Great stuff. We lost power at our house for a few hours during the coldest day of the year (negative degrees). Much of this translates to home use. Two things I would add for home, start with eco off until you get everything you want on and you will need a bond plug for home ER use to run the furnace. Have a Wen 3800 and it powered the furnace, 3 fridges, internet, tv and stereo and some lights.
@Jasonoid i don't have an RV either and i still watch, I will not Buy any generator gas or electric, solar panel, car charger unless I see a review from Johnny or you & there's 1 other guy i don't know if it's cool to mention another name on somebody else's channel that could be a competitor.. the first part of his name is the same as a street Bum 2nd part is tech
Don't even think about skipping or fast forwarding. Every minute covers some level of detail and no fluff. You almost never get that from yt videos these days. I just bought a WEN 2800 and was looking for reviews. Im just a hotshot driver, and I was curious when I saw the title in my algorithm. Wonderful.
I used the email question option to get your recommendation, and I decided to purchase the Pulsar GD400BN. What a great suggestion you made. We live on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and although we have larger generators, we wanted this unit to be portable for necessities like window units and communication. Thankfully we have not had a storm so far, but what peace of mind we have. Thank you sir for your knowledge and information.
Great informative video. Many of us take these processes and steps for granted but I'm sure there are many people that aren't as familiar with "best practices". I've been really happy with my Pulsar unit. On propane, bleed the air out at the fitting, then 2 pulls on choke, turn to run, and usually starts on that 1st pull! and runs great.
Hopefully these generator tips help next time using your RV #generator #rvlife #rv #vanlife #offgridpower Be sure to Subscribe 👍🏼 :www.youtube.com/@johnnysweekends?sub_confirmation=1 Have a question you want answered fast: asqme.com/@johnnysweekends Thanks for the support 😀👍🏼 Generators you may want to consider..... WEN 3600 dual fuel: amzn.to/409ZeWT Pulsar 4000 Dual fuel: amzn.to/407WzNs Champion 4000 Dual fuel: amzn.to/4dJmPAY Maxpeedingrods 4000gt: amzn.to/485DRbf Honda eu2200i: amzn.to/4eLTkQa Genmax Extendedrun fuel pump: amzn.to/3YoHfup 6 gallon tank for pump: amzn.to/4eJOKlt Power Watch dog 30 amp: amzn.to/4h9Su1e SAVE BIG ON NEW SOLAR PANELS HERE: signaturesolar.com/?ref=JWKNDS DISCOUNT CODE: JOHNNYWKND BEST PRICING ON- ECOFLOW - BLUETTI- ANKER- Solar sytems, Solar panels and more!! shopsolarkits.com/1134 Discount Code: JOHNNYWKND CHEAP USED CERTIFIED SOLAR PANELS HERE: www.santansolar.com/?ref=Johnnys%20Weekends MC4 All in one Kit : amzn.to/37jwLVb CHECK OUT MY AMAZON STORE: www.amazon.com/shop/johnnysweekends
A lot of good information; thank you. For every 1000' in elevation you need to subtract about 3% from the running watts. Generators are rated at sea level and are not the continuous running watts.
I Bought 2 pulsar 4500 units with propane and remote. Both went back. Complete junk. 1st one ran rough and erratic. 2nd one ran wide open and had 3 bolts fall out during shipping. Just food for thought.
@cl4367 those are completely different Chinese units. Not even the same manufacturer. Pulsar just puts a sticker on it. Some are good and some are bad.
Well thank you a whole lot for this video dude! this is exactly what i needed to see! I have solar and 2 lith ion batteries, I'm thinking that all i need the generator for is topping off the batteries when there is no sunlight,is using the converter with the generator not a good idea in that case? again, thank you!
3200 watt Honda is so easy to start. I wish it was electric start. It is my go to when I do search and rescue And replenishes THE POWER IN my EcoFlow delta inverter
Are you planning to review the WEN DF500iX ? specs seems really nice 120v/240v, dual fuel, a little heavy but seems smaller than others at the same class.
