Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I will claim pure ignorance and paranoia on this but is a "generator door" upgrade truly a solution that allows you to keep your generator in a storage area and use it without taking it OUT of your trailer completely?

yes it's just like on a RV so you can run the generator from inside the trailer without having to set the generator outside and run your drop cords.
the thing is that it makes noise even the Honda 2000 and being able the get the generator as far away from the trailer the less you will hear it.
The down side to that is generators are heavy the Honda weighs 65lbs and the gas tank full of gas is almost as heavy and having to carry it 25-50 feet lock it up so someone doesn't want it also and dealing with the drop cords up can work up a sweat in no time.
if you have it in the trailer the better your going to hear it and you have to also crank it and fill it with gas.
if I keep my trailer I am going to build a lockable frame and put it on the front of the trailer.
I think if I were going to have the generator inside I would have a door on both sides of the V with a way to slide it out to crank it and slide it back inside the trailer.

I built a swivel/slide-out platform for my Honda/Craftsman 2500 watt generator (about 65 lbs). The genny is mounted on a "lazy susan" riding on three 35 lb drawer slides; it pulls out of the trailer, swivels to point the exhaust away from the galley/storage area, and sits on a metal brace for added stability. No photos of it in operation, though tested in the garage (haven't used it in the wild yet). Trying to find a good, fold-up, sound absorbing, surround "box" to run quieter in camp.

Jwhite,

I have seen some upgrade options as an "insulated" generator compartment. I guess that makes more sense now. I am a fan of having as many things contained as possible simply due to the easy of packing/setting up and the reduction of helpful people trying to reduce my gear weight by lifting it off of me ). I will have to research dimensions more but I had planned on making my vnose 100 % storage with an exterior door on it so perhaps I will triple insulate it for sound and try some of the slider options you two mention. Thanks!!

WorkingOnIt,

When you get a chance can you post some pics from further back so we have an idea of your whole setup? Is this a galley setup in the back where the door/ramp is?

Thanks for your input. I look forward to hearing about how it works!!!

We have a 2300 W Kipor contractor type generator which has an 8 hr run time and open steel frame that is small enough to go in our tongue box, (big tongue box). I have yet to even take it with us, the solar panel has met all our needs.
One of the problems with an enclose generator box of any sort is heat. Most small generators are air cooled and have no way to let you know they have over heated short of seizing up and becoming junk. I was looking at some way to enclose ours for sound deadening purposes (that have to know every thing aspergers thing) and came to the conclusion I would have to include some sort of fan to ensure cooling and would probably use a radiator fan.

Yes, I was concerned about this. I am leaning more and more into placing it in the vnose and putting in a pass through door that folds down. Then install a drawer on industrial strength slides to be able to slide it out to fill with gas, etc. I will likely put heat sensors in the vnose area and consider how I want to monitor it.

I have seen (but don't have a picture) a steel cage on the rear wall of an RV that encased the generator but allowed for air circulation. There were lockable opening sections that permitted removal when wanted. Fueling was possible when in place. The owner had a small rain shield "roof" over it and some sort of removable canvas or whatever sides for when not being used.

I have used HD drawer glides to mount a generator on. That way I could open the hatch, slide it out into the air and run it. The hatch hinged up for weather protection. The generator was locked to the slide out.

Monitoring systems are only as good as the person doing the monitoring, unless it has an automatic shut off. And is foolproof.

Yes, I agree. I have aquarium on a system that texts and emails me....however without wireless internet in my camper I won't have this. I can, however, write code to turn off the generator once the temperature reaches a certain level. Now that I think of it...a rather basic aquarium controller could be used to adjust a lot on a camper....perhaps a few hours of if/then statements is in order...

Find one of the older Onan air cooled RV generators with the big cooling fans on them. They are cheap and very robust! They have fans that duct the air down and away from the unit. A little on the large/heavy side though.

Cornfused...awesome! Thanks!!

Keep in mind the weight though, I have one on a cart for powering my house in power outages it is one of the 4.0 models it isn't small or light, but they are designed to be ran inside of enclosed spaces and they are very under rated power wise. I they are known to be able to operate well above there rated capacity continuous (I know of a few 4.0's who have operated at 7k for hours and been fine). If you look there was a single cylinder model with the fan on it, but they are a little harder to find than the two cylinder models.

If I were building a trailer again I would have the factory put in 2 large doors one on each side of the V with slides so you can slide the generator out the back side of the trailer and the other side slide out to fill the gas can, For me the Honda 2000 with a extended run tank is the only way to go, well worth the extra cost.
I would think that with both doors open it would get plenty of air and you can always put in a small fan=12volt or 120 this area would also be great for the batteries and lockable
I would have the factory cut the hole for the portable AC also in the front, and make the front V nose as your kitchen counter area, I would also have the doors so you can open it and get to the generator from the inside so you could turn it off without having to go outside.
Even if you decided later to use the generator away from the trailer the space would really come in handy for storage.

cornfused have you had any carburetor or fuel problems with the onan 4000 ?
I bought a toyhauler and it has the same generator >>>>>= and was a big selling point on buying the TH >> but after I got it home it stopped working,I called camping world and they said it cost 160.00 just to test it and that they only replace the carburetors and probably would cost around 500.00 to get it running again.
I am hoping that my buddy can fix it he seems to think that it may have water in the fuel and the carburetor needs to be taken apart or drained.?
I have no idea how old the gas is in the tank the guy I bought it from only said he filled it up, but it was working when we went to get it and after I had it home for a couple days?

hikediveexploregirl wrote:WorkingOnIt,

When you get a chance can you post some pics from further back so we have an idea of your whole setup? Is this a galley setup in the back where the door/ramp is?

Thanks for your input. I look forward to hearing about how it works!!!

I haven't used it in the wild, but set it up and ran it a coupla days before the DinoValley trip on 9/27/13. No pictures yet taken of it working, though here's a picture of it alone in the galley/storage area: It slides straight out about a foot, then rotates counter-clockwise so the exhaust faces the curbside (and exhausts 6" beyond the sidewall). A tubular steel brace fits under the slide out, and supports the weight while running/vibrating. The three drawer slides have the combined weight rating of 105lbs (the genny and swivel base weigh about 65lbs), and if the genny is only pulled out 8", the brace is not needed. I ran it for an hour in my garage, and the brace remained rock-solid throughout (the genny is rubber-mounted on the wooden slide-swivel bases, to minimize hard vibrations). I will try to get some pictures of the set-up in action, this weekend. The swivel feature was necessitated by the 22" space I put it in; if I had the typical teardrop rear slope, there would have been enough room to just slide it in and out.