How We Do It - Grooming Van - Part 3 - Generator

This video is about the generator that we added and how it works into the system.
Sherry wants more air conditioning. But the problem is that we are at the limit that most of her customers electric that I can plug into. So we couldn't add any more air conditioning to the van.
Adding more AC is a priority but I had to solve the power issues. A generator is the only affordable solution. But what to get and where to put it?
Cost is an issue so I turned to Harbor Freight. They have a lot of different generators, but the choices were narrowed down by 4 things. Electric start, CARB compliant, smallest package and price.
The least expensive choice was the Predator 8750 watt generator. This has 7000 running watts and 8750 peak watts. This will power everything in the grooming salon. But where to put it?
There really was only one place. The wet bay in the back of the van. But you cannot run a generator inside an occupied area. This lead to the use of slides to move it out of the van when it is in use.
The slides came from Amazon and are rated for 200 lbs for each pair. By mounting 2 pairs I can cover the weight of the generator, fuel and the vibration from running the generator. These are full length slides and are very strong. The slides are designed to mount to a wall on each side of a drawer, there is no wall in this area of the van so I had to build a steel frame from 1-1/2 angle steel. A frame for each side and a mounting frame to bolt to the generator cage. The frames are bolted to the aluminum floor of the van to handle the tipping weight of the generator.
To use the generator at a customer you only need to pull it out plug the shore connection into the generator, and use the electric start to fire it up. The generator even powers the converter charger and so makes everything on the inverter work better.
The only problem with it is the noise.
I have been working on the noise issues with the sound deadening material I have bolted on to the generator and the interior of the salon area. This is a work in progress. Is it unworkable? No, it is just a little louder than the HV dryer behind the wall. But the dryer only runs for 20 to 40 minutes maximum. To power the AC, the generator would have to run for 2 or more hours.
So while it does solve the power issue, it created the sound issue. As I said a work in progress.
The generator did solve another issue and that is how to power my 240 volt mig welder. It does this quite well and the sound is not as big an issue for this because I am making more noise than the generator, and I only need to run the generator when I need the extra power.
We received no compensation for the mention or display of any companies or products in this video. The comments are our own and reflect our experience and opinions.