B190 Enthusiasts

Can someone refer me to a good RV repair person or place in an around Chicago? My class B motorhome needs a generator installed on it. I have a good working Onan 2800 Generator and I have a slot for the generator on my B190 airstream. I need someone to mount the generator on my van and do all the wiring required. Since the generator slot is near the gas and the propane tank, I don't want to do this as a DYI. Thank you for your inputs

1990 Airstream B190

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Combined from June 18 post...

Heat from the Generator..

Post by liferiders » Mon Jun 18, 2012 8:53 am

Recently, got a generator installed on my B190. Primarily, I got it installed because I wanted to run the roof A/C during trips as my dash A/C does not work. Took the motor home for a trip yesterday and turned on the generator and then the A/C. The cabin started to get cold in no time and everything was going fine. However, after half an hour of the generator operation, the cabin started to get hot from the heat from the generator. The A/C still blew cold air, but it kind of got offset by the heat from the generator. Now I am worried. Have any one of you had this problem? Is there anything I can do to overcome this problem. Please advise  Thank you.

I went to Arts RV in Glendale Heights, IL and the gentleman quoted me $700 for the installation of the Generator. Is it reasonable or too high? Please let me know your thoughts. I am providing the generator. The quote includes, mounting the generator in the slot in the driver side (currently, it is just an empty slot with no hookup lines or connections), running all the lines required, hooking up a line from the Gas tank and putting a start/Off switch inside the motorhome. Secondly, if you were in my shoes, would you get this work done at an airstream dealership? I have one (the airstream of CHicago) a little not too far, but they are only open on the weekdays and weekdays don't work for me

liferiders wrote:I went to Arts RV in Glendale Heights, IL and the gentleman quoted me $700 for the installation of the Generator. Is it reasonable or too high? Please let me know your thoughts. I am providing the generator. The quote includes, mounting the generator in the slot in the driver side (currently, it is just an empty slot with no hookup lines or connections), running all the lines required, hooking up a line from the Gas tank and putting a start/Off switch inside the motorhome. Secondly, if you were in my shoes, would you get this work done at an airstream dealership? I have one (the airstream of CHicago) a little not too far, but they are only open on the weekdays and weekdays don't work for me

This isn't really an Airstream issue - the shop you are looking at can probably do it just fine. Note you'll need a transfer switch, too, which they hopefully included in the cost.

For the $700, I'm honestly not sure. I had a new one installed for ~$2200, but that included the new generator so it's hard to tell. $700 sounds a bit high to me, because it shouldn't be more than a couple hours of labor, but at the same time there are a lot of steps - the wiring, the fuel, the exhaust, testing, etc. On the other hand, mine already had a generator installed, so they really just had to swap the unit and test it - no need to run the fuel lines, wires, etc. I think I'd look for a second estimate, even if it's by another RV shop (doesn't have to be Airstream) just to see where you are.

One suggestion: Have them drill out a hole under the generator where the oil drain is so that you can change the oil without removing the generator from the camper.

Hit another roadblock! Please help.

I took the RV to a local RV dealer to install an Onan 2800 Generator (Runs on Gasoline only). According to him, there isn't enough space to provide cooling for the generator, as it sits so close to the propane tank. I tried to explain to him, that Onan 2800 microlite is the one which goes with these motorhomes. But he says, my model is the older version which doesn't provide the cooling mechanism? or something in those lines. I wonder how you all manage to deal with this problem? Are there any differences in Onan 2800 Microlite the old one v the newer ones? Please help. As an alternate option, he suggested me to move the propane tank somewhere else, to which I said no!.

Please share your thoughts. I don’t know where to go from here.

liferiders wrote:Hit another roadblock! Please help.

I took the RV to a local RV dealer to install an Onan 2800 Generator (Runs on Gasoline only). According to him, there isn't enough space to provide cooling for the generator, as it sits so close to the propane tank. I tried to explain to him, that Onan 2800 microlite is the one which goes with these motorhomes. But he says, my model is the older version which doesn't provide the cooling mechanism? or something in those lines. I wonder how you all manage to deal with this problem? Are there any differences in Onan 2800 Microlite the old one v the newer ones? Please help. As an alternate option, he suggested me to move the propane tank somewhere else, to which I said no!.

Please share your thoughts. I don’t know where to go from here.

That's odd - the Microlite 2800 is the generator for these campers, and never has been anything else. Nothing else will even fit (I looked). I will admit it's a pretty snug fit, and perhaps Airstream cut the box a bit snug, but there are plenty out there working just fine...

Hello Skater Thank you for your reply. So how are these generators on B190s, cooled? Any opening for airflow, through the bottom? Or these generators don’t need to be cooled and will be just fine? Do you have any heat absorbing mechanisms? Am I the first person to have such a dilemma?

liferiders wrote:Hello Skater Thank you for your reply. So how are these generators on B190s, cooled? Any opening for airflow, through the bottom? Or these generators don’t need to be cooled and will be just fine? Do you have any heat absorbing mechanisms? Am I the first person to have such a dilemma?

The only cooling I know of is the vents on the door to the compartment. My feeling is that installed it will work fine in all but the hottest situations. Now that I think about it, I do remember one day it shut down in extreme heat (think 90+ degrees, high humidity, and the sun shining on the door) but later ran just fine. I don't know if it was overheating or not, though - for all I know the air conditioner was pulling too much current due to the same conditions.

Mine had some insulation installed around it, but I assume that was for noise abatement rather than heat...in fact you'd think that insulation would make it worse.

I really don't know - I'm not an expert on this. I think Onan has the manuals for them online; see what the minimum space around it is specified as and go from there.

I had mine running almost constantly last summer on a tour through the South in record breaking temps (115F) and high humidity and didn't have an issue with overheating. IN racked about 200 hrs on the genset that trip.

To my knowledge all B190's were produced with the exact same insulated generator enclosure, even though some B190's came without the generator.

Its a very tight fit... !

For a new installation I suggest that you put a hole in that enclosure floor to make it much easier to drain the oil in the future...the 1997 and newer rigs came from Airstream with that opening in the floor. If ya look on the bottom of the generator you will see a drain plug. Lay out your hole accordingly...probably a 1-inch to 1 1/4" hole saw would work if ya lay it out correctly.

Make sure the circular hole for the exhaust-out is made as small and accurate as possible...

Any and all cooling air intake and exit was through the door...

It sounds like the problem is that the heat from the ML2800 exhaust out the bottom directly above the propane tank. Is there a problem with heating the propane tank?

You need a right angle exhaust pipe that exits just in front of the driver side rear wheel. You'll also need a hanging bracket for support. Heat really isn't an issue here, but you don't want to vent the exhaust directly under the rv since it will find a way back inside.

I'd find a different installer...like Cummins

His rig is a 1990 and there are no issues at all installing the 2800 in the enclosure Airstream installed on all the 1990 and 1991 rigs regardless on them having the generator option or not.

Additionally, the exhaust exits well behind the propane tank so there are no issues there either. And, there is a heat-shield on the back end of the propane tank as seen in this picture below

To address the question related to heat now in the first post.

The generator enclosure has a foil covered installation, top, back and sides from Airstream....

Perhaps when the rigs were not fitted/ordered with the generator option from the factory that insulation was not installed.