Transporting Inverter Generator

[90mtx]

Jim,
Lowes is much better for a Military Discount, you verify your service online and it is always associated with your account, how ever you buy (online, phone or in the store). HD will only give it to you instore, they don't use IDme or anything else, not sure why. And they will only give you 10% up to a purchase price of $500, so anything over $500 is just more you pay. I haven't cross shopped HD in a while because of the Military Discount availability, but maybe their prices are lower?

Jonathan

[Marine359]

If you already have a 50to30 dogbone, which most TT owners have, then you can just use the 50amp plug

[Marine359]

Yes Johnathan. That’s why I rarely shop HD. Plus Lowe’s customer service is much better. I remember when I bought a new Deere riding mower a few years ago, sale prices were the same at Lowe’s and HD. It cost me over a hundred bucks less buying from Lowe’s because of the “no limit” mil discount. Lowe’s founded by three vets. Maybe that’s why.

[Old Navy]

Originally Posted by Marine359

If you already have a 50to30 dogbone, which most TT owners have, then you can just use the 50amp plug

Yes, we should all carry one anyway. It just adds to the "awkwardness" of the Champion kit when used with our generators. To bad they use proprietary square parallel ports, as that really limits us to Champion kits only.

[thebunker]

Nice

[Birdie]

Hey Jim,
I just bought a 2019 Canyon V6 and put a deposit on a 2018DS. What are your thoughts on how the truck handles the travel? Thanks

[Marine359]

Originally Posted by Birdie

Hey Jim,
I just bought a 2019 Canyon V6 and put a deposit on a 2018DS. What are your thoughts on how the truck handles the travel? Thanks

Hi Birdie,
I’m fairly pleased with the towing performance of my 2021 Canyon, but if I had it to do over again, I would have gotten the diesel. The decision to buy a 2108ds was driven by the fact that we wanted to stay with a mid-sized pickup, which we bought because my wife didn’t want to drive the F-150 that I really wanted. That being said, the cabin of the canyon is very comfortable and it’s easy to maneuver the MM when hitched up.

Your towing experience will be affected by the hitch you install. We got a Husky Centerline on the recommendation of several other people posting here. At 65mph with crosswinds and passing 18 wheelers, our rig is rock solid. No sway at all. The engine has enough punch to handle our mountain roads, and the factory brake controller works well and provides confidence. However, the engine has to work pretty hard on inclines that are not very steep. In tow/haul mode shifts are delayed, and revs stay pretty high (over 4,000). Fuel economy is horrible when towing. We average just under 10mpg towing vrs 22mpg not towing. with the canyons small gas tank, driving range while towing is only 180 miles. We carry a 5gal gas can because we’re afraid of running out of gas. It’s important you don’t load too much in the truck bed. Cargo capacity is only 1,400lbs. When you subtract hitch weight and the weight of occupants and stuff in the cabin, you have less than 400 lbs of capacity remaining. We have roll up tonneau, cross bars bike rack and bikes. So there’s precious little capacity left to carry extra gas, water can, generator, 20lb propane bottle, and tool box. We’re pretty close to the limit when we hit the road, so we have to put more stuff in the trailer pass-thru than we want, and also tie down some stuff inside the trailer.

I don’t know what the long term will be like for the canyon. So I’ll need to be careful about oil change interval, and will probably switch to synthetic on my next change. Will need to check tranny fluid, and other fluids at closer intervals. Good luck with your canyon, the little engine that could.

[Marine359]

I anxiously awaited delivery of my Champion 2500 dual fuel. Finally arrived from Home Depot on Friday.

Great packaging and quick start instructions. Came with the measured proper oil and a nice funnel. When taking it out of the box, I was shocked at how light it was. 39lbs empty is about right. This could be good for an old guy.

Added the oil, followed starting instructions for propane, and the darn thing would not start no matter what I did. Added a bit of gasoline, and it started right up on second pull. Stopped it, switched back over to propane and it started on first pull after two prime pulls. Now it seems to run fine on either propane or gasoline. Using a free dosimeter app, measured from 25ft 67db on eco, and 77db normal mode. Both time no load. Running 1,500w heater, 72 on eco and 75 in normal mode. No discernible difference in sound from propane to gasoline. Surprise, it’s quieter with a load. Eco handled 1500w easily.

Plan to run on propane only, so as long as it is reliable, I’m pleased that for $540, I got exactly what I needed. Maybe will need another one to run roof air. Will report on that later.

[Marine359]

Correction. Eco won’t do 1,500w. 1,500w normal mode.

