Adding a Generator

We have a 2015 Big Horn 3755FL and would like to add a generator to the unit...since this would be an after market item what would be the expected cost of this item?...I asked at the dealership where we purchased the unit and they said about $6K for a 5500 generator..that seemed high to me...I loved the generator we had in the toy hauler we had..it was gas...but I am concerned about running this generator on Propane...what would the cost be to run for say 4 hours?..

Unless you plan on running both air conditioners at the same time, you can get by with a 3600 watt generator. 3600 watts equals 30 amps. A Onan this size will use about 0.6 gallons of propane per hour. The advantage of propane is that the fuel does not go bad. The carburetor will not gum up.

Thank you for that information...we don't plan on boondocking but we do live in a Hurricane area and I felt more secure knowing we had a way to have power if we lost it in the house. We did use the generator a few times on long trips...not stopping overnight ..just pulling over and chillin' out for awhile...One AC..a slide or two ..the fridge and one TV would be what I would want to have on with the
generator.....is that too much?..we have had several RVs but are totally lost on how to maintine one....if it breaks we take it back to dealer..we need some RV owner classes....lol

Special ordering the generator when the coach is being built has the MSRP of $5918 for the 5.5 kw Onan LP.
Negotiating the price on a new rig package could get that down to about $4500.
Since it is a pain to install aftermarket and a lot easier while the rig is being built, the six grand quoted by your dealer might be in the ballpark.
Try to negotiate a bit.

Peace
Dave

alethaj said:

We have a 2015 Big Horn 3755FL and would like to add a generator to the unit...since this would be an after market item what would be the expected cost of this item?...I asked at the dealership where we purchased the unit and they said about $6K for a 5500 generator..that seemed high to me...I loved the generator we had in the toy hauler we had..it was gas...but I am concerned about running this generator on Propane...what would the cost be to run for say 4 hours?..

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I think most people here will tell you the easiest thing to do would be to add a Honda or Yamaha 3000 watt generator. That will run everything you have quietly unless you have two AC units.

http://www.norwall.com/

Here is the link, no freight, no sales tax 2% discount for cash and $100 gift certificate to lowes for Cummins Onan 5500 LP.

With gen prep, your project should be about $3800 or less. Without gen prep, you will be in the $4000 arena because you will need a transfer switch. You can go with all the bells and whistles by adding a progressive industries surge protector for another $150 bucks. So a good estimate without gen prep is around 4200 complete with goodies. With gen prep 3950 with goodies.

If you are not gen prepped, then you will need some wire, a transfer switch, some conduit, miscellaneous electrical parts and I would install a permanent surge protector.

I prefer this install, but there is another way.

if you are not gen prepped;

Install the generator in the garage, wire in a 220 outlet to match your power cord, plug your power cord in as if it was shore power. You're done.

I know because I did it..........I was gen prepped and I spent less than 4k. BTW if you are gen prepped, be sure that you open your transfer switch and REMOVE the yellow lockout that keeps the transfer switch in the shore power position. Dont be scared, the transfer switch contains no boogie men and the schematic is clear. Hook it up as the instructions and drawing shows it will be clear to you how it works. But be sure to remove the lock out.

alethaj said:

We have a 2015 Big Horn 3755FL and would like to add a generator to the unit...since this would be an after market item what would be the expected cost of this item?...I asked at the dealership where we purchased the unit and they said about $6K for a 5500 generator..that seemed high to me...I loved the generator we had in the toy hauler we had..it was gas...but I am concerned about running this generator on Propane...what would the cost be to run for say 4 hours?..

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So that's $4200 for a DIY?
Remember, the OP stated "we have had several RVs but are totally lost on how to maintaine one....if it breaks we take it back to dealer".

Peace
Dave

A 6000 quote for a generator requires a 800 gen prep. So you are looking at 6800 bucks. I was quoted 7K plus the 800 for the gen prep.

