I'm considering replacing - due to excessive noise - the genset on my Breakaway. Althoough I'm favoring a liquid-cooled Honda converted to LPG, I'm also following prices on stock LPG gensets.

What I "don't get" is the significant price diffential between Onan ($2900 delivered) and Generac ($1500 delivered).

Does anyone have experience to be able to explain the 2:1 price differential?

Rusty, I don't know what model Onans you are looking at, but the late Onans I have measured have been very quiet. Generacs are generally noisy, and tend to be louder than their advertised specs. There are also service and parts issues with Generacs. We dumped ours at work as they failed, one by one, as they were not economically or efficiently repairable. Even at a loud airport they were too noisy for us to stand for long.

I share your choice of the Honda RV 6010 or 4010. I have a 6010, but have not installed it yet. When we went solar, the generator noise became a non-issue, as we seldom run it. Microwave and toaster oven is about it. When I get our new gas stove with oven installed, we will use even less genset time. So we still drag our Kohler Klanker around.

Anyway, the companies that rent to movie studios out here use and love the Hondas. They run and run and run, and are pretty fuel efficient. I have measured some, but they are not sound insulated, so much depends on the installation and soundproofing. If you buy one, try to buy it without the overpriced muffler and remote panel. You can do as well on your own for a lot less money. A standard exhaust flange will bolt up. The quietest muffler development work is now in the ATV industry, for deerstalkers. Cabela's sells an add-on muffler that really quietens things down.

A lot of people at star parties have the Hondas for trailers or tents, and even the air-cooled units are extraordinarily quiet.

I suspected that the Generacs are junkeracs. Kohler support is thin in this local area as well.

I may end up with an Onan, and use the Kohler as a back up to my backup home generator or give it to my sister, but oddly enough the EV4010 is cheaper than the 3.6 KW Onan.

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
oddly enough the EV4010 is cheaper than the 3.6 KW Onan.

If you only want to run one air conditioner, the 4010 will do it. Most of the parts are the same. I think just the armature or something is different. Big price difference, though.

You might also consider a pair of EU2000s on a slide-out tray. One will do most of what you need and two will run an air conditioner. Same for a Yam 2400, from what I hear. Theft is an issue with portables, so they need to be made non-portable or enclosed.

I've just got a little Breakaway, and the genset doesn't slide out. And I have only one A/C, which works well to cool my little guy.

I'm tending more towards the Onan Microlite at the moment, as it'll drop in with no major mods (I'd have to get the LPG mod kit for the Honda) and it's lighter...plus my local RV dealer is an Onan rep.

I'd prefer a fixed LPG installation, as the portables, despite their quietness, require gasoline, and I have no storage for that.

There was a Honda EV6010 LPG on eBay just a few days ago.

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
I'm tending more towards the Onan Microlite at the moment, as it'll drop in with no major mods

The Microlite is the quietest gas built-in I have measured. It has the advantage of needing no extra soundproofing like the EV.

Thanks - quiet is as important as anything else...plus there seem to be many more shops equipped to service Onans than any other brand.

So it's on the top of my list, (right after the high-capacity cooling system) as soon as I stop sending my dentists kids through college.