"John H." wrote in message
...
On Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:38:31 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:


"John H." wrote in message
. ..
On Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:37:01 +0000, Larry wrote:

The unit has one 13,500 btu air conditioner, a microwave, refrigerator
w/freezer, TV, stereo, water pump, lights, and the battery charger. I
don't
know how many watts total, but tomorrow I'll get out each of the books
and
let you know.

I was hoping I could get by with the Honda EU2000i, but I'm afraid I'll
have to go with the EU3000i. Of course, if someone who was considering
the
EU6500ISA wanted to make me a tremendous deal (and quit preaching about
the
Freemasons), I might consider it!


It may be close, even with the EU3000, if you try to run everything at
once.
The Honda's have two ratings ... peak and continuous. The EU2000 will
deliver 2000 watts peak, but either 1600 or 1800 watts continuously. The
EU3000 will be rated similarly, proportional to 3000 watts peak.

The Sprinter has a small microwave, 13,500 btu A/C, small refrigerator
and
a small inverter/converter for the TV/stereo and battery charger.

The little Onan 2.5 kw generator will run everything at once, but it knows
it has a load on it.

Eisboch


I'm afraid the 3KW is going to be it. However, I could just make a rule to
stay where hookups are provided. Did you find yourself using the Onan
much?



Very rarely. In fact, the only time I run it is to "exercise" it once in a
while. We used it once to make a pot of coffee while parked in a marina
parking lot where shore power was not available.

The EU3000 will be fine .... just don't try to run everything all at once.
It is rated at 2800 watts continuous which is about 23 anps. The A/C plus
a coffeemaker *or* the microwave should load it up pretty much. Electric
coffee makers draw anywhere from 7 to 10 amps. The microwave will vary
depending on it's wattage, but a small one still draws 8 amps or more. The
A/C unit is probably about 10-12 amps. These are off the top of my head
guesses, but they should be close. The rest of the stuff ... TV, refridge,
etc. only draw a couple of amps.

You probably have a water heater that can run on either propane or electric.
I prefer to run ours on propane. It's efficient and saves a few amps. Same
with the refrig. If no shore power is available and running on the
generator, switch it over to propane. It uses very little and saves another
amp or two. The refrig will run for a month or so on a typical camper
propane tank.


Eisboch

"John H." wrote in message
...


(Some RV questions)

BTW John,

If you plan to travel around to different campsites and or RV parks, I
recommend that you carry an inexpensive but accurate voltmeter with you and
check the voltage in one of your 120v outlets with the A/C on. Not all, but
some parks are notorious for having poor, outdated power service and the
voltage tends to droop when they get loaded.
If the voltage drops too much, it can damage your A/C compressor when it
tries to kick on.

When we had our house in Florida, the electrical power service was awful.
Voltage varied all over the place.
To make matters worse, I installed an underground, 30 amp electrical service
out to our RV that ran about 200 feet.
Even though I used a much heavier gauge wire (6 AWG) to compensate for the
run, the voltage at the camper would sometimes drop to 105 vac, sometimes
less when the A/C kicked on.

I purchased one of these to solve the problem and carried it with us in the
RV. If a park's electrical service was poor, I'd use it to keep the voltage
up at our site's service, protecting the A/C unit.

http://www.monstermarketplace.com/Au...ng316a640.html

RV's and TT's are like boats. You simply can't spend enough money on them.

Eisboch

On Sat, 26 Jul 2008 06:25:46 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:



"John H." wrote in message
...


(Some RV questions)

BTW John,

If you plan to travel around to different campsites and or RV parks, I
recommend that you carry an inexpensive but accurate voltmeter with you and
check the voltage in one of your 120v outlets with the A/C on. Not all, but
some parks are notorious for having poor, outdated power service and the
voltage tends to droop when they get loaded.
If the voltage drops too much, it can damage your A/C compressor when it
tries to kick on.

When we had our house in Florida, the electrical power service was awful.
Voltage varied all over the place.
To make matters worse, I installed an underground, 30 amp electrical service
out to our RV that ran about 200 feet.
Even though I used a much heavier gauge wire (6 AWG) to compensate for the
run, the voltage at the camper would sometimes drop to 105 vac, sometimes
less when the A/C kicked on.

I purchased one of these to solve the problem and carried it with us in the
RV. If a park's electrical service was poor, I'd use it to keep the voltage
up at our site's service, protecting the A/C unit.

http://www.monstermarketplace.com/Au...ng316a640.html

RV's and TT's are like boats. You simply can't spend enough money on them.

Eisboch


Holy smokes! I will add the multi-meter to the tool kit!

I think I'll make it a habit to check on campgrounds 'over there' before I
go. Those folks seem to know a lot about everything! I was surprised at the
number of folks over there who had a military background and knew about all
the military campgrounds.

"John H." wrote in message
...


Holy smokes! I will add the multi-meter to the tool kit!

I think I'll make it a habit to check on campgrounds 'over there' before I
go. Those folks seem to know a lot about everything! I was surprised at
the
number of folks over there who had a military background and knew about
all
the military campgrounds.


