Generators at camping events

[VXman]

Currently camping at Latitude Festival (anyone else here?)

Hundreds of motorhomes, campervans and caravans here and not one generator!!! (No EHU available either)

Why? Because there are banned. So how come when I was at Le Mans last month I had to be surrounded by 4 noisy generators - some on for 24/7?

Same at Silverstone GP and other motor racing events I camp at - generators everywhere. If folk can manage at a music festival why not elsewhere?

 

[Bluemooner]

We are at Ragley Hall game fair most have no Ehu generators not allowed

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

Not really seen or heard anyone with generators these days
Certainly not in the summer months .
I could accept thier use inthe winter only if on during the daytime.
I think the worst culprits seem to be large rv's but they are very few these days.

 

[DBK]

I think motor racing events are by definition noisy so generators are almost expected to keep up the smell of exhaust fumes and sound people need to help them get to sleep.

In the calmer regions of existence they are seen as an intrusion.

 

[VXman]

I think motor racing events are by definition noisy so generators are almost expected to keep up the smell of exhaust fumes and sound people need to help them get to sleep.

In the calmer regions of existence they are seen as an intrusion.

But not noisy in the early morning, evening or at night. Le Mans is noisy at the race weekend but the 7 days of camping prior is less so.

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[Tea Bag]

Hi.
I am with you about generators. But when c/vanning we belonged to a little club and a member had " Sleep Apnia ? " Before he joined we were asked if we minded as his generator had to be used. That was not a problem and they came on rallies,but parked at the end of a line,with the generator shielded by the c/van.
But that was the reason it was OK.
Tea Bag

 

[yorkiebar]

We were on a THS in May and there were a couple of units with generators. One of which was the THS steward

 

[Otter Spotter]

Quite a few Gennies at Knockhill Racing Circuit. The guy next to me ran his to power his double tray Ninja Air fryer each night

 

[scotzsue]

Hi.
I am with you about generators. But when c/vanning we belonged to a little club and a member had " Sleep Apnia ? " Before he joined we were asked if we minded as his generator had to be used. That was not a problem and they came on rallies,but parked at the end of a line,with the generator shielded by the c/van.
But that was the reason it was OK.
Tea Bag

Nothing they couldn't do with a decent machine and a bit of solar, but good to have a back up. Seriously thinking of getting a power pack, easier than trying to find somewhere to put a second battery and small lithium that fits our space just wouldn't be enough.

 

[eddie]

Like all things, people compare "things"

To the general public, people who live full time in their vans are gypsies, people who don't agree with illegal immigration are "far right" and generators are "bad"

I'm 64 years old, and have been lucky in life, and was 30 years old when I could afford to order my first RV from Travelworld.

It had a built in generator, and yes it was quite noisy, but gave us the ability to spend Christmas in the Alps, (Minus 15 degrees, no one's sitting outside with a moaners check list, noisy children, barking dog, smelly BBQ, fat people, generators, Children laughing etc) and New Year parked along the River Seine, literally in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.

This was 1990, Hymer s we're still left hand drive, had aluminum "bubble wrap sides and " off grid" wasn't invented as there was "no grid" as only the bigger sites had electric.

Many RV's later, like all things, massive improvements in many ways, my current camper, a tiny, "go anywhere Winnebago View, only a tiddler at 8m long.

Like my first RV, some thirty years ago, a built in generator.

It runs on LPG and is air-cooled, it's about 5kw, and it's really quiet by comparison to the generators of ten, twenty or thirty years ago

The Winne has a 220 amp alternator and I have a 120amp DC-DC charger charging the Lithium batteries, which in turn handle all on the campers AC electrical needs, but yes, I still find a powerful built in, integrated generator useful sometimes.

Shortly, I will be heading South, and if like last year driving in 40° heat, press a button and can have my ducted air conditioning keeping the RV beautifully cool throughout the van for example, running flat out, no compromise. I can of course run the A/C from the Victron inverter charger, from the Lithiums via the 120amp DC charger, but not flat out, hour after hour, so no compromise.

