Generator life February 15, 2009, 09:49:15 pm Yahoo Message Number: 99376Hi, I am new here. Looking to buy a mid 80's LD. Is 352 hours a lot for the Onan? It has recently had the carb rebuilt. Thanks. Arlene
Re: Generator life Reply #1 – February 15, 2009, 10:24:43 pm Yahoo Message Number: 99377Welcome, Arlene! If you're looking to buy an older Lazy Daze, I'd suggest going to our website's Files section, open the Buying & Selling folder, and reading the document on shopping for a used LD. There are lots of good tips there, including what to look for when inspecting the unit. "Is 352 hours a lot for the Onan? It has recently had the carb rebuilt." No, that's not excessive for a 20-25 year old generator. The important thing is how well it--and the coach!--run. :-)Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: Generator life Reply #2 – February 16, 2009, 02:16:44 pm Yahoo Message Number: 99388Quote Hi, I am new here. Looking to buy a mid 80's LD. Is 352 hours a lot for the Onan? It has recently had the carb rebuilt. Thanks. Arlene I work for a major telecom in the fleet department. May onans well over 1000 hours. Key is, oil changes ever 100-150 hours, plugs and points and decarboning (ie: chemically or remove heads and clean out carbon).
Re: Generator life Reply #3 – February 16, 2009, 03:30:12 pm Yahoo Message Number: 99392"Is 352 hours a lot for the Onan"Its too few miles for such an old rig. More generators have problems from lack of run time than from too much. Well-maintained, older Onans are good for 2000-3000 hours before rebuilding. A qualified mechanic should check it out as part of your evaluation. Actually the whole rig should be checked top to bottom by a good RV mechanic. It well worth the couple hundred dollars. Older rigs can and usually have thousand of dollars of needed repairs and upgrading. It's nice to know what's what before buying. Today is a buyer's market. There is no need to buy a rig needing a lot of work. It seems to be a rule of thumb that repairs and upgrading of old RVs always cost much more than originally estimated. You have been warned:-)Good luck Larry
Re: Generator life Reply #4 – February 16, 2009, 04:11:16 pm Yahoo Message Number: 99394"Larry W" wrote: Actually the whole rig should be checked top to bottom by a good RV mechanic. It well worth the couple hundred dollars. Older rigs can and usually have thousand of dollars of needed repairs and upgrading. It's nice to know what's what before buying. --- Amen. I understand the appeal of low initial price, but, as Larry says, buying an "older" rig, even one which *appears* to be well-cared for, without knowing what to look out for can lead to a lot of unpleasant and expensive surprises. This resource can be a good start to the learning curve on "how to buy a used RV": http://www.rverscorner.com/dummyltr.htmlAs ever, YMMV.Joan
Re: Generator life Reply #5 – February 16, 2009, 05:07:10 pm Yahoo Message Number: 99397Like any thing else we buy as "used" it's the Buyer Beware syndrome. We bought our vintage mid eighties LD about 4 months ago. The price was