Dual Generators

[geminusprime]

So, my original idea was to have a regular generator mounted under the bus with a few panels to divert/reduce the sound. I'm budgeting my electrical based on a 2000 watt inverter with 4000 surge watts, so the gennys I'm looking at are quite small (largest is a 3000 watt running).


I've found myself with a somewhat cheap (but surprisingly American) Sportsman inverter generator as a gift. Bought from wally world and can be returned to a store for store credit, but I've been stress testing it and it seems like a nice quiet little unit. 1800 running watts advertised, but it starts to overload around 1500 - but even then the noise can't even be heard over the AC unit.

Now, as I have not yet bought a regular genny yet that I was intending to, I'm a bit crossed at what I should do. Having a quiet little inverter generator is nice for campgrounds, but I'm not sure it's much more quieter than a smallish contractor unit inside a sound dampening box. The ratings for decibels are about 65+ for contractor gennys and 55+ for inverter generators, but at 50% load the inverter generator I have runs at 70 decibels at 10 feet.

So, worth it to keep the inverter generator and use it at camp grounds, or return it and put the money towards a regular contractor generator of better quality?

I'm thinking about using the regular generator while driving and using the inverter while camping, but I'm guessing there's a reason not top do that I'm not seeing.

Sportsman seems to be a US company (I called support with questions, they were in Utah) owned by Buffalo Tools, so it's not a Chinese knockoff as far as I can tell. It does seem to be a very "Walmarty" brand though.

 

[PNW_Steve]

I just got back from a few days of dry camping at Texas Rapids on the Snake River.

I had a Honda EU3000i. My next door neighbor had a Honda EU1000.

There was a guy 150+ yards down the river with an open frame generator. Bloody annoying!!! Sitting on my couch in my rig the neighbor 150 yards away drowned out the noise from my Honda sitting 15 feet away.

Folks... Please think about your neighbors when you run your genny.

 

[geminusprime]

Inverter genny for stationary it is then. I'll still pick up a open frame for driving only(since the DT466 is already louder than any generator would be).

 

[TheHubbardBus]

I strongly believe the best setup to be 2 identical 2200-2500W inverter generators with parallel capability.

Small, light, and quiet. Can safely power anything. Run one for most loads and save significantly on both fuel and noise. Run both when necessary (2 x 2000W continuous is approximately equal to 30A service). Even if one fails you still have the other, so there's a measure of redundancy. And even with both running (pick a brand... doesn't matter), it will still be WAY quieter than what you're considering).

Or you could fire up a single 5K open-frame genset, burn through fuel like it's going out of style, and piss off everyone within a 1/4 mile radius :biggrin:

 

[ol trunt]

Food for thought. First, sound dampening boxes that actually work are VERY hard to come by--check out utube for a good laugh. Second, dB's (dBA's) for generators are generally measured at 25' if only for the sake of consistency. Third, perceived sound doubles with each 10 dB increase so a contractor's genny with a dB rating of 10 dB more than a "quiet genny will sound twice as loud.

Here is a link that explains all this way better than I can:
www.abdengineering.com/blog/perception-vs-reality/.
Jack

 

[PNW_Steve]

An increase of 3dB doubles the sound intensity but a 10dB increase is required before a sound is perceived to be twice as loud. Therefore a small increase in decibels represents a large increase in intensity. For example - 10dB is 10 times more intense than 1dB, while 20dB is 100 times more intense than 1dB

 

[Drew Bru]

I strongly believe the best setup to be 2 identical 2200-2500W inverter generators with parallel capability.

Small, light, and quiet. Can safely power anything. Run one for most loads and save significantly on both fuel and noise. Run both when necessary (2 x 2000W continuous is approximately equal to 30A service). Even if one fails you still have the other, so there's a measure of redundancy. And even with both running (pick a brand... doesn't matter), it will still be WAY quieter than what you're considering).

Or you could fire up a single 5K open-frame genset, burn through fuel like it's going out of style, and piss off everyone within a 1/4 mile radius :biggrin:

Yup, I wholeheartedly agree with this post. 2 identical inverter generators can be run in parallel for when you need some extra oomph.