Why? Well why not? but given we have a large dog, and were stuck in a two hour motorway traffic jam in forty plus degrees, with the engine more "off" than "on it was a lifesaver.

Likewise, last Winter, a few days in the middle of nowhere in Scotland, three grey, snowy threatening days, where it was dark till 9am, then grey till 3pm when it got dark again, three 175w solar panels were 100% useless obviously, so being able to push a button, recharge the Lithium batteries at 100 amps an hour, whilst, cooking breakfast, catching up with the news whilst charging everything up ready for another day out, allows us to continue our lives mantra

"Why compromise if you don't have to?"

So, not all generators are the same noise level, there are no bad generators, just dick head owners, and owning a generator doesn't make you a bad person

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[dpsuk999]

I too have a built in Dometic TEC generator and agree with all the above. We had the misfortune last New Year on our way to Portugal to have a near catastrophic incident where my rear twin wheels nearly came off the axle (had a blow out the day before and wheel changed by a Spanish recovery company, who didn’t torque the nuts up correctly and 5 out of 6 bolts sheared off)

Anyway we’re were stuck for 6 days outside a Portuguese garage, unable to start the engine as I was on my hydraulic jacks and no rear hub assembly so the generator was used to charge up my lithium batteries (960ah) and was a life saver so yes generators do have a use

 

[Simon Meadwell]

Generator mayhem this morning at 0730 here at Oulton park. But wait till the racing starts at 0830 thats noise.
Live and let live for me.

 

[VXman]

Like all things, people compare "things"

To the general public, people who live full time in their vans are gypsies, people who don't agree with illegal immigration are "far right" and generators are "bad"

I'm 64 years old, and have been lucky in life, and was 30 years old when I could afford to order my first RV from Travelworld.

It had a built in generator, and yes it was quite noisy, but gave us the ability to spend Christmas in the Alps, (Minus 15 degrees, no one's sitting outside with a moaners check list, noisy children, barking dog, smelly BBQ, fat people, generators, Children laughing etc) and New Year parked along the River Seine, literally in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.

This was 1990, Hymer s we're still left hand drive, had aluminum "bubble wrap sides and " off grid" wasn't invented as there was "no grid" as only the bigger sites had electric.

Many RV's later, like all things, massive improvements in many ways, my current camper, a tiny, "go anywhere Winnebago View, only a tiddler at 8m long.

Like my first RV, some thirty years ago, a built in generator.

It runs on LPG and is air-cooled, it's about 5kw, and it's really quiet by comparison to the generators of ten, twenty or thirty years ago

The Winne has a 220 amp alternator and I have a 120amp DC-DC charger charging the Lithium batteries, which in turn handle all on the campers AC electrical needs, but yes, I still find a powerful built in, integrated generator useful sometimes.

Shortly, I will be heading South, and if like last year driving in 40° heat, press a button and can have my ducted air conditioning keeping the RV beautifully cool throughout the van for example, running flat out, no compromise. I can of course run the A/C from the Victron inverter charger, from the Lithiums via the 120amp DC charger, but not flat out, hour after hour, so no compromise.

Why? Well why not? but given we have a large dog, and were stuck in a two hour motorway traffic jam in forty plus degrees, with the engine more "off" than "on it was a lifesaver.

Likewise, last Winter, a few days in the middle of nowhere in Scotland, three grey, snowy threatening days, where it was dark till 9am, then grey till 3pm when it got dark again, three 175w solar panels were 100% useless obviously, so being able to push a button, recharge the Lithium batteries at 100 amps an hour, whilst, cooking breakfast, catching up with the news whilst charging everything up ready for another day out, allows us to continue our lives mantra

"Why compromise if you don't have to?"

So, not all generators are the same noise level, there are no bad generators, just dick head owners, and owning a generator doesn't make you a bad person

Generators are lovely....for the owners.

