What size generator for 84 dolphin

[jimmy]

Hello everyone,

I'm so stoked to find this site. We just purchased an 84 dolphin and love it so far. It needs some tweeking so you might see me asking a few questions over the next few weeks. It didn't come with a generator or AC so my first question is

What size generator have people used? I found a great Coleman 1850, but am not sure if that is big enough to run everything in the rig. Do you think this one will work??

Thanks

[Maineah]

With no air you should be fine. Just be sure it is quiet enough not to disturb your neighbors.

[John H]

What size generator have people used? I found a great Coleman 1850, but am not sure if that is big enough to run everything in the rig. Do you think this one will work??

I had a Coleman 1850 installed in a 1986 21' Sunrader. It powered the AC fine but note that my AC has a capacity of about 9,000 BTU's. It powerd everything else fine, including a microwave. We tried not to use the microwave and AC at the same time. They are not designed to be installed in a generator compartment of an RV even though they will fit. Had ours removed for safety considerations.l It's a good generator and we use it for backup. It's much nosier than the Hondas, Yamahas, etc.

So, you could get by with a generator of that size IF your AC is not a 13,500 BTU model.

John H SW OH

1986 21' Sunrader

22RE; 43D; 60K

[T.A.J.]

Hello everyone,

I'm so stoked to find this site. We just purchased an 84 dolphin and love it so far. It needs some tweeking so you might see me asking a few questions over the next few weeks. It didn't come with a generator or AC so my first question is

What size generator have people used? I found a great Coleman 1850, but am not sure if that is big enough to run everything in the rig. Do you think this one will work??

Thanks

I've also got an '84 Dolphin and this year bought a Powermite 1850 at Costco for $224.00 and it works great. I don't have roof AC but it powers all else fine and is only 6 db's louder than a Honda 2000.

T.A.J.

[Johnny]

QUOTE (jimmy @ Aug 7 2009, 10:24 PM) Hello everyone,

I'm so stoked to find this site. We just purchased an 84 dolphin and love it so far. It needs some tweeking so you might see me asking a few questions over the next few weeks. It didn't come with a generator or AC so my first question is

What size generator have people used? I found a great Coleman 1850, but am not sure if that is big enough to run everything in the rig. Do you think this one will work??

Thanks

I've also got an '84 Dolphin and this year bought a Powermite 1850 at Costco for $224.00 and it works great. I don't have roof AC but it powers all else fine and is only 6 db's louder than a Honda 2000.

T.A.J.

About 10 years ago, can it be that long? we had an 84 Dolhin and it had a generator and roof a/c. At the time we lived overseas 4 years and came back for one and did lots of traveling. The roof a/c on the Dolphin was way to small for the motorhome and when we traveled, about 10,000 miles that year, we would leave the generator running with the roof air on everywhere we went during the day, even when we went to McDonalds or into WalMart. If we turned of the unit it could not catch up. Last year we purchased a Sunrader that didn't come with roof a/c or generator and installed a 13,500 btu unit on the roof and picked up a new Champion 4000 watt generator from Checker Auto. After rebate the cost of the generator was $191.00! I had never heard of Champion and did a google search and found that Cabellas (sp?) sells them and read most of the reviews, of which 95% were positive, so we went that route. It comes with an RV 15 amp receptacle which allows us to plug right in. We carry it on a tray on the back of the motorhome, plugged in and running. Since the 13,500 a/c is a bit over kill, we can run it on low, crack the front windows and cool the whole unit going down the road without using dash air. Don't skimp on generator watts or btu's!

[Johnny]

QUOTE (jimmy @ Aug 7 2009, 10:24 PM) Hello everyone,

I'm so stoked to find this site. We just purchased an 84 dolphin and love it so far. It needs some tweeking so you might see me asking a few questions over the next few weeks. It didn't come with a generator or AC so my first question is

What size generator have people used? I found a great Coleman 1850, but am not sure if that is big enough to run everything in the rig. Do you think this one will work??

Thanks

I've also got an '84 Dolphin and this year bought a Powermite 1850 at Costco for $224.00 and it works great. I don't have roof AC but it powers all else fine and is only 6 db's louder than a Honda 2000.

T.A.J.

About 10 years ago, can it be that long? we had an 84 Dolhin and it had a generator and roof a/c. At the time we lived overseas 4 years and came back for one and did lots of traveling. The roof a/c on the Dolphin was way to small for the motorhome and when we traveled, about 10,000 miles that year, we would leave the generator running with the roof air on everywhere we went during the day, even when we went to McDonalds or into WalMart. If we turned of the unit it could not catch up. Last year we purchased a Sunrader that didn't come with roof a/c or generator and installed a 13,500 btu unit on the roof and picked up a new Champion 4000 watt generator from Checker Auto. After rebate the cost of the generator was $191.00! I had never heard of Champion and did a google search and found that Cabellas (sp?) sells them and read most of the reviews, of which 95% were positive, so we went that route. It comes with an RV 15 amp receptacle which allows us to plug right in. We carry it on a tray on the back of the motorhome, plugged in and running. Since the 13,500 a/c is a bit over kill, we can run it on low, crack the front windows and cool the whole unit going down the road without using dash air. Don't skimp on generator watts or btu's!