New to Class B

[RLSmith4602]

New to this group and Class B RVs. Been doing a lot of reading and watching videos for a few weeks now. Me and my wife have always had bumper pull camper trailers. The last couple of years we’ve beefing wanting to tour the US for about a month or so and have been seriously looking at the idea of a class B due to convenience of travel and parking.
We have a local dealer about 50 miles away that we are going to tomorrow to look at 2 slightly used units. They are both on the Promaster chassis and both gas burners. One has a Onan gen and the other the UHG.
I’ve been researching the UHGs.
I’ll be doing a search in the group before posting opinions on both.
Thank you everyone for any and all advice as we are completely green on the Bs.

[Stillatease]

I am also new to the Forum. I have a 1973 Dodge Hall GTC. I am looking for someone who has one to share info. Thanks

[GallenH]

Originally Posted by RLSmith4602

New to this group and Class B RVs. Been doing a lot of reading and watching videos for a few weeks now. Me and my wife have always had bumper pull camper trailers. The last couple of years we’ve beefing wanting to tour the US for about a month or so and have been seriously looking at the idea of a class B due to convenience of travel and parking.
We have a local dealer about 50 miles away that we are going to tomorrow to look at 2 slightly used units. They are both on the Promaster chassis and both gas burners. One has a Onan gen and the other the UHG.
I’ve been researching the UHGs.
I’ll be doing a search in the group before posting opinions on both.
Thank you everyone for any and all advice as we are completely green on the Bs.

Since you;'re going tomorrow and no one has replied. I have neither a gen or uhg. But in my reading of the forum, there are advantages and disadvantages to each. So the following is my take from what I've read. Onan generators can run your RV appliances and recharge your batteries when they're running. The downsides to this is that the gen is noisy and that it requres a strict upkeep schedule (i.e. running it x min/month even if you're not using it). The uhg is less of a hassle in terms of maintenance. It provides a source to recharge your house batteries when the RV engine is running. The big question is what you are using. For example if your goal is to run the AC, it appears that the Onan could run it as long as it's running. I believe with the UHG, that's simply recharging your battery bank which may or may not be enough to run your AC.

So in my case without either a Onan or UHG I can't run the AC.......unless......I'm camping at a place which has electrical hookup in which case I can connect to the electrical and run AC without either.

So if we're camping at a place so hot we have to run AC (one might ask why we would camp in the heat) it's generally that we're "passing through" heading to some other destination. In that scenerio we find a campground that has electrical hookups.

Personally, if I was offered 2 RVs, one with Onan and one with UHG I'd probably opt for the UHG. But that's a personal preference.

Good luck in your quest.

[N147JK]

Originally Posted by GallenH

So if we're camping at a place so hot we have to run AC (one might ask why we would camp in the heat)

This is the answer. We have no A/C and don't want it. Look at the situation differently.. if you need a generator and A/C, you aren't camping in the right place. Might as well be in a hotel room.

[JonMN]

My plan is to keep my Onan and change the battery to lithium. I have only used the generator a couple times. Once for A/C on the road, and once when we were at a VRBO where hookups were prohibited and I wanted to charge the batteries.

In other words, I could probably live without the generator. I will say the current 2800i Onan with rubber mounts to the chassis is vibration free and REALLY quiet.

If I was in a situation where I did not have shore power but did need to keep the batteries charged for A/C, I would rather run my $3000 generator than idle my $15,000 chassis engine for hours.

My van happened to come with 12v A/C, so I can run this driving down the road without running the generator or turning on the inverter.

On the negative side, a generator is another maintenance item.

PS: I will give credit to the marketer that coined the term Under Hood Generator. It took me a while before I found out this was a second alternator, not a generator.

[Punkinhead]

Originally Posted by N147JK

This is the answer. We have no A/C and don't want it. Look at the situation differently.. if you need a generator and A/C, you aren't camping in the right place. Might as well be in a hotel room.

There are plenty of times when AC is nice and we aren't in the "wrong place". A couple weeks ago we visited our daughter for her baby shower. It was sunny and hot so we ran the 12V AC for the dog while we visited a botanical gardens. Is visiting our daughter the "wrong place"? Last weekend I towed a motorcycle to eastern KY. It was hot and muggy but I was fine while on the bike. In the evenings I ran the AC for a couple hours to bring the van down to a comfortable sleeping temperature. Next week I'm going fishing in eastern WV and it will be hot and muggy in the afternoons so I'll run the AC for a couple hours before bed. It's a beautiful area nestled in the hills with a trout stream running through it. It's not the "wrong place". We do the opposite in the winter. We have no problem going to places that are cold to visit our kids or go skiing.

I don't pick where I go for the sole purpose of avoiding AC. I go places because there are activities I want to do or people I want to visit. I'm not skipping those just because someone thinks it's the "wrong place".

[folivier]

Being in Mississippi (I'm from Louisiana) you have heat and humidity most of the year. So for me an AC is a necessity whether I'm camping locally or passing through.
BTW my 2011 Roadtrek C210P is on consignment at Motorhomes of Texas in Nacogdoches, TX. We have a cabin in Colorado so aren't using it anymore. https://www.motorhomesoftexas.com/Pr...31729?ref=list

[NAZCamperVan]

RLSmith, Best wishes on your Class B/Campervan shopping. One perspective: there is no 'perfect rig.' If you find one that will -for the most part- work for you and the way you camp/travel, get it. For us, our van is our shelter, a comfortable bed, a place to store our stuff and food, a toilet, and it drives! All the rest is bonus.

