Quieting a LOUD ONAN truck camper generator
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- čas přidán 20. 05. 2021
- Our ONAN generator is LOUD inside the truck camper. Really, really LOUD. It's so LOUD that we don't use it very often. After talking with the Arctic Fox 990 sales representative, and service engineer, I decided to take matters into my own hands and try to quiet the generator. Was our effort successful? You can be the judge.
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We're traveling throughout the US in our Arctic Fox 990 truck camper. Where do you think we should go next?
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The best thing I discovered when came to using our old Owen Generator for our truck camper was too actually getting rid of it all together. That's why we decided to purchase a trailer from Colorado off road trailers. Then we ended up purchasing a Honda generator and just leave it in our trailer. Way way way less noise, and of course no vibration. Back before doing that, we did try the blocks, and also purchase a muffler extension for our old generator. But we still hated the noise /vibration even after all those modifications. The last thing we have purchased is the fox landing, perfect match for our trailer. Totally understand, most likely not the most inexpensive solution, but it's the route we ended up going with. Using our trailer meaning to tow our Polaris ranger, toys and of course our generator. Enjoyed watching your latest video. Be safe,😊
That’s good to know that you got rid of the old generator. We’ve seen more than a few folks with generators 15/20 feet away from their campers. It just makes sense.
Thanks for your informative Video. I will have to check the DB levels on my Onan Generator.
I’d be curious to hear your db too!
Thank you. AF1150 generator modifications, here I come.
Good luck! We’re still looking for ways to quiet it down. We don’t use the generator enough to worry too much about it.
I did this mod about 2 months ago. I used the same pads cut into 2 inch squares. My generator wasn't bolted down. They only used 3 #10 or #12 self taping screws to hold the generator to the metal frame. There's nothing better than having a $3,000 vibrator in your camper.
I found some 1/4" self tapping stainless steel screws and added an extra one.
OMG. Its like a whole new generator. I carry 4 extra pads and 4 extra screws just in case.
Thanks for the idea. It works awesome
Glad to hear that it works for you! I still plan to add a muffler and see what kind of help that provides. The decrease in our pot/pans vibrating inside the kitchen stove was more than enough justification for us to day that the modification was worthwhile. Thanks for commenting!
LOL....you're a better man than I am Steve!...if that had been me doing that reno, you would have had a WHOLE LOTTA bleeps (strings and STRINGS of them) added in post to disguise all the expletives and course language! 😏...and very cute how at the end, Nicolle tells you what a good job you did...one of the secrets to a happy marriage 😊
Oh there was cussing. Plenty of it! 😂😂
Simple suggestion from a forty plus year Oregon millwright/Electrician, please invest in some mechanics gloves, and then actually wear them. Otherwise that was an impressive and positive improvement. Please keep the videos coming. I have the same Camper and have had several previous campers before it and while they were all different and had their respective pros and cons, they were also simply an exercise in compromise. There is no single unit that will do it all. Again keep up the good work.
Thanks for the comment! I do need to pick up another pair of mechanics gloves. I have a pair locked up with all our other worldly possessions.
I think you hit the nail on the head with the topic of compromise. We really enjoy the flexibility that the truck camper gives us, but the choice does come with compromises.
I bought an onan generator exhaust resonator and it helps with clattering noise a bit. Just slip it on the end of the exhaust pipe or you can permanently attach it too. About 40 bucks.
That's a great idea! Did you weld it in place?
@@CupcakeChroniclesTC No actually I have just been slipping it on then taking it off for travel.
@@williamlandry8081 that’s a great idea. Thanks.
Hi, just watched all your videos. What drew me to them are the truck camper and specifically the Artic Fox. There was a guy in Canada, Taylor Dzeman, that had some good videos with his 990 but no longer has it. I am on my third truck camper and truck, they all got bigger. I bought a 2019 F450 flatbed last Sept, in Jan of this year I bought a 2021 Artic Fox 1150. For the last month I have been doing projects on the camper and truck hoping to hit the road at the beginning of June. I still have a few things to do on the truck, but hoping to keep to my schedule. A couple comments, a couple videos back, you were picking up your yellow blocks, I noticed the spare swinging then. Secondly, the gen is kinda loud, when I bought my camper, the salesman suggested a "spark arrester" for it. Onan will not warranty the unit if you put a muffler on it, but it is an Onan spark arrester, it cut the noise down. I will be heading to the Oregon coast via Utah and the national parks from south FL where I live, I am planning a 3 month trip. I will keep up with your channel, maybe our paths will cross at some point. Safe Travels.
A 1150! Nicely done! I’m jealous of the dry bath, but not the weight of the 1150. How heavy are you when fully loaded?
I had another comment about adding a muffler, so I’ve started reading up on them. Thanks for the info.
We’re bumping around Utah now and enjoying the scenery!
@@CupcakeChroniclesTC I don't have a final weight on the truck and camper yet, I'm still doing some work on the truck. I do have a 16,500gvw on the truck, I weighed it after I got it, the weight was 10,200 with me and a full tank of fuel. With that, I have about 6500lbs to play with.
Would love to see a picture of your set up!
@@CupcakeChroniclesTC I have one more big project to finish on it before I hit the road, will start on it next week. After I get it done, I will find a way to send some pics.
I put the dampening mats around the outside of the box, it made a HUGE difference inside!
