Yamaha Generator info if you want it

[wincrasher]

I have a couple of Yamaha portable generators - the 2000 watt and the 1000 watt units. I had bought the larger one first for my tag-along, but found out it would not run the 13500 btu AC on it. The small unit I had bought for use on my boat. It's a handy size. Both are very efficient and extremely quiet.

Just for grins, I decided today to try to hook up my Travato to the 2000 watt unit and see if I could run the AC. Much to my amusement, it did! I could run the 13,500 btu AC on max cool no problem. It also would run in ECO mode and would ramp up with the AC coming on. The battery charge/converter, fridge on AC and lights were all on too.

Is it quieter than the on-board Onan? Not by much I'm afraid. The yamaha is running flat out, so it's not so quiet. Without a db meter I can't tell you exactly the difference. It isn't as "clattery" or harsh sounding that is for sure. You also have some directional control as to pointing the sound with the portable.

Not too long before I got my van, I had purchased a Honda 3000 to use with the tag-along. It's the king of quiet generators and could handle the AC without any fuss. I was going to just mount it in the back of my Silverado. Too big/heavy to carry in the van, so it has a home in the corner of my garage in case the power goes out.

[mlts22]

In my experience, I've found that running a smaller generator near its load capacity makes more noise than running a bigger generator at about 1/2 its load range. I've also seen that fuel economy per watt tends to be best at about 1/2 to 3/4 load as well.

I have a Yamaha 3000. Works extremely well, but is fairly heavy, and takes up a lot of space. I'm going to be glad when I can fog it and relegate it to emergency use purposes or have it stay with a solar trailer I plan to build.

Eventually, I plan to get a 1000 watt Yamaha generator. Since almost any rig I plan to purchase almost certainly will have an Onan, the 1000 watt generator is intended for charging the batteries from the converter, using a lot less fuel in the process, as well as a way to get the onboard genset started if the house batteries end up too low. Plus, the 1000 watt generator can be placed fairly far from the "B" when not in use, and since size is a premium, its small size can allow it to be placed in a plastic tub and stashed somewhere when on the road.

I like the fact that the Yamaha generators have a fuel petcock valve. This allows the carb to be run completely dry which helps when storing it.

[wincrasher]

I agree with you. Probably carry my 1000 yamaha on those trips where I don't need AC, but want to run the water heater and charge batteries. It will do both those things at low load, and thus low noise.