Hi, I just bought a pop up camper with an A/C. I have no idea about generator specifications. What would be a good small portable generator powerful enough to run the A/C on a pop up camper?

Alot depends on where you'll be using the generator.
You could get a Champion 3500 for less than $300. It's a very reliable generator and 4 times cheaper than a Honda or Yamaha. Though it is fairly quiet, I would't use it while camping near other campers. If you're going to be in the boonies or a NASCAR race, it would be ideal.
Honda & Yamaha both make a 3000W genny that will handle your AC and they are very quiet, but very expensive. I wouldn't get any generator smaller than 2800W, though you'll find having more power can be nice when camping with electrical stuff. i.e. AC, water heater, games, micro wave, etc.
I have a Champion 3500 and it powers my 15K AC, 10G water heater, and microwave.

Just to add a little more to the previous post, be very careful in selecting a generator based upon price as many of the cheaper ones have poor to no voltage regulation. The Honda and Yamaha both have very good voltage regulation which is a significant part of the reason that they cost more.

While you may pay for more than you get, you almost never get more than you pay for.

Hi,

I'd look for an inverter based generator. I'd not go smaller than 2800 watts.

Thanks for the information. I just didn't want to buy a Generator to small to run the A/C. Had to read up on the inverter generators. I never heard that term before. I am guessing the Honda and Yamaha generators are inverter types based on there size and noise level?? Would a 3000K Honda or Yamaha be sufficient to run the A/C?

I know for sure that the Honda EU3000IS generator will run a 13.5k BTU A/C unit all night. It will run a decent amount of time on a tank of gas and is very quiet.

Unless you want to get up in the middle of the night to either put gas in your generator or answer the door because you are about to get a whuppin for your hardware store generator then both of these features are worth the cost.

Hi,

There are a host of lessor known brands such as Boiley, Lifan, Honeywell and Kipor. I have a Kipor that met my needs when I had a previous RV.

In my current RV I use an inverter and solar panels. It "fits" for me, but not for everyone.

For sure chickenpants knows his generators. I'm pretty sure an investment in an Honda or Yamaha would be a good investment.

From my experience many people would turn to Honda. I it's only ,well mostly because of their reputation with trustworty products at cheap prices. But, from my experience and research, the better generator between the two of them is the Yamaha. Reason number one is because the battery life of a Yamaha doubles the Honda. Reason number two the warranty on the Yamaha's warranty triples Honda. Honda's warranty last 24 months, while Yamaha's last up to 6 years. Check out the full comparison here.

Think about the noise levels most generators make. Everyone near by will hate you due to the noise a generator can make. You can hear them all over the campground if you pick the wrong one. Check the sound levels before you pick one. Google will have this information. The diesel generators are the best at low sound levels but only come in larger motorhomes. They only turn at 1800 RPM's and gas engine roll at 3600 RPM's.

We run our generator in our Class A, but never need to run it all night as you indicated. We live in Florida and it normally cools off enough to do without AC in the middle of the night. We go to bed with the AC and generator on and first one up to go to the bathroom turns off both and we remain comfortable. I don't think you actually need an AC all night many places. We normally set our thermostat at about 78 F when hooked up to shore power and it rarely runs after midnight.

Another consideration in buying a generator is weight, and making sure that you can find parts and service for if you ever need it.

I too considered the Honda and Yamaha, but went with the Champion 3500 for budget reasons. I was very pleased as it handles air conditioning, microwave, toasters etc. and starts on the first crank, even if not used for many weeks. I didn't want to go over a 3500/4000 watt generator like this (they are around 100 pounds), as it would be too heavy to easily lift into my vehicle. Voltage is very steady, important as I use computers etc. on a daily basis. After several years with lots of use, and perfect performance I started having a service issue. I was in a small town and took it in to an equipment rental shop where the mechanic works on generators. Although the mechanic had never worked on that brand he was very impressed. He said it was a well built copy of a Honda, and even used a Honda part that it needed, which fit perfectly.

Check this out. It might be perfect for you. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/pro...85503_200585503 This one is running about $1999 now.

I have a Gentron 3500 with a RV 30 amp plug built in. It has it's own battery, electric start. I have been very happy with it, for 10 years now. Sound level is 68 decibels at 20 feet. Not bad. The Honda above is 48. I didn't want to pay a lot for a gennie, that's why I bought the one I did. $350 back then.

Here are a great few articles that should help answer some of your questions as well as give you some more insight into generators themselves ...

http://www.norwall.com/blog/generator-sizing-guides/

http://www.norwall.com/blog/news-and-updat...rators-running/

http://www.norwall.com/blog/generator-info...r-fuel-choices/

These few articles should give you a better understanding of generators overall ,, Hope this helps in your search

Weight is a very important consideration when camping. I have a Yamaha 3000 watts inverter genny that I used on a previous 5th wheel. It is a great and expensive generator and I wouldn't get rid of it for anything but it is HEAVY at over 100 lbs. Add over 3 gallons of gas and that's another 25 lbs. The point is that it's too heavy for me to be lifting into the back of a truck at my advanced years. I have a work around so it's manageable. I think that if I were to do it again, I would get two lighter 2000 watt inverter generators that could be linked together to give you the 3000 watts that you need to comfortably run an a/c otherwise running just one would take care of most of your electrical needs.