[RLSmith4602]

Originally Posted by NAZCamperVan

RLSmith, Best wishes on your Class B/Campervan shopping. One perspective: there is no 'perfect rig.' If you find one that will -for the most part- work for you and the way you camp/travel, get it. For us, our van is our shelter, a comfortable bed, a place to store our stuff and food, a toilet, and it drives! All the rest is bonus.

We definitely found that out today and it especially holds true when shopping for a used unit. The unit we may have settled on today is a 2018 Ram ProMaster Roadtrek Zion. It ticks most of our boxes with a strong exception to exterior color! It’s gold/tan. Definitely not our color of choice but as you pointed out, there is no perfect rig!
He ran the ac the whole time we were there off the batteries. I would guess probably 3 hours. The engine was not running and the shore line was not connected.
This unit has 400ah lithium batteries, 200 watts or solar and the UHG and not the onan.
In my my brief research I’m leaning towards the UHG system and larger lithium’s. I am somewhat of a generator whore as I currently own 5. One of them being perfect (Generac 2800i suitcase style) to take along if needed.
He had another unit there the wife really liked but it used a cartridge style toilet that I’m not too keen on. I’ll have to do more eraser h on those.

[RLSmith4602]

Originally Posted by GallenH

Since you;'re going tomorrow and no one has replied. I have neither a gen or uhg. But in my reading of the forum, there are advantages and disadvantages to each. So the following is my take from what I've read. Onan generators can run your RV appliances and recharge your batteries when they're running. The downsides to this is that the gen is noisy and that it requres a strict upkeep schedule (i.e. running it x min/month even if you're not using it). The uhg is less of a hassle in terms of maintenance. It provides a source to recharge your house batteries when the RV engine is running. The big question is what you are using. For example if your goal is to run the AC, it appears that the Onan could run it as long as it's running. I believe with the UHG, that's simply recharging your battery bank which may or may not be enough to run your AC.

So in my case without either a Onan or UHG I can't run the AC.......unless......I'm camping at a place which has electrical hookup in which case I can connect to the electrical and run AC without either.

So if we're camping at a place so hot we have to run AC (one might ask why we would camp in the heat) it's generally that we're "passing through" heading to some other destination. In that scenerio we find a campground that has electrical hookups.

Personally, if I was offered 2 RVs, one with Onan and one with UHG I'd probably opt for the UHG. But that's a personal preference.

Good luck in your quest.

Thank you for your reply and opinions. They are greatly appreciated!
We did go today and looked at several. The used unit we looked at ticked about all our boxes except exterior color. It’s gold/tan? Definitely not to either of our liking but when buying used you can’t get everything you want. The dealer ran the refrigerator and ac the whole time we were there (about 3 hours) on battery power. Engine not running and no shore hookup. The batteries are 400ah lithiums
That is a plus and it also has the UHG instead of the Onan gen. Which I am leaning towards heavily now. I have 5 generators here at home and can carry one if I feel it’s needed. Thank you again!

[Urlauber]

As for going to the wrong place - good if you have a choice. For us, with kids in school, summer can be the only way, and for example in Utah there are many places where you can't plug in and it gets really hot.

Having a generator to run the A/C half the day made it work. I guess idling the engine to run the UHG would work as well. Not sure which I would choose, but like someone said, the genny works well for that.

I do like having propane for cooking and heating, and the propane Onan 2800i works well. Also helps if there are power outages at the house.

[ChristyCappello]

My last class B had no generator. At the time I thought that I didn’t need a generator because I stayed at campgrounds where I was plugged in. Then I started boondocking & wished I had a generator. I had to be careful about using the lights & charging my phone. I couldn’t use my house A/C or microwave. I sold that van & brought another newer one with a working generator. I’m able to use my appliances when boondocking. I do have a solar generator with suitcase panels that I use to charge the house batteries. But they won’t run my A/C.

[Benji]

Originally Posted by folivier

Being in Mississippi (I'm from Louisiana) you have heat and humidity most of the year. So for me an AC is a necessity whether I'm camping locally or passing through.
BTW my 2011 Roadtrek C210P is on consignment at Motorhomes of Texas in Nacogdoches, TX. We have a cabin in Colorado so aren't using it anymore. https://www.motorhomesoftexas.com/Pr...31729?ref=list

I can't find your Roadtrek 210 on the link.

[Dogman]

Originally Posted by RLSmith4602

New to this group and Class B RVs. Been doing a lot of reading and watching videos for a few weeks now. Me and my wife have always had bumper pull camper trailers. The last couple of years we’ve beefing wanting to tour the US for about a month or so and have been seriously looking at the idea of a class B due to convenience of travel and parking.
We have a local dealer about 50 miles away that we are going to tomorrow to look at 2 slightly used units. They are both on the Promaster chassis and both gas burners. One has a Onan gen and the other the UHG.
I’ve been researching the UHGs.
I’ll be doing a search in the group before posting opinions on both.
Thank you everyone for any and all advice as we are completely green on the Bs.

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Welcome to the Class B Forum, yes, you will find them a lot of fun and you can learn more at the online at RvXplor which has a lot of good tips and information to get you up and going in not time at all. If I recall they have an Buying RV Check list along with 300 plus tips.

So once you have your RV I would strongly suggest taking one saturday drive about 100 miles loop around your city, as this is called a Shake-Down and if anything goes wrong your still close to home. So do you have your eyes on a MODEL as yet? Good luck and remember the adventures outdoors always starts with a road trip. Besafe and enjoy the adventures as were all here to help you.
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