Generator Fuel Consumption

[Petervs]

Ken, YES you can run the Webasto from the inverters, actually, the inverter is not even in use, it just runs on 12 volt battery power. That is the whole point of having the Webasto.

If the generator was running, you could use the heat pump AC/heat but that would use more fuel and make more noise for the same heat output.

Jon, I suppose you are still driving stick shift cars so you know what gear you are in? Come on now, you really can teach some old dogs new tricks, the only thing you need to do is forget some previously learned habits that are no longer necessary.

Try not running the generator when you stop one day, you will not die, no less comfort will be felt by those in your coach ( unless you need AC) and all of a sudden that warm glowing feeling will come over you because you have now saved some fossil fuel and are delaying the global warming process by a few minutes.

Try it, you'll like it!

[lewpopp]

Ken,

Are you sure you have 8- 4D batteries and not 6- 4D batteries?

[truk4u]

The worse thing you can do is to not run your gen long, hard and often. Powertec explained to me in detail, "you bus guys with the big gens don't use them, they're designed to run 20,000 plus hours before overhauls."

I dry camp often and if not real hot and don't need the air, I do the same as Ken, run in the morning and again in the evening and I always let the chargers get to float before shutting down. You can't top a battery bank unless you get to float!

Like Jon, I won't use the auto-start while dry camping unless it has the capability of starting at 12.2 volts.

This thread is going to get real interesting!

[rfoster]

I am convinced global warming is over, oil/gas prices are down, I am running the generator and when I grow up I want to be like Jim Keller.



Flying J-- Knoxville fuel $2.19.9 gal. Sunday night.

[Coloradobus]

We run our generator all the time, all the time when dry camping. In National Parks we run it the entire day before quiet time sets in.
At the flying J, we run it all night from the moment we stop for the day.
Kohler, like the Power Tech guys, and Marathon (Leon), have over and over lectured us to RUN the genset.
We Rarely use the Webasto, now. I wish we didn't have one. Superbus1 doesn't use a Webasto or like product, their coaches are completely electric.
After seviceing our Webasto recently (been 2 years of running only to assist for hotwater), (Jon pointed to our smoke in Spearfish), we needed a new burn tube and ofcourse a nozzle and filter.
Nozzle was $14.00, burn tube was several hundred dollars from the source,(we live 35 miles from Vehicle Systems/Aquahot.) For the money spent on Webasto parts, it wiould take a many hours of running the genset to burn that much diesel.
Our cruise airs, and definitely the Webasto, makes more noise than our genset. We were even accused of running our genset during quiet hours one chilly Yellowstone night by the campground host (nazi), We needed a civil assist from the Grant Village local Ranger to help prove the noise from our coach was from the Webasto, and not the genset. since that time, we don't use the whining Wesbasto.
We often ask ourselves why Marathon installs 3 different froms of heating in the coach, its more cost, more weight, and more maintenance.
As Jon said, if you don't use the genset and really make it work, it will carbon up and not run well.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Peter,

I believe you are catching on. The two vehicles I drive almost exclusively are manual transmission, and if I had my way the bus would have one also.

Automatic stuff is for sissies.

[truk4u]

Jim the Tool Man,

I fueled a day before you at Flying J, 201 marker and had no problem with the RV pump. At least 4 of the truck islands were closed and they had a back-up on the truck side. It's slower than the truck for sure, but at least my shoes weren't covered in diesel fuel after pumping 160 gallons. 2.20 a gallon, not bad!

[Jeff Bayley]

I won't keep reposting the same thing about my aux. generator fixation but I use it and like it. The link below will suffice for those interested. To add a comment or two, most small inverter gens have a 12volt charger built in and you use cord with two alligator clips and the other end plugs into the gen. If I just want to keep my batteries topped off to keep up with the fridge, TV or using the Aqua Hot, I open the battery bay and connect that to the battery bank. Ultra quiet, uses less fuel but mostly give me peace of mind if I want to keep my batteries up all night, like if I'm using the Webasco. I'm had the turbo burn up on the gen one time about 10pm at night and ambled out of the coach and happen to see the smoke. Ever since then, I can't sleep well with the gen on and my batteries wont' make it through the night to keep above 12.2 for the Webasco or to keep the fridge going. Most would say that I'm not maintaining the batteries right and that may be the case. I bought new Interstate batteries, made sure not to abuse them.....kepping them above 12.2 and they still suck. Had them load tested recentley by independent (not Interstate) and they said they were ok. My battery issues getting off topic, but that's why I gave up on getting a good cycle out of them and toss the small aux gen on them when I want to keep them up. I can also plug it into the shore power cord, turn down the charge rate on the inverters/chargers and run one A/C all night long on 2 gallons of gas. The only drawback to all this is keeping a couple 5 gallon jugs of gas in the bay but so far no explosions. Still here.

More details below.

http://forum.prevostownersgroup.com/...nerator&page=4

[Yankee802]

Automatic stuff is for sissies.

After all it is a luxury coach right?

Seems kinda like an oxymoron.

(I couldn't resist)

[jelmore]

Flying J-- Knoxville fuel $2.19.9 gal. Sunday night.

Flying J in Ft. Pierce, all truck islands closed (no fuel?). Pilot was $2.51 or so. Monday.