Get it done for you if you think you will have a hard time doing it, but it is a very easy install if you have a gen prep. it's a little more difficult if you don't have a gen prep; you will have to buy a starter switch from onan and run some electrical and signal wires. You will need a good voltmeter also.

And yes you will have to run a gas line from the LP bottles to the regulator and an appliance hose to the generator. You will also need to tie into your battery system or dedicate a batt to the gen. I prefer to have a dedicated batt for the gen.

The major advantage to doing the work yourself is becoming intimate with their rig. Along with saving money.

I have a gas powered onan in my unit, I used a Honda 3000iu with my SOB trailer. I love the easy of use with the onan, just hit a button and you have electric. Plus I do not have o worry about securing the Honda anymore. I just assumed that most of the higher level heartland trailers came with a generator, gas or propane. I was surprised by the number of units I saw at the Urbanna rally that did not have the generator installed. I was in your position about 8 years ago and was happy with the honda 3000. If I was in your position I would buy a honda 3000 or even two of the 2000 and the cable to run them together. You can use them with any unit or house, plus this way you have the option of running one or both of them. The are lighter weight wise than the 3000. The Honda use less gas than the onan. I still have mine for the house and even used it this past winter for a power outage. Just my 2 cents

I rode the steam train from Chama NM to Antonito Co last week and I noticed a Honda 4000 watt generator mounted under the hospitality car. It was the first one I had ever seen. I was impressed by it. I dont know if I would buy one but it certainly was a qualifier. What I liked about it was that it had all the different outlets available on the front and it was compact. It was also a LP which for me has its advantages. It must have been durable because the cradle under the car was built for it and it was obvious that it had been there rain or shine for several years providing power for the hospitality car. I have the Onan 5500, I would not trade but had I known about his Honda my rig might be a little different today....lol

szewczyk_john said:

I have a gas powered onan in my unit, I used a Honda 3000iu with my SOB trailer. I love the easy of use with the onan, just hit a button and you have electric. Plus I do not have o worry about securing the Honda anymore. I just assumed that most of the higher level heartland trailers came with a generator, gas or propane. I was surprised by the number of units I saw at the Urbanna rally that did not have the generator installed. I was in your position about 8 years ago and was happy with the honda 3000. If I was in your position I would buy a honda 3000 or even two of the 2000 and the cable to run them together. You can use them with any unit or house, plus this way you have the option of running one or both of them. The are lighter weight wise than the 3000. The Honda use less gas than the onan. I still have mine for the house and even used it this past winter for a power outage. Just my 2 cents

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Since unless you ordered gen prep, you probably don't have it. My recommendation based on what you said your goal was (to have power/piece of mind) is to go with a stand alone Yamaha or Honda. I use the Honda 2000i which is very quiet and fuel efficient - I ran most of the day on one fill-up (I don't recall the capacity but it isn't more than a couple of gallons.) The 2000i IS NOT big enough to do air conditioning but...these run about $1000 and you can buy 2 if you really think you need the AC you can parallel them (Honda makes this easy - be sure you get the type that support this - should be the same price, but may add a few dollars). The reason I would prefer two smaller ones instead of one big one is the Honda 2000i gen for example is a little heavier than a 5 gallon can of gasoline, if you get one big one and it is a little harder to move around. Plus one will meet your needs except for the running the AC. This would be a gasoline solution, but use a fuel stabilizer (like Stabil) and exercise them once in a while. The other advantage of this is you could use at the house if power went out - makes it easy since it is not installed in the RV. Now, on my new rig, I have a built in 4k Onan but I ended up using the Honda because the Onan, mounted in the RV, is very noisy (because of vibration and more power) compared to the Honda which I set out by the trees and can't even hear if over the TV because it is so quiet. When I needed AC - for about an hour just to take the edge off, I just lived with the extra noise and ran the on board Onan. Yes, it is convenient to just go to the cabinet and push a button, but, once you start it, you won't be messing with it until you are ready to shut it down. So, is it really worth the effort/extra cost to permanently mount?
Hope you find the answer that works for you.

