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Old 08-19-2018, 08:54 PM   #1
Bigjake0524
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Adding Onan to 3950

So I don’t have a generator factory and was looking at going with and Onan just so it is all self contained.

Looking for recommendations on going LP or if they have a kit to add a gas tank to the underside of the unit for fuel.

Looking at a 5500 minimum.

Thank you!
 
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Old 08-19-2018, 10:09 PM   #2
PSFORD99
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So I don’t have a generator factory and was looking at going with and Onan just so it is all self contained.

Looking for recommendations on going LP or if they have a kit to add a gas tank to the underside of the unit for fuel.

Looking at a 5500 minimum.

Thank you!

I guess it all depends on how you use the generator. I ordered the 5500 Onan installed, it runs on propane. I have used it a few times, for convenience you can't beat it. But its just not practical , it burns too much propane too fast. you better have a good source close by if you plan on using it for any prolonged use.

I have been in a small RV park in Montana, where we have lost power for awhile, and I have used my Onan, and for a couple hours here and there its great, any other use where I know I am going to need a generator I take my Honda 2000.

If I do this again I will just go two Honda 2000's. I haul one now ,and the gas ,so its no big deal for me, when I know I am going to need to run a generator.
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Old 08-20-2018, 12:31 AM   #3
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I guess it all depends on how you use the generator. I ordered the 5500 Onan installed, it runs on propane. I have used it a few times, for convenience you can't beat it. But its just not practical , it burns too much propane too fast. you better have a good source close by if you plan on using it for any prolonged use.

I have been in a small RV park in Montana, where we have lost power for awhile, and I have used my Onan, and for a couple hours here and there its great, any other use where I know I am going to need a generator I take my Honda 2000.

If I do this again I will just go two Honda 2000's. I haul one now ,and the gas ,so its no big deal for me, when I know I am going to need to run a generator.
You hit it dead on. I have a 5500 and 7,000 watt Generac portable for home use and they are very expensive to operate. Sure the 5500 will run everything on the rv but at what cost. I bought a 2000 watt honda and just bought a 6 gallon extended fuel tank for my rv for emergencies along with some dry camping. If i need another generator then i can purchase the 2200 watt honda to have 2 together to run 1 a/c and it will still run much cheaper than anyone's 5500 watt generator. For less than 2500.00 you can get buy fairly comfortably with better quality and cheaper operating cost not counting a more quite operation.
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Old 08-20-2018, 05:50 AM   #4
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We have the Onan 5500 on propane, We dry camp two or three times a year. We replaced the 30lbs bottles with 40lbs. We can get about 14 hours on one bottle. That costs about 25 dollars each to fill. We also take two extra bottles that we swap out during the stay. We can get three to four days with four bottles . Propane here in Tennessee is right around $3.00 per gallon. a 40lbs bottle holds just over 9 gallons. Long story short, Its very convenient and we really enjoy ours.
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Old 08-20-2018, 07:53 AM   #5
Bigjake0524
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Thank you for all of the input so far!

I like the idea of propane as I would t be taking a secondary fuel.

Trying to keep it as easy as possible, so the Wife and Kids would be able to use it. Without having to hook extra stuff up if I wasn’t around.
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Old 08-20-2018, 08:38 AM   #6
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We have the Onan 5500 on propane, We dry camp two or three times a year. We replaced the 30lbs bottles with 40lbs. We can get about 14 hours on one bottle. That costs about 25 dollars each to fill. We also take two extra bottles that we swap out during the stay. We can get three to four days with four bottles . Propane here in Tennessee is right around $3.00 per gallon. a 40lbs bottle holds just over 9 gallons. Long story short, Its very convenient and we really enjoy ours.
Can't argue with your logic, but any prolonged use, just not practical . Three or four days , and four large bottles of propane kind of confirms what I said in my post. Beyond four days, then you have to be chasing down a propane source , and unlike gas, its not on every corner. So as you say if you are planning a three or four day dry camping trip ,great beyond that, well now the convience just isn't there

IMO having both the Onan ,and a single Honda 2000 is the best of both worlds, but there is the expense of both.

I think the OP just needs to know that they burn propane pretty fast, and he is hauling 14 gals of propane, thats approximately 14 hours of generator use, nothing else ,no cooking, no furnace ,no water heater . Unless like you hauling around a bunch of propane bottles, just not the answer for most.

I think the onboard is great for that two or three hour emergency, beyond that I think is pretty impratical for any amount of prolonged dry camping.

