Car generator

[boyscout]

Beachcamper with regard to the bonding plug that howson mentions in post #12, you may need one but you also may not. Our own Champion generator does not have the floating ground that makes the bonding plug necessary - something I discovered after getting one!

You might, but try it without first. A lot of places will give you a blank stare if you go asking for one. You could buy one online easily enough, could make one yourself easily and less expensively. However you may not need it. Get your generator, get it running, plug it into the trailer, and if it doesn't output power to the trailer than your first guess could be that you DO need the bonding plug (which just plugs into one of the power outlets and makes the generator's circuitry happy).

[ncitro]

Beachcamper I modified my champion to run off of the grill port as Howard suggested. I made the modification to my in laws Firman as well. It was pretty straightforward. I still carry a 20 pound tank in the bed for a spare anyway so I made my modification such that it could still connect directly to the tank if I wanted. I should be over by the rig tomorrow I’ll try to take some pictures. I also added an additional grill port near the front of the rig so I can run the generator in the bed if I want as well.

[Guest]

Last trip to a primitive lot I ran our generator off the tailgate of the truck. Since the exhaust was pointing straight out the back, pointed in a safe direction while being stable, I had no problem in doing this.

Jim

[ncitro]

Last trip to a primitive lot I ran our generator off the tailgate of the truck. Since the exhaust was pointing straight out the back, and the generator being stable, I had no problem in doing this.

Jim

Yeah at the balloon fiesta a couple years ago I kept mine in the bed the whole time. Was easy to close the cover and lock it up when not in use.

[Guest]

Yeah at the balloon fiesta a couple years ago I kept mine in the bed the whole time. Was easy to close the cover and lock it up when not in use.

Neil,

This method is growing on me since I load it with a folding dolly and up some light weight ramps. I leave the ramps at home so its really convenient. Also have an extension cable for the rig to put the truck in a direction to safely point the exhaust. This also keeps the thieves at bay if we are out since the generator rides along.

Jim

[howson]

I also added an additional grill port near the front of the rig so I can run the generator in the bed if I want as well.

I'd like to read more about that mod, Neil. Can you (please) do a write-up with pics? (Make a new thread in the propane channel since I'm sure I'll want to include it in the Modifications list.)

[boyscout]

Since the issue of bonding plugs has come up in this thread, the article at the link below might be of interest to some.

https://www.rvtravel.com/rv-electric...onding-basics/

[howson]

Since the issue of bonding plugs has come up in this thread, the article at the link below might be of interest to some.

https://www.rvtravel.com/rv-electric...onding-basics/

Excellent resource! I added the link (and credited you appropriately) in Jim's Bonding Plug thread. Thanks for posting the link, Mark.

[Beachcamper]

I have got a lot of reading to do! Thank you guys for all the information I will go back to the posts mentioned and of course pictures of your setups would be great not just for me but for the forum.

From Mike Sokol:

”Here’s a really simple test you can do to see if your generator has a floating neutral. Just plug in a basic 3-light tester that you can buy from any big box store for $5 or less, and see if it shows an open ground. If you get an open ground indication, then the generator likely has a floating neutral and needs a N-G bonding plug to work with an intelligent/EMS surge protector. If you get the proper indicator lights showing it has a ground, then you don’t need an external N-G bonding plug.”

Micro Start has a bonding plug:

[Beachcamper]

Beachcamper
Hi Vivian,

Do you carry anything else "permanently" in the forward part of the truck bed? If not, strap a small generator into one corner and a 30 lb propane tank into the other corner . . . and you have a "ready to use" source of electricity. Plug your usual power cord into the truck mounted generator using the adapter shown in post 12. There are some other considerations to sort through like the mentioned bonding of neutral and ground, plus shutting off shorepower things like the electric water heater and the converter and limiting other power consumption when operating on generator power.

Rob

I can make room behind cab to store the generator and also might make room for an additional propane tank if necessary. Rob if I understand correctly, before I connect RV to generator I turn off breaker to converter charger? How then are the batteries charged?

In Howard’s post he showed a picture of a cover for the generator in case of rain. If I leave it and operate from the truck bed, would the tonneau cover not work same as the generator umbrella cover?

[jwhigham]

A company I used to work for had a Suburban with a MEPS system on board with a high idle switch. 6kw system. We could run that thing as long as we had fuel in the tank and often had to. It’s a fair bit more expensive than a traditional generator though. Went to their headquarters once, they do a lot of integrations with Victron products. There’s other brands that do the same thing out there. Doesn’t hurt to do some looking to see if you find something that meets you budget and needs.

[ncitro]

I can make room behind cab to store the generator and also might make room for an additional propane tank if necessary. Rob if I understand correctly, before I connect RV to generator I turn off breaker to converter charger? How then are the batteries charged?

In Howard’s post he showed a picture of a cover for the generator in case of rain. If I leave it and operate from the truck bed, would the tonneau cover not work same as the generator umbrella cover?

You would leave the converter breaker on, that’s what will charge your batteries. You turn that off when you’re running off an inverter.

[Beachcamper]

You would leave the converter breaker on, that’s what will charge your batteries. You turn that off when you’re running off an inverter.

Thanks Neil, I will be mostly is charging the batteries. Last question: once battery is charged and I then turn off the breaker to the converter charger, will I be able to use any of my 120 outlets in the RV to charge laptop of use a coffee maker? I don’t have an inverter installed.

[howson]

Thanks Neil, I will be mostly is charging the batteries. Last question: once battery is charged and I then turn off the breaker to the converter charger, will I be able to use any of my 120 outlets in the RV to charge laptop of use a coffee maker? I don’t have an inverter installed.

There's no need to turn off the converter breaker unless you're trying to run an inverter. I'll try to explain through a few diagrams. They are highly simplified to convey a point, not to demonstrate how to wire an RV.

In #1, power flows into and through the camper as shown when connected to shore power. Note how the camper gets 12vDC from both the converter and the battery. The Converter both charges the battery and can power the 12vDC devices in the coach.



In #2, the only difference is the generator is providing the 120vAC to the coach. The difference here is the limited power available from the generator--the small 2000W generator will only provide about 12 amps of 120vAC when powered by propane, so power consumption (how many items are on at once) must be carefully managed.

For reference, a coffee peculator can draw up to 10 amps of 120vAC when it's heating the water and making that wonderful morning java. A microwave can draw 15 amps (or more). There's a list in your owner's manual.



#3 shows what's going on when there's no 120vAC source of power.



#4 shows what happens when an inverter is used to generate 120vAC from the battery. Note the converter was left on, which is not good. Can you see the loop that's created? The battery powers the inverter, which in turn powers the converter, which then tries to charge the battery.




#5 shows the converter off when using a fully integrated inverter. Note the battery is doing all the work to provide 120vAC and 12vDC. As a reference, a properly configured system with a Victron Multiplus 3000/12 can provide up to 25 amps of 120vAC to the coach.



I hope that helps...

Howard

[Cate&Rob]

Beachcamper ncitro

Whoops . . . I obviously lost track of the "plan" to use this 120V generator to charge the RV batteries. You would (of course) leave the RV converter on to do this.

Rob