 

[VXman]

Quite a few Gennies at Knockhill Racing Circuit. The guy next to me ran his to power his double tray Ninja Air fryer each night

Generator mayhem this morning at 0730 here at Oulton park. But wait till the racing starts at 0830 thats noise.
Live and let live for me.

See, it's as I said. Motor racing motorhome owners are so backward when it comes to electricity generation. How come hundreds of motorhomes/campers can cope with 5 days at a festival with no generators but at motor racing events they are ubiquitous?

 

[eddie]

Generators are lovely....for the owners.

A well reasoned, thought provoking response, quoting my balanced explanation that there can be a time and place for the use of generators

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[Coolcats]

Currently camping at Latitude Festival (anyone else here?)

Hundreds of motorhomes, campervans and caravans here and not one generator!!! (No EHU available either)

Why? Because there are banned. So how come when I was at Le Mans last month I had to be surrounded by 4 noisy generators - some on for 24/7?

Same at Silverstone GP and other motor racing events I camp at - generators everywhere. If folk can manage at a music festival why not elsewhere?

Because you don’t sleep at Le Mans

 

[scotjimland]

This topic always 'generates' a heated discussion ...

says it all really about generators and 'wild' camping ...

 

[Augusta08]

Don't need the genny if you've got a pit garage. Gerry

 

[Brains]

Some of the newer 'suitcase' gennies are very quiet, especially of they are placed in a soundproof box with the open side in a direction away from other campers.

We were on a site in France a couple of month ago,
Next pitch had one running all night (medical reasons) placed in a tea chest with soundproofing
Inside our MoHo we could not hear it at all.

 

[enark]

Generators are no bother, its a constant hum which does not annoy me.

Slamming doors, barking dogs and shouty humans much more annoying.

But we dont own the site, just rent it for the night…..

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[BouncyBoatFolk]

Generators are no bother, its a constant hum which does not annoy me.

Slamming doors, barking dogs and shouty humans much more annoying.

But we dont own the site, just rent it for the night…..

Now you've torn it, you mention the "D" word and some fellow motor-homers can get quite hot under the collar at ANY disparaging comments, best get your tin hat on!!
Mike.

 

[pappajohn]

My RV had a 480cc briggs and Stratton V twin powering a 5.5kw generator.
It was less intrusive than my 2.2kw Kipor.

 

[The Coops]

Does no one tap into the nearest lamppost anymore?Just asking for a friend!

 

[Ratcatcher]

Had a major falling out with our German neighbours earlier in the year at Bonterra Park. Pitches are fully serviced. Second day he was running a very noisy in built generator, blowing fumes directly at us, told him in no uncertain terms to turn it off. Two days later he started his very noisy RV engine and ran it for several minutes, again fumes coming straight at us from its side exhaust, until we again expressed our displeasure. About a week later they shouted at us for beating our mats to clean them. I moved about 6 feet and continued to beat them. Karma happened a few days later when he fell off his electric scooter!

 

[DelMar]

I thought generators were old hat, taken over by power banks which are very quiet.

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[eddie]

I thought generators were old hat, taken over by power banks which are very quiet.

So called "Power banks" are simply a small lithium battery and an inverter charger in a box.

Slow to recharge by comparison to a lithium installation, (given my maximum recharge rate is 120 amps when driving and 100amps when hooked up)

Ironically "power banks" (Battery in a box) were originally marketed as "Solar Generators"

Next to mains, nothing can provide as much power as a generator, most don't need one, certainly in the 2nd half of Spring, Summer and 1st half of Autumn, when solar stands a fighting chance, but as per my previous post, in the UK a roof full of solar does absolutely nothing on a grey day in the depths of Winter

 

[Detnor]

Just back from Oulton Park gold cup weekend. Generators are everywhere in the camping area. The 11pm curfew is often ignored.

Silverstone Woodlands camping site ban them, apparently on safety grounds but they do sell ehu on some pitches.