OP mentioned convince of use, well it doesn't take much to start a Honda 2000, and at 4-6 hours run time on .9 gallons of fuel, pretty tough to beat. Extended run time on a 6 gallon tank of fuel, well now you are looking at about 30 hours of use. My wife has no problem pouring gasoline ,nor starting a Honda generator. I just think the OP needs to know ALL the options.
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Old 08-20-2018, 09:46 AM   #7
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I plan to get a welder/generator for my tow. But I have a long bed and lots of welding projects. I also have 3500/4500 off brand generator but it won’t run even a single AC

Our only current use would be for the occasional overnight stop on a long trip but thats really rare and when we retire and can shorten travel hours and stopover at RV parks that will go away

We are however debating if we will start camping occasionally at side by side trail heads and that may include some dry camping or at least generator powered Glamping

In summary we can’t justify the cost or hassle of an onboard gen and I personally hate Onan!
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Old 08-20-2018, 10:36 AM   #8
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Jake,

I have used internal generators, external generators and inverters. I agree with most of the inputs above. The other difference I didn't see mentioned is the noise/vibration of an internal genny is higher than the external when inside your rig.

For me, the combination of a decent sized battery bank, solar with an inverter plus a couple of Honda 2Ks works very well. The gennies only get fired up when we need a/c or have a couple of cloudy days in a row.
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Old 08-20-2018, 01:46 PM   #9
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I carry a Champion dual fuel 3400 in the back of my truck. Powers an AC and everything else we need. It will work on propane if I need it to but never have, carry a couple extra 6 gal tanks in the truck. Easier to get gas than propane. $950.00 Camping World. You can hook two together if needed.
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Old 08-20-2018, 02:21 PM   #10
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I carry a Champion dual fuel 3400 in the back of my truck. Powers an AC and everything else we need. It will work on propane if I need it to but never have, carry a couple extra 6 gal tanks in the truck. Easier to get gas than propane. $950.00 Camping World. You can hook two together if needed.
That’s interesting as my Champion gas burning 3500/4500 would not run an AC. It would start it once but die when AC cycled. Wish it would run one it would be handy and we already own it....
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Old 08-20-2018, 03:14 PM   #11
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I didn't mention that the 3400 dual fuel has an inverter. I think they built it for RV's because it has an RV 30 Amp connector on it.
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Old 08-20-2018, 03:36 PM   #12
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I plan to get a welder/generator for my tow. But I have a long bed and lots of welding projects. I also have 3500/4500 off brand generator but it won’t run even a single AC

Our only current use would be for the occasional overnight stop on a long trip but thats really rare and when we retire and can shorten travel hours and stopover at RV parks that will go away

We are however debating if we will start camping occasionally at side by side trail heads and that may include some dry camping or at least generator powered Glamping

In summary we can’t justify the cost or hassle of an onboard gen and I personally hate Onan!

Can't say I hate the Onan, its quiet, and we can barely tell its running sitting inside. It does eat propane, a hassle for sure for long time use, have had mine now for nearly 11 years, runs very nice, but we don't use it much . We run the heck out of the Honda 2000 if we are dry camping.
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Old 08-20-2018, 03:37 PM   #13
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Could also be a difference in size of AC units
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Old 08-20-2018, 04:30 PM   #14
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With all due respect you don't buy a one ton dually and complain that you can't get the same milage that you get from you smart car. We have the 6.5KW commercial Onan and for what we wanted it's the ticket. I don't worry about what I can or cannot run. I can run everything I want when I want to run it. The noise or vibration is neglible for me. If you are going to go with an LP Onan it likes propane and you will have to deal with that issue in some respect. For us we have two 40lb tanks onboard and carry additional 30lb tanks. Our usage is about to change as the gen will predominantly be used to charge our lithium bank when mother nature prohibits sufficient solar input. Secondarily the gen will our AC units beyond the 2-4 hour range they can run on batteries.


For us the large internal gen was what met our needs at the time. We have invested in more renewable forms of energy and as such how we use the gen will change over the next months as I complete the installation of batteries and chargers. Lastly we won't need to carry as much propane. For us we never intended to run our large genset 24 hours a day. Ironically during our last major power outage in the PNW two winters ago we were very comfortable in our heated and powered 5er thanks to our Onan.
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Old 08-20-2018, 04:59 PM   #15
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I didn't mention that the 3400 dual fuel has an inverter. I think they built it for RV's because it has an RV 30 Amp connector on it.
Things that make ya go hmmmmm. As in that’s intriguing
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Old 08-20-2018, 05:02 PM   #16
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Could also be a difference in size of AC units
That’s true
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Old 08-20-2018, 05:05 PM   #17
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[QUOTE=PNW Fireguy;1112496]With all due respect you don't buy a one ton dually and complain that you can't get the same milage that you get from you smart car. We have the 6.5KW commercial Onan and for what we wanted it's the ticket. I don't worry about what I can or cannot run. I can run everything I want when I want to run it. The noise or vibration is neglible for me. If you are going to go with an LP Onan it likes propane and you will have to deal with that issue in some respect. For us we have two 40lb tanks onboard and carry additional 30lb tanks. Our usage is about to change as the gen will predominantly be used to charge our lithium bank when mother nature prohibits sufficient solar input. Secondarily the gen will our AC units beyond the 2-4 hour range they can run on batteries.


