Running the Genny at night!!!!

Blue Oval

Well-known member
We bought our RW 310 for the convenience it would give us when dry camping. As a firefighter I am well aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning. I thought one of the advantages of having the generator would be that you could sleep at night with A/C. The manuals stated numerous times to not use the generator when sleeping. I want to be safe, but don't want to be sweating all night when I'm trying to sleep. Does anyone else run their generator when sleeping? I would keep several windows own and a fan running to keep the air circulating.
 

jnbhobe

Well-known member
I run mine at night when I have to but its very quiet ( Honda ) I know some that use a Gen-Turi that takes the exhaust up over the roof
 

Jim.Allison

Well-known member
The Onan 5500 LP burnes .8 gallons per hour. It would be dangerous if for some reason it entered your rig while sleeping, but this is a game of math. How much CO can enter your rig when your generator is properly exhausted? Your pipe would almost have to be blowing into your rig. Its hard to get much CO from burning .8 gallons per hour, most of that is drifting away in the atmosphere.

That does not sound like much, but CO is not a normal gas. It accumulates in the body over time until you die. It takes longer for the body to remove CO than it does to take it in, this is what makes it so poisonous.

Your alarm should alert you to CO through, So I guess if you wanted to protect yourself from the unlikely but deadly event of being poisoned, by your generator burning .8 gallons per hour, you could add a second CO detector.

People used to sleep with butane or propane heaters burning in their houses. But they had catalyst brick in the stove. There were no CO detectors back then either. But, you would hear from time to time that a family passed away sleeping because of a faulty heater. Then there is your furnace, do you mind sleeping with your furnace on? I dont know the answers to your questions. But this is what I think about when trying to justify doing something that Onan is telling me not to do.

I have not decided what I'm going to do. But this is a good case for having a generator that you can set up away from your rig.

We bought our RW 310 for the convenience it would give us when dry camping. As a firefighter I am well aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning. I thought one of the advantages of having the generator would be that you could sleep at night with A/C. The manuals stated numerous times to not use the generator when sleeping. I want to be safe, but don't want to be sweating all night when I'm trying to sleep. Does anyone else run their generator when sleeping? I would keep several windows own and a fan running to keep the air circulating.
 

TandT

Founding Utah Chapter Leaders-Retired
JMHO, If you plan to run your onboard Onan genny for extended periods, look into getting a Genturi. It will carry the majority of exhaust vapors up and away from the rig.
I made a similar device for around $25 and it works well. There are videos on Youtube showing you how to make one.
Trace
 

danemayer

Well-known member
The manuals stated numerous times to not use the generator when sleeping.

Here's what my Onan manual says:

Never sleep in the vehicle with the genset running unless the vehicle is equipped with a working carbon
monoxide detector. Primary protection against inhaling carbon monoxide, however, is proper
installation of the exhaust system, daily (every eight hour) inspection for visible and audible exhaust
system leaks.

Do you have a working carbon monoxide detector? Is the exhaust system installed correctly and checked periodically for leaks? I would think checking it after travel would be most important since damage to the exhaust system would most likely happen while towing.
 

NWILSON

Kentucky Chapter Leaders - retired
Since CO is an odorless and tasteless gas your only protection while awake is noticing the onset of poisoning symptoms. Since many of us would think little of being a little lightheaded or sleepy during the day our only real protection is the CO detector! Proper maintenance and replacement of all detectors in the rig is paramount. Using a Genturi is an excellent defense. We've had one for 2 yrs and have never heard a peep from the CO detector or even smelled exhaust in the rig. Placement of a second CO detector along with regular exhaust system inspections, as Dan stated, should be as much protection as you could get.
 

jnbhobe

Well-known member
The Onan 5500 LP burnes .8 gallons per hour. It would be dangerous if for some reason it entered your rig while sleeping, but this is a game of math. How much CO can enter your rig when your generator is properly exhausted? Your pipe would almost have to be blowing into your rig. Its hard to get much CO from burning .8 gallons per hour, most of that is drifting away in the atmosphere.

