Hi, we are new members of the Grey Nomads, my name is Connie and my husband is Colin. We will be travelling around Aussie when Colin retires in about 15 months (or earlier). We are setting up our caravan that we have just purchased and would like to know where to buy a generator box with a slide out. Does anyone know who sells them?
Connie
Dougwe said
07:36 PM Nov 9, 2020
Welcome to the gang Connie and Colin, enjoy here and out in the playground.
Try a caravan accessary place.
Also and as well even, make sure your caravan can have the weight of a generator added. They have a bit of weight in them. It's important to stay under the vans ATM.
Keep Safe on the road and out there.
Dougwe said
07:40 PM Nov 9, 2020
I'm ducking for cover cos I mentioned generators and weights in one post. BigD (Dmaxer) will be after me now.
Whenarewethere said
08:34 PM Nov 9, 2020
Run it off hydrogen, that will sort the weight issue!
I have zero knowledge of generators, maybe you can modify a fridge slide out unit, adding an aluminium mounting plate.
Or fridge mounting, I bought one to hack to pieces. Mount the generator on an aluminium plate (maybe 4mm 5083 alloy), then mount that on the fridge quick release plate, which in turn is monted on the slide out.
A good project to prevent Alzheimer's disease!
Connie and Colin said
10:57 PM Nov 9, 2020
Thank you for the welcome Doug and thanks for the info.
Connie
Connie and Colin said
11:02 PM Nov 9, 2020
Thank you for your reply "Whenarewethere". I like your humour! I think we will search the internet to buy a gen box.
Connie
outlaw40 said
06:07 AM Nov 10, 2020
Dougwe you should be ashamed for mentioning the G word AND the W word in the same sentence .Its off to the naughty corner for you .
DMaxer said
07:31 AM Nov 10, 2020
He has no shame.
outlaw40 said
08:36 AM Nov 10, 2020
Dougwe said
09:33 AM Nov 10, 2020
In my defense, I didn't mention WDH. I could have but didn't.
Ooops! I just did, bugga.
OK then, I will take myself off to the naughty room as there is no naughty corner here but while there I will clean the 50" Smart TV and restock the popcorn ready for the next person.
Edit.....I think it's about time Webmaster updated the 50" Smart TV to a 80" Smart TV with Foxtel and Netflix subscriptions. Surround Sound would be advantages as well.
-- Edited by Dougwe on Tuesday 10th of November 2020 09:36:50 AM
Mike Harding said
11:59 AM Nov 10, 2020
Think it through before you buy a gen. box and have a chat with the dealer you bought the van from.
My Honda EU20i (the minimum size gen for general caravan use) weighs about 25kg and a box would weigh (guessing) 15kg and 40kg is a lot of weight to add to either end of a caravan and may cause stability or other issues.
I appreciate carrying the gen in the back of the vehicle is a bit of a pain (I do it) but it may be a better solution for you.
Edit:
PS. Other caravanners often like to "piggyback" off your generator so to be sociable ensure you park as close to others as possible and make sure you run the gen all day and well into the evening to provide a social facility - this will ensure everyone wants to chat with you.
:)
-- Edited by Mike Harding on Tuesday 10th of November 2020 12:04:23 PM
Connie and Colin said
12:55 PM Nov 10, 2020
thanx for your info Mike, I will pass it on to Colin. At the moment, we are trying to find out who sells generator boxes.
Connie
DMaxer said
01:02 PM Nov 10, 2020
Hi Mike. I understand both you and Doug carry your generator in the tug and it is a bit of a pain. I am sure the local funeral director would have an appropriate "box" in which each of you could store your generators. For a fee, I imagine he would also have some underground storage (about six foot deep) where you could keep them, say, on a permanent basis.
If I can assist with your search just let me know. Always happy to oblige if it is anything to do with a generator.
Whenarewethere said
01:21 PM Nov 10, 2020
You can always get a box made at an aluminium fabricator. There is pretty much one or more in every town's industrial area.
I had a few boxes made for various things & they come up nicely. You will pay a bit more but you can get exactly what you need & that is worth the extra cost.
Also look at designing it as an adaptable acoustic enclosure with appropriate ventilation & line it with 25 - 50mm mass loaded acoustic foam, which you can get from Whitworths Marine or similar.
Have the generator rubber isolation mounted on a bottom plate, & the sides & top come off to divide the weight as much as possible. Access panels for operation.
thanx for your info Mike, I will pass it on to Colin. At the moment, we are trying to find out who sells generator boxes.
