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  1. #1
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    Why no inverter generators onboard?

    As some of you know, I'm in "Onan hell" with my onboard QG on the 351. I was (and still am) considering getting a 3500W inverter genny to put in my truck bed to run while driving if I can't fix the issue with my Onan.

    Anyway, got me thinking, a 3000-3500W inverter is ~1K or so. The genny option on the 351 was about 6K. Why aren't the gennys they put in these RV's inverters? Quiet, much more fuel efficient, probably last longer (few RPMs), cleaner power.. Yes, they are more expensive, but, come on here, there's PLENTY of margin at 4-6K for a 5500 watt genny to turn the electrical head into an inverter. Does anyone even make one of these; an onboard genny that's an inverter in the 4-6KW range?

    This is more a curiosity question than anything else, it seems in portable gennys, inverters are nothing but "pros" (unless you need 220V, none seem to offer that) and a lot of those pros are things that RV's would really like, notably quiet and fuel economy. I'm just wondering, is there some reason other than "we just don't do that yet" we don't have inverters as an option for onboard gensets?

    Something like this:

    https://www.homedepot.com/p/Westingh...00DF/308134845
    Last edited by Overtaxed; 07-28-2020 at 07:48 PM.

  2. #2
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    I wondered the same thing for awhile. My guess is because they don’t have too . Until enough sales are taken away from Onan’s overpriced ancient tech by portables or they get some competition (unlikely with the smallish market). We’ll be stuck with them.
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  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by JKellerJr View Post
    I wondered the same thing for awhile. My guess is because they don’t have too . Until enough sales are taken away from Onan’s overpriced ancient tech by portables or they get some competition (unlikely with the smallish market). We’ll be stuck with them.
    Yeah, 5-6K for what's basically an open frame 5500 watt generator is pretty crazy. And there are so many improvements possible here, inverters is probably the biggest, but how about some other stuff too? Remote oil filters that are mounted upright (drain down), that would be nice. Water cooling? Fuel injection (I'm aware that this is available on their larger models, but, at this price point, come on, FI, should be a given). It's such a high price point that you'd think they could stack a TON of really compelling tech into these things, right?

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    I think their QD's are the most advanced. Pure sine wave output, better modulating engine speeds. But then they are even more expensive. I was briefly researching onboard gensets for the next unit down the road. Running the 2 portables in parallel with the small tanks is not a bunch of fun.
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  5. #5
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    Well, learned something new! Your right, the QD's, or at least the one I looked at, do seem to be inverters:

    https://www.absolutegenerators.com/c...iABEgK_8fD_BwE

    That's an inverter genny, variable RPMs, liquid cooled. Asking price is 8,800 bucks, asking price on the QG5500 (which is what mine uses) is ~5K from Grand Design. Looking at the specs, the QD burns .4G/hr at 1/2 load (3000 watts), where the QG5500 burns .6G/hr at 1/2 load (2750 watts), which, basically, is about 1/2 the fuel per watt created between the two device at 1/2 load. As the load goes down, it gets more and more favorable for the inverter, because, of course, it adjusts itself as the load changes.

    So now I'm wondering 2 things! First off, why not couple that inverter head of the QD6000 to the QG5500 motor? Seems like a pretty reasonable option to me. And 2nd, why on earth doesn't GD offer a diesel genny option?! Even if it's double the price, 10K instead of 5K, some people would be all over that, especially those doing a lot of boondocking. I'd guess that in "real world" use, the inverter + diesel would get you roughly 2X the runtime on the same amount of fuel, or, put another way, cost 1/2 as much to run/hr. No question in my mind, if diesel was offered as an option when buying mine, even at 5K more than gas, I would have bought it. I love diesel engines, they just seem so much better to me (and no fuel varnish/E problems!), liquid cooling, and an inverter (and lower sound levels, incidentally) for 5K more? Yeah, no question, I would have sprung for that.

    https://mart.cummins.com/imagelibrar...es/0056746.pdf

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    Quote Originally Posted by JKellerJr View Post
    I think their QD's are the most advanced. Pure sine wave output, better modulating engine speeds. But then they are even more expensive. I was briefly researching onboard gensets for the next unit down the road. Running the 2 portables in parallel with the small tanks is not a bunch of fun.
    J kind of hit the nail on the head!
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  7. #7
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    The Onan QG is built much more heavy duty than a regular open frame. I would expect considerably more run time out of it before parts start to fail. I do agree though, the price is HIGH. A home backup 20kW generator is the same price. The "built in" nature of the Onan is very basic really. It should be doable to mount in and connect pretty much any generator you want as long as it fits and the floor can take the weight. Just need to make sure there is intake, cooling, and exhaust airflow.
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  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by cookinwitdiesel View Post
    The Onan QG is built much more heavy duty than a regular open frame. I would expect considerably more run time out of it before parts start to fail. I do agree though, the price is HIGH. A home backup 20kW generator is the same price. The "built in" nature of the Onan is very basic really. It should be doable to mount in and connect pretty much any generator you want as long as it fits and the floor can take the weight. Just need to make sure there is intake, cooling, and exhaust airflow.
    Agreed. It doesn't bother me spending the high price that Onan asks, but you'd think that for that price, they could give you the best available tech. You can buy 3-5 3500 watt inverter generators for what an Onan 5500 watt costs, and use 1/3 to 1/2 the fuel over the lifespan of all 3 gennys. You think that 3 inverters would last less, as long, or longer than a single QG5500?

    I've got no problem spending lots of money, just irks me when you buy the "premium" product and there's something that's 1/3rd the cost that has better technology in it. If you're going to sell these things at such a high price, you'd link you'd incorporate the latest/greatest into them. And it's not like the QG5500 is a low volume item! They are basically on every toy hauler I looked at (same model) and a whole lot of other 5er's, TT, and others. They have to sell a ton of them.

    I guess what's actually happening here; there's simply no competition in the market at all. I've never seen anything BUT an Onan. So why spend any money at all, sure, we could probably sell it at the same price and provide a MUCH better product, but.. Why? People are buying what we have on the market now. We need Honda or some other big company to come out with a "RV sized" inverter for around 4K. Something that drops in right where the Onan does, same form factor, same exhaust/intake setup. That would kick it into gear over there, and we'd likely all have inverter/fuel injected gennys for the same price we're paying now real quick.

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    what you may not understand the amount of initial engineering that went into the ONAN RV gen sets -like proper cooling in a very small package, etc. The total RV market may be small enough that the competition has decided not to play in that market.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve & Kathy Rasmussen View Post
    what you may not understand the amount of initial engineering that went into the ONAN RV gen sets -like proper cooling in a very small package, etc. The total RV market may be small enough that the competition has decided not to play in that market.
    I'm sure you're right, but there are enough of these things sold every year, you'd think that some advances would happen. And actually, some have, you can get EFI on some of the larger gensets, for example. But coupling an inverter head to these things rather than a "standard" generator really shouldn't be that difficult. I mean, come on, if Harbor Freight can figure it out (copy it from Honda) I find it difficult to believe that Onan cannot. I'm sure they are using that 5K cost to recoup a lot of their development costs, but.. Think they might have made it back by now?!

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