That does not sound like much, but CO is not a normal gas. It accumulates in the body over time until you die. It takes longer for the body to remove CO than it does to take it in, this is what makes it so poisonous.

Your alarm should alert you to CO through, So I guess if you wanted to protect yourself from the unlikely but deadly event of being poisoned, by your generator burning .8 gallons per hour, you could add a second CO detector.

People used to sleep with butane or propane heaters burning in their houses. But they had catalyst brick in the stove. There were no CO detectors back then either. But, you would hear from time to time that a family passed away sleeping because of a faulty heater. Then there is your furnace, do you mind sleeping with your furnace on? I dont know the answers to your questions. But this is what I think about when trying to justify doing something that Onan is telling me not to do.

I have not decided what I'm going to do. But this is a good case for having a generator that you can set up away from your rig.

Since this a Road Warrior we are talking about a gas powered generator.
 

szewczyk_john

Well-known member
I go to to many NASCAR races and do boon docking for any where between 3 and 6 days at each race. We have done New Hampshire for 9 days for years was well. I have used my gas powered generator without any issue. My exhaust comes out between the bedroom slide and underbelly door. I made my own stack to take the exhaust up over the roof line but I did not do this until the second year of ownership. They are really simple to make, the key is leave 3 inches or so of space between the tip of the exhaust pipe and the start of the stack. I used a 90 degree piece of conduit that slides over the exhaust pipe and goes in place of the chrome exhaust tip. I took stainless steel 3/4 inch wide 1/8 inch think stock and made 3 brackets to go from the conduit to three inch PVC pipe.
 

Bohemian

Well-known member
My Onan generator documents say that extensions to the exhaust are NOT to be used.

Independently, the increased exhaust length will increase back pressure and increase the chance of a leak back stream of the exhaust pipe in or under the RV

Also, CO disperses in the air quickly and reacts with O2 to create O3 very quickly. CO only presents a significant danger when trapped in an enclosed space.

Make sure your exhaust pipe is attached correctly and pointed to exhaust beyond the sidewall of the RV.

Some 5th wheel applications exhaust directly out the bottom of the generator. This provides an example of how fast CO disperses and reacts.
 

hoefler

Well-known member
When I installed my generator, Onan 4K, I plumbed the exhaust all the way to the rear of the coach and exited below the ladder. The pipe I used is 1 1/2", the generator has 1"exhuast from the motor, and use a Venturie on it. Have run it for hours with out issue.
 

porthole

Retired
OP - since you are a FF, you probably know the real reason that CO is so deadly and it is not the reason mentioned above.

That said, every heartland factory installed genny has exhaust exiting from under the left side (there are a few SOB toy haulers that exited the right side).

Most of the HL's exit between the slides. I'm pretty sure your 310 is the same as our Cyclone 3010, exiting between the slides but under a basement door. Was never crazy about that.

There is a reason building codes require all "flame" devices exhaust a minimun of 5' from any opening or window in a buiding.

The factory installs "use" to come with a chrome tailpipe extension that pushed the exit out past the sidewall of the trailer.

- I have to switch to my iPad, I'll finish in a bit -

We are on our 6th season and only twice did the CO detector alert. Both times was after 8 or more hours of use and both times overnight. One occasion I attributed to our being parked next to a steep slope. The front of the trialer was very low to the ground and the left side had a hill the was well above the roof of our rig.

The second time was during a 100 degree stint at Dover speedway with zero breeze.

I have since added a Genturi pipe extension to put the draft above the roof line. FYI, with Genturi you will most likely need the 18" extension to clear our roofs.

Two notes, Bohemian mentioned extensions are not to be used. The manual is referring to extending your tailpipe with hard pipe. The Genturi has an air gap between it and the genny exhaust. This just pulls a draft and redirects the exahust up over the roof.

