Greetings All;
I have had experience with two Onan generators, and have been very
impressed.
1: 4.5KW purchased used in a '73 motorhome, which I had rebuilt about '88.
it has received very little maintenance other than oil changes and the
occasional treat of new sparkplugs, and it soldiers right on, doing its
thing. I have never used it for radio work, but all other applications
have been just fine. I am still using this generator.
2: 6.5KW purchased new in about '85, and placed on a couple of 4x8s on the
ground, with a homemade plywood table over it partially sheltering it from
the elements in central TX. In other words, it has been relatively
mistreated, with maintenance comparable to above, but worked well until it
needed an engine rebuild 2 years ago. I have used it for field day,
running an Astron power supply from it for the radios, and everything
worked just fine. Since the engine rebuild, it continues to work just
fine, and the generator business owner who rebuilt it told me I had
mistreated it by continuing to mistune it. I tend to believe him.
Incidentally, I paid about $1150 for the complete engine -not generator-
overhaul...The generator portion was fine.
I am in the process of purchasing a used 7.5KW Onan, set up to run on
propane, being a better fuel to store long term than gasoline, and
according to all I read, easier on the engine.
These are all 1800 RPM units. I have owned a lightweight 3600 RPM unit,
and don't want another one. They are light and easily handled for the
power output, though.
I would comment that regular periodic maintenance is useful, but these are
not touchy, sensitive units, in my opinion.
Before I purchased the above 6.5kw in '85 I had owned a Kohler.
73,
Rusty
NA5TR
--
CQ-Contest on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/_cq-contest/
Administrative requests: cq-contest-REQUEST@contesting.com
|