Generator Question - Montana Owners Club

penra · 07-05-2019, 10:44 AM

We are picking up our 3120RL next week. We have the Legacy package with Gen Prep but I wasn't going to get a generator installed as I have a little Honda for emergencies but thinking this over more. (Overthinking??)
Then I started reading about Patriot Solar Generators and most of the literature about that product seems to want to inspire fear about total electrical grid shutdown.

What do others think of the ONAN? My dealer wants $5975 for the 5500 Watt which seems like overkill for the size of our rig. Before I talk to them I wanted to get opinions from the folks who live with it.

Do you like it? Is it a PIA? Is there a smaller version I should look for? I know it runs on LP, does it consume a lot?

Thanks for your feedback on this.

Daryles · 07-05-2019, 11:04 AM

We purchased a champion 3500 hybrid at the dealership when we bought our Monty. Paid too much for it. Way cheaper on Amazon. It is very quiet for a generator. It has enough power to run one of my two AC units plus other things. You has to manage your power usage carefully though. Many have purchased the harbor freight model and are happy wit it. I will buy a motor snorkel for mine and have the option of running it on gasoline, propane or natural gas.
https://www.motorsnorkel.com/

PNW Fireguy · 07-05-2019, 11:05 AM

It consumes a lot of lp and yes I think it’s worth it. There are a lot of folks that run with the portables in the forum but my needs warranted the decisions I made. Now that being said I later installed solar and lithium which has significantly reduced my need for a generator. If off grid or boondocking isn’t something you do often those might not be concerns for you.
The generator has been easy to maintain. Like anything the more you can do yourself the cheaper it is to have. We have the 6500 watt light commercial version. The dealer price you quoted isn’t bad at all if that is purchase and installation

mhs4771 · 07-05-2019, 11:13 AM

We have the 5500 Onan in our SOB, it will run both of our 15K ACs and still have power left over. Yes they do like their Propane, but if you really look at the specs I think running flat out it drinks approx 1 gal of propane per hour, while if you had the same unit in Gasoline it drinks approx .8 gal of gas per hour. If you're looking for something to run for days at a time, propane probably isn't the way to go.

penra · 07-05-2019, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daryles

We purchased a champion 3500 hybrid at the dealership when we bought our Monty. Paid too much for it. Way cheaper on Amazon. It is very quiet for a generator. It has enough power to run one of my two AC units plus other things. You has to manage your power usage carefully though. Many have purchased the harbor freight model and are happy wit it. I will buy a motor snorkel for mine and have the option of running it on gasoline, propane or natural gas.
https://www.motorsnorkel.com/

Does the Champion (love the hybrid aspect) connect to In Command system?

Daryles · 07-05-2019, 12:32 PM

Sorry, don't know about the in command interface aspect. I do not have that on mine.

Mudchief · 07-06-2019, 02:14 AM

I have the Onan and it is nice. During the summer about 30 minutes before we get to the camp ground I just hit the remote start and the Montana is nice and cold when we go inside the unit.

Woodworker · 07-06-2019, 08:32 AM

We bought the Onan 5500 LP from the manufacture for our 2018 3811MS. It was over $1000 cheaper than from the dealer, then took it to the dealer and he installed it for (I think) $700. It will run both AC units and everything else in the RV. We've turned on everything, ACs, all the lights, microwave, residential refridge, water pump, tvs, etc, everything. No hesitation. It is worth every penny. We've used it at sites when the power failed for several days, and only a few RVs had lights! It consumes about 1 gallon LP an hour, and most RV sites have a noise curfew of 10pm. You can barely hear it 20 feet away, or inside the RV.
Again, worth every dollar spent!

Billtam2 · 07-28-2019, 06:50 PM

We have the legacy package and ordered ours with a generator. We haven’t used it more than an hour or so a couple times but it runs everything in the camper and you wouldn’t know you weren’t plugged in. It is also the quietest generator we have ever had in a camper, could be the Monty is better insulated than our prior campers. But we are very pleased overall with the addition of the generator and we have the Oman 5500 and the 265 factory solar panel with 2 Group 27 batteries. Our next upgrade will be the batteries.

Billtam2 · 07-28-2019, 06:52 PM

Forgot to mention it does work with in command. I can start it from the app on my phone.

Lakelife · 01-14-2020, 04:44 PM

For those with InCommand. Do you need WiFi at the campsite to use the remote feature?

We are getting ready to pick up a new rig with InCommand, factory solar and a generator and trying to figure out a few technical things nobody seems to know at our dealership.

For instance Jamboni’s website says that the controller can be set for Lead Acid, AGM or Lithium but doesn’t say with you can program the voltage input. As not all batteries for any of those set ups want the exact same input voltage to fully charge.

Also the InCommand literature says it will monitor TPMS but doesn’t say anything about how. Also InCommand doesn’t really say if grey, fresh and black tank readings are just idiot light fancied up or true percentages of fill.

Montana and Keystone in general seem to do a really poor job of clearly articulating what the educated consumer is going to ask about.

penra · 01-14-2020, 10:52 PM

InCommand needs to be connected to WiFi in order to use the remote access. Connect to the Internet on the panel and login to the "cloud" from the InCommand app. If it sounds more confusing than it needs to be, yes it is.
I have the Jamboni controller, not an expert on it but I think the programming is hard wired per the battery type.
The tank "gauges" are a joke, I don't use them or worry about them. It's just the two of us full time. I dump the black tank weekly. I close the bathroom gray tank a few days before I dump the black. We keep the kitchen tank open all the time.
I don't know about the TPMS integration with InCommand.
I've been happy with InCommand so far and the support people are very good. Call if you need help.

You may also like: