Kirk W

I would try running it with an electric heater of similar wattage to the a/c load just to confirm that the problem is the load and is not related to something happening in the a/c unit. I doubt that it is an a/c problem but eliminating that as a cause is so easy, why not be sure?

I liked my job too but realized that it was just a job with no real lasting effect that couldn't be done by whoever replaced me. I wanted to be able to spend my days doing things that I consider to be important, which is the reason we chose to live the RV volunteer lifestyle. Now that it has been 18 years since I retired, we still enjoy working at things that we believe to be important. I write this while sitting in the RV at our latest resident volunteer RV site. 🤗

Life doesn't come with any guarantees, but one can influence the probabilities of where it will take us. I have first-hand knowledge of hearing the "C" word from a doctor although mine was after I had retired. It is very difficult to impossible to predict how long we will live or to be sure how healthy we will be, but I still believe that it is wiser to plan than to not do so. Planning may not guarantee success, but a lack of planning is very likely to assure a bad result.

If you wait until you are near the time that you want to retire before you begin to prepare there are few who can do so comfortably. Both Barb & I made the decisions to work where there was a strong early retirement package as a part of the benefits. I'd bet also that just like me, she could have made a higher salary in other positions, but without the retirement benefits. If you begin to plan for retirement when you are 30 or before it isn't that difficult to do by way of job selection and savings. Every year that you wait to begin the plans to provide for an early retirement, the more difficult it will be to achieve that goal, whether the action is in job selection or in savings and financial planning. The best route is to do both.

Everyone has to develop the plan that fits them best. I was fortunate in that I chose to work for a company that had a great early retirement plan which included health care coverage for the employee & spouse from retirement to Medicare, but many do not have that benefit. Fortunately for us, my father convinced me not to change employers for more money with less retirement benefit, back when I was in my 30's and our kids were in school. The result was that I was able to retire and go fulltime at the age of 57, but many do not have that option. At age 62 you can draw social security but you still need some way to protect yourself from a disastrous medical expense. You can get some hint from your family medical history, but nothing is guaranteed. If you wait until you have enough money to retire, you probably never will but preplanning for early retirement is an important part of retiring early. If I were facing the healthcare mess that our government has created to "help" us, I really do not know what I would do. For many, the age 65/Medicare option is the only viable choice. If you wreck your financial security to retire early and then live to a ripe old age, you could find yourself just surviving in miserable conditions. The only thing that you have which can never be recovered or replaced once gone is your time. Use it very carefully!

Me too!

It sounds like a problem in the Onan control circuit board, which is probably not inexpensive. I do not have access to a schematic of that board but I suspect that it receives some type of feedback from the output side of the generator's breaker and that output is triggering a false shutdown. Here's hoping that I am wrong!

OOPS! 😡 A 38 is a general overload fault. Onan says this in the QD 7500 service manual:

The code 36 means it shut down without a shutdown command from the controller. The Onan sites seem to indicate that the most common causes of this are fuel related so it may be that when the engine is idling it gets enough but stops when a load is added. That could be a fuel filter or fuel pump, but those are just guesses based on what I read on other sources.

We have friends who lived for 16 years in an Avion travel trailer that they moved into from a fifth wheel that they disliked. The main reason for the preference was the lack of steps to the bath & bedrooms. We are no longer fulltime but we have spent as long as 5 consecutive months in our present travel trailer and are currently on the road for what will be 4 months by our return to base. My wife has back problems that make it very difficult for her to negotiate stairs and the flat floor is vital. There are other advantages in that the total height from the ground is lower for a travel trailer than for either of the more common choices, so it will go where other RVs will not. The very best choice of RV type is the one most liked by those who travel in it and that should be your choice regardless of what we believe. Just make sure that what you choose fits you and enjoy it.

Very true. If all that you want is the campsite, you would be much wiser to look to RV parks that have positions available to work for a site only since the hours will be much less.

There are many places that we can volunteer for 2 or 3 days per week in return for a free full hookup RV site and sometimes including propane. Often there are other amenities like laundry rooms, and often entry into areas that most of the public never see. We have done many of these positions and we always looked for places that we would enjoy the assigned tasks, and where we could learn new things and have new experiences. With no site rental, the cost of RV living drops dramatically. We enjoyed that lifestyle so much that we continue to do the volunteer activity today, even though health as caused us to return to part-time.

Thank you, Georgianne for your response!

That does sound like the overheat protection that Dometic uses on some models of refrigerators. If we are correct then any dealer with a Dometic parts line should have it but make sure that you get the right one. In addition, if the new one should fail, make sure you get the unit checked as without it you could have a fire. It is a safety device so don't wire around it. Bryant RV Service does have your service manual. Dometic 12 Series and 52 Series Service manual

That is great news! We spent 12 happy years on the road and while Pam's health problems have now dictated our return to part-time traveling, I still miss living on the road. We are currently at the Escapade site and will head to ND for the summer a couple of days after you gain your freedom! If you come toward ND please let me know as we would love to meet you!