For us the large internal gen was what met our needs at the time. We have invested in more renewable forms of energy and as such how we use the gen will change over the next months as I complete the installation of batteries and chargers. Lastly we won't need to carry as much propane. For us we never intended to run our large genset 24 hours a day. Ironically during our last major power outage in the PNW two winters ago we were very comfortable in our heated and powered 5er thanks to our Onan.[/QUOT

I work in the oilfield so instead of solar I suspect we will go diesel with the welder in back of the diesel dually. That way same fuel for both. Might even look at additional tank somehow. Although then you get into the weight issue......
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Old 08-20-2018, 05:10 PM   #18
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With all due respect you don't buy a one ton dually and complain that you can't get the same milage that you get from you smart car. We have the 6.5KW commercial Onan and for what we wanted it's the ticket. I don't worry about what I can or cannot run. I can run everything I want when I want to run it. The noise or vibration is neglible for me. If you are going to go with an LP Onan it likes propane and you will have to deal with that issue in some respect. For us we have two 40lb tanks onboard and carry additional 30lb tanks. Our usage is about to change as the gen will predominantly be used to charge our lithium bank when mother nature prohibits sufficient solar input. Secondarily the gen will our AC units beyond the 2-4 hour range they can run on batteries.


For us the large internal gen was what met our needs at the time. We have invested in more renewable forms of energy and as such how we use the gen will change over the next months as I complete the installation of batteries and chargers. Lastly we won't need to carry as much propane. For us we never intended to run our large genset 24 hours a day. Ironically during our last major power outage in the PNW two winters ago we were very comfortable in our heated and powered 5er thanks to our Onan.

No complaints here, knew exactly what I was getting into, just not practical for long time use, great for emergency. If someone wants to sit next to a propane source or want to go hunt down propane , then by all means haul a bunch of propane tanks, and have at it , because you will have to if you think you are going to run that Onan LP for hours on end, just a fact.

All some of us are pointing out is whats going to happen, plus you are going to spend thousands on the Onan setup, plus thousands more for solar, batteries, inverters etc, this doesn't come cheap, and the benefits are what, and what is your return on this investment. Now if someone needs to sit for days ,or weeks run all their air conditioners, microwave etc, yes you need to invest thousands to do that dry camping

Many ,and I am one, I dry camp for a few days, and usually we don't need air conditioning, I don't want to be anywhere its hot, the object is to get out of the heat. I take two 5 gallon cans of gas a Honda 2000, and I am covered. If that microwave needs to be run, we just make sure nothing else is on, for that short time. We can watch TV to our hearts content.

I have read many times about guys buying these Onan generators, and then wondering why. Just want to the OP to know it can be an expensive mistake for what you get out of it .
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Old 08-20-2018, 05:13 PM   #19
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That’s interesting as my Champion gas burning 3500/4500 would not run an AC. It would start it once but die when AC cycled. Wish it would run one it would be handy and we already own it....

Not to hijack the thread but if you add a Micro Air Easy Start to your AC your generator will start and run your AC.
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Old 08-20-2018, 05:21 PM   #20
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No complaints here, knew exactly what I was getting into, just not practical for long time use, great for emergency. If someone wants to sit next to a propane source or want to go hunt down propane , then by all means haul a bunch of propane tanks, and have at it , because you will have to if you think you are going to run that Onan LP for hours on end, just a fact.

All some of us are pointing out is whats going to happen, plus you are going to spend thousands on the Onan setup, plus thousands more for solar, batteries, inverters etc, this doesn't come cheap, and the benefits are what, and what is your return on this investment. Now if someone needs to sit for days ,or weeks run all their air conditioners, microwave etc, yes you need to invest thousands to do that dry camping

Many ,and I am one, I dry camp for a few days, and usually we don't need air conditioning, I don't want to be anywhere its hot, the object is to get out of the heat. I take two 5 gallon cans of gas a Honda 2000, and I am covered. If that microwave needs to be run, we just make sure nothing else is on, for that short time. We can watch TV to our hearts content.

I have read many times about guys buying these Onan generators, and then wondering why. Just want to the OP to know it can be an expensive mistake for what you get out of it .



You are certainly entitled to your opinion by all means as we all are. In addition what works for you and your needs may or may not meet my needs. My Onan does NOT burn through propane at an unacceptable rate for my needs. I speak from fact as I have one and I use it. My purchase was not a mistake. Expenses are expenses. We didn't go this route to weekend camp so the ROI for us was evident. From my reading of the OP he/she has already decided on a route and was asking for specific input.
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