[RocknRoll]

Congrats on the Genny!

Did you put it thru a break in?

[Marine359]

Not yet. Just one hour so far. I need to install the hour meter first, then run for another 4 hours. Then change oil to 5w30 synthetic.

[RocknRoll]

Jim, you probably know about most of this, but I thought I'd share with everyone else how I broke-in, setup and tested my portable generator (2300W/1800W).

Cables
My genny only has (2) 120V outlets, so I purchased the following cable(s) which cost ~$100

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Those will only give you 3' combined so I also purchased an extension cord

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Break-In
This is from a review I lifted and do not take credit for. It took a while to perform, but I think it was worth it. I also purchased a magnetic oil dipstick to catch any particulates during the break-in and beyond (important since there isn't an oil filter).

Example:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

1. Fill engine with break-in oil (I used*Royal Purple 11487 High Performance Engine Break-in Oil)
2. Add gas to tank (no additives or stabilizers at this time)
3. Start engine (per the manufacturer's published procedures)
4. Allow engine to warm up (ECO off, 5-10 minutes as needed)
5. After engine has warmed up, increase load and cycle 3 times at 40%-60% capacity, shut off and cool for 15 minutes
6. Start up and increase load, cycle 3 times at 40%-80% capacity, shut off and cool for 15 minutes
7. Start up and increase load, cycle 3 times at 30%-100% capacity (use Eco mode for this), shut off and cool for 15 minutes
8. Drain oil & refill with conventional 10w-30 oil (I used the oil that came with the generator for this)
9. Run a full tank of gas with normal use
10. Drain oil and refill with synthetic oil 10w-30. Use this oil from now on
10a. Check and change spark plug, if so inclined, and ensure you check the gap and use anti-seize on the threads.
11. Use a fuel stabilizer when storing with fuel in the tank, and for any extra fuel

AC Test
After a solid break-in and using synthetic oil along with 90 octane, non-ethanol fuel, I was ready to try and run the AC (15,000 BTU). Running an AC unit in 45 degree weather was challenging and had to heat up the inside of the camper enough for the AC to kick on. It blew cold for a few minutes and turned off when it got down to temp. The jenny barely hiccupped!

I'm hoping that it will start-up and run just as well in hotter weather. It's supposed to be in the mid-60's next week in upstate SC, so I'll repeat the test again.

[Marine359]

Thanks Rock,
Since I was pretty confident I would be buying a 2nd generator, I went ahead and bought the Champion 50amp parallel kit. With that, I can install a 50amp socket on my house to service a backfeed circuit to my panel. Lots of outages where we live. The parallel kit also has a locking 30amp socket. $7.00 bought a TT30 to locking adapter. 2nd generator will allow me to run roof air without easy start which costs more than half the price of the gen.

Your instructions for break-in far exceed manufacturer recommendations, however, I’m sure they will extend the service life of the genset. So I intend to follow your instructions. Thanks again.

[RocknRoll]

My pleasure Jim. IMO, the most important aspect is the break-in oil and allowing the rings to seat

Great idea on the backfeed circuit. I'm going to have to do that myself as we also lose power quite often. Looks like we get a lot of the same weather, as I'm west of Greenville, SC. Asheville is a beautiful area.

[Marine359]

Link to UL approved electrical panel interlock kit for backfeed:
https://www.interlockkit.com/aboutus.asp
Company also sells backfeed breakers, and exterior weather wall socket panel.

I haven’t installed it yet. I’ll feel better about hiring a licensed electrician. With Covid raging, probably won’t get to it until summer.

[Fasttimes]

Originally Posted by Marine359

I anxiously awaited delivery of my Champion 2500 dual fuel. Finally arrived from Home Depot on Friday.

Great packaging and quick start instructions. Came with the measured proper oil and a nice funnel. When taking it out of the box, I was shocked at how light it was. 39lbs empty is about right. This could be good for an old guy.

Added the oil, followed starting instructions for propane, and the darn thing would not start no matter what I did. Added a bit of gasoline, and it started right up on second pull. Stopped it, switched back over to propane and it started on first pull after two prime pulls. Now it seems to run fine on either propane or gasoline. Using a free dosimeter app, measured from 25ft 67db on eco, and 77db normal mode. Both time no load. Running 1,500w heater, 72 on eco and 75 in normal mode. No discernible difference in sound from propane to gasoline. Surprise, it’s quieter with a load. Eco handled 1500w easily.