Connie
Hi Connie....simply typing "generator boxes,WA" into your browser will reveal many suppliers.But,as has already been mentioned,you are playing with fire if you intend to have one of these swinging around at an extremity of your caravan.If you are planning to have it on a slide,contained in a tunnel boot,that is a little different,but the balance of the van is easily influenced by adding 40kg at any extremity.Cheers
Greg 1 said
02:04 PM Nov 10, 2020
Also have a think about whether you really need a generator at all. I have lugged one about all over the country for the last 5 years and never actually used the thing for the van. (I know I am a slow learner)
With a reasonable amount of solar on the roof and enough battery capacity, the generator becomes a bit redundant with the possible exception of driving the air con.
Whenarewethere said
02:32 PM Nov 10, 2020
A few good short videos here with poorly loaded caravans.
https://abigpeacheyadventure.com.au/caravan-sway/
There was a video, I think recently on GN somewhere, which very clearly showed how much better it is to get the weight over the axles & not bolted on the extremities.
Connie and Colin said
03:17 PM Nov 10, 2020
Hi DMaxer, I think we will go with Whenarewethere's suggestion to go to an aluminium fabricator.
Connie
Connie and Colin said
03:20 PM Nov 10, 2020
Hi "Whenarewethere". Thank you for all your help. Good idea, we will go to an aluminium fabricator. Thanx again for all your info.
Connie
Connie and Colin said
03:33 PM Nov 10, 2020
Hi Greg, I think we will need it for the air/con as we will be travelling all over Australia and out in the bush too.
Connie
Connie and Colin said
03:38 PM Nov 10, 2020
yobarr, thank you for the info, and I think putting the box in the tunnel boot is a good idea - hope we have enough room!
Connie
Southern Cruizer said
03:40 PM Nov 10, 2020
Try DS Custom Toolboxes at Campbellfield, Victoria
thank you Southern Cruizer, I will look at that site.
Connie
yobarr said
04:09 PM Nov 10, 2020
Connie and Colin wrote:
yobarr, thank you for the info, and I think putting the box in the tunnel boot is a good idea - hope we have enough room!
Connie
You are,no doubt,aware that all you need then is a slide,so that's another weight saving.BUT...if you do the solar and batteries right,you can have your AC too! Cheers
Dick0 said
04:14 PM Nov 10, 2020
Hi Connie and Colin,
I made my own entirely from aluminium thin checker plate and 30mm thin angle all riveted together and bolted to a slide out.
The generator is fastened to the slide out so the cover can be as thin as you would like it to be.
The cover is fastened to the slide out with 4 bolts.
I make no comments about weights or where the generator should be positioned, that needs to be your decision.
There will be plenty here who will have an opinion on that.
I also made my own 10lt x 3 fuel cradle.
Some photos provided.
Don't know why the pics are sideways?
-- Edited by Dick0 on Tuesday 10th of November 2020 04:17:11 PM
I have custom built all my accessories for my car. The best thing you can do is actually get off a project for a few weeks. You will solve problems & come up with better ideas unexpectedly.
The bracket in the foreground is for my fridge. The standard bracket was too high, I had to get it down to 6mm thick due to space limitations in the car. It took a few months to design this, but the best progress was made when I was off the project. To date I wouldn't change a thing. (Anodised aluminium & 316 stainless bar, mostly M4 screws 316 & tapped threads)
Hi, we are new members of the Grey Nomads, my name is Connie and my husband is Colin. We will be travelling around Aussie when Colin retires in about 15 months (or earlier). We are setting up our caravan that we have just purchased and would like to know where to buy a generator box with a slide out. Does anyone know who sells them?
Connie
Try a caravan accessary place.
Also and as well even, make sure your caravan can have the weight of a generator added. They have a bit of weight in them. It's important to stay under the vans ATM.
Keep Safe on the road and out there.
Run it off hydrogen, that will sort the weight issue!
I have zero knowledge of generators, maybe you can modify a fridge slide out unit, adding an aluminium mounting plate.
Or fridge mounting, I bought one to hack to pieces. Mount the generator on an aluminium plate (maybe 4mm 5083 alloy), then mount that on the fridge quick release plate, which in turn is monted on the slide out.
A good project to prevent Alzheimer's disease!
Thank you for the welcome Doug and thanks for the info.
Connie
Thank you for your reply "Whenarewethere". I like your humour! I think we will search the internet to buy a gen box.
Connie
He has no shame.
In my defense, I didn't mention WDH. I could have but didn't.
Ooops! I just did, bugga.
OK then, I will take myself off to the naughty room as there is no naughty corner here but while there I will clean the 50" Smart TV and restock the popcorn ready for the next person.
