Sleeping over the Onan and other generator questions

D

dave silva

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Oct 2, 2009
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So i got this 23' foot coach with a Dometic portable generator. Jim bounds made a heroic effort in 2012 to develop a cheap quiet solution but
ultimately it did not work out.

Since then quiet inverter generators have gotten a lot cheaper so there are other solutions.

Initially i wanted to go back to Onan. I love old Onans and i can make them behave (Smokestak.com is your friend)

But then it occurred to me the generator would be under our bed. How would that work? I live in the South- it does not cool down at night in July at
Myrtle Beach.

We mostly travel with hookups but i'd like to not have to.

SO how many of you can sleep over a running generator?

I'm wondering if it would not work better to have a portable? May on an extended fuel line to run in or out of the generator compartment?

Also, what is the normal fuel delivery for the onan? Jim's Dometic project required running a line from the drain bung on the aft tank.

--
Dave & Ellen Silva
Hertford, NC

74 Birchaven, 1-ton and other stuff
 
I know many people that can sleep over
That onan. Those people are Not me.

I could not handle the noise, or the vibration. I also
Could not sleep with the possibility of co problems. Even though a couple good alarms should be ok for that.

Most times at night I either have shore power(one reason I changed to a efficient a/c so i dont need much amps
To run). Or it is always cool at night. Couple
Times just suffered a little.

I have a portable inverter for some situations. And a 50’ 12-2 cord.

If you have to have A/C to sleep at night. Get
A good portable. Champion 3000w for price has been provem
To be good.

--
Jon Roche
75 palm beach
EBL EFI, manny headers, Micro Level, rebuilt most of coach now.
St. Cloud, MN
http://lqqkatjon.blogspot.com/
 
Personally I don’t like the idea of sleeping over a monoxide producing device as a general practice. Not so sure about the long fuel line trip
hazard being “code”. Also if you are locating the gen far enough away for quiet, I would 1) upsize the cord set by at least 1 size over the
rating to minimize Voltage drop, and 2) go considerably larger with an inverter gen over what the advertised output is. Maybe double? They do not
behave like the high rotating mass Onan during compressor start, or attempted start.
--
John Lebetski
Woodstock, IL
77 Eleganza II
 
Dave,

I can report that we have slept over the Onan more than a few times. I know I slept well. Yes, we have a CO monitor. (That is due for replacement
this year.)
It was foregone that I would because any time we were undersail, I would wake as some as something moved wrong, but as soon as they cranked up the
mill (we were no longer racing) I would crash.

The drone of the Onan can be kind of soothing.

Small GMC joke here. Twice we did this because the house bank was bad and would not support the heater over night. On a later excursion, I forgot to
take the electric heater off (normally useless as we rarely buy a slip in a cramp ground) so I plugged that in and the propane heat barely ran with
OAT a low teens F.

If you are worried about exhaust, look up Gen-turi and buy or build one.

Ours is just about anvil reliable. Once you fit he Pertronix to replace the points and deal with the loose connections, they really good. I'm sorry
Jim Bounds doesn't have the patience to deal with them.

Matt
--
Matt & Mary Colie - Chaumière -'73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL, GMCES
Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan with OE Rear Drum Brakes with Applied Control Arms
SE Michigan - Near DTW - Twixt A2 and Detroit
 
I never sleep well in the GMC Onan or not.
No waterbed in the GMC.
--
1977 Kingsley 455 as stock as it gets except lots of Ragusa parts
 
I have slept many nights at the Hotel Walmart with the Onan humming away running my two roof airs. I never hear another car or truck pulling in or
out of the lot with the noise of the generator and roof airs running. In fact, the noise is usually loud enough to drown out the Walmart security
guard trying to kick me out of the parking lot at 1AM but not always. Sometimes, I get an overzealous security guard who won't give up. If I do hear
them, they are usually courteous enough to refer me to a near by parking lot that is not patrolled.

I am finding now that the Indian Casino's offer a more peaceful night's rest without disturbance from security.

Fewer and fewer Walmarts seem to be allowing overnight parking. Part of it seems to be attributed to the Covid pandemic. Because of the pandemic, the
stores are not open 24hrs/day and as a result the parking lots are deserted from late night shoppers. A GMC with shades drawn and an Onan running is
a pretty obvious target for security. Hoping this will improve when the pandemic ends. From what I have been reading, camp grounds are overbooked
because of the increased RV usage this past year.

