Generator etiquette

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Itascajoe

Active member
Joined
Nov 15, 2017
Posts
26
Hi everyone! What is the generator etiquette when overnighting at a truck stop ie. Flying J, Pilot or T/A. Can I run it all night?
Thank you.
 
Pretty much anything goes at truck stops. Drivers sleeping their cabs use their engines for powering tv's, heat or a/c as needed, and "refer" trucks run their refer gensets to power the refrigerators.
 
That's what I thought but wasn't too sure. I guess a truck stop would be better than a Walmart?
 
Itascajoe said:
That's what I thought but wasn't too sure. I guess a truck stop would be better than a Walmart?

If you want to hear trucks coming and going along with the engines running all night long. Try to find a spot at the farthest end of the lot.
 
One caution, notice all of those running truck engines and reefers have their exhausts up high, where the exhaust gasses can rise and dissipate.

Your generator' s exhaust is down low,  so the gasses can congregate and seep into the RV, especially if you're parked next to a large object like a truck that blocks natural airflow.

Make sure you have a working carbon monoxide detector if you're going to run your generator all night.
 
Truck stops aren't exactly the best places to get a good night's sleep so we don't do that anymore.  An occasional WalMart works better.  We park on the outside edge and try to parallel the curb with a grassy median.  We need to extend our bedroom slideout for using the bed and putting it out over the median makes it workable.

As to the generator, I'm glad Lou mentioned the carbon dioxide detector.  Also make sure the generator itself is in good working condition.  Even though CO itself doesn't smell, if you smell fumes of any kind in the RV shut every source down and air it out.  CO is odorless and deadly.  As to noise, some generators are much more noisy than others.  Turn yours on when you're out in the middle of nowhere and see if you can hear it from a short distance.  If it's quiet enough even up close you may not need to worry about the noise bothering people (such as nearby homes at a WalMart) but if it's noisy from a distance you might want to use more discretion when turning it on.  If it's so loud it bothers YOU inside the RV then you know it's too noisy.  :eek:

ArdraF
 
:-[ :-[ :-[ OOPS!  Of course you're correct.  And I knew that.  Brain and fingers not in synch today.

ArdraF
 
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