Generator question

JeremyC

Earning My Ears
Joined
Feb 28, 2018
We just upgraded to a new Jayco 5’er from a TT. My question is what generators are you using to run both Ac’s? We used dual eu2000s before. Thanks in advance.
 
Jeremy,

I had a generator in the front basement of my old 5er and I'm getting ready to put one in the new 5er. I'd go with at least a 5500 watt generator. Some argue that a 50 amp trailer only needs a 50 amp generator, but going over works the generator less at peak load. This burns less fuel and should increase the life of the engine. I'd also recommend going with a gasoline generator vs LP gas. Gasoline takes an addition fuel tank, but you can fill it much easier than having to swap out bottles.

Honda makes a 5500 watt version of your EU2000s. EU7000IS (rated at 5500 continuous), but it is heavy and nearly the same price as an Onan RV generator you can mount in the front basement. My old generator was a Generac RV generator. It was as quiet as the Onan, but 60% of the price. It always ran great. Unfortunately Generac doesn't make RV generators anymore. Onan is the only choice now unless you want to go with a portable.

j
 
Hmm, now it has me considering adding one. I mean the nearly 3K cost is what holds me back. I could really use the added weight it would provide to my pin weight. We do not currently boondock enough.

I do have a big portable generator, maybe I will look at mounting it to my TV instead, build a nice platform, air bag mounted of course.
 

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From what I've read, JeremyC, is that it takes at LEAST a 2400W generator (at the surge rating) to run an AC (single) unit. If you have two as some bigger trailers do, then you would need at least twice that.

The main problem is at start-up, you need that much wattage to get the AC started - it doesn't require that much to run it once it gets going.

I have a popup with one AC unit and had a generator I used for college football tailgating (Honda EU2000i) with 2000W surge but now Honda has engineered more efficiency to the newer units of the same type (which are 2200W surge-Honda offers bigger units). That size, while great for tailgating, is just under what I needed for my popup AC. Not that I dry camp anyway.

So you can opt for the one-big-unit solution or the two smaller dual-connected units. Like Teamubr said, you need a lot of wattage (at a minimum the 4800W I show above or the 5500W he suggests). It just depends on what sizes are available to meet your needs.

Bama Ed

PS - if you're going to be camping around other folks, opt for the quieter Honda or Yamaha generators. They (along with others) make what I call "job site" generators which are NOT quiet and fine for a daytime work/job/construction site. They would be loud for any any neighbors around you if it had to run into the evening/night. So consider that because you might be on the receiving end of a loud generator from someone else.
 



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