I have the wen DF500ix. Only used it 3 hours. I like that has 240v so I can fast charge my ecoflow Delta pro on 240v. I don't like that it won't do 240v and 120v same time. Sips fuel.
Have you looked at the “Active Controls” active start/soft start units? They provide surge protection and soft start capabilities without touching your ac unit wiring
@@johnnysweekends did active controls warranty them out? Thats the first I’ve ever heard of them having issues. I was hoping they were a better solution to a typical hardwired soft start and a regular surge protector
@dylanhenkins8508 one said no because it was outside warranty and the others I don’t know. The new ones look way way better but come at a steal price…here is the new model amzn.to/3UapeNV Affiliate link
Beautiful Knowledge to Know. Thank you 🙏 Brother. Just purchased 2 of the Pulsar 4000 Dual fuel Generators that you have in this video thanks 🙏 to your reviews on it. I love them both so much. Thank you 🙏. Merry Christmas 🎄 & God Bless you & your Family.
I have a switch/disconnect at my battery. If I disconnect my battery before I plug in the generator would I have to shut the breaker off for the battery charger?
The breaker turns off the converter which will still run dc circuits if left on. Lights, fans and more. So technically if you wanted to do it by the book, then yes you would turn it off
Useful tips. Regarding generator efficiency... obviously you get shorter run time at higher loads but do you actually get fewer kWh per/gallon? I ask because I'm thinking of getting the AC200L and running the A/C charger at a higher load. My EU2200i Honda does upto 1800W continuous. I wouldn't run it that hard, just more than the 500W charger I currently have to shorten charging times.
Couldn't you just put a Y adapter on your 40 lbs tanks and hook up the generator so you are not worrying about double regulating and taking the generators propane adapter apart.
A few things I would say: 1. Especially considering noise regulations at national parks and just being a good neighbor, I would say what may be a good guide for what you want to do for power: a. For a small power setup, you may just think about a small LFP battery and running what you can off of 12 or 24V. Small LFP batteries are getting to be very cheap these days. Maybe bring a solar panel and MPPT charge controller. Really, 24V is a lot more efficient than 12V due to losses on the wire with such a low voltage as 12V. For example running a small portable fridge I found with voltage meters that on 12V I was losing ~8% of the power over the wire that came with the fridge. With 24V, I found I was only losing ~2%. While you have to specifically check, a lot of stuff that will plug into a cigarette lighter can do either 12V or 24V. DC-DC power converters are also easy to find. You don't really want to be getting power off of your car or truck both because vehicles tend to not be efficient at being a generator and especially considering wastefully using the fuel in your vehicle, you don't want to get stuck somewhere because you burned all of your gas to say charge your iPhone or something inefficiently. Just plug that iPhone / Android phone, flashlight, portable fridge, etc directly into a 24V LFP battery though a cigarette lighter adapter or something and call it a day. A battery that is easy enough to carry can probably make it a whole trip if the trip isn't for more than a few days and only a handful of things are just using that 24V power off of an LFP battery directly. b. When you get into bigger power setups, you need to get more serious about solar and a generator. Solar may not always be a good source where you go and when you go. A generator is not something you want to run continuously both for noise reasons and it eats up a lot of fuel. If you can buffer with batteries, you can gear the generator more for running at a continuous power level when it is on and then shut it of at other times both for noise restrictions and to conserve fuel. So, you probably want to be hooking that generator into a battery and inverter setup. Hopefully you can charge the batteries off of solar, but it is good to have a generator backup if solar just isn't cutting it. This latter one sounds like you are seeing you don't really need to charge off of the generator, solar is OK. 2. For my generator, the manual says for a 5 minute cool down period, not 1 - 2 minutes. 