Dry Camping (alert)

[Blacksheep]

For all you guys converting your seated buses into fine road roaming campers, let me say, please don't overlook your generator exhaust system. PLEASE make sure that when you go off camping especially where other bus nuts or campers in general will be parked close by, that you immediately install your much needed "up-stack" to get those nasty diesel or gas fumes up and away from your parked neighbors!

We JUST experienced a weekend of dry camping where a fellow bus nut right beside us that didn't adhere to this. He ran his gen set all day and into the evening (past dark) with his windows open and him GONE! Didn't make sense to me but since he was there before me, and he is sort of handicapped, I was polite in not saying what I SHOULD have said right away, hoping he would take the hint. That didn't happen nor did he take the hint when we moved our campsite straight ahead into an empty spot. It just ran and ran! So much the grass was black in an area about 5 foot from his bus.

I didn't know if the gen-set ran for medical reasons or not but none the less, he should have put up an up-stack! We couldn't open our windows or sit out under the awning. Cooking out was just that, OUT! We made the best of it and I kept my cool but people really should use an up-stack for many reasons!

Oh and the guy had a fancy factory converted Prevost and while I was at dinner, describing this situation to another bus nut, he and his wife immediately knew who it was, as they TOO had the mis-fortune of parking next to the same guy in the past. They also said at that time when they brought it to his attention of the very bad running generator, his response was, it runs fine and needs nothing!

Go figure!

Rally host, I encourage you to please put a message in all newsletters/registration forms as a reminder to all people attending your rally get together, party etc. that MUST use their generator, to PLEASE install their UP-Stack before anything else! It won't only make an enjoyable weekend for everyone but keep them from getting sick as well. Yes we suffered ill feelings from the fumes and only realized after the fact what caused it!

Ace

[luvrbus]

Ace,if you think generators are bad try dry camping on a cold day with everyone using their Webasto,Aqua Hot, Pro Heat and other diesel fired heaters talk about smoke,stink and noise.

good luck

[gumpy]

Ace,

Sorry you had a bad experience with another busnut. Your issue is a valid one that everyone should think about.  Respect for others goes a long way.

But more importantly is the potential for CO poisoning. I just spent 2 weeks dry camping in AL. My friend is living in a camper which is parked in his
garage until they build their house. They had a gas generator outside the garage they were running a couple times a day. When I got there, I just plugged them into my inverter, which meant I needed to run my generator a couple times a day for several hours. I didn't think much about it, but towards the end of the stay I found my CO detector inside the bus and plugged it in. I found that in a 3-4 hour generator session, the CO inside my bus reached 97 ppm, and was high enough for long enough to cause the CO detector to go off.  It was not an issue for me as I was never in the bus when the generator was running, but I'm really glad I found out about it now.

I think what's happening is the self contained generator is sucking in the exhaust to the cooling fan inside the housing, and it's getting into the bay. when I put the generator in last summer, I didn't have time to run the exhaust towards the rear and instead just ran a short pipe to the edge of the bay. I'll be correcting that very soon.

I urge everyone with a generator to take a CO detector with digital readout with you and plug it in when you're running the generator to see if you might be at risk.

Now if I can just figure out how to get my black tank to vent properly and quit stinking up the interior!

craig

[gus]

I guess running my gen only a few minutes to run the microwave and using my silent, portable, independent LP heaters makes me a pretty good neighbor.

[PP]

I guess running my gen only a few minutes to run the microwave and using my silent, portable, independent LP heaters makes me a pretty good neighbor.

We all thank you  Some people just don't get it. They have no idea what they're missing out on when good people are driven away by their self-centered actions. Fortunately, most people are conscientious of their neighbors.  Will & Wife

[Chopper Scott]

Rudeness and ignorance seem to go hand in hand. Not much one can do except wait until they leave and go shut that unit down. Then all you have to do is act rude or ignorant when they return!! That's probably not the politically correct response but I love a challenge and would have been finding out why, what and how come. I remember tripping a breaker to a camper that left their stereo blaring all day (the second day in a row) while they were off doing whatever. It was hot out too!! I always check for pets though! I'm not cruel hearted!! 

[Hartley]

There is almost nothing worse that parking 30 feet from a guy that thinks using
a glasspack muffler on his long stack is neat. I spent a week across from one once
and the constant nasty snarly drone just about made me nuts.. The best part
was when the wind changed direction and his exhaust stink accompanied the noise right into my roof vents.

