What genny to buy? (1 Viewer)

[markymark]

Afternoon peeps.:thumb:

I am looking to buy a small generator to recharge the lesiure battery when away from a hook up point. One i can use to power a laptop or a 15" Lcd tv if need be and surroundings permit.

Need to keep cost low as poss.

Been looking at one on Maplins web page(0.7Kva) not to sure if this would be upto the job

Can anyone advise me please

Many thanks

Mark

 

[Road Runner]

Kipor 2000.

Link Removed

 

[markymark]

Better start saving then , thats double my budget

Many thanks Road runner

Mark

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[scotjimland]

Hi Mark

have you got a product link ?

.7kva is aprox 560 watt or about 2.4 amps at 230v ...

What size is your van charger, do you know it's full load current ?

Add the load from each appliance including charger then add 50% to find the best size of genny, then look at noise levels and type of output before deciding.

Cheap gennies are generally noisier, consider either a Kipor or if it's mission critical a Honda, these have controlled smooth outputs suitable for sensitive electronic kit .

There are other brands .. but these are probably the most popular.. much depends on the depth of your wallet.

I have an EU20i Honda and it's the dogs whattsits .. :thumb:

 

[A and K]

We also have the Kipor IG2000 :thumb:

 

[markymark]

Have only had the Mh a month and this is my first one so i am still brand new.

Will have to look at watts and figures when i get home.

how do i work out that info please? On laptop lead its got:

19.5V AC adaptor
Input 1.3A - 0.6A / 50-60Hz
Output 19.5V - 4.7A


so to get the watts i ???

Dont know how to paste a link in. Sorry

Help

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[geoff587]

Better start saving then , thats double my budget

Many thanks Road runner

Mark

Kipor 1000 ? about 280 pounds

 

[scotjimland]

Have only had the Mh a month and this is my first one so i am still brand new.

Will have to look at watts and figures when i get home.

how do i work out that info please? On laptop lead its got:

19.5V AC adaptor
Input 1.3A - 0.6A / 50-60Hz
Output 19.5V - 4.7A


so to get the watts i ???

Help

Hi

multiply V x A = Watts

in that example the watts are 230v x 1.3A = 299 watts

 

[markymark]

Cheers Jim:thumb:

We learn something new each day

Thankyou all for the help, the kipper 1000 sounds like its worth a look and close to my budget

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[Road Runner]

Getting to deep.

If you buy one that is to small you've wasted your money as size does matters here and you'll regret it big time (I wished I had bought the 2600 Kipor as i now have an RV to run)

If you buy one that slightly to powerful so what (maybe a little more fuel) but you can turn on the kettle to

The only sums to do really is how you can afford a bigger one being blunt:thumb:

 

[markymark]

So there is no way i can do any damage to the electrics then.
Yes having sufficient power to run a electric kettle would be great whilst watching tv on a evening. Waiting for the gas 1 to boil is getting a bit endless.

Money Money Money, what it must be like to have plenty. ha

 

[scotjimland]

If you buy one that slightly to powerful so what (maybe a little more fuel) but you can turn on the kettle to

I agree it's better to err on the big side John but wasn't that why you bought the Kipor in the first place.. because the on-board drinks fuel.. ?

Bigger are also heavier, noisier and less economic , that's why it's important to buy one sized for your needs.. so doing the 'sums' makes good sense .

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[pappajohn]

I agree it's better to err on the big side John but wasn't that why you bought the Kipor in the first place.. because the on-board drinks fuel.. ?

Bigger are also heavier, noisier and less economic , that's why it's important to buy one sized for your needs.. so doing the 'sums' makes good sense .

how do you come to that conclusion Jim ?

i agree with the first bit, my 2600 kipor is bl**dy heavy.

a 2kva wont neccessarily be any noisier than a 1kva....i believe the 1kva and 2kva kipors are the same Db level.

thirstier...i disagree, a large one will not rev as fast as a small one revving its nuts off to produce the same output and the smart throttle on the kipor/honda isnt something usually fitted to the cheap 600/700watt gennies so they run flat out no matter what the load on them.

just my opinion. :thumb:

 

[markymark]

Is 1Kva = to 1000 watts??

 

[sinbad1]

You don't have to buy a generator to run a tv or laptop, you can run tv direct from your battery( quite a few lcd's use 12v mains transformed), you can run your laptop from your battery too using a 12v to 19v converter.

I owned a generator FT for 15 years , and apart from the initial novelty of having 240v, i can honestly say in all that time, it got liittle or no use.Instead i had a decent bank of batteries linked to an inverter.

If you do decide on the generator option, i would suggest as others have said to get a decent quality one and no less than 2kw.

