Generator Questions

[Rich Biebel]

Originally Posted by 5848

I have the chance to purchase a Onan Emerald 1 Genset 4Kw rv generator and was wondering your thoughts on this model? This would go into our race trailer.

They were good units.....but that would be a pretty old unit. They have not made that design for over 10 years. Did it have an hour meter attached to it ? It's always helpful to know the amount of usage on a machine of that vintage. An hour meter is the closest thing to an odometer.

I would not buy one unless it looked to be well cared for and could be tested. It is very easy to run one even if it is not installed in anything.

Add a battery and a gas can and run it and check the output voltage. I run every unit I work on....on a bench and it gets load tested with a resistive load bank to full rated load.....It's a lot of work to install one in a trailer or M-H so it should be confirmed as good before doing an install....