I picked up a cheapo multi-meter from Harbor Freight and have been playing with it a little. The house outlets read 122 volts. I started the genny and when it first came on line the outlets were reading 144, but after a few minutes they dropped to 124. I fired up the rooftop air and the outlets read 114. I'm all ears!!

A spike from the genset can be normal, but it should last no more than a few seconds. The voltage drop on the A/C may be normal - fire up the microwave and see what the reading is. If it drops further, bad connection somewhere, or too-small wires.

I don't know what type of regulator there is on your generator, it could be the "resonance" type. without getting to technical, that type of regulator depends on the generator speed to determine the voltage, if the generator is running exactly at 60 Hz, then the output voltage should be right at 120VAC or whatever the name plate says.

If when first starting the generator, the RPM is a bit high, the frequency will be a bit high also AND so will the voltage.

If you had a Kill-A-Watt, you could select the frequency readout and I would be willing to bet it is higher then 60 Hz for the first couple of minutes. When things warm up and settle down then the generator slow a bit and may be closer to 60 Hz and the output voltage should be right on.

If it is not that type of regulator, then something is slightly off for the first couple of minutes but as long as the long term voltage doesn't go higher then 136 VAC, you should be OK.

Thanks guys. A cuppla things, when the genny is first started it doesn't come on-line for about a minute, I assume this is normal to let everything settle down, and when I said house outlet I meant in the house, not the coach. The genny is all original from 81 so whatever they used then is what's in it now.

When I start my genset the voltage jumps to @130vac according to my Fluke meter. It drops to @118vac within a few seconds. I have a selector switch (gen/off/shore) so when I start the genny the switch is off. Once it runs about a minute and the idle is steady, I turn the switch to gen. The voltage drops to @115vac with the A/C running.