Plan to run on propane only, so as long as it is reliable, I’m pleased that for $540, I got exactly what I needed. Maybe will need another one to run roof air. Will report on that later.

Finally got around to starting my new 2500w as well. Right off the bat a few things threw me off. I immediately saw that like the 2000w version the propane hose has a silly finger protrusion. But in the case it has a more physical role. In the 2000w version the finger's only role is to push in some electrical connection to display the words "LPG", and that's about all I can tell. But on this 2500w model the finger has to be depressed to insert the plug all the way into the socket. That had me spending about 20min trying to use my other hose without the finger and not able to push the plug all the way in. And the hole it inserts is to the side, but on the 2000w it goes under it. So I was trying to see how it would insert with hole filled by the rubber cap connection. Finally I cracked open the manual and saw the issue where it goes into the small hole to the left. The reason this all matters is that I run these off my propane port on the trailer, and they have to be modified to remove the hi-flow adapter. Since I have this already from my 3400w generator I try to re-use and not have to order more parts and modify another gas setup. And go figure the one I modified for the 2000w the finger has been modified in diameter and won't work. It's not biggie, I'll just order the $20 in parts and do this one as well. Just might be a problem should I ever try to re-sell this 2500w or if want to use on another propane source.



As for the starting procedure on propane, yeah this was a pain in the rear, and I went though the same issue with the 2000w as well. I was able to get it started though without adding gas. Basically, I think that the priming of gas into the system and the hi-pressure valve takes more than the suggested 3-5 slow pulls. Think more 8-10, especially if it's not been used in some time. Also, there was a suggestion from Champion on the 2000w model when people were complaining about hard to start on propane is to after priming on choke, move to "run" position, and then slightly back towards the choke just a hair or two. That is how I got it started just now.

Now, in comparison of the 2000w vs 2500w, off the bat the 2500w is a smaller case which is strange given the higher output. Apparently 80cc motor in the 2000w vs 79cc in the other, strange again. They both basically weight the same. The 2000w does have a digital display and built in hour meter. The meter displays the hours briefly at startup and then shows a bar graph of how much wattage is being used. The 2500w has no display at all.

I will break this new gen over the next couple of days and then connect that 50-amp connector kit and go run the ac in the trailer to see how it works out. Can't decide if it's worth selling the 2000w and buying another 2500w to gain basically 265 watts. I will for sure sell my 3400w this summer during the hurricane season to get top $ when they are in scarce supply, but maybe I'll sell this 2000w and gain the watts as well.

[Marine359]

So, am I to understand you can’t run the 2500 off the trailer lp port without modifying the generator? I also want to run it off my porch, where I installed lp ports with quick disconnects. The psi in my home system is , I believe the same psi as the trailer. I’ve emailed Champion twice to get instruction on how to do the hookup, but no response. Did they send you instructions?

[Fasttimes]

Originally Posted by Marine359

So, am I to understand you can’t run the 2500 off the trailer lp port without modifying the generator? I also want to run it off my porch, where I installed lp ports with quick disconnects. The psi in my home system is , I believe the same psi as the trailer. I’ve emailed Champion twice to get instruction on how to do the hookup, but no response. Did they send you instructions?

Well, the port on my trailer has been reduced in pressure from the propane tanks so that has to be taken into account. It's an easy fix, you just have to take some good pliers and unscrew off the pressure regulator from the gas regulator/hose set up supplied with the generator. Then get your self the two pieces listed below, one is the male gas plug and the other is the reducer to fit the Champion regulator set up. Be sure to get some gas pipe tape, wrap up the threads and put together.



I found instructions on this years ago searching around Amazon reviews and cant find now, but it's pretty straight forward. I also did a similar modification of my Colman Gas grill as well so I could tap into the propane port on the trailer.



https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1



https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1




I also have this hose extension so that the generator/grill is further away from the trailer.



https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1




Also, with the high-pressure regulator removed I ended up getting another male plug and whatever small adapter is needed to make the spare regulator as a non-rv direct to propane tank adapter that I can then attach to tank, then attach extension hose and then to Champion regulator set up and not use the trailer port if not needed or for example running the generator for their monthly warm ups.

[htimsds9999]

90 mtx, What size is your AC? 15k btu? Wondered which one was pulling 1900 watts

[90mtx]

Originally Posted by htimsds9999

90 mtx, What size is your AC? 15k btu? Wondered which one was pulling 1900 watts

My AC is a Dometic 15K ducted roof top unit, factory for a 2020 1800BH. Sorry don't have the model number in front of me. Hope that helps.

Jonathan