3. A lot of these smaller generators, including the Pulsar shown, rev up to 4,850 RPM. I thought you brought this up in a previous video how these higher power levels will probably wear out the generator a lot faster. Something like the Predator 5000 generator is much bigger and heavier physically, but its max engine speed is 3,600 RPM. So maybe the Predator 5000 will handle the higher loads for longer just because it is designed for it. The Pulsar 4000 generator is designed more for occasional use. So if you go camping on occasion, you may run it hard and find that it is fine. As per manual, going much beyond 50% load and it looks like the efficiency drops. So 25% to 50% is probably a good range to keep it in to run it efficiently. With the Pulsar 4000, you haul that around on your work truck to job sites on a daily basis and run it, you will probably find that it has worn out prematurely. So, maybe your work truck has the bigger and heavier Predator 5000 and you take the smaller and lighter Pulsar 4000 on camping trips. Or maybe you don't mind the bigger and heavier, yet quieter Predator 5000 for camping. A lot of people prefer the smaller and lighter generator for camping if it will do the trick. 4. I would venture to say for bonding the outlet, by default you want the bonding plug in. The only reason to not use it is if you are plugging the generator into a service panel that already has a ground-neutral bond. Per NEC codes, an "independently derived" electrical system is to have one ground-neutral bond. Not 2. Not 0. If your trailer is plugged into your house power, it is not independently derived and thus should not have a ground-neutral bond. You already have a bond at your main panel in your home and your trailer is essentially on a "sub-panel". However, out camping, now there is no ground-neutral bond in the system when plugging into the generator instead of your home. This is why the trailers tend to have a protection mechanism as people don't know what to do and this can lead to an unsafe situation. Maybe another way to put it is say you are camping and you bring your toaster along and plug it into your unbonded generator directly. A wire comes lose in the toaster and makes contact with the metal case. Now that metal case is energized from the unbonded generator. There is no return path at this point to cause the generator to trip because there is no ground - neutral bond. Now you put your hand on that metal case of the toaster that is energized. Do you want to take the chance that the toast is made outside of the toaster over something you don't realize is going on as you place your hand on that energized surface? It just doesn't seem safe. While I am not guaranteeing this will kill you, consider the swiss cheese model. You just removed a safety mechanism in the swiss cheese model. Somebody else may have other safety mechanisms removed, get their hands wet, etc., and then bad things happen. Now say you are bonded at the generator and plug the toaster straight into the generator. The generator immediately sees the short as the power flows with low resistance over the ground - neutral bond and the generator kicks off; the power is cut. Now you have a safe situation and you can do some tests and find there is a short to ground in the toaster.
Great stuff. We lost power at our house for a few hours during the coldest day of the year (negative degrees). Much of this translates to home use. Two things I would add for home, start with eco off until you get everything you want on and you will need a bond plug for home ER use to run the furnace. Have a Wen 3800 and it powered the furnace, 3 fridges, internet, tv and stereo and some lights.
I don't have an RV.... yet I still watch these videos LOL
@Jasonoid i don't have an RV either and i still watch, I will not Buy any generator gas or electric, solar panel, car charger unless I see a review from Johnny or you & there's 1 other guy i don't know if it's cool to mention another name on somebody else's channel that could be a competitor.. the first part of his name is the same as a street Bum 2nd part is tech
@@Sirrichz28 🤣😂
😂👍🏼 that’s Tom
I watch stuff on things I don’t own lol
@johnnysweekends yes it's Tom but I get most of my info from odin his cat🤣
Very cool to have someone who is very well versed on the subject. Kudos.
Don't even think about skipping or fast forwarding. Every minute covers some level of detail and no fluff. You almost never get that from yt videos these days. I just bought a WEN 2800 and was looking for reviews. Im just a hotshot driver, and I was curious when I saw the title in my algorithm. Wonderful.
Wow thank you so much 🙏🏼 be careful out there 👊🏼💪🏼🙂
I used the email question option to get your recommendation, and I decided to purchase the Pulsar GD400BN. What a great suggestion you made.
We live on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and although we have larger generators, we wanted this unit to be portable for necessities like window units and communication.
