Generators .. A different option ? (1 Viewer)

Jaws

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Sep 26, 2008
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Reading the current threads re geny's noise etc, I am seriously thinking of selling my Kipor even though it has less than ten hours on it..

What I am thinking is that I could use the money to pay half the cost of a very nice wind genny

Silent ( more or less ) no petrol smell in the van, no worrying about running out of petrol, no having to carry extra petrol, lighter than a normal genny..

What say you guys ?
 

The Wallace

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Apr 3, 2009
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Okay, if you have enough wind!
Bring on the beans jokes!

I had a wind genny on my boat about 25 years ago and it kept the battery topped up and the bilge pump going for weeks on end.
On land I understand that if you attach it to the van then the vibration will keep you awake.
 

Jim

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Jul 19, 2007
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You can buy a nice quiet Honda for the price of a turbine:Smile: I have heard that the wind genny can be noisy and you might suffer from vibrations and noise in the van. Also they barely put out any wattage. Stick to the genny, run it when only necessary and not when you will annoy others:Smile:

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Jaws

Jaws

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For a minute there Jim I thought you was being personal .. All that vibration and noise talk !

yes, I do understand they must be free standing and and def not attached to the van..

I have a local firm that does these things and will talk to them about my needs tomorrow.
Might see if I cannot borrow a bit of kit to see how it behaves

Where I live we get very little wind most of the time ( we sort of sit directly to the east of a BIG forest and the wind usually comes from the west )

if nothing else at least I shall be able to report what a failure it all was :Blush: ::bigsmile:
 

pappajohn

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no petrol smell in the van, ?

cant understand the problem folks have with fuel smells.
our kipor genny lives under the dinette table when travelling and iv never smelt petrol yet.
if the breather valve on the filler cap is closed there is very little chance of spillage or fumes.
the only time is when its being filled.
same goes for the extra fuel....the 5 ltr plastic can lives in the under couch lockers and it doesnt smell either.

you lot must be doing something wrong or is it just an excuse to warrent dumping the genny ? :roflmto:
 
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Jaws

Jaws

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One day you will meet Mo, my better half..
She can smell petrol at 50 paces.
Every time I fill the genny up, if I splash on drip it is out with the washing up liquid and all sorts of sheenanigans to make sure there is not a trace !

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Jaws

Jaws

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Bloody vulture ! LOL !! :roflmto:
It is a 2kw one bought at Newark last year.
Used it once at the Lincoln show towards the end of the year ...

If you are serious and I Do go with the wind JJ, you shall have first refusal :Smile:
 
Jan 11, 2010
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Well that`s our 13th year & still loving it.
wind gennys

Hi, before you part with the genny I would just tell you that wind gennys work great in high winds, they deliver enough to top up your batteries in a good blow but on ordinary days in light winds they are a waste of time, bloody noisey when delivering enough charge to the batteries, dangerous if you get too close, (ouch my ear) the blades do get up to a fair rate of Knots.
You will need a regulator, had them for years on a sailing yacht, the best thing we did was get rid and buy a genny.
Charges the batteries in an hour, will run a hair drier, fridge, pc, televison etc etc.
a wind genny won`t do that, they are also prtable so if you have a power cut at home, go get the generator, you can run the central heating blah blah, whilst your wind genny is packed away in it`s box.

Nothing worse than a convert but we have seen the light and a decent wind genny with regulator, stand and cable will cost more than the genny you already own.

Hopes this helps.
Regards Rob and Chris. xxx

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robinmclaren

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i would love to see you suceed with this as getting away from the genny issue there is a great feeling to be had when living purely on solar panels and a great feeling of smugness . we manage fine in the summer but cennot in the winter , my friend ran a wind genny and although pleased still had to run his genny, he now has solar panels and genny and well pleased, it was noisy and not very efficient , maybe with solar and wind you may master it, keep us up to date
:thumb:
 

6pm Cowboy

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Just to go off topic a little ( well a lot really ) I dont understand why wind farms need such big 'windmills'. Surely if you placed small low ones all alongside the motorways there would be enough draft from passing traffic to geberate a few tins of beans worth of power ?
 
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cant understand the problem folks have with fuel smells.
our kipor genny lives under the dinette table when travelling and iv never smelt petrol yet.

you lot must be doing something wrong or is it just an excuse to warrent dumping the genny ? :roflmto:
Pappajohn,
I wonder if its not the smell in the MH , that they alone have to put up with, but the stench some older generators pump out thats so annoying.
I for one hate it if someone pulls up , sticks on there generator next to my caravan, ( now MH :winky:), and leaves it on for hours on end .
Resulting in me not being able to sit out in peace , or have the windows open without their fumes entering my MH.
How people cant manage for a weekend without using one is beyond me.

We've got a Honda BTW:thumb:
Bev

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Munchie

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I would stick to the gennie. We have 2 110aph batteries and before we had solar panels fitted we had to run it twice during the week we were at Stratford last year. Each time for only 3 hours. Although we had 2 80 watt solar panels fitted we kept the gennie for winter. :Smile:

PS it's a kippor and no smells in m/home as Papajohn says, smell if any tends to come from the petrol can.
 
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hilldweller

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What say you guys ?

Stock up on baked beans first, there are long periods of nill wind.

I keep saying this, as only an olde farte can, all the time I'm driving up motorways "Look at that £3M and this car is generating more electricity".
 
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Jaws

Jaws

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Wellllllllllllllllllllllllll

Had a very very useful chat to a man that knows..
Told him what I wanted and he laid out options.

Most of the options involved a fairly substantial battery bank and an inverter. Lots of different generators but not a lot of good cos of the need to involve said battery banks

An option to generate at 240v is available but realistically only up to an output of a few hundred watts so not a lot of point as the ONE biggy woman insists on is being able to nuke grub if we are just stopping for a meal somewhere.. And that requires a minimum of 800 watts at 240v

So sorry folks, genny is not up for grabs ( at the moment ) but I will continue to look at other options including using a car alternator driven by a turbine blade just to boost the old batteries up if we are on one site without hookup for several days ( currently have an 80w solar panel on the roof but recent weather has meant barely a trickle charge going in )

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atakd

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As others have said, I had a wind genny on my boat and took it off because of noise and vibration - use a Honda EU10 now which is quieter and more reliable. Looking at going mostly solar for the summer and using the genny in winter when there tends to be fewer peeps about to upset with the noise.
 
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Jaws

Jaws

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Oh I have no problem with the Kipor.. It is hardly noisy ! It was just looking at alternatives..

Sticking with a genny means sticking with at least 2.2kVa.
If I am gonna have one it might as well be a proper one and allow me to run hot water and a toaster at the same time ( for instance :Smile: )
Tried a small Honda.. very nice but in all honesty not that much quieter than the Kipor and completely unable to deliver the required oomph.
An ( almost ) equivalent Honda unit is heavier ( well, to be fair, it IS a Honda so will be a whole galaxy above a Kipor in build quality ) but at £900 a go is 4 times more lolly than the Kipor was !
 

Geo

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Try E-Bay for a couple of ounces of high grade Plutonium
Have a word with Brian (Hilldweller), Olley (Olley), and Mustafa
Relay (Bryan) Im sure the answer is in there :thumb:

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Geo

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As an after thought, the cooling coils reqd for the Plutonium will run free wet central heating in winter:thumb:
 
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Jaws

Jaws

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Well there is always the pos. of towing round a drilling rig .. If I can get down to about 150 feet or so I reckon a thermal pump and water turbine are not out of the question
 

Geo

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Pump noise,:Eeek:
See generators:Doh:
But your now thinking outa that there box:thumb:

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