Durability of an Onan diesel generator

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bobguigley

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Apr 12, 2010
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Coopersburg, PA
Our 2010 MH has an 8000 Watt Onan diesel generator.  WE anticipate doing about 6 weeks of dry camping each year, thus we'll we using this generator 200 - 300 hours per year. 

Anybody have a guesstimate as to the the total number of hours of reliable performance that we can expect from this generator?


 
 
Had an Onan diesel generator on my sailboat that lasted well over 4500 hours...changed the oil and that was about it for maintenance...they are pretty much bullet proof! Of course the boat units are water cooled which may make a difference....

Good Unit - my next boat had a Panda and it was even quieter and I put a ton of hours on it, not sure they make a unit for RV.

Good Luck...

Jim
 
The answer depends. If you follow the rule and add another 25 hours a y ear (1/2 hour the xth of every month under 1/2 load (or more) and do the recommended oil changes and such, it should last longer than you will more than likely.
 
With regular use that generator will likely outlast the motorhome.
 
I don?t know how long your Onan will last. I have never heard of one wearing out from use. The only ones you read about on the forums are the ones that set and don?t get used.
I would use a great oil like Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck 5W-40. I would do all the required maint and go have fun and not worry about how long the generator will last. I have heard of them lasting over 15,000 hours or more. 
Bill 
 
the onan loves to be used. I have a 1977 gmc with a 6k gas powered onan. I have no idea how many hours are on it. I have only owned the unit for 2 years and so far the hour meter has never moved. Have no idea as to when it stopped working. I do need to replace the control board this year. most of the traces corroded off.

I agree that the genny will outlast the rig it's in. as long as you keep it dry (they do not like to be washed much) change the oil. and use it use it use it.
 
Wigpro said:
Had an Onan diesel generator on my sailboat that lasted well over 4500 hours...changed the oil and that was about it for maintenance...they are pretty much bullet proof! Of course the boat units are water cooled which may make a difference....

Good Unit - my next boat had a Panda and it was even quieter and I put a ton of hours on it, not sure they make a unit for RV.

Good Luck...

Jim
Click to expand...
Jim,
The RV units are water cooled to.
 
[quote author=WILDEBILL308]
The RV units are water cooled to.[/quote]

Methinks that Jim was talking about sea water cooling. Two versions:

1. Raw water cooling: Sea water is pumped through the engine cooling system.

2. Fresh water cooling: Sea water is pumped through a heat exchanger which indirectly cools the coolant in the engine. The heat exchanger replaces the air cooled radiator used in over-the-road vehicles.
 
Tom said:
Methinks that Jim was talking about sea water cooling. Two versions:

1. Raw water cooling: Sea water is pumped through the engine cooling system.

2. Fresh water cooling: Sea water is pumped through a heat exchanger which indirectly cools the coolant in the engine. The heat exchanger replaces the air cooled radiator used in over-the-road vehicles.
Click to expand...

I wasn't thinking about them being water cooled with a radiator. I have had both types on boats, raw water cooled and fresh water cooled with a heat exchanger, in this case the heat exchanger also heated the hot water for the hot water heater, which was nice.

Thanks for clarifying my post....

Jim
 
I wasn't thinking about them being water cooled with a radiator.
Click to expand...

Understood Jim, and I added that comment for Bill's benefit, since he didn't appear to be familiar with cooling systems on our boats.
 
Running the engine just to run the lights and TV doesn't put hardly any load on the engine.  Make sure you put a heavy load on it every once in a while to raise the combustion chamber temperatures enough to burn out the carbon and evaporate condensation out of the oil.
 
I had a fault on my genset and the technician that fixed it, said it was advisable to do an oil, oil filter and air filter change on it once a year on average usage, we have put 6 to 8 weeks of running 2 air cons, TV DVD, games console, microwave, coffee maker, or any combination of 1 air con and the microwave or coffee maker at the same time.

I now do, the oil, oil filter and air filter at the start of the RVing season, usually two weekends ahead of the first likely use, that way if I find anything wrong I have a couple of weeks to sort things out before it's too close.
 
Tom said:
Understood Jim, and I added that comment for Bill's benefit, since he didn't appear to be familiar with cooling systems on our boats.
Click to expand...
Well actually I am familiar with cooling systems on boats. The point I was trying to make is that all the diesel units in RVs (that I have seen) are water-cooled and water-cooling is not exclusive to boats. I probably wasn?t as clear as I could have been.
Bill
 
I've got 1800 hours on my 8+ year old Onan 7500 (same genny as your 8000) and the only problem I've had was a broken wire on the governor (and I think that happened in an accident rather than normal wear & tear).

Go ahead and run it to your hearts content. It likes to be used!
 
We had over 3300 hours on our 8.5KW Onan diesel generator. It always ran great. Problems were 2 electric fuel pump replacements and 2 failed on/off switches on the control box. Always changed the oil at 100-120 hours. and cooling system flush every 2-3 years. Age when we sold RV, 21 years. Still running strong.
 
Chet touched on something that is important with the water-cooled diesel generators. You need to change the coolant and I would suggest a low silica antifreeze. My dealer had a problem with mine when we did our final test drive. The generator kept shutting down from over temp. The problem turned out to be the Radiator was plugged with crystals. I would recommend keep the maint up on the cooling system and keep it exercised to prevent this from happening to you. Mine cost the dealer about $600.00 to have Cummins replace the radiator.
Bill
 
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