Generators and Fuel

Hi! We are thinking about what type of generator we would like to buy to go with our Rockwood Mini Lite.  We are planning to use 1 or 2 solar suitcases for our small day to day electric use and propane for our fridge, furnace and oven. So our main goal with the generator is to just power the AC (13500btu) if the weather gets too hot. We researched the different types of fuels and we have found this:
-Propane is cleaner than gas but less efficient and burns fast
-Gas is flammable and burns fast but is cheap and more accessible
-Diesel is more efficient, burns slower, and is nonflammable
It seems as though diesel would be the better choice however, from what I have read we need an inverter generator. I haven't found one that can run diesel. Is there even a such thing?
I think from what I have read, inverters are primarily used so that you don't fry your small electronics. If we are only using it for the AC do we still need an inverter? Also, I read that inverters are quieter. How much quieter? It that super important?

We do not have a big budget for this because we are spending most of our money on the solar (its more important). We were looking at the 3400watt champion inverter generator (I don't think we can use diesel in it). What are your thoughts about the champion generators? We don't plan on using the generator that much. Only when the weather is super bad.

If need be, we can use gas. I was just worried about cost and storing it (flammable).

Another question. How much fuel would we need to keep with us in order to run the AC? So if we bought the 3400watt champion inverter generator to power a 13500btu AC, how much fuel would we need to have with us? Maybe running it 4 hours during the hottest part of the day. I know this also depends on the type of fuel we use.

Thank you so much, I know all these are hefty questions.

I think your over thinking all this.
If all you want to do is run a AC, a Honda 3000 or a Yamaha 2800 will do it jist fine, and be fuel efficient.
Propane is just not practical
Diesel is way too expensive.
People have been carrying around gas generators for years with no problems what so ever.
As a side note, suitcase solar?  How many watts are these portable panels?
As a rule of thumb I have found that typical solar panel output is actually about 50% of their rated output.  Solar only works at 100 percent when they are in direct sun and must follow the sun to work at peak.  Are you really planning to go outside and move the panels every five minutes?
To have a real workable solar system, its not just how many panels or how big they are.  You need to store that power.  That means batteries, lots and lots of batteries.  Where are you going to put the batteries?
With any generator its all about noise level.  The quietest generators are going to cost more than a cheap noisy one.
Champion generators are gas.  You cannot put diesel in a gas motor and make it run.  Same trying to run a diesel motor on gas.  IT WILL NOT WORK!
Personally I would apend your $$$ on a good generator, forget solar for now.  Add a second or third battery will get you a week of fruigal use easily.  Again, remember if your camping in the trees solar will be mostly useless.  If you run your generator a few hours a day for AC you will also recharge the batteries.

There are no small portable diesel generators, diesel engines are bulky, heavy, and noisy. For your purposes gas is the best bet.

Destiny,

I'm going to agree with most of what Don said. I'm assuming you have a camper that is using a 30 AMP plug and electric panel. If you are budget limited your first step should be to get the Genny and then second step, upgrade (if needed) your battery bank. Here is a good link to the 12v side of life which is a good read to get a understanding of batteries and RV life.

http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volt.htm

Again, an assumption here because you didn't give us a lot of detail on what your batteries are but assuming you have the typical group 24 battery that most campers come with. IF and IF is the critical word here, it's been treated well and is good shape, your small electrical uses (recharging phones, lights, maybe a vent fan for a few hours, a few hours of radio) you can get maybe 2-3 days out of your battery. IF it hasn't been taking care of, it may provide one day or less.

What many people do is upgrade their batteries to true deep cycles (or even more expensive AGM or Lithium) that can store more power and be discharged further than the standard batteries, often having  Two or more. Two deep cycles would likely give you 2.5-4 times as many days at the same usage depending on the specifics of the batteries.

So I'm probably giving you more information than you want but I think your best course of action is get the Genny first so you have the ability to run the AC immediately when needed. Upgrade the batteries second to give you a bigger energy storage ability and longer times between having to use the genny to recharge your batteries (Saving you fuel costs) and then when the funds are better and you've had more time to watch some YouTube videos on solar upgrades and have a better understanding of the 12 volt system, look for the solar that fits your needs. I'm thinking a larger more powerful panel on your roof will provide better for you than a suitcase for the same price point.

Agree with the others. Get a decent gasoline generator, store the fuel in a 2 gallon approved container, just like the one you probably use for your lawn mower. Don?t do something stupid like fill your generator next to a burning fire or while lighting a cigarette, and it isn?t dangerous. A few hours a day to charge your batteries won?t use that much fuel. For example, our Honda 2000eu battery only needed 1 gallon of fuel for 8 hours when just charging batteries, though it doubled that when we needed AC.

You may want to check out this,

https://www.harborfreight.com/engines-generators/inverter-generators/3500-watt-super-quiet-inverter-generator-63584.html

We bought it based on reviews and I have not been disappointed.

As far as solar I'm all for it but today's a good example of why you need a generator....It's raining now and will most likely rain all day. Which translates into limited benefit from the solar.