The only thing you should ever hear from a generator exhaust is a whooshing sound and not a loud droning noise. Buy a real muffler and pipe it for minimum racket-Please?

Black water tank vent problems can be helped greatly by using one of the weather-vane type caps. It always sucks the fumes out no matter which way the wind is blowing... ( yet another Gripe from me about parking to close to people without manors!) If it leaks it's probably broke, If you can smell it, It's broke!!!

Hey,
The cold weather is almost over and I guess my grumpiness is really starting to show lately. ( According to my wife.. )

[gumpy]

... If it leaks it's probably broke, If you can smell it, It's broke!!!

Or maybe it's just not finished, yet.  Some things take more than one iteration to get perfected.

[JackConrad]

   At our Bussin' rallies we have several parking areas. The main parking area, which is closest to the rally activities building is for those with vertical stacks and no generators between 11 PM and 7 AM. Non stack area and 24/7 generator area are further from building.  I have never felt it was fair to allow someone without a stack to park next to someonme that was thoughtful enough to put a stack on their generator.
   This type of situation is another very good reason to have a working CO detector in your coach. Years ago, I ran on a couple that were overcome by CO from a neighbors generator. One died and the other will has permanent brain damage.
   Webasto, ProHeat, and AquaHot present a problem, as they recommend no more than 5' of exhaust with no more than 90 degees of bends to prevent carbon build up and damage to the boilers.  Fortuanately, at our Bussin' rallies, the diesel fired boilers are rarely needed except to heat water which only takes a few minutes.  Jack

[cody]

This leaves me a perdiclement and a somewhat of a pickle to work out, I have medical appliances that need electic now and then, luckily I have a reasonably quiet honda inverter generator that is in the a/c compartment back by the engine, it's very quiet and we don't run it more than we need too and not after hours, the problem is that the muffler is built into the back of the unit and not your standard pipe and muffler kind. We have a detector and ever since I took the batteries out of it hasn't made a peep so we don't have any fume problems, right? lol  My concern is I care about my neighbors and nobody has ever said anything but that may only because of politeness on their part, I would hope that if it was bothering anyone they would tell me, the little honda can't hardly be heard in it's compartment, it idles at 49db and while it's charging up my chair, which is a slow charge and takes a couple of hours it just sits there and humms quietly, I don't know if that is annoying or not but what about any fumes, I can't run an upstack without tearing apart the generator and modifying it so I'm not sure if the fumes are bad or not but I'm open to suggestions on what to do.

[Hartley]

A Fan maybe?

A marine style inline bilge blower with a stack on it should help pull fumes from around the generator area. Just a thought even if it is simple.

Sometimes simple is good...

[HighTechRedneck]

This may be a crazy idea, but the idea is free so you get what you pay for.     And like Dave's it is a simple solution.

Maybe an oversized stack using water heater vent pipe with a venturi cone over the muffler's exhaust outlet (with a much smaller gap than on a water heater though).  To work at all, there could be no horizontal pipe runs and no short 90° elbows.  Maybe a 30° immediately off the venturi and then two more at intervals to get to where you could run the vertical stack.

It wouldn't be 100%, it should get most of the exhaust gases above the roof.

Like I said, a crazy idea and far from perfect.  But better than nothing I would think.

[Sam 4106]

Hi Gumpy,
Are you still using the rubber hose for your sewer vent? If so, then maybe switching to a 1 1/2",  or preferably 2", PVC pipe straight up from your tank would work.
Good luck, Sam 4106

[Tony LEE]

Cody, you have "the little honda". Many others have 15 or 20hp units that are way below modern emission and noise standards. You run it for a few hours during reasonable hours. Others run their monsters 24/7 because if they didn't, their icemakers would stop working.

[BG6]

For all you guys converting your seated buses into fine road roaming campers, let me say, please don't overlook your generator exhaust system. PLEASE make sure that when you go off camping especially where other bus nuts or campers in general will be parked close by, that you immediately install your much needed "up-stack" to get those nasty diesel or gas fumes up and away from your parked neighbors!

I have a long hose that I use to guide the exhaust into nearby tents.  It's amazing how much quieter the campground is after a couple of days.