Thankfully we have not had a storm so far, but what peace of mind we have. Thank you sir for your knowledge and information.
Great informative video. Many of us take these processes and steps for granted but I'm sure there are many people that aren't as familiar with "best practices". I've been really happy with my Pulsar unit. On propane, bleed the air out at the fitting, then 2 pulls on choke, turn to run, and usually starts on that 1st pull! and runs great.
Hopefully these generator tips help next time using your RV #generator #rvlife #rv #vanlife #offgridpower
Be sure to Subscribe 👍🏼 :www.youtube.com/@johnnysweekends?sub_confirmation=1
Have a question you want answered fast: asqme.com/@johnnysweekends
Thanks for the support 😀👍🏼
Generators you may want to consider.....
WEN 3600 dual fuel: amzn.to/409ZeWT
Pulsar 4000 Dual fuel: amzn.to/407WzNs
Champion 4000 Dual fuel: amzn.to/4dJmPAY
Maxpeedingrods 4000gt: amzn.to/485DRbf
Honda eu2200i: amzn.to/4eLTkQa
Genmax Extendedrun fuel pump: amzn.to/3YoHfup
6 gallon tank for pump: amzn.to/4eJOKlt
Power Watch dog 30 amp: amzn.to/4h9Su1e
SAVE BIG ON NEW SOLAR PANELS HERE: signaturesolar.com/?ref=JWKNDS
DISCOUNT CODE: JOHNNYWKND
BEST PRICING ON- ECOFLOW - BLUETTI- ANKER- Solar sytems, Solar panels and more!! shopsolarkits.com/1134
Discount Code: JOHNNYWKND
CHEAP USED CERTIFIED SOLAR PANELS HERE: www.santansolar.com/?ref=Johnnys%20Weekends
MC4 All in one Kit : amzn.to/37jwLVb
CHECK OUT MY AMAZON STORE:
www.amazon.com/shop/johnnysweekends
A lot of good information; thank you. For every 1000' in elevation you need to subtract about 3% from the running watts. Generators are rated at sea level and are not the continuous running watts.
Correct!! You must have watched my elevation video 😀👍🏼
It’s decided. I’m gonna buy that Pulsar. Thank you Johnny!
👍🏼😀👊🏼
I Bought 2 pulsar 4500 units with propane and remote. Both went back. Complete junk. 1st one ran rough and erratic. 2nd one ran wide open and had 3 bolts fall out during shipping. Just food for thought.
@cl4367 those are completely different Chinese units. Not even the same manufacturer.
Pulsar just puts a sticker on it.
Some are good and some are bad.
Well thank you a whole lot for this video dude! this is exactly what i needed to see! I have solar and 2 lith ion batteries, I'm thinking that all i need the generator for is topping off the batteries when there is no sunlight,is using the converter with the generator not a good idea in that case?
again, thank you!
Great info.... I listened to every word....
Excellent video, gives me a good idea of what i need. Thx
Terrific explanation and video! Thank you
👍🏼😀
Tks for the tips JW
👍🏼😀
Thank you ❤
3200 watt Honda is so easy to start.
I wish it was electric start. It is my go to when I do search and rescue
And replenishes THE POWER IN my EcoFlow delta inverter
Are you planning to review the WEN DF500iX ? specs seems really nice 120v/240v, dual fuel, a little heavy but seems smaller than others at the same class.
Thinking about it.
I have the wen DF500ix. Only used it 3 hours. I like that has 240v so I can fast charge my ecoflow Delta pro on 240v.
I don't like that it won't do 240v and 120v same time. Sips fuel.
@jimbo5635 need ad to dc converter
Thanks Johnny.
Thanks for the very useful tips! Love my Pulsar GD400BN you recommended in a past video. Keep up the good work!
Have you looked at the “Active Controls” active start/soft start units? They provide surge protection and soft start capabilities without touching your ac unit wiring
Yes! But idk 3 people just in one area with burned up units and others with issues of it not working at all. So I’m back and forth on it.
