but I can fix things so it was a great deal.

[Boom Sounds]

Originally Posted by Jjona5

Attachment 291074Attachment 291075Attachment 291076

MGB but it doesn't have a frame

I live 100 yards from the factory which built that vehicle and just around the corner from the MG museum

[Jjona5]

Nice!