Welcome to the Escapee Forums! I agree with what Darryl said, but am not familiar with a refrigerator having one of them like nearly all RV water heaters have. Can you tell us the make & model of your refrigerator? If you visit the website of Bryant RV you may find a service manual for the refrigerator that you have.

Pretty much my way of thinking too. I wasn't always "hard corps" Escapees and at one time was a member of both Good Sam & FMCA but have dropped both over the years. It was really my experience with Kay Peterson that made me so committed to the group and even though she has now passed away, her influence will be with me as long as I live.

Welcome to the forums! Great having you with us.

If you read the explanation given on the Consumer Reports site it states that they did no output testing at all and relied on the manufacturer's statements. Even if all of those statements are accurate, not one of them get into the THD issues which are the major reason that Honda & Yamaha cost so much more. If you only use your generator to power heaters and things of that sort, issues related to harmonic noise on the line are negligible. If you use a microwave on a noisy source enough it could experience an early demise. If clocks supplied by your generator become inaccurate, that is a hint of THD issues or it could also be frequency control issues. If you happen to be a ham radio operator you would probably discover the THD issues very quickly. Things powered by an ac motor will be impacted by a somewhat shorter lifespan but it could take a lot of hours on the generator before the problem occurs and most RV owners will not realize that the cause was poor quality power. Useful lifespan of the generator set could also be quite different based on price but that would be really hard to pin down. The whole debate on portable generators reminds me of the same debate on RV brands. The vast majority of consumers buy based more on price than any other factor. If you only expect to use the generator occasionally and for short periods, quite likely you would be ahead with one of the lower cost units on a cost/value basis. If you expect to use the generator a great deal or if you plan to depend on it when power is absolutely critical or if you want to use it to supply expensive electronic equipment, then I would stick with the Honda or Yamaha.

This is the key thing to remember. Of all of the portable inverter/generators that I have found ratings for, the most clearly stated and documented specs come from Honda & Yahama. Those two are very competitive and enjoy similar reputations in the power industry and share the top ratings. Consumer Reports rates the Honda sets at the top in all of their categories and Yamaha is not far behind but never quite matches. The Predator isn't all that far behind in most categories, but no testing of the power output was done and ratings were based on manufacturers' claims. The Honda & Yamaha were nearly the same weight with the Predator at 5# more. Since many users never need clean power or they do not recognize the cause when the symptoms appear, it is not easy to find comparisons of the power quality from one generator to the next. If you plan to use things like ham radios on the generator you will need one of the better power supplies and much of the cost difference between the Honda and the lower price generators is in the power controls built into the inverter. One of the best indicators of high-quality electricity is total harmonic distortion or THD.

Welcome to the Escapee forums. I'll address the questions which you ask that I feel qualified to answer. I do not have a great deal of experience with this issue but keep in mind that power in watts is amps times volts so when you use an inverter to convert 12V-dc electricity to 120V-ac power you will need 100a from your battery to supply only 10a of 120V-ac electricity so batteries are a major consideration. That isn't possible unless you have a unique air conditioning system for ambulances. Automotive air conditioning is powered directly by the engine and RV air conditioners are powered by 120V-ac electric motors. I suspect that your ambulance has only automotive type of air conditioning, but larger than most cars or trucks. The reason that RVs have lights that operate on 12V-dc power is to allow them to be used without any connection to shore power (120V) and avoid the need for an inverter. The same is true for the RV type refrigerator except that they also are able to use propane as a primary energy source. Today, more and more RV builders are putting in a household type refrigerator and an inverter to power it because they have become far more power efficient. Most RVs still have a water heater and furnace that use 12V power for their control systems and propane for heat. Many RV water heaters are also capable of powering from 120V for heating and there are aftermarket add-on devices to use 120V for heat from a furnace but both still use 12v to power their controls. Before you go any farther, take the time to read Mark Nemeth's article The 12V Side of Life.

Are you saying that I have lost my right to choose who I do business or spend money with? 🤔

The frequent vibration of travel with an RV can't be good for the glass type either since the element is suspended, unlike the newer style. Our weather has been very unstable here too with a high above normal one day then sliding back to well below and back up again. Things are green and spring flowers are starting to bloom but most things are quite late this year.

Wonder what the longest useful life for a fuse might be? I have a feeling that the new style will outlast the old glass ones.

While it is possible, it is very likely that the fuse was not original. I have known them to last as long as 14 years but it would be pretty rare if the refrigerator spent much time on 120V power. Since you were there I'll also point out the other fuse, probably a 3a one and it is for the 12V power that the control systems need. If it should blow you will have no operation of any type and no lights on the display or the interior. All of those are powered by your 12v-dc circuitry no matter what energy source the refrigerator is using. The propane or the 120V-ac power only supply heating for the boiler that makes the entire system work.