my onan was bought in 2002 and it is quite i dont know what grade of synthetic oil people recommend but if it is 5w-30 or 5w-40 i think it would be louder, what i was given to use was the kendall gt1 50w racing motor oil use 3/4 kendall oil the rest lucas its a splash lubrication system there is no oil pump mine is as quite or quiter than the class c and b+ i use to own I did see in a catalog, i get because i buy a lot of farm equipment, it was a catalog like northern tool they caried all kinds of gens including rv types one of the brands they sold was a enclosed rv model two cylinder liquid cooled the liquid cooled models , so ive been told are a lot quiter and the second cylinder also helps because it runs at lower rpm's and they were cheaper than onan, i guess you pay for the name, when my onan goes that is what im checking into and buying
L. D. WRIGHT 2005 Dodge 3500 CTD DRW crew cab 1997 Real Lite TC Rancho 9000 XL
I'm in the same boat as you. My propane onan in my Lance 915 sounds like a damn Troy Built genny from Lowes! And the thing will empty your propane tanks real quick. You can do all the oil changes, rubber mounting, muffler re-routing, and wear ear plugs and it will still be WAY louder than the 2000i (or similar), viberating, and be using all that propane. I have been using my 200i all year now and am very happy with the set up. It's a bit less conviniant to start up the honda verses pushing the button for the onan, but I think it's well worth it. I'm going to be tearing out the onan soon to use the space.
Ours seems not to bad for noise but theres a large muffler underneath the unit.I wonder if its to do with were there mounted and how much insulation is around it.
Toy-hauler wrote: It doesn't seem to be leaking, exhaust just oooozzzzing noise and vibration.
Synthetic Oil? Rubber Bushings? Lawnmower Mufflers? - This is called chasing your tail. I got rid of the Onan 2500 that came with my Host Tahoe for the same reason.
Our solution was to put a rack on the front of the truck and strap a Honda 3000 on it and then wire a 30 amp service (box) to the rear bumper. Plug in the camper there when loaded. This has worked out well. Gained some vlauable storage space to boot. The Honda 3000 is quieter than the 2000.
It has been rare that we needed power with the camper off of the truck and the truck wasn't there. We do alot of dry camping. Check out the photo in our signature.
The main problem are the dimensions and the space available to work with.
Typically, the Honda 2000i is too tall for the compartment.
Seems like the few campers to have a compartment built for the Honda are the Outfitter (when specifically ordered as such) and from the picture, the new Lance 830.
Powerdude wrote: ....Seems like the few campers to have a compartment built for the Honda are the Outfitter (when specifically ordered as such).....
Actually the compartment on the Outfitters doesn't need to be specially ordered to fit the Honda. The standard compartment will hold the Honda (along with a surprising amount of other items at the same time) just fine.
The option is the "slider" that can hold the Honda and allows for easier access to it. Though personally I think it takes up too much room and is only needed if the buyer has a problem being able to move the 50ishlb Honda in/out of the compartment without help.
2007 F350,SC,LB,4x4,6.0/Auto,35" tires,16.5 Warn,Buckstop bumpers
2007 Outfitter Apex9.5,270W solar,SolarBoost2000e,2 H2K's,2KW inverter,2 20lb LP on slide out tray,4 Lifeline AGM bats,Tundra fridge
95 Bounder 28' ClassA sold
91 Jamboree 21' ClassC sold
When we bought our Lance back in '94 we didn't get a generator. For a long time I carried a little Kawasaki 1750. It was inconvienient, had to remove the carry handle for it to fit and a can of gas to run it. When I did the upgrades to the camper this year I thought long and hard about it. The Lance was all set up for the Onan 2500LP from the remote control panel to the mounting holes and LP plumbing. It also came with 60 lb propane capacity but I did not want to install an LP fueled generator because it is just too much of a PITA to get propane tanks filled (plus they change the darn laws about every other year so you don't know what's comming next)
Anyway, my first priority was - I want remote start, built in. I want to push a button and have AC power. So I went with the Onan 2800 gas powered generator. That meant that I had to figure out a fuel solution but as luck would have it I found a new Onan fuel tank on eBay that is about 8 gal capacity and just happened to fit perfectly in front of the generator compartment and I built in a filler for it as well.
So this works for me
Now I know the Honda is super quiet and this is because of the 'on demand' aspect of the inverter technology but I have to say that in my own experience I do not run the generator in a low or no demand situation to begin with. I am either pumping full amps from the converter into the batteries or I am running the A/C so the gen is under load if it's running. I'll admit that my wife has some problems with her feet and so we carry this little foot spa for her and I have run the generator for half an hour or so evry evening just to power the spa but I'm going to upgrade my battery pack and install an inverter and eventually probably a solar panel so I don't see any situation where I would be running a generator at idle. If it's running it's going to be working.
Finally, I don't think the Onan is a 'pig' at all. I'll admit I'm a gearhead but it's a very stout, reliable and capable generator. It does the one thing that it's supposed to do and it does it well. As for noise and vibration - well we are talking about truck campers here so how isolated do you think you can get from an on board generator in an 8 foot long pickup truck bed? I only experience a plesent hum from our Onan. It's not like it's not there but it is like I'm in the back of my truck in the middle of nowhere and I'm completely self contained and autonomous.
It don't get any better than that folks
1994 Lance 990 on 1997 F350 PSD Dually
We also have a 'truck' that FLYS
Our 2008 trip to The Canadian Rockies
I would never buy one of the current small Onans. It was a waste of money. You could install a large solar panel, 2000 watt inverter and as many 6-volts as possible and have a way better setup for the same or cheaper.
08 F-450 Red Lariat 08 KZ Inferno 3912 - 24k Superglide with under bed rails sitting in garage not going to be used, what a shame.
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