I do use an 18" extension on occasion to just assure the exahust is clear of the rig.

Hoefler mentioned plumbing all the way to the rear of the trailer.
I have considered this a few times. If you search online you can find a calculator to determine what size pipe is needed based on the length of run and number of turns (90's).
Onan, although diffulcult to find, does list the exhaust requirements as far as piping and back pressure requirements are.

You are right to be concerned, regardless of burning .8 GPH on propane or .6 gph on gasoline, both scenarios produce CO.

Open windows (obviously away from the exhaust) are your best bet along with a properly operating CO detector. Besides the factory installed hard wired 12 volt detetor I alos have a battery powered hosehold type.

And of course, if really concerned, just don't do it.
 

TandT

Founding Utah Chapter Leaders-Retired
My Onan generator documents say that extensions to the exhaust are NOT to be used.

The Genturi design is not an exhaust extension per se, where the genny has to push all the way to the end.
It actually pulls the exhaust pressure out of the tailpipe causing no more back pressure than the stock tailpipe. Trace
 

porthole

Retired
Using the heat of the exhaust, it creates an updraft in the pipe, which in turn pulls air from around the venturi at the bottom as well as the exhaust.

The test for the Gen-turi once installed is to place a small piece of paper at the venturi and have it pushed up and out the top of the pipe.

Duane
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 

Jim.Allison

Well-known member
Carbon monoxide poisoning is the most common type of fatal air poisoning in many countries.[SUP][23][/SUP] Carbon monoxide is colorless, odorless, and tasteless, but highly toxic. It combines with hemoglobin to produce carboxyhemoglobin, which usurps the space in hemoglobin that normally carries oxygen, but is ineffective for delivering oxygen to bodily tissues. Concentrations as low as 667 ppm may cause up to 50% of the body's hemoglobin to convert to carboxyhemoglobin.[SUP][24][/SUP] A level of 50% carboxyhemoglobin may result in seizure, coma, and fatality. In the United States, the OSHA limits long-term workplace exposure levels above 50 ppm.[SUP][25][/SUP] Within short time scales, carbon monoxide absorption is cumulative, since the half-life is about 5 hours in fresh air.
 

szewczyk_john

Well-known member
I have never used the paper test with my system. I can tell you that when you put your hand new the air gap you will feel the breeze of air being sucked up the stack. It works that well. At most NASCAR events you get parked close to your neighbors. with slide outs on both sides of the newer trailers you are really close to each other. I would be blowing my exhaust right under the next trailers canopy or even their slide out.

New Hampshire Speedway has 18 foot wide Rv lots. That 18 feet is for RV, slide outs and canopy. You can pay more for 20 foot wide spots. One year I had a neighbor that had an issue with slide out mechanism and in order for us to work on it, I had to close my slide outs since there was not enough room to walk between the slides.
 

szewczyk_john

Well-known member
This would be another good question to ask the Onan representative at the next National Rally when they come for a seminar, right Duane? One of us need to remember about this thread!
 

Bohemian

Well-known member
Using the heat of the exhaust, it creates an updraft in the pipe, which in turn pulls air from around the venturi at the bottom as well as the exhaust.

The test for the Gen-turi once installed is to place a small piece of paper at the venturi and have it pushed up and out the top of the pipe.

Duane
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

I see.

It has a great big leak at the bottom that prevents backpressure.

Then, it has the potential of moving the exhaust gasses up over the roof by the chimney effect.

Yet, I visited the CAMCO Manufacturing web site and they present no independent laboratory testing to certify that it either works or is safe. The also have not had it certified by any generator manufacturer, as required by the generator manufactures, to be approved for use on their generator.

I grant you, it looks as if this one probably does no harm, and could possibly do a little good. Of course, we really know nothing without independent testing.
 

porthole

Retired
John, is NH camping on the property like Dover?

We have been fortunate at Dover for 3 years now, no trailers in front or to the sides for 3-4 spaces, which are all about 20x40
 
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