My Honda 2200 powers my AC.  I have an Easy Start in the AC as well.  I use an extended run tank, so I can run all weekend and not fill up the tank at all.

donn said:

As a side note, suitcase solar?  How many watts are these portable panels?
As a rule of thumb I have found that typical solar panel output is actually about 50% of their rated output.  Solar only works at 100 percent when they are in direct sun and must follow the sun to work at peak.  Are you really planning to go outside and move the panels every five minutes?
To have a real workable solar system, its not just how many panels or how big they are.  You need to store that power.  That means batteries, lots and lots of batteries.  Where are you going to put the batteries?

Click to expand...

We have a 100 watt solar panel suitcase and two group 31 batteries. We move our panel a couple of times a day. We have boondocked or dry camped several times, once for 15 days. We usually need to run our generator about 3 hours a day An hour and a half in the morning and evening to keep the batteries up.

Often times an ac unit will not run on the smaller inverters. To solve that problem some have installed a product called microaire on the AC unit. You absolutely want a quiet inverter, not a regular generator.

If you are around your campsite while using portable panels you will be sure they don't walk away and being able to redirect them a few times a day makes a big difference in output. The sun doesn't move so fast that you need to chase it with the panels. Same as roof mounted, it makes a big difference if they are tiltable. Even in the desert south west the winter sun is pretty low.

As mentioned, diesel gen isn't available for your use and propane is not a good way to go. Gasoline is available all the time everywhere. Depending on how you travel and for people like us we move with the weather so ac is minimized. If we needed the AC often we'd be pulling in. Generators are fantastic and the cost isn't bad when used occasionally but when it comes to to doing all your battery charging or ac often it's very pricey. I don't recall but I've crunched the numbers for fuel, oil, maintenance and generator replacement and it's high. Walking into our houses and flipping a switch to the grid is dirt cheap compared to being your own power company on a Genny.

Gas fumes while the generator isn't used aren't as big of a worry as they were in the past, when gas tanks and gas cans were free to vent gas fumes into the surrounding air.

Many gas generators now have sealable gas tanks, where you turn a lever on the gas cap to seal the vapors inside.  CARB compliant gas cans are the same way, they stay sealed except when actually dispensing fuel.

Destiny said:

Hi! We are thinking about what type of generator we would like to buy to go with our Rockwood Mini Lite.  We are planning to use 1 or 2 solar suitcases for our small day to day electric use and propane for our fridge, furnace and oven. So our main goal with the generator is to just power the AC (13500btu) if the weather gets too hot. We researched the different types of fuels and we have found this:
-Propane is cleaner than gas but less efficient and burns fast
-Gas is flammable and burns fast but is cheap and more accessible
-Diesel is more efficient, burns slower, and is nonflammable
It seems as though diesel would be the better choice however, from what I have read we need an inverter generator. I haven't found one that can run diesel. Is there even a such thing?
I think from what I have read, inverters are primarily used so that you don't fry your small electronics. If we are only using it for the AC do we still need an inverter? Also, I read that inverters are quieter. How much quieter? It that super important?

We do not have a big budget for this because we are spending most of our money on the solar (its more important). We were looking at the 3400watt champion inverter generator (I don't think we can use diesel in it). What are your thoughts about the champion generators? We don't plan on using the generator that much. Only when the weather is super bad.

If need be, we can use gas. I was just worried about cost and storing it (flammable).

Another question. How much fuel would we need to keep with us in order to run the AC? So if we bought the 3400watt champion inverter generator to power a 13500btu AC, how much fuel would we need to have with us? Maybe running it 4 hours during the hottest part of the day. I know this also depends on the type of fuel we use.

Thank you so much, I know all these are hefty questions.

Click to expand...

First off, I think you are absolutely right to go with solar as long as your day to day elect use is light and the solar will keep your batteries charged. We boondock a lot, and with the solar it is so nice to have peace and quiet and not need to crank up the generator to charge the batteries. 

Second, you really want an inverter generator.  The non inverter generators are very loud and neighbors within 1/4 mile will be very unhappy with a cheap contractor generator blasting away.  The generator, while running an AC, will sound like 2 or 3 people standing and shouting at the top of their voice for all the time the generator is running.

Gas is a bit of a headache.  Since this will be infrequent use, you MUST add a fuel stabilizer to the gas or the gas will deteriorate in a month or two and clog up the fuel system in the generator.  Even with the stabilizer, it would be best to run the generator dry if you are not going to use it in the next week or two.

Propane generators don't have the fuel problem the gas ones do.  You can run the generator and just turn it off and not use it for 6 months and then start it up again.  They do use more fuel than gas.  If you can fit a pair of 7 gallon (40 pound) propane tanks on your RV, that should give you plenty of propane to run your generator. (you probably have one or two 5 gallon (20 pound tanks now). 

You should be able to go online and find out how much propane the 3400watt generator will use under 1/2 load per hour.  That will help you determine if you feel you can use a propane generator. 

Keep in mind, as someone wrote earlier, a 2000 watt inverter will run a 13,500BTU AC if you install a soft start kit in the AC.  I am no help on details on the soft start kit as I have not used or researched them.  Obviously a 2000 watt generator may use less fuel than a 3400 watt.  However the 2000 watt will be running at full power where as the 3400 will be at or a little over 1/2 load.  That could mean the fuel consumption may be about the same.  But then the 2000 watt can be picked up and moved by one person, where the 3400 will be much harder to move.  Just things to consider when making a decision.