"Over there" has it's share of arrogant know-it-alls, but the majority are
civil, decent people who don't mind helping out a "newbie".

The few that like to strut their stuff are easily ignored.

Eisboch

On Sat, 26 Jul 2008 07:23:39 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:


"John H." wrote in message
.. .


Holy smokes! I will add the multi-meter to the tool kit!

I think I'll make it a habit to check on campgrounds 'over there' before I
go. Those folks seem to know a lot about everything! I was surprised at
the
number of folks over there who had a military background and knew about
all
the military campgrounds.


"Over there" has it's share of arrogant know-it-alls, but the majority are
civil, decent people who don't mind helping out a "newbie".

The few that like to strut their stuff are easily ignored.

Eisboch


Well, it's not like that's a new experience!

On Jul 26, 7:23*am, "Eisboch" wrote:
"John H." wrote in message

...



Holy smokes! I will add the multi-meter to the tool kit!

I think I'll make it a habit to check on campgrounds 'over there' before I
go. Those folks seem to know a lot about everything! I was surprised at
the
number of folks over there who had a military background and knew about
all
the military campgrounds.

"Over there" *has it's share of arrogant know-it-alls, but the majority are
civil, decent people who don't mind helping out a "newbie".

Do they call them Harrys?

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...


"John H." wrote in message
...


(Some RV questions)

BTW John,

If you plan to travel around to different campsites and or RV parks, I
recommend that you carry an inexpensive but accurate voltmeter with you
and check the voltage in one of your 120v outlets with the A/C on. Not
all, but some parks are notorious for having poor, outdated power service
and the voltage tends to droop when they get loaded.
If the voltage drops too much, it can damage your A/C compressor when it
tries to kick on.

When we had our house in Florida, the electrical power service was awful.
Voltage varied all over the place.
To make matters worse, I installed an underground, 30 amp electrical
service out to our RV that ran about 200 feet.
Even though I used a much heavier gauge wire (6 AWG) to compensate for the
run, the voltage at the camper would sometimes drop to 105 vac, sometimes
less when the A/C kicked on.

I purchased one of these to solve the problem and carried it with us in
the RV. If a park's electrical service was poor, I'd use it to keep the
voltage up at our site's service, protecting the A/C unit.

http://www.monstermarketplace.com/Au...ng316a640.html

RV's and TT's are like boats. You simply can't spend enough money on
them.

Eisboch


Here's gadget you guys might find handy.

http://tinyurl.com/5hanzy

It's great for checking power condition; voltage, current being drawn,
voltage frequency, true power, etc. It will even do a cumulative kwH
readout.

Of course it won't do power measurement for appliances that are hard wired,
but works great for any 120V device that plugs in.

I use whenever I get a new device to see exactly what's going on with power
consumption.

"D.Duck" wrote in message
...



Here's gadget you guys might find handy.

http://tinyurl.com/5hanzy

It's great for checking power condition; voltage, current being drawn,
voltage frequency, true power, etc. It will even do a cumulative kwH
readout.


Thanks for reminding me. I've wanted to get one of those for years but keep
forgetting.
I ordered it right away after reading your post.

They *are* handy for a number of uses, not just for RV's or boats.

Eisboch

On Sat, 26 Jul 2008 07:28:07 -0400, "D.Duck" wrote:


"Eisboch" wrote in message
m...


"John H." wrote in message
...


(Some RV questions)

BTW John,

If you plan to travel around to different campsites and or RV parks, I
recommend that you carry an inexpensive but accurate voltmeter with you
and check the voltage in one of your 120v outlets with the A/C on. Not
all, but some parks are notorious for having poor, outdated power service
and the voltage tends to droop when they get loaded.
If the voltage drops too much, it can damage your A/C compressor when it
tries to kick on.

When we had our house in Florida, the electrical power service was awful.
Voltage varied all over the place.
To make matters worse, I installed an underground, 30 amp electrical
service out to our RV that ran about 200 feet.
Even though I used a much heavier gauge wire (6 AWG) to compensate for the
run, the voltage at the camper would sometimes drop to 105 vac, sometimes
less when the A/C kicked on.

I purchased one of these to solve the problem and carried it with us in
the RV. If a park's electrical service was poor, I'd use it to keep the
voltage up at our site's service, protecting the A/C unit.

http://www.monstermarketplace.com/Au...ng316a640.html

RV's and TT's are like boats. You simply can't spend enough money on
them.

Eisboch


Here's gadget you guys might find handy.

http://tinyurl.com/5hanzy

It's great for checking power condition; voltage, current being drawn,
voltage frequency, true power, etc. It will even do a cumulative kwH
readout.

Of course it won't do power measurement for appliances that are hard wired,
but works great for any 120V device that plugs in.

I use whenever I get a new device to see exactly what's going on with power
consumption.


Small world. Folks over in the 'other place' Eisboch and I were discussing
were offering the same advice about the same piece of equipment.

Thanks!