I recently returned from the Michigan International Speedway with a group of friends. We enjoyed staying in the infield and watching the NASCAR race from the top of the 5er. There's no other way to watch a race if you ask me. I found it hard to sleep at night due to the extreme amount of generator noise. When I purchased my 5th wheel I waited til there was money in the budget to buy a quiet generator. I rarely find myself having to use my generator because we usually have hookups wherever we go. I was just wondering if generator noise is just something you have to put up with when your boondocking?
I've wondered the same about generator noise, although my experience comes from tailgating at football games. Two solutions come to mind from what I saw my neighbors doing at the last one: 1) The quiet generator. Its more expensive and produces less power, but it is quiet. The family in the 5th wheeler had no problem staying warm in the cold (15 F) with the generator. (I think it was a little Honda one). 2) Something called a "Gen-Turi," which is a vertical extension(?) to the on board generator exhaust. I think it's supposed to channel the noise up and above the coach. It certainly puts the fumes up above the breathable air. Check out one at http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/...st-system/14041 (and I by no means endorse or don't endorse Camping World with this link, I only provide information ). If anyone out there has other solutions, I too would be very interested. JT
Hi Flagstaff5er, With sufficient solar and a sufficiently sized battery bank there is little need for a generator at all. To see my solution to not having a generator surf here: http://freecampsites.net/forum/technology/page-1/ and click on solar boondocking. The way around noise is to create "white" or "pink" noise. The easy way for this to be done is to turn on the air conditioner fan while not operating the cooling feature. I would never run a built in generator while sleeping, as I don't believe it is safe to do so. QUOTE(Flagstaff5er @ Aug 17 2009, 06:36 PM) [snapback]18381[/snapback] I found it hard to sleep at night due to the extreme amount of generator noise. When I purchased my 5th wheel I waited til there was money in the budget to buy a quiet generator. I rarely find myself having to use my generator because we usually have hookups wherever we go. I was just wondering if generator noise is just something you have to put up with when your boondocking?
We have found that in Florida where we are from, it is nearly impossible to sleep in the 90 degree heat. (We fit into the old geeser catagory). We run the generator and AC to cool down the whole mass of the coach even when the outside temp is dropping. When the inside temp gets down to around 80 or so, e turn off the generator. Sometimes, this will be when the first one of us gets up to go to the bathroom. At 3/4 a gallon an hour, it also makes the Passport America half priced campground even more of a bargin. We did this in Wal-Mart the other night. It is rarely past 2 or 3 hours that we are asleep with the AC on.
When we boated on the Chesapeake we were called "stink potters", now in an RV (which we consider a boat with rubber instead of steel wheels) we are "noise makers". We run the gen from the time we depart from our home or campground until we arrive at our next campground. We don't stay at campgrounds that don't have at least 30 Amp power and unless circumstances force us to we don't layover at Flying J, Wally World or T/A. We use the coach A/C units, 120V refrigerator, 120V freezer, microwave, coffee pot and TV/DVD while running because these are our "creature comforts" which we wanted on the rig and paid for accordingly. To us, the delta quantity of gas is insignificant compared to what the "beast" that is moving us from point to point is consuming. This is our approach to comfortable RVing and recognize that is not everyones, and we respect each individuals approach.
I don't think I worded my question correctly. What I was wondering is, Are there a lot of people out there with loud generators? And does anybody else get annoyed with their neighbors generators? I understand there will be some noise from other campers. I've never been bothered by a built in generator, they seem to be very quiet. As I said earlier I also saved for an expensive quiet generator when purchasing our 5er. I like to think that I'm a respectful camper and try to position my exhaust away from other campers to keep my noise and exhaust smell down. I just didn't see much respect from others last time I was boondocking, of course maybe trying to get respect out of the NASCAR crowd is not going to happen. Maybe I'll have better luck on my next trip with no hookups.
Live just south of Daytona, love Taladaga believe me NASCAR infields are a world of their own especially by the time they run the Cup race! Also, tailgating at SOME pro football games and college football games amount to every man for himself. Your also right in most truck stops, including the RV area for Flying J the newer built in gens are fairly quiet. In the openness of a Walmart parking lot unless your close by a highway even a "quiet" gen is going to sound loud. Biggest problem is the fumes from gen being sucked into an adjacent camper that doesn't have gen but has windows open. With parking spaces marked and sized the way they are it is hard to keep the noise and fumes from adjacent RVs.
On noise issue, we have a diesel generator and it is hard to hear any noise outside of motorhome. We only run it if we are running the A/C units on roof as we travel. We have full power (120 VAC) all the time from inverter/battery system. Works great!
Yeah John, but you bury the noise under the front of the RV where my powerplant is. I gotta hide my gen in a side compartment so the noise just loves to get between two rigs parked side by side.
Ok I will take a stab. On the Foretravel if you are outside you will hear a low hum. It is quiet and it is also it a quietbox as well. On the bornfree I can hear it inside and it is much louder. I will liken it to a lawn mower about 25 feet away. I will say though in the foretravel I hear nothing sleeping in a wally world or a truck stop if my windows are closed. In the Bornfree I hear everything including people taking outside. It think part of it is quality of construction and insulation. Both of my units are well built but the insulation and way it is designed the Bornfree is just not anywhere as quiet as the Foretravel I sleep like a baby in both though but I might wake up a couple times in the BF.
