Space Heater Doesn't Work When Generator is On

[monik7]

I'm hoping this relative newbie can find an answer here for this question. I went to my storage today (where there is no electricity) to run my generator under load. Beth had said it didn't have to be a load from the AC (much too cold for that even in California), but could be anything like a space heater, hair dryer, etc. So I started the generator and plugged in the heater. The red light came on on the heater but it wouldn't start or blow air. Is the electricity that the generator supplies something different from what's at home. I brought the heater home and plugged it in and it worked fine. Later I was wondering if I should have turned on the inverter. I know nothing about electricity and only the little I've learned in the last few months about RVs, so if anyone can tell me what I'm doing wrong I sure would appreciate it.
Sandi

[Bethers]

No, you don't want the inverter on. Did you try plugging in anything else to see if the outlet was working properly? Or the AC? There also could be a switch on your generator that needs to be on to supply power to the outlets. Did your microwave come on? What's confusing me is that you say the light came on for the heater.

[Azusateach]

I'm wondering if you've got your genny "plugged in" -- most motorhomes require them to be plugged into an outlet in order for the outlets inside to work. You might have had a light on your heater, but only because that doesn't draw much juice. When I traveled in a motorhome we always put a cup of water in the microwave to make see if we were getting electricity to things.

[retiredhappy]

My outlets are those safety outlets with a reset button. Sometimes if I've been unplugged I have to reset them.

[sharon]

Generator electric is the same as you have at home. You don't want your inverter on at the same time as your genny. There's supposed to be a safety so that they don't both provide electricity at the same time, but I don't trust safety's, they can fail. I have forgotten at times to turn the inverter off when I turned the genny on and the safety has worked, but you never know when something's going to fail.

I would suggest you go back, turn on the genny and see if the microwave is working and go from there. Don't forget it takes anywhere from 1-3 minutes for the generator to kick on the electric. That's a warm up period for the genny. Make sure you let it idle for 3 minutes or so before you turn it off if you've had it under a load such as microwave, A/C or a heater. Try to never turn it off when it's under a load.

[Carolinagal]

My first thought when reading this, Did you allow time for Gen electric to be on ??? I always check my micro and if it's on, Or if frig has changed over. Sometimes it seems forever for Gen to be in working mode.

Let us know , hope all is good,

CArol

[mitch5252]

...Make sure you let it idle for 3 minutes or so before you turn it off if you've had it under a load such as microwave, A/C or a heater. Try to never turn it off when it's under a load.

Is this true even for my portable Honda eu1000i?

.

[monik7]

Thank you for the replies. I don't know whether the generator needs to be plugged in. Guess I'll have to go back and look. Would there be an obvious cord on it somewhere? The microwave came right on as soon as the generator started. I would think that if the microwave light came on then the other plugs would work. I did try the heater in another plug and it still didn't work. I probably only waited a minute or two so maybe I need to wait a little longer if it does take longer to get electricity to the plugs. I'll try it tomorrow and see if I can get it to work. If I fail again I may ask for any other suggestions.
Sandi

[OregonLuvr]

Sandi I doubt you need to plug anything in your generator if everything else came on. I do know there is a warm up period for my generator before everything works. I can usually hear it "rev up" from the slow mode then I know I can use everything else. Usually only takes 3 or 4 minutes at most.

If the light on your heater came on, and it worked at home, I suspect you just didn't let the genny warm up enough. Let us know how it goes on Try #2

karen

[sharon]

...Make sure you let it idle for 3 minutes or so before you turn it off if you've had it under a load such as microwave, A/C or a heater. Try to never turn it off when it's under a load.

Is this true even for my portable Honda eu1000i?

.

Absolutely...any generator.

[sharon]

Sorry girls, but I have to disagree with some of you. If the microwave lights came on then she had power. You get full power as soon as the generator switches over, not just partial power. And if the micro lights came on she doesn't have to go plug the generator in. Sandi, my only thought on this is, is it possible you had the inverter turned on? In that case, yes, micro lights would come on and it's a possibility the heater lights came on but there wasn't enough battery power to actually run it.

There's still a possibility that you have to go outside where your electric plug is and plug in the genny, but I honestly haven't seen that in the newer rv's (trailers, yes) but I've been surprised before!

Keep us posted! This is interesting...

[Bethers]

My microwave always came on before my fridge and outlets did. They came on one at a time. I always knew that everything was up when my fridge switched over. You should have seen the worried me once when it didn't. Ha, joke was on me as I hadn't had it set to automatically switch.

Your inverter might be different than mine, but I was taught to never leave the inverter in the on position, but to only switch it on when using it.

[OregonLuvr]

My lights on the micro come on but my AC wont come on til my genny kicks into high gear (well sounds like it). Then the AC will come on and everything runs perfect.

Karen

[monik7]

Thanks everyone for your input. I'm definitely going up tomorrow and will try all your suggestions.

.There's still a possibility that you have to go outside where your electric plug is and plug in the genny, but I honestly haven't seen that in the newer rv's (trailers, yes) but I've been surprised before!

Keep us posted! This is interesting...

Sharon, are you referring to the electric plug where the cord is to plug into CG pedestals? If that's the case it's on the opposite side of my RV on the driver side in the front. The generator is diagonally on the passenger side at the back of the RV. Don't see how I could plug those together. I'll start by looking to see if there's a switch on the generator or any kind of plug. Also, the manual for the generator is in the RV and I'll take a look at it to see if it will tell me anything.

Hope I can figure this out since I sure want to be able to have a space heater. I'll let you know how It comes out. Thanks again.
Sandi

[Azusateach]

It's been quite some time since I've fussed with a motorhome generator, but the plug I was referring to is located in the compartment where the genny is. There was a plug right on the generator that plugged into an outlet on the wall of the compartment. It could be disconnected (can't remember why we'd disconnect it, though). Maybe since you've got a new model it's all integrated now and you don't have to worry about that. Here's hoping that it's a simple matter and you just need to let the generator warm up a bit more.