You have to be careful with what the dealer is telling you about the generator install. There is the Gen prep cost PLUS the generator installation. All generator installs are about 6K and add the gen prep for a total of about 7K, while this is a negotiable item you have to know how it is being priced. The there is a lot of confusion about what a gen prep is. This is what I discovered when I ordered gen prep and later installed my onan. In my opinion the 800 I paid for the prep was worth it.

1) sheet metal heat sheild and sound box
2) generator mount
3) Junction box and wire (routed) from Junction box to transfer switch
4) Transfer switch
5) Onan control panel
6) Onan control wires.

Then my $3750.00 (ordered out of Arizona no sales tax and no freight) LP5500 generator slipped right in. With only a few cuts in the floor of the generator garage for the air intake and exhaust, and a few access holes (dimensions and layout provided by Onan).

I had to buy a LP regulator, a hose to connect to regulator from a cylinder, a cylinder, and a common appliance hose. I did this because I wanted a dedicated cylinder. If you want to run off of LP system it is not necessary the plumbing is already there anyway. All this was about $100. So my total generator cost was in the neighborhood of $4650. And i walked away being very familiar with the system. I forgot to tell you about the $29 I had to spend on my tail pipe.

BTW, anyone who does such an installation is warned to find the transfer switch, and remove the lockout that keeps the transfer switch locked out of the generator default. Mine was bright yellow and I burned up my transfer switch by starting the generator without removing it. It tried to default to the generator and could not so it burned up the transfer switch.

As far as mickey mousing around general purpose generators, just buy what goes in it, increase the value of your rig and enjoy it. That is what you bought the rig for right? I have researched it pretty good and I will tell you it comes down to watts. How many watts do you need and how much do they cost. Nothing is free. Pound for pound and watt for watt, you cannot beat the Cummins onan that was made for your rig. So why not have it so that you can turn it on and off from inside your rig, you can install an automatic gen start that will automatically start it when your batts run down or the thermostat call for air-conditioning. There is mickey mouse, poor boy and professional, which would you rather have?

After all if all you want to do is charge batts and watch TV then put in Solar, its much cheaper and just as effective. A generator should run your whole rig and both air-conditioners all at the same time. So I guess what I'm asking is what are your goals? And what will accomplish those goals. I dont think that tent campers and other RVers will appreciate you watching TV with your general purpose generators running after quiet hours. Then there is national forest approved for spark arresters and noise.

I recommend a good clean installation of a quality generator big enough to handle your rig, if you cant do the onan install then get the Big Honda, but then you have a less than desirable installation. - good luck in your endeavour. I hope I have helped.

There is some great experience and advice contained here and as a newbie I appreciate members taking the time to offer free advice. Sometimes it is worth just what you paid for it but most times, it is sage wisdom from those who really have been there and really do know.

We're taking delivery of our new 3875FB Big Horn this week and it is gen ready so I know I'm going to put one in it. With the FB, I am a bit concerned about the nose weight when adding a Onan LP. As someone so eloquently put it, "it's all a matter of what YOU want"....

I'm not planning to go off-grid and hope to always have shore power. My biggest concern is with residential fridge, when we stop for rest stops, dog runs, lunch, etc., it would be nice to charge up and power up for a nap. In the long run, I want a gen to make this very fine unit totally complete and won't be happy until I do. It is gen ready so I know it should be plug and play, just need a rich uncle to buy it for me.

If we get this unit in time, we're going to our first rally next weekend and surely will get lots of parental advice from those fine folks. Hope to see many of you there. (Bullard, TX 10-10-14)

teasac69 said:

If we get this unit in time, we're going to our first rally next weekend and surely will get lots of parental advice from those fine folks. Hope to see many of you there. (Bullard, TX 10-10-14)

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Hi Tim and Beckey,

Hope you get the unit in time to get to Bullard. Even if you don't, as close as you are in Lindale, stop by and meet everyone.