@@johnnysweekends did active controls warranty them out? Thats the first I’ve ever heard of them having issues. I was hoping they were a better solution to a typical hardwired soft start and a regular surge protector
@dylanhenkins8508 one said no because it was outside warranty and the others I don’t know.
The new ones look way way better but come at a steal price…here is the new model
amzn.to/3UapeNV
Affiliate link
@@johnnysweekends I just got the acs30p version on sale for $400 so fingers crossed it’s a good investment!
@@johnnysweekendsI had one didn't work
Which of those two do u prefer: the dual fuel pulsar 4000 or W3n dual fuel 3600? Thanks.
Kinda still like the pulsar better.
I’ll do a video soon on several of them but Nov and Dec are so busy for me
Thanks Johnny. What do u think Pulsar one year warranty and the Wen a 3 year warranty? Appreciate ur insights!
What app is giving you the output readings of the generator?
If the load regulator is external can you connect it directly to natural gas ??
No you need a new regulator that’s adjustable for pressure differences for Ng
Beautiful Knowledge to Know. Thank you 🙏 Brother. Just purchased 2 of the Pulsar 4000 Dual fuel Generators that you have in this video thanks 🙏 to your reviews on it. I love them both so much. Thank you 🙏. Merry Christmas 🎄 & God Bless you & your Family.
😀👍🏼🙌🏼👊🏼
I just picked up a GD240N, I haven't run it yet but so far I'm pretty impressed. For $350 I couldn't pass it up.
Keep in mind that not all breakers are switch rated. I'd like to think that RV makers use switch rated breakers, but I have a sneaking suspicion.
I have a switch/disconnect at my battery. If I disconnect my battery before I plug in the generator would I have to shut the breaker off for the battery charger?
The breaker turns off the converter which will still run dc circuits if left on. Lights, fans and more.
So technically if you wanted to do it by the book, then yes you would turn it off
How many hours does a full tank last using full capacity. What gas do you use. And how often do you refill the oil ?
You are not supposed to run generators at full capacity. Get something bigger that way you stay around 50-75%
100% is for short term then back down.
hey are these putting out pure sine wave or no
Yesss! 👍🏼
Is it ok to upgrade my 60amp converter to a 75amp? Im only using 1 lithium battleborn battery
Yea if you want more power and faster charging then sure
I appreciate the quick reply
Do you think an A-Ipower SUA2300i can be paralleled with a Yamaha EF2200is?
Yup
@@johnnysweekends Appreciate it.
Useful tips. Regarding generator efficiency... obviously you get shorter run time at higher loads but do you actually get fewer kWh per/gallon? I ask because I'm thinking of getting the AC200L and running the A/C charger at a higher load. My EU2200i Honda does upto 1800W continuous. I wouldn't run it that hard, just more than the 500W charger I currently have to shorten charging times.
Typically most any engine the faster you run it with more load the quicker it runs out.
Cars driving at 80 verses 55
Motorcycles
Boats
And more
Couldn't you just put a Y adapter on your 40 lbs tanks and hook up the generator so you are not worrying about double regulating and taking the generators propane adapter apart.
A few things I would say:
1. Especially considering noise regulations at national parks and just being a good neighbor, I would say what may be a good guide for what you want to do for power:
a. For a small power setup, you may just think about a small LFP battery and running what you can off of 12 or 24V. Small LFP batteries are getting to be very cheap these days. Maybe bring a solar panel and MPPT charge controller. Really, 24V is a lot more efficient than 12V due to losses on the wire with such a low voltage as 12V. For example running a small portable fridge I found with voltage meters that on 12V I was losing ~8% of the power over the wire that came with the fridge. With 24V, I found I was only losing ~2%. While you have to specifically check, a lot of stuff that will plug into a cigarette lighter can do either 12V or 24V. DC-DC power converters are also easy to find. You don't really want to be getting power off of your car or truck both because vehicles tend to not be efficient at being a generator and especially considering wastefully using the fuel in your vehicle, you don't want to get stuck somewhere because you burned all of your gas to say charge your iPhone or something inefficiently. Just plug that iPhone / Android phone, flashlight, portable fridge, etc directly into a 24V LFP battery though a cigarette lighter adapter or something and call it a day. A battery that is easy enough to carry can probably make it a whole trip if the trip isn't for more than a few days and only a handful of things are just using that 24V power off of an LFP battery directly.
