Cummins Onan Hybrid Quiet Diesel System

[dougyes]

Has anyone had experience with the Cummins Onan Hybrid Quiet Diesel Generator System? I comes with a inverter, generator and system management controller.

[rv_safetyman]

I tried to find a reply I had made on these types of generators.

I have not heard any reliability issues.

My problem is the sound of the units.  When I walk through rows of motorhomes at a rally, I can pick out the units with this technology a mile away.  The variable speed sound is very obnoxious to me.  Sound has two characteristics that humans deal with.  First is sound pressure (how loud is it?) and by that measure the units I have heard are not too bad.  The second issue is sound quality.  The infamous example is fingernails on the chalk board.  That is not a loud sound that will hurt your ears, but it will drive you crazy. 

Humans seem to deal well with most constant sounds, but variable sounds can really get your attention.  I have sensitive and listening to that engine rev up and down just drives me crazy (short drive ).

If you are thinking about buying one, find a coach that has it and then change the current demand several time and see if the change in RPM and the associated with it is acceptable to you.

Jim

[TomC]

I'm with Jim on this one.  There is nothing quite so nice as a constant speed generator that is just a back ground hum that eventually you really don't pay much attention to.  Switch that to a variable speed generator with inverter, and every time the A/C kicks on, the generator speeds up to compensate for the power draw-now you're waking up every time the A/C kicks on.
A few years ago, I was at the Grand Canyon Caverns at a gathering.  On the last day I pulled up to the front with my generator on and went to look at the displays.  In the mean time, a sticks and staples fired up their "quiet" Onan across from my bus.  To show you how "quiet" the Onan generator is, when I was walking back to my bus, I was questioning whether my generator was still running, only to find out, it was being drowned out by the "quiet" diesel across the way. I had to get within only 8ft of my bus until I finally heard my generator was still running. 
Your goal when making a generator cabinet, should be the fact that there is no such thing as a too quiet generator.  If your generator is so quiet that you have to put your hand on the bus to feel the slight vibration of the generator running, but don't hear anything-that would be just about the right amount of silencing on the generator cabinet.  Good Luck, TomC