Regards

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[pappajohn]

Is 1Kva = to 1000 watts??

no......1kva = 800watts

 

[markymark]

Hi Sinbad

i would love to be able to fit more batteries in but this would involve making a compartment for them as the lesiure battery sits in the living area in a small hole under the carpet. No room to do anything in there. I have heard that batteries dont last to long when using them for TV viewing so looking at a back up plan to recharge it quickly without having to start Mh engine or just to switch on when level low

 

[Munchie]

We use a 1kva Kippor. Our old van a Burstner Marano had only 1 85aph battery. We would run the genny between 3pm and 6pm. This was sufficient to recharge the battery and to cook a meal on our Remoska. The batteries would then last till next day at 3pm running 12v tele, sky box and lights water pump etc. Our current van has two 125 aph batteries so we will find out at Stratford how we do.

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[Geo]

Just me being pedantic, and not wishing a novice to electrocute himself
Yes 1kva is 1000 watts but a 1 kva genny produces about 800watts of usable power:thumb:
thatss asuming I have understood things right

 

[Road Runner]

I agree it's better to err on the big side John but wasn't that why you bought the Kipor in the first place.. because the on-board drinks fuel.. ?

Bigger are also heavier, noisier and less economic , that's why it's important to buy one sized for your needs.. so doing the 'sums' makes good sense .

Bought the Kipor for caravan:Blush::Blush::Blush::Blush:yes I was a tugger:Blush::Blush::Blush:

Would dearly love the 2600 Kipor instead of the 2000

 

[markymark]

Thyats my plan Ken to do the same as you did, 12V telly sounds like a must.

I was born in Stockton and at 18 years old joined the army and moved to Southampton. My family still up there .

14 years later i am still here. Small world.

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[derekfaeberwick]

I have a Kipor 1,000 and find it sufficient on the odd occasion that I need to recharge 2x 90 amp batteries and run the telly at the same time. If space and weight are issues and you wont be using it a great deal then they are great value. I did have a cheap 2 stroke one before but they are bigger, noisier and are smelly to transport. Decisions decisions. :Cool:

 

[Munchie]

Thyats my plan Ken to do the same as you did, 12V telly sounds like a must.

I was born in Stockton and at 18 years old joined the army and moved to Southampton. My family still up there .

14 years later i am still here. Small world.

I'm from Glasgow but my wife is from Skelton area. She had an Aunt in Southampton who died a couple of years ago. We've just had a week in Devon with her son (a tugger) he is from Fareham.

 

[shortcircuit]

no......1kva = 800watts

How do you work that out?

1 = 1
k = 1000
va = watts

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[Munchie]

How do you work that out?

1 = 1
k = 1000
va = watts

Output on gennies is always less. At our static we have a backup Briggs and Stratton 3kva, output is 2.6kva. Our 1kva Kippor outputs 800 watts.

 

[sinbad1]

all to do with the power factor

click here

 

[scotjimland]

How do you work that out?

1 = 1
k = 1000
va = watts

The VA rating is the apparent power that a genny is capable of producing, while the watt rating is the real power (or true power) it is capable of producing, as opposed to reactive power. In the type of loads often used with gennies such as chargers, the apparent power used (volt-amperes) will be larger than the true power used (watts). The real power divided by the apparent power is called the power factor.

1kva = 800watt

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[ian81]

Hi

multiply V x A = Watts

in that example the watts are 230v x 1.3A = 299 watts

A laptop drawing nearly 300 watts -no. The rating plate refers to 1.3 / 0.6 amps and is the range of current drawn when differing voltages are applied. 0.6 amp will be drawn when it is attached to a 240v source. This does seem odd given you would expect more volts would cause more current to be drawn and this would be the case with a purely resistive load. Most modern electronics use a switching power supply that first converts the ac to a dc voltage and then uses electronics to convert that to the required dc voltage (in this case 19.5).
So expect power drawn to be at least half that quoted when full output is being drwan (i.e. when laptop is on and charging) .

As to the original question we have a Kippor and would thoroughly recommend (unless money is no object or a genny is mission critical then go for a Honda.

 

[scotjimland]

A laptop drawing nearly 300 watts -no. The rating plate refers to 1.3 / 0.6 amps and is the range of current drawn when differing voltages are applied. 0.6 amp will be drawn when it is attached to a 240v source.

indeed, when I calculated I never looked at the result, obvious now .. oh:oh:

 

[pappajohn]

How do you work that out?

1 = 1
k = 1000
va = watts

kVA = 1000 volt-amps

worked it out using a convertion chart...HERE

or.....

Kva is kilo volt amphere and Kw is kilo watt
Kva is normally representing source(transformers,generators,UPS)
Kw is representing load(A/c,power,lighting etc.,)
Sources can supply loads ..but as we don't know the power factor of load which we are going to connect we rate the sources in Kva(imaginary power)
and as we know the power factor of load we always rate it in Kw(real power)
In normal cases for AC distribution we assume the power factor as 0.8

so Kva x 0.8(power factor) = Kw hence 1kVA = 800w

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