When we first started camping we had an old hand me down Honda generator that saved us on a few hot nights out west. It was loud and heavy and old.
Our 3rd summer, we had plans to go to Hilton Head and the Georgia coast and Andy refused to go south without first adding a second air conditioner. Our Reflection 290BH was prepped for a second A/C in our bedroom, we just needed to drop it in (note – not actually that simple).
Before we left we installed the A/C and loved how quiet it was in the bedroom. Andy installed the controls right above his nightstand so he has total control all night long (and so that the cool air isn’t blowing directly on the thermostat)
While we were in Georgia, the power poles at our campsite kept surging and blowing fuses. We tried supplementing with the generator, but everytime the A/C’s kicked on, the initial pull was too much for the generator. We needed a more reliable setup.
Andy spent unseen amounts of hours researching a new set up and settled in on two honda generators. Specifically, the Honda EU 2200-i and the Honda EU 2200-i Companion. These generators are meant to work together and the Companion generator is the one with the plug. The generators are connected with a parallel cord kit.
These generators are nice because they are small and lightweight and something Andy can take in and out of the truck by himself. The old generator was a two person lift.
The generators are bolted into the truck frame to prevent theft and any movement down the road. To mount them, he added an extension to the mounting bolts to the rubber isolators. The extension goes through the truck bed and is held on by a nut in the truck bed. It can’t be removed without dropping the spare tire.
He also installed a remote auxiliary fuel tank for the generators so that they can run for an extended period. The auxiliary tank is on the driver’s side near the cab. This makes it easy to top off the gas tank whenever we stop and fill-up the truck with gas. Each generator received an hour meter to monitor how much they run. Because gathering data is super fun for engineers.
On the camper both air-conditioners were upgraded with a Micro-Air EasyStart so that when the A/C kicks on the current draw won’t exceed the generators capacity.
In the gooseneck of the camper, there is a remote generator plug that’s connected to the transfer switch. This allows us to plug into the camper while we’re driving down the road, keeping it cool.
Next, he welded exhaust extension adapters to the muffler of the generators. Silicone exhaust extension hoses hook up to the adapters to vent all the exhaust away from the camper.
He literally thought of every detail and it works great. We just bought a new camper that is prepped for a built-in generator, but honestly we like our set-up so much we’re sticking with it for now. One thing I really like is having the generator separate from the camper when we’re boondocking. You don’t feel the rumble of the engines and it’s much quieter. We also like that our generators run on gas and not propane. Gas is readily available anywhere, and we want the propane left for the other appliances that rely on it.
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