Why only Onan Generators in pretty much all RVs?

[kvkite]

Is Onan the only company that makes these RV specific generators? All the RVs that I see from the past 20 years came with only Onan generators. Don't they have a competitor? Everyone with these generators seems to complain about maintenance/noise etc.

If they do have a monopoly over this market, that's bad for consumer. Not much drive for innovation.

 

[Boxster1971]

Is Onan the only company that makes these RV specific generators? All the RVs that I see from the past 20 years came with only Onan generators. Don't they have a competitor? Everyone with these generators seems to complain about maintenance/noise etc.

If they do have a monopoly over this market, that's bad for consumer. Not much drive for innovation.

There is one company, Power Tech that makes a 3KW diesel generator that competes with Onan. It is expensive and I don't think they have penetrated the market very deeply.
PT-3SV2 | Power Technology Southeast Inc

A lot of folks adapt the use on the quite Honda or Yamaha portable generators. Then only use them when needed. They require gasoline or can be adapted for propane. That's what I'd do if I buy another B-van RV.

- - Mike

 

[Davydd]

I'm guessing it is because Onans fit and they were designed for the purpose. I no longer worry about it because I committed to the second under hood alternator concept and would never consider a gas, diesel or propane generator again.

 

[kvkite]

Thanks for your input Davdyy. Just wondering why no other company came up with similar design over a span of 20 odd years. The lack of competition could be one reason for so many issues with them.

 

[eric1514]

Thanks for your input Davdyy. Just wondering why no other company came up with similar design over a span of 20 odd years. The lack of competition could be one reason for so many issues with them.

I think the "issues" with them are not unique to Onan. The same things would happen to any internal combustion engine that is ignored and misused as often as the generator in an RV. If you turned on your car once or twice a year and only ran it for as long as it takes to make a cup of coffee it would also have issues.

 

[avanti]

If you turned on your car once or twice a year and only ran it for as long as it takes to make a cup of coffee it would also have issues.

And, if I risked permanent hearing loss ever time I turned on my car, I probably would only do so once or twice a year.

No doubt many users abuse their gensets, but there is no excuse for the 1960s technology that Onan continues to market.

 

[gerrym51]

Take out your quiet Honda inverter generator and dump a bucket of water on it. see if it still works

 

[gregmchugh]

There is not really a very big market for RV generators to justify another company making the investment to compete with Onan and their service network and dealer network. No competition means not much investment in innovation either. Could Honda or Yamaha design a better generator, sure but not worth the investment. Heck, Onan could improve the design themselves but as part of Cummins the new product development budget likely goes to higher volume/higher profit products.

 

[WJones]

I think the "issues" with them are not unique to Onan. The same things would happen to any internal combustion engine that is ignored and misused as often as the generator in an RV. If you turned on your car once or twice a year and only ran it for as long as it takes to make a cup of coffee it would also have issues.

Add to the list of abuse, humidity, road spray, etc. These generator are meant to be run frequently and hard. I read an article a while ago from a generator technician who stated that he seldom sees generators with lots of hours on them. He mostly sees the ones that are hardly used at all. The problems seem to be inversely proportional to the number of hours they are used.
I'd be curious to install any other generator under an RV for 15 years, drive it around in dust, rain, snow and salt, and hardly ever use it, and see how well it works.

 

[hbn7hj]

Honda designed one and brought it to market. It was water cooled, 4kw, don't remember if it was inverter technology. It was around the 2008 RV meltdown and they couldn't get into the OEM market. One guy wrote up replacing his 4kw Onan with one. I had the parts manual on my computer for awhile then deleted it. I never tried to buy one.

Honda withdrew it from the market. There were a few available on EBay for awhile then disappeared. You would have to ask Honda why. My guess is they couldn't meet the OEM price point and in 2008 there wasn't much of a market anyhow.

 

[WJones]

Honda designed one and brought it to market. It was water cooled, 4kw, don't remember if it was inverter technology. It was around the 2008 RV meltdown and they couldn't get into the OEM market. One guy wrote up replacing his 4kw Onan with one. I had the parts manual on my computer for awhile then deleted it. I never tried to buy one.

Honda withdrew it from the market. There were a few available on EBay for awhile then disappeared. You would have to ask Honda why. My guess is they couldn't meet the OEM price point and in 2008 there wasn't much of a market anyhow.

Interesting. Too bad they didn't expand the line. I imagine the model they did have (4kw water cooled) would have been too big for many class B RVs.