Generator Placement?

[neoneddy]

I must be very much in the minority of running my roof airs from inverter(s).

The airs only use 3000-3500 watts , gear driven alternator puts out over 6000watts .

[brmax]

Just looking at the Spare tire area on my nine, its not real tall. I have always admired some of the coach brands designing that gen option up front, real nice.
Jason have you took any photos of that area for anymore idea exchanges. Im not familar on differences in the 8 and 9 or other MCI models in that area.
I have a concern today if this might require raising the area in between the operator and the door.

Good day
Floyd

[jmblake]

Neoneddy: Our main use for the generator is overnighting  at Walmart or truck stop and the occasional race weekend, other than that we use the o/r air or are hooked to a pole.
Floyd: It will be a tight fit but should fit, not sure on a 8 though. I'am going to have to move some of the air valves and what ever else MCI has stuffed up in there but there's no plan on raising the floor. Like I think BW said there isn't much up front as far as steel for being in a crash, what is up there isn't much heavier than pop can material plus the rust factor I'm going to be beefing up the front area when I do this since I have some rust to fix anyways. I will take some pictures when I start on that side for sure
Jason

[kyle4501]

While you are at it, run the generator exhaust thru the roof - - so much nicer when running the gen at night.

[jmblake]

That would be nice Kyle but with the interior already finished I don't think that would be possible.
I may have opened up a can of worms with this project, once I got the aluminium bottom and back out of the spare tire compartment and started poking around I found a bunch of rusted metal
 

After I cut some of the old metal out

well I guess it needed fixed anyways so no better time than the present nothing is a easy fix or job on these old buses.
Jason

[brmax]

Murphys law
Jason you opened up you had a future son in law Welder!  Happens every time.
Great time to put him to work 
By the way is your air dryer mounted on that back side of the spare compartment. Just curious mine is, so the reason for asking.

Good day
Floyd

[Dave5Cs]

Floyd the airdryer was the first thing I thought of too when I saw the picture. Good time to move the dam thing.

[jmblake]

Floyd, yes it is, it was a new AD9 last year, actually if I don't put the panel back in and the generator pulls out, it shouldn't be to bad to get to for servicing.
Jason

[kyle4501]

That would be nice Kyle but with the interior already finished I don't think that would be possible.

Where there is a will, there is a way.

Newell usually runs it under the coach & then up behind the fridge. It is well insulated & wrapped in some sort of hard fiberglass type cloth for protection.

Good luck with all of it !

[chessie4905]

Harbor Freight sells a small and large needle scaler. They work great at removing rust scale so you can see what needs cleaned and painted, spots that have holes that were under the rust scale, and to clean up areas that need patched or replaced. Definitely use ear plugs.

Here:  https://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result/index/?dir=asc&order=EAScore%2Cf%2CEAFeatured+Weight%2Cf%2CSale+Rank%2Cf&q=Needle+scaler

They both work well. Large one is long and somewhat heavy. The small one works good in tight areas. I bought both for this situation, and they sell replacement needle sets for them, although they don't wear down much if at all.

[sledhead]

air needle scaler like this

works good just do not go to nuts trying to get if all off

https://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/air-needle-scaler/A-p8234387e

dave

[bigred]

The gen set is up front in mine. We usually run the gen while underway to run the roof airs, the last trip, we left it off. It was so quiet, now I'm thinking it would be nice if it was back near the main engine.

I wonder which makes more noise - the roof air or the gen set . . . . . .

I know on mine ,those danged roof mounts drown out any noise the Genset might make!!! Danged brand new ducted Dometics .

[zimmysurprise]

Thank you Don,
That is exactly what I want to do. Looks like it's a pretty tight fit? I started tearing my steering apart to replace with the integral steering box then I'll move over to the spare tire compartment and start in there. One question is I was looking things over tonight and wondered if I would need to leave the panel at the back of the spare tire compartment or remove it to let the generator have some open air space behind it for cooling? If I leave it in there the generator will be right up against it anyways. 
Jason

Hey there Jason- don't worry about that can of worms- you'll get through it! Yes my Onan is a tight fit. I removed a bunch of pieces of the front end without cutting, measured 267 times and thought it would fit. I brought over 4 different friends at different times, sat them in a chair in front of the bus, (my wife referred to as "contemplation station"), handed them a tape measure and asked if it would fit. All four spent a lot of time before their decision, but all said the same thing- It should fit. Good enough for me, and I whipped out the sawzall.

As for your question about the back wall of the compartment, I left mine open for ventilation. Big mistake. I boondocked at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway last summer and all that heat from under the generator worked it's way up through the underside of the bus and negated any air conditioning I attempted. Although it's a quiet diesel, it was not. I gained permission to climb under a dozen other RVs with Onans, and found the same thing- an enclosed compartment that forced the heat down. When I got home, I pulled the generator, and framed in a box. I purchased the foil/adhesive heat and sound rolls from Summit Racing and enclosed the box. Works great now and quiet, but I won't know for sure until next summer (unless somebody jumps on the grenade and saves Arcadia). 

Lastly- the discussion about weight is valid. I weighed my front and rear axles, and found that the weight of the generator would be pretty close to the 12,000 maximum. I built my roll out tray and new framing out of aluminum to minimize the weight. After completing the project, I found that adding a generator but removing the spare tire and old framing only raised my front axle 150#, still under the front axle weight rating. 

Don

[jmblake]

Thanks Don,
The can of worms is always there lurking around the corner for me anyways Hopefully over the weekend I can get the future SL over and have a plan for the RR up front. I was going to make up a mock up of the generator out of thin plywood so I know exactly what we are working with.

And thanks for the tip on the back panel, I will put it back in. I never thought about the heat coming back through there and migrating up inside. and I will look up the sound rolls you mentioned since quite is better. Did you buy your generator new? I'm half afraid to buy used that I'll get a lemon. plus the price people want for the used ones, for a little more I can go new with a warranty. We should meet up sometime, I see your only a couple hours from me.
Thanks Jason

[zimmysurprise]

Did you buy your generator new? I'm half afraid to buy used that I'll get a lemon. plus the price people want for the used ones, for a little more I can go new with a warranty.
Thanks Jason

Jason- I bought it from a wrecked RV, short on hours and about 2/3 the cost of new. I took it to an Onan repair shop and had it serviced and given a once over. I'm not sure if it's the right way to go, but I bought all my appliances used as well. First reason is there are a lot of 1/2 finished buses out there and in the event mine became one, it wouldn't hurt as much to walk away from a worthless bus and brand new appliances. But the bigger reason is because I couldn't see banging up a new stove trying to design the best cabinets around it as I built. I bought standard sized appliances (and generator), and slowly replace them with new as the project nears completion. My generator install did have a couple clearance issues and rubbed on it's first trip so it' got some battle scars on the side. I adjusted it so it doesn't rub anymore, but the scrapes don't bother me like it would have on a new one.