Can Anyone Identify This Generator?

[airsovereign]

Someone is selling it on Craigslist for $200 claiming it is an Onan 4000 Watt generator. It's an hour away and I'd rather not make the drive if it isn't what it claims to be. Can't find any Onan generators that look quite like this, even if the color matches.

[WayneG]

The color is right for a Onan, but by the looks of that muffler, I bet it is going to be noisier than what I would want to be camped near

[DKB_SATX]

Whoever made it, I'd bet you a mortgage payment and 4 Airstream payments it's NOT an inverter-based generator, and I'll second WayneG's suggestion that's it's an awfully loud thing.

[AWCHIEF]

Looks like an old Onan CCK. I don't think they still make them. I have a neighbor that has one installed on a welding cart. Noisy is an understatement.

[TG Twinkie]

Save your money and buy an inverter generator.

[Vantair]

Agree with others.

You would NOT want to be camping
next to yourself with the noise and fumes.

[Streamracer]

It is an Onan YCB portable that they quit building around 95-98. Used Briggs and Stratton engines and yes, are loud. Parts are probably hard to come by now. I'd save my money and buy something else and I'm partial to Onan after working for them for 23 years.

[Schu]

Originally Posted by airsovereign

Someone is selling it on Craigslist for $200 claiming it is an Onan 4000 Watt generator. It's an hour away and I'd rather not make the drive if it isn't what it claims to be. Can't find any Onan generators that look quite like this, even if the color matches.

Looks like a Coleman 4000 generator

[Olroy]

Originally Posted by AWCHIEF

Looks like an old Onan CCK. I don't think they still make them. I have a neighbor that has one installed on a welding cart. Noisy is an understatement.

Looks like little emergency generators we had on tops of mountains I had to maintain in 1968 in Puerto Rico (I was stationed with a bunch of Navy communicators in FT ALLEN, any way I I think it is rather old ) they were best at that time, but not what you would want today.

[Dennisr]

Hubby said it is an Onan and 200 is a steal.

[ggimlick]

Okay for construction, but awfully dirty power for an RV...and loud. Pass and get an inverter type. Honda's are really nice, but pricey. There are some others from Northern Tool and Camping World that are reasonable and suitable for your electronics. If you blow out the electronic control board in your fridge or converter, you'll wish you stayed away from old gennys.

[airsovereign]

Overwhelmed by the knowledge on these forums. Thank you for saving me from divorce

[Boxite]

Uhhhh I believe there's a misunderstanding going on around RV'rs that an "inverter" type generator is "cleaner" power than non-inverter types.

I was camping at the Quanah rally and several folks stopped by my AS and advised me to be careful using my little contractor-type generator because (they universally stated) the ordinary generators don't put out "true sine-wave" electrical power and they can damage the control-boards in the refrigerators and furnaces and television/stereos etc etc.

I wish to point out that it is cheap inverters that don't put out "pure sine wave" power... they usually put out "square wave" or what is called "modified sine wave" power.

Ordinary, everyday generators turned by internal-combustion engines put out the same type (ordinary "true" sine wave") AC power the electric utilities put out. Unless some serious surging is going on (like letting it run out of fuel while connected) then it should not be harmful to most equipment, including computers (which, btw, usually have a small, dedicated power-supply within their powerplugs, etc which "clean" the power anyway.)

The only advantage of an "inverter" type generator is they usually reduce noise and fuel consumption when low electrical demands are being made on them, while ordinary generators usually run at a steady-state/governed speed in order to regulate the cycles-per-second.

Hope his helps clarify it a bit.

As for identifying this particular unit depicted... I don't recall ever seeing a genuine Onan (brand) like that one... It resembles a Craftsman I've seen... but many folks call portable generators by the moniker "Onan-type".
If it's important to you to have a genuine Onan (brand), I'd do a bit more research or confirmation on this unit. Ask for the serial number or a pic of the dataplate and confirm it with Onan.

[WayneG]

Originally Posted by Boxite

Uhhhh I believe there's a misunderstanding going on around RV'rs that an "inverter" type generator is "cleaner" power than non-inverter types.

I was camping at the Quanah rally and several folks stopped by my AS and advised me to be careful using my little contractor-type generator because (they universally stated) the ordinary generators don't put out "true sine-wave" electrical power and they can damage the control-boards in the refrigerators and furnaces and television/stereos etc etc.

I wish to point out that it is cheap inverters that don't put out "pure sine wave" power... they usually put out "square wave" or what is called "modified sine wave" power.

Ordinary, everyday generators turned by internal-combustion engines put out the same type (ordinary "true" sine wave") AC power the electric utilities put out. Unless some serious surging is going on (like letting it run out of fuel while connected) then it should not be harmful to most equipment, including computers (which, btw, usually have a small, dedicated power-supply within their powerplugs, etc which "clean" the power anyway.)

The only advantage of an "inverter" type generator is they usually reduce noise and fuel consumption when low electrical demands are being made on them, while ordinary generators usually run at a steady-state/governed speed in order to regulate the cycles-per-second.

Hope his helps clarify it a bit.

As for identifying this particular unit depicted... I don't recall ever seeing a genuine Onan (brand) like that one... It resembles a Craftsman I've seen... but many folks call portable generators by the moniker "Onan-type".
If it's important to you to have a genuine Onan (brand), I'd do a bit more research or confirmation on this unit. Ask for the serial number or a pic of the dataplate and confirm it with Onan.

On that thought, in my last Argosy I installed a Generac Impact36 3600 watt inverter generator made for RV's.
It was awesome on fuel, very quiet until you put a good load on it, but it had a quirk.
I was powering a small sound system for a band and someone plugged their light show into the generator and the generator went nuts, reeving up and down out of control and finally shut down with some error.
It was not the load that was a problem, it was not a true sine wave output and it did not like the heavy spikes that the light show threw at it.
Sure wish Generac fixed that problem and kept selling the Impact series. I would buy one in a quick minute.