Diesel generator onboard Solitude

[Nuffsaid]

Here is my setup.

[cookinwitdiesel]

Very nice setup! Not really comparable to the more compact units they throw in RVs though typically is it? Is that an air cooled or liquid cooled unit? I like the idea of feeding it from the trucks diesel supply, makes sense and keeps it and the weight out of the trailer.

So folks with an S-Class/Solitude have not had any issue swapping out the factory 30# tanks for 40s? That is something I am very interested in doing as myself. I can keep the 30s as backups then (I assume they would fit upright in the passthrough? Down the road I would love to get solar but just pricing out batteries and inverters kept that from getting spousal approval for the time being.

[jbarnes4868]

If you plan to dry camp for an extended time propane is a major pain. Three days in the woods with 50% AC and you are out of propane. Try to find propane at these remote areas? I’m trying to figure out gas tank placement in my rig.

[[email protected]]

I do want to clarify something about gasoline generators. You can mitigate the storage issues by using ethanol-free fuel. It does not have the issues that fuel with ethanol has. You can additionally treat it with something like Seafoam for really extended storage. We have 30+ gallons on board in our Momentum (usually closer to 60), and I've never had an issue starting or running the generator. It's available just about everywhere now. Pure-gas.org can help you find a local supplier.

The other key is to start the generator and run it for at least 1 hour 2 times a month. According to a local Onan tech I had the chance to talk to while he was working on a full-building backup unit at my former employer (they work on everything Onan), if you do that and run ethanol-free fuel and do regular oil changes, you can prevent 99 percent of the issues that will come up on the smaller Onan units.

[Txfivver]

Very nice setup! Not really comparable to the more compact units they throw in RVs though typically is it? Is that an air cooled or liquid cooled unit? I like the idea of feeding it from the trucks diesel supply, makes sense and keeps it and the weight out of the trailer.

So folks with an S-Class/Solitude have not had any issue swapping out the factory 30# tanks for 40s? That is something I am very interested in doing as myself. I can keep the 30s as backups then (I assume they would fit upright in the passthrough? Down the road I would love to get solar but just pricing out batteries and inverters kept that from getting spousal approval for the time being.

Yes the 40 pound tanks fit just fine. My dealer threw in a couple at delivery and I bought 2 more 30 pounders. If need be I can carry all 6 bottles (200 lbs) of propane with me for extended use. The 40's are a bit of a bear to lift up into the compartment when full though lol

[cookinwitdiesel]

Yes the 40 pound tanks fit just fine. My dealer threw in a couple at delivery and I bought 2 more 30 pounders. If need be I can carry all 6 bottles (200 lbs) of propane with me for extended use. The 40's are a bit of a bear to lift up into the compartment when full though lol

Got to have something for my 31 year old body to do About the weight of 2x 20# tanks each?

[Txfivver]

Got to have something for my 31 year old body to do About the weight of 2x 20# tanks each?

Yes I would say that's close. The 40's are a bit of a pain but they sure are nice to have especially with the generator, it drinks like a sailor on shore leave lol. (no offense to any Navy folks on here!)

[cookinwitdiesel]

Ya, the generator is a big part of why I want the 40s haha

Res. fridge in my trailer so only other propane use is grill, stove, furnace, and water heater. Of those, only the furnace would be a big consumer and then only part of the time each year.

[Misfit]

I have an onan 5500 watt quiet diesel, I got it used and made some repairs to it, so I have a very small investment in it. If I needed a new gen set I would probably replace it with the same. I opted to put the gen set in the bed of my truck in front of my fifth wheel hitch since I already have a 60 gallon fuel tank. I plumbed the gen set in directly to the fuel tank, so I can run it a looooooong time. I have it wired for 220 volts and even though it is only capable of around 25 amps per leg, I have no issues with running both a/c's in hot weather. To put it in perspective, my 3500 watt Honda EX gas generator would trip the 29 amp main breaker running only 1 a/c unit and I had to turn off the power converter to be able to run the a/c without tripping the breaker in Denver when I picked up my 310gk. This being said, I don't think I would put the diesel unit in the front storage area. To hard to get to to service it. Before I had the Solitude, I had the Onan mounted on a custom platform on the rear of my Holiday Rambler Alumascape. I had a 6 gallon outboard motor fuel tank and carried extra 5 gallon fuel cans. You can run red off road fuel in the diesel generator too. The Onan is very quiet and I have run it down to -10F without issues with treated fuel and synthetic oil.

@Nuffsaid
I have a 375 RES and a diesel generator I was going to hook up. The generator I have has an L14-30R (120/240V) receptacle, an L6-30R (240v) receptacle and L5-30R (120V) receptacle.
How did you wire the outlet from the QD into the 50 amp RV plug? I assue you have similar 30 amp plugs on your QD and are hooking into the 50 amp plug.

[Misfit]

Nevermind, I got it.