Explain the generator thing??

[Bluto]

I just got the gen I thought would run the main thing I wanted to use when boondocking and that was the A/C in hot weather.
The fridge works great on propane and all the other systems are 12v. For the 12v stuff you just need a small gen to charge batteries if you are boondocking for several days..unless you have solar panels. I do have solar panels so my main concern was just the A/C.
So, to run the 15,000btu A/C I bought the Yamaha 3000 w/boost.
Did you see what a hair drier uses wattage wise? Wow!

[Gringo]

not sure, but I think that if you have your trailer power supply plugged into a generator, your generator is taking on the requirement to run the 110-12 v converter to power the 12 volts and charge the batteries.

I don't think this system is smart enough to say "Oh, there's a solar charger here, so I don't need to power up the battery charger in the trailer" etc.

Isn't that the way it works? You feed the trailer's converter, and it feeds everything else? Aren't your solar cell outputs wired to the battery parallel to the converters outputs?

[Gene]

I just remembered, the Honda book says you can get the carb adjusted for altitude. I probably could do it myself, but never have cared enough to try since it meets our needs. The solar panel is only working intermittently, and mostly not at all right now, so that needs to be fixed, but we are camped with hookups right now, so mañana.

Gene

[Bluto]

Originally Posted by Gringo

not sure, but I think that if you have your trailer power supply plugged into a generator, your generator is taking on the requirement to run the 110-12 v converter to power the 12 volts and charge the batteries.

I don't think this system is smart enough to say "Oh, there's a solar charger here, so I don't need to power up the battery charger in the trailer" etc.

Isn't that the way it works? You feed the trailer's converter, and it feeds everything else? Aren't your solar cell outputs wired to the battery parallel to the converters outputs?

It all depends on how you use your trailer.
My converter has little to do when I pull into a boondocking site. Batts are already charged to max from the TV connection. If I'm at the site for a day or 2 the solar will charge the batts. Then if it gets hot and I run the gen to get a/c power, the gen is mostly handling that. Other small stuff is not important as I don't use that much electric when camping. If it's a concern then I could just run the gen to charge the batts first then run the a/c.
I don't use everything at one time when camping that way. As a matter of fact I don't need the gen for anything except A/C. since I have solar to keep the batts charged up. Of course cloud cover and trees may make the solar unusable but the gen will help in those situations.

[Snedwid]

I don't get the hostility that some folks exibit. If there is a campground rule, or a law, then a report of a violation should be made to the proper authority. If its not against the rules or law, then someone can run their stuff 24/7 and if anyone doesen't like it then they can get on down the road. As for vandalizing someone's stuff, in these days of everyone having a video camera, you just might find yourself sitting in jail and or writing a nice fat check for damages. Plus there is the idea that if caught in the act, you and your loved ones , could suffer some very serious injury. A crazy man with a ball bat could put a hurt on your whole family. I'd rather just develope a thick skin and not be so easily annoyed.

[TBRich]

I'm with you, Snedwid...if you don't like the rules (like generator hours), move on. We were dry camping once where it was hot and we needed to run the generator at times, but we only did it during those times "allowed." One guy from across the park wondered by and fumed at me becasue I was disturbing his "peace" with a Honda 2000 that you could barely hear in the next campsite. Then I saw what he was traveling in... a shell of a Casita, no propane tanks, no electricity, no plumbing. He was basically using the shell as a tent on wheels. I decided he was just an unhappy grouch whose only joy is being grumpy and unpleasant to people who are operating within the rules.

[Gringo]

Yer basic unhappy camper.

I've heard of those.

[nomad3622]

Originally Posted by TBRich

I'm with you, Snedwid...if you don't like the rules (like generator hours), move on. We were dry camping once where it was hot and we needed to run the generator at times, but we only did it during those times "allowed." One guy from across the park wondered by and fumed at me becasue I was disturbing his "peace" with a Honda 2000 that you could barely hear in the next campsite. Then I saw what he was traveling in... a shell of a Casita, no propane tanks, no electricity, no plumbing. He was basically using the shell as a tent on wheels. I decided he was just an unhappy grouch whose only joy is being grumpy and unpleasant to people who are operating within the rules.

x2!

[moosetags]

We just camped for a couple of days in the North Campground in Bryce Canyon National Park. We were camped in one of the loops that permitted generator use between 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM. One morning at about 9:30 AM I was starting up Lucy's generator to top off her batteries when a couple (the type wearing the floppy hats with chin straps and walking with ski poles) walked by making loud derogatory comments about me starting Lucy's generator. I resisted the temptation to shoot back, and went about my business. I thought to myself, though, what a bunch of crap. Why should I have to feel bad when I am obeying the rules. As far as I'm concerned, the floppy hat crowd can pound sand.

Brian

[murreywalker]

Originally Posted by Gringo

Thanks. I am trying to work my way through it. Part of the problem is that all the manuals are in the trailer, which is locked up in Dallas. And I'm not. Locked up in Dallas, I mean...actually not anywhere near Dallas.

