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How many hrs on you set?
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I once ran into two guys that owned a fishing camp in Northern Ontario that had 2 generators like ours to supply power to the cabins. They started them in the spring and turned them off in the fall when they closed for the season. They needed them running so instead of a crankcase like ours and oil changes they had an external oil supply in the form of a 55 gallon drum of oil for each engine. They just replaced the drum in the spring with a fresh one with new oil in it.
They had a problem with guests who out of habit would turn off lights and other electric stuff when they left the cabins, so periodicaly they hooked a pair of 7000 watt electric heaters to the generators to load them up and just ran them loaded like that for a few hours a month. Both their generators had in excess of 30,000 hours and they saw no signs they were in need of replacement or service beyond clean oil and filters.
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I have a 96 20K Powertech. 156K on Coach and 4900 Hrs on Generator.
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Just went out to check ours again, and we have 1,210 hours with 90,593 miles on the 1992 Beaver XL 40. We run ours at rest areas at lumch, and when we over night at a Camp Wal Mart etc, we run the genset from the time we stop to the next morning when we hit the road.
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2940 hrs.
The thing is on whenever we travel, constant.
Our last trip out, Houston, 24/7 for 9 days.
Only drawback is the noise, I sure get tired of the noise.
BCO
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100,000 miles and 2,300 hours. Oil changes should be at least annually, the acid that builds up is not good. If you want to extend oil changes at least do a full oil analysis annually.
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Like any engine one of the things that adversely impacts its life is short operating cycles. In the case of our generators running them lightly loaded also doesn’t help matters.
They need to get run for longer periods so they can get fully warmed up and any moisture created while warming up is driven off. If moisture is not “boiled” off it contributes to the formation of acids in the crankcase and it doesn’t help the exhaust system either. You actually extend the life of the oil if you run it hard and long, but if you use it for short periods shorten the oil change intervals.
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Came across this old post when I was researching oil weight on generators since I’ve got to service mine this weekend before the weekend of the 4th where it will get a workout for three nights. Mine has had a problem or two over the years but its at 6300 hours and still going strong on a 2003 bus with 168,000 miles!
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2002 Country Coach 93,000 miles and about 2,500 hours. Never shy to use the generator .
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2006 coach, approching 2,000 hours on the Onan 12.5kw generator. The first owner of the coach put just a few hours on it, maybe 200 or so.
In a week we will head out for a 4 day dog show and I’ll start the generator when we leave on Wednesday morning and turn it off when we get back late Sunday night.
I have all the filters, belts, etc. and change the oil/filter every 250 hours and at the 500 hour interval include air filter and fuel filter change. The generator slides out for easy maintenance.
The 12.5kw Onan’s output is a true 50 amp, 240/120 Volt generator so it is just like being plugged in to a 50 amp shore power pole. The Red Cross uses the same generators for 30,000 hours before replacing them, not because they become problematic. They avoid valve adjustment service and the resale value is very high. For them, it is just easier to replace them than begin more than routine maintenance.
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1991 XL Mirage 72,000 miles and 15KW Kubota Gen Set with 210 Hrs on it now. Bought the coach 3 years ago with 51,000 miles and 23 Hrs. on Gen Set.. Coach was purchased new and converted in 91. The old Fella didn’t use it.
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2400 on mine, Powertech 17.5
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Powertech 20kw, 2390 hours, 20 years old, one electric fuel pump + carrying a spare now. Powered the house for 3.5 days during power outage.
Also Kubota tractor, bought new, 11 years, 1650 hours, no hiccups.
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My Gen has 1400 hours and just replaced the fuel pump due to a small fuel leak. Local Napa store supplied the replacement. But while in the process of swapping the fuel pump -d ecided to remove the the belt guard that runs the alternator. Surprised to see how bad of condition the belt was in. Would not have lasted till the next oil change for sure.
I don’t know about everybody elses’ coach but my belt can only be seen if you remove the guard. I suggest you check yours – Having done that I also changed the belt on the radiator fan. In a Liberty it is not too difficult.
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Good heads up Roger, that belt can ruin your drying camping day..
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When you have Gen-Set service one might assume they checked the belt….don’t….found out the hard way also. Now I insist that it gets checked and depending on the difficulty in doing so….replaced…cheap insurance.
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