Glad to hear it was beneficial for you too. Every little bit helps for getting it quieter.
That's what I did as well: czcams.com/video/KZ3sY6zZYzw/video.html
I put on a muffler on the exhaust pipe, did the same thing 👍
That’s a great idea!
Decibels are logarithmic, not linear, so it is a lot quieter than you think going from 75 to 60 decibels.
It did make quite a difference!
“Of course it is better!”, she replied supportively. Love it. - Not VFat
Haha. I think I said “absolutely it’s better”. My subtle nod to The Office. 🤣. - Not Noelle ❤️
I deleted the Onan when I ordered by 1150. I wasn't willing to pay $3800 for it, or deal with the noise. Instead I ordered the generator cabinet enclosed and use it for storing a Honda 2200i. Not only is it much quieter, but you can set it away from the rig and it's silent and vibration free inside the camper if you want to run it all night to have the air conditioner running.
Smart move! I’m envious. We just ran our generator for a hour or so the other day to use the AC. Ouch! So dang noisy.
keep an eye on that spare tire! i allowed mine to become just na little loose and after a while the constant weight jiggling on that small cable broke the cable and let my spare tire fall off completely!
It’s definitely something I’ll keep an eye on moving forward. I’ve owned pickups before, but this is the first time one has come loose enough to swing a bit.
You need rubber both sides top and bottom of the mount to be fully affected.
I'm missing something here! The generator is sitting on a metal shelf, for lack of a better term. We installed the rubber between the shelf and the generator. I'm not sure where else I could put the rubber?
You can also install a different tail pipe I’ve seen it on a different camper
I’m just starting to look at muffler and tail pup extensions. Thanks for the heads up, I wasn’t familiar with either option!
What about the required cooling clearance above the generator?
I just measured the clearance. We have about 6.5” above the generator. The thickness of the isolation pad was about .25”. So I think we’re ok. I didn’t find the official generator clearance specs in the owners manual when we installed the pads. It’s been a bout two years since we installed the isolation pads and the generator runs like a champ.
why cant I find anything about filling an onboard gas generator (Onan cummins) that doesn't run through the vehicle. It has automatic starting system in the kitchen, I just don't understand how to fill it.
We have a propane generator in our truck camper. In our camper van we had a diesel generator. The propane is self contained. The diesel (in the van) fed directly from the gas (diesel) tank. We checked into having a gas generator that was separate from the truck camper. Like we'd place it away from the truck when we wanted to use it. Our dealer said that it wasn't so simple trying to wire a different generator into the start switch inside our truck camper. We see other TC with gas generators; sometimes mounted to the front of the truck, sometimes sitting a little distance away from the truck/truck camper. That 'bout sums up our knowledge. Thanks for watching!
Is it a single cylinder generator? Maybe one that is smaller bore two cylinder with better counter weighted internals? Also you can incorporate some roughing pump dog house technology :) Either way, >10bB is a great start!
I think this may boil down to vibration dampening as one investigation tree and engine noise as another investigation tree. I’ve been reading up on tail pipe extensions and mufflers after reading a few of the comments on this post!
Hi Steve, I can see what I will be trying on my gen. Mine is so loud and vibrates so bad, I don't use it. My dealer suggested a resonator, which I installed. I also installed a second support bracket. While using it, it all of a sudden got real loud. Turns out, because I supported the exhaust in two places, the gen vibrated so bad it broke the exhaust pipe clean at the flange where it bolts to the motor. While in Bend, I had to have it welded, never used it again. To me, with my full solar package, this is nothing more than dead weight. But that being said, I may try this mod to see if it helps. Thanks
Whoa! Sounds like you really had a hassle. We try not to turn on the generator. We (literally) can feel the vibration throughout the camper. The mods we did helped, but it's still a loud generator. When we use it, we generally have ALL our electronics out and ready for charging to maximize our generator time. We might have it on for an hour maximum before we're ready to go a little crazy.
The solar upgrade helped tremendously in reducing our reliance on the generator. We just need to remember to park in the sunshine.
@@CupcakeChroniclesTC, today I added the vibration blocks that you showed, made a huge differance. Thanks
@@getreel3515 glad it helped! Maybe the blocks plus the resonator is the way to go!!
That's pretty quite I have an 82 motor home with a 4000 watt dometic generator and it's 3 maybe 4 times louder or buy a Honda 2000 it's quite and takes hardly no gas I can run mine about 9 hours just running the fridge and fans
Nice! I can’t imagine running the gen for nine hours. We’d go crazy from the noise!
Put some genuine rubber bushings not polly on the generator bolts, used ones possibly for free at the skateboard shop. Put some dynomat scraps on the actual generator, the store Car Toys or Best Buy might give them to you for free.
Stop being so broke all the time is, my other advice to you or stop whining about how loud it is, do one or the other OK buddy.
Hey, thanks for watching and for your suggestions! It’s a lot quieter after Steve bought and installed those rubber stopper-thingies. I can’t remember the name. We really don’t use the generator too often so it’s not a big deal. How loud is the generator in your truck camper? Did you add those options you mentioned? 😁 Noelle
Painful. Someone needs to confiscate your tools.
Hahaha. Yep. There’s a reason we didn’t say this is a pro channel. We’re just doing our thing, not trying to say anyone should do it our way. 🤣 Thanks for watching and we’re glad to hear from you. Noelle