The new 27FB has a 15,000 btu ac, a microwave, and the fridge that all apparently prefer alternating current. Hey, different strokes and all that.. We won't need the ac to be run on the generator very often, as when we will be set up away from hookups we will be at about 7200 ft. elevation and the nights are just not that hot. We have lived in the tropics for six years without any air conditioning, but being in the trade winds is definitely not the same as inside an aluminum can.

That Yamaha site doesn't say anything about altitude, does it? And they are saying you need to buy at least a 2800 watt genny to run a hotplate, light bulb, and heating pad....

never mind the rest of the 12 volt systems ( pump, roof fans, batteries, computer power supply, Willie Nelson or Lyle Lovett CDs...)

Makes me suspicious of something, somewhere.

I've been in the Colorado Rockies at approximately the same altitudes you're concerned with. I used the Yamaha 2400 for AC, etc. (no microwave, which might take more than the ac) and had no problems at all.

Used the genset on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (9000 ft) with the same results. Obviously running a microwave and the ac could be problematic, but sacrifices could be made. ;-)

[Gringo]

yeah, I agree with you. And to look at it realistically, I don't really expect to use the aircon very much at all. Living without it for years has kind of ruined us for that artificial atmosphere. And about the only things we even use our home microwave for are popcorn, baked potatoes, and acorn squash. I could give all those up easily enough on the road.

In my typical over-analyzation of everything that gets my attention, I did look up sales and service outlets in Ft. Collins, and found out that while Honda has several fairly well established reps, Yamaha seems to be limited to a choice of a motorcycle dealer or a golf cart repair place without a web address.

Since we'll be about thirty miles north of there for the majority of our AS time, it probably will have some weight on which brand we choose.

[Gene]

I've noticed Camping World doesn't seem to be carrying the 1,000 w. generators. Must be the American bigger is better syndrome.

Gene

[JFScheck]

Originally Posted by moosetags

Why should I have to feel bad when I am obeying the rules. As far as I'm concerned, the floppy hat crowd can pound sand.
Brian

I agree 100%!!!

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by moosetags

We just camped for a couple of days in the North Campground in Bryce Canyon National Park. We were camped in one of the loops that permitted generator use between 8:00 AM and 8:00 PM. One morning at about 9:30 AM I was starting up Lucy's generator to top off her batteries when a couple (the type wearing the floppy hats with chin straps and walking with ski poles) walked by making loud derogatory comments about me starting Lucy's generator. I resisted the temptation to shoot back, and went about my business. I thought to myself, though, what a bunch of crap. Why should I have to feel bad when I am obeying the rules. As far as I'm concerned, the floppy hat crowd can pound sand.

Brian

I resemble that remark

[Gringo]

Everybody's got to have somebody to look down on.
Someone they can feel better than at any time they please.
Someone doing something dirty they're supposed to frown on.
if you can't find nobody else, then help yourself to me.

(or something like that from Kristofferson)

[mojo]

I hated generators, until 4 nights boondocking with the furnace running every night ran the batteries down to dim.

So I crossed over to the other side and now use a Honda 2K for recharging the system and run the lights during the dinner hour.

What I don't understand is when there are 15 or more sites open in a campground, why does Mr. Green and family pull right in next to us, set up a tent and give dirty stares when I crank up the genny.

When I used to camp in a tent, or even in my 63 VW microbus, I would try to find spots where no RV could possibly go. What do you expect when you pull into a campground that has sites with 40'+ spots?

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by mojo

What I don't understand is when there are 15 or more sites open in a campground, why does Mr. Green and family pull right in next to us, set up a tent and give dirty stares when I crank up the genny.

It has to do with the lumatic field of aluminum and it's effect on the human limbic system. Probably, the same reason you bought it instead of a tent. When you crank up your generator it reverses the lumatic field. This change in polarity creates an equal and opposite reaction causing a drop in endorphins and the adjacent campers to have a negative emotional reaction.

[Gene]

Oh, I get it, it is the lumatic field. But when I had a Microbus 25 years ago and we camped in it at the top of Independence Pass where there was space for 50 campers, someone parked right next to us after dark and we were too tired to move. Did the Microbus have an aluminum engine? Maybe that explains it. So we have to increase their endorphins to make them like the generator—maybe we could put porn photos on the side of the trailer—that should help. Or maybe extract of skunk…

Gene

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

Or maybe extract of skunk…

Gene

Now your cookin on the big burner. I wonder if you can make bio diesel out of skunk juice.

[Gene]

Put some skunks in the meat grinder, let them ferment in the sun and in a while, super-biofuel. When you start up the generator (adapted for this special fuel), those campers next to you all pass out. Wear your moon suit before attempting this. Might as well crank up the subwoofer just before you do this too. As they charge you for the bass problem, watch them drop in their tracks gagging. Leave quickly as they will come to eventually.

It is only through the Forum we can work out solutions to the most difficult of problems. I just love the helpfulness of the members. I never understood the lumatic field before. It was probably discovered at Los Alamos.

Gene