b. When you get into bigger power setups, you need to get more serious about solar and a generator. Solar may not always be a good source where you go and when you go. A generator is not something you want to run continuously both for noise reasons and it eats up a lot of fuel. If you can buffer with batteries, you can gear the generator more for running at a continuous power level when it is on and then shut it of at other times both for noise restrictions and to conserve fuel. So, you probably want to be hooking that generator into a battery and inverter setup. Hopefully you can charge the batteries off of solar, but it is good to have a generator backup if solar just isn't cutting it. This latter one sounds like you are seeing you don't really need to charge off of the generator, solar is OK.
2. For my generator, the manual says for a 5 minute cool down period, not 1 - 2 minutes.
3. A lot of these smaller generators, including the Pulsar shown, rev up to 4,850 RPM. I thought you brought this up in a previous video how these higher power levels will probably wear out the generator a lot faster. Something like the Predator 5000 generator is much bigger and heavier physically, but its max engine speed is 3,600 RPM. So maybe the Predator 5000 will handle the higher loads for longer just because it is designed for it. The Pulsar 4000 generator is designed more for occasional use. So if you go camping on occasion, you may run it hard and find that it is fine. As per manual, going much beyond 50% load and it looks like the efficiency drops. So 25% to 50% is probably a good range to keep it in to run it efficiently. With the Pulsar 4000, you haul that around on your work truck to job sites on a daily basis and run it, you will probably find that it has worn out prematurely. So, maybe your work truck has the bigger and heavier Predator 5000 and you take the smaller and lighter Pulsar 4000 on camping trips. Or maybe you don't mind the bigger and heavier, yet quieter Predator 5000 for camping. A lot of people prefer the smaller and lighter generator for camping if it will do the trick.
4. I would venture to say for bonding the outlet, by default you want the bonding plug in. The only reason to not use it is if you are plugging the generator into a service panel that already has a ground-neutral bond. Per NEC codes, an "independently derived" electrical system is to have one ground-neutral bond. Not 2. Not 0. If your trailer is plugged into your house power, it is not independently derived and thus should not have a ground-neutral bond. You already have a bond at your main panel in your home and your trailer is essentially on a "sub-panel". However, out camping, now there is no ground-neutral bond in the system when plugging into the generator instead of your home. This is why the trailers tend to have a protection mechanism as people don't know what to do and this can lead to an unsafe situation.
Maybe another way to put it is say you are camping and you bring your toaster along and plug it into your unbonded generator directly. A wire comes lose in the toaster and makes contact with the metal case. Now that metal case is energized from the unbonded generator. There is no return path at this point to cause the generator to trip because there is no ground - neutral bond. Now you put your hand on that metal case of the toaster that is energized. Do you want to take the chance that the toast is made outside of the toaster over something you don't realize is going on as you place your hand on that energized surface? It just doesn't seem safe. While I am not guaranteeing this will kill you, consider the swiss cheese model. You just removed a safety mechanism in the swiss cheese model. Somebody else may have other safety mechanisms removed, get their hands wet, etc., and then bad things happen.
Now say you are bonded at the generator and plug the toaster straight into the generator. The generator immediately sees the short as the power flows with low resistance over the ground - neutral bond and the generator kicks off; the power is cut. Now you have a safe situation and you can do some tests and find there is a short to ground in the toaster.
You have bear metal in your truck? Love autocorrect...
lol
Bare metal not bear metal.
Don't need a spelling nanny.
Run everybody, the grammar police just showed up!😆
I honestly dont know what this is about? I assume the closed captions which are automated ?