Edit.....I think it's about time Webmaster updated the 50" Smart TV to a 80" Smart TV with Foxtel and Netflix subscriptions. Surround Sound would be advantages as well.
-- Edited by Dougwe on Tuesday 10th of November 2020 09:36:50 AM
Think it through before you buy a gen. box and have a chat with the dealer you bought the van from.
My Honda EU20i (the minimum size gen for general caravan use) weighs about 25kg and a box would weigh (guessing) 15kg and 40kg is a lot of weight to add to either end of a caravan and may cause stability or other issues.
I appreciate carrying the gen in the back of the vehicle is a bit of a pain (I do it) but it may be a better solution for you.
Edit:
PS. Other caravanners often like to "piggyback" off your generator so to be sociable ensure you park as close to others as possible and make sure you run the gen all day and well into the evening to provide a social facility - this will ensure everyone wants to chat with you.
:)
-- Edited by Mike Harding on Tuesday 10th of November 2020 12:04:23 PM
thanx for your info Mike, I will pass it on to Colin. At the moment, we are trying to find out who sells generator boxes.
Connie
Hi Mike. I understand both you and Doug carry your generator in the tug and it is a bit of a pain. I am sure the local funeral director would have an appropriate "box" in which each of you could store your generators. For a fee, I imagine he would also have some underground storage (about six foot deep) where you could keep them, say, on a permanent basis.
If I can assist with your search just let me know. Always happy to oblige if it is anything to do with a generator.
You can always get a box made at an aluminium fabricator. There is pretty much one or more in every town's industrial area.
I had a few boxes made for various things & they come up nicely. You will pay a bit more but you can get exactly what you need & that is worth the extra cost.
Also look at designing it as an adaptable acoustic enclosure with appropriate ventilation & line it with 25 - 50mm mass loaded acoustic foam, which you can get from Whitworths Marine or similar.
Have the generator rubber isolation mounted on a bottom plate, & the sides & top come off to divide the weight as much as possible. Access panels for operation.
Hi Connie....simply typing "generator boxes,WA" into your browser will reveal many suppliers.But,as has already been mentioned,you are playing with fire if you intend to have one of these swinging around at an extremity of your caravan.If you are planning to have it on a slide,contained in a tunnel boot,that is a little different,but the balance of the van is easily influenced by adding 40kg at any extremity.Cheers
A few good short videos here with poorly loaded caravans.
https://abigpeacheyadventure.com.au/caravan-sway/
There was a video, I think recently on GN somewhere, which very clearly showed how much better it is to get the weight over the axles & not bolted on the extremities.
Hi DMaxer, I think we will go with Whenarewethere's suggestion to go to an aluminium fabricator.
Connie
Hi "Whenarewethere". Thank you for all your help. Good idea, we will go to an aluminium fabricator. Thanx again for all your info.
Connie
Hi Greg, I think we will need it for the air/con as we will be travelling all over Australia and out in the bush too.
Connie
yobarr, thank you for the info, and I think putting the box in the tunnel boot is a good idea - hope we have enough room!
Connie
dscustomtoolboxes.com.au/
Plenty to look at there
thank you Southern Cruizer, I will look at that site.
Connie
You are,no doubt,aware that all you need then is a slide,so that's another weight saving.BUT...if you do the solar and batteries right,you can have your AC too! Cheers
Hi Connie and Colin,
I made my own entirely from aluminium thin checker plate and 30mm thin angle all riveted together and bolted to a slide out.
The generator is fastened to the slide out so the cover can be as thin as you would like it to be.
The cover is fastened to the slide out with 4 bolts.
I make no comments about weights or where the generator should be positioned, that needs to be your decision.
There will be plenty here who will have an opinion on that.
I also made my own 10lt x 3 fuel cradle.
Some photos provided.
Don't know why the pics are sideways?
-- Edited by Dick0 on Tuesday 10th of November 2020 04:17:11 PM
I have custom built all my accessories for my car. The best thing you can do is actually get off a project for a few weeks. You will solve problems & come up with better ideas unexpectedly.
The bracket in the foreground is for my fridge. The standard bracket was too high, I had to get it down to 6mm thick due to space limitations in the car. It took a few months to design this, but the best progress was made when I was off the project. To date I wouldn't change a thing. (Anodised aluminium & 316 stainless bar, mostly M4 screws 316 & tapped threads)
Nice job!
A close up of my fuel holder. Started as 2 x 10L, then doubled it.
very helpful video - a big peachey adventure, thank you for sharing.
Connie
wow yobarr, good thinking. I'll tell my husband this. thanks
Connie
thank you Dick0, you are clever. We can't make one and will get one made by a fabricator. thanks for the info.
Connie