One great addition this past year to "sleeping on the road", has been the RV facilities that Ohio has opened along I-80. These are terrific. There is
no need to get off the toll road and find a Walmart or campground. You pull into a toll road service center and just to the right are sites with
electrical hookups. For a twenty dollar bill placed in the machine, you have all the power you need for the night. There is a dump station, but no
water or sewer hookups there.
 
Dave,

I just realized that nobody answered your sub-question and there is a problem.

What you have is a Coachman Birchhaven. As the final fitout was not done by GM or their contractor, this is a 50% bet.
The GM and Gemini upfit coaches all use a separate fuel pickup from the rear (aka Main) fuel tank. This pick up is about a quarter short of the tank
bottom. The plan is that you can't run the coach out of fuel by running the APU. (Not a bad thought?)
I have been told but never verified that Coachman tapped into the main fuel pickup to provide for the APU.

This is not as bad as it could be because the APU still cannot suck the auxiliary tank dry.

Matt
--
Matt & Mary Colie - Chaumière -'73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL, GMCES
Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan with OE Rear Drum Brakes with Applied Control Arms
SE Michigan - Near DTW - Twixt A2 and Detroit
 
> Dave,
>
> I just realized that nobody answered your sub-question and there is a problem.
>
> What you have is a Coachman Birchhaven. As the final fitout was not done by GM or their contractor, this is a 50% bet.
> The GM and Gemini upfit coaches all use a separate fuel pickup from the rear (aka Main) fuel tank. This pick up is about a quarter short of the
> tank bottom. The plan is that you can't run the coach out of fuel by running the APU. (Not a bad thought?)
> I have been told but never verified that Coachman tapped into the main fuel pickup to provide for the APU.
>
> This is not as bad as it could be because the APU still cannot suck the auxiliary tank dry.
>
> Matt

Thanks. For some reason JB chose to pull full off the drain bung. I'd like to change that.

--
Dave & Ellen Silva
Hertford, NC

74 Birchaven, 1-ton and other stuff
 
Matt's correct: To supply the Onan, Coachmen merely inserted a tee into
the main tank supply hose where it descends from the top of that rear
tank. That kept them from having to drop the tank to connect to the
dedicated fitting which GMC DID install (plugged) in the tank. Some have
attributed engine fuel starvation problems to the competition between the
455 and the Onan -- I've never had such a problem, even when I still ran
the Onan.

Ken H.

On Wed, Dec 23, 2020 at 11:56 PM dave silva via Gmclist <

> > Dave,
> >
> > I just realized that nobody answered your sub-question and there is a
> problem.
> >
> > What you have is a Coachman Birchhaven. As the final fitout was not
> done by GM or their contractor, this is a 50% bet.
> > The GM and Gemini upfit coaches all use a separate fuel pickup from the
> rear (aka Main) fuel tank. This pick up is about a quarter short of the
> > tank bottom. The plan is that you can't run the coach out of fuel by
> running the APU. (Not a bad thought?)
> > I have been told but never verified that Coachman tapped into the main
> fuel pickup to provide for the APU.
> >
> > This is not as bad as it could be because the APU still cannot suck the
> auxiliary tank dry.
> >
> > Matt
>
> Thanks. For some reason JB chose to pull full off the drain bung. I'd
> like to change that.
>
> --
> Dave & Ellen Silva
> Hertford, NC
>
> 74 Birchaven, 1-ton and other stuff
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
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>
 
Yeah Ken, at about 1 GPH fuel rate on the Onan, I don’t think that’s why the Qjet is on a fuel starved diet off the T fitting.
--
John Lebetski
Woodstock, IL
77 Eleganza II
 
I noticed that someone referred to the rear tank with the siphon tube for
the ONAN as the Auxillary tank. That, i believe is incorrect. The rearmost
tank is the Main, not the Aux. On GM built coaches, that is where the
siphon tube for the ONAN is located. On Coachman built coaches like ihe
Birchaven and Royale, they "T'd" off the main supply hose to the onan.
Jim Hupy
Salem, Oregon

On Thu, Dec 24, 2020, 7:04 AM John R. Lebetski via Gmclist <

> Yeah Ken, at about 1 GPH fuel rate on the Onan, I don’t think that’s why
> the Qjet is on a fuel starved diet off the T fitting.
> --
> John Lebetski
> Woodstock, IL
> 77 Eleganza II
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>
 
I had a Norris upfit with the genset teed off the fuel line. It wasn't missing the genset connection, Norris was just too lazy to drop the tank and
use it. This might be the case with the Coop, or you might have one of the few coaches without the fitting, either from the factory or because
someone put another tank on and it was a front tank.

--johnny
--
Foolish Carriage, 76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
Braselton, Ga.
I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell
 
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