Generator caution

[somewhereinusa]

I often read where a forum member has purchased either a new or used "contractor" style generator to mount somewhere, probably in a nice box for power. I'm certainly the last person to say "don't do it" since no one has could ever say I have done things the conventional or even the right way, and you should never tell me "you can't do it that way'" or "that won't work that way"

Our fine lawmakers have pretty much mandated that over the road trucks will have axillary heat and cooling. Everyone wants their "stuff", but no one wants trucks to come to their neighborhood. Lawmakers who work in an air conditioned office, drive an air conditioned car, stop for a drink at the air conditioned bar and go home to their air conditioned house (or mistresses house) say that I can't idle my truck to get a good nights rest. It doesn't matter that it might be 120, or -20 degrees outside. And, yes they will write you a ticket, make you shut down and come back later and write another ticket because you have a pet in a hot truck. (There are, after all, laws against that)

Since I'm too cheap, or broke to spend $10,000 on a HVAC made for trucks, I have had and learned a few lessons about generators and power units. I put these thoughts out for your consideration.

1. Gas generators that aren't made to go merrily down the road, don't have a carburetor that is made to bounce. Unless you turn the fuel shutoff off it WILL leak into the motor and at the very least will be flooded when you try to start it. That means you can't have some nice remote start inside because you have to get out and turn the fuel on.

2. Air cooled generators are VERY noisy.

3. Cheap diesel generators start hard, or not at all in the winter.

4. If you drive anywhere in the winter, that treats the roads for snow and ice, you WILL have electrical problems. Probably in the generator or controls.

5. Air cooled generators are VERY noisy.

The last gas generator I had was one of those very nice (and expensive) inverter units and although it was air cooled was very quiet. I had a nice diamond plate box made for it to keep it out of the elements. It had adequate air flow for cooling and a nice door on top to fill the fuel tank. Very pretty. I still had to get out and turn the fuel on and off, but there are compromises to most designs. I think I used it for about two years. All was well until THE FIRE. I had just filled the tank (did I mention that you also have to carry a gas can. You can't just pull a semi up to the gas pumps.) I was sitting inside when it died, looked in the mirror and saw smoke. I grabbed the extinguisher and rushed back. The fire was somewhere on the back. I emptied the extinguisher and thought it was out, but it started up again. I had to get it out of there. When I am loaded there is a brand new mini van above that generator. When I pulled it out, gas came out of the vented cap. (I had just filled it) some of it splashed on me. While I was rolling on the ground putting my fire out some neighboring truck drivers came and finished putting out the fire. I was VERY LUCKY. No damage to my truck or load and only $2000 damage to the truck next to me. Slightly burned hand and insides of both legs. (yes, gas splashed THERE). I think that a rubber fuel line had leaked, but I never opened it up to look, it went into the dumpster at the truck stop.

That scared me. I now have an Onan quiet diesel, I'm on the second one. It's plumbed into the fuel tanks and I have remote start inside the cab. It has always started, even at 20 below. It's so quiet that the only way to tell if it is running is the light on the switch and the clock on the microwave. I have all of the power I need.

This is very wordy for me, but I thought I had to put some of my concerns to you.

Dick

I also posted this on skoolie.net

[rlaggren]

Dick

Thanks for that 1st person account. Hearing direct from somebody with some real background moves Care & Safety back to the top of the list instantly.

Glad it was just an expensive lesson, not a life altering disaster. I'll remember you when I've deciding how to save money!

Rufus

[dburt]

That was quite a story, and makes me think about what kind of gen-set to use when I get my dream housetruck built!

[Standaddy]

Dick, thanks for the warning.
Sounds like you might be a car-hauler? I hauled cars for about 5 years, up until May, 2009. Still missing that life. Hope you do well.
Stan

[Headache]

I never did pull a parking lot, most all was dry freight with a few flat beds, reefers and stacks of can chassis.

I do remember those days of deciding whether to idle or not. When I worked for the The Great Punkin we had a bonus attached to not idling. I remember one night in Wyoming the ex set the alarm every 3 hours so he could run the truck, warm up the cab then shut it down while saving our bonus percentage. We never did that ever again. My survival and the safety of the motoring public is worth more than any damn bonus.

It would be nice if the trucking community(yeah right!) came together and did something about that idling nonsense. If the temps would get you a ticket for cruelty to animals you should be able to idle your truck to use a/c and heat. But that'll be the day.