Coffee machine off generator? (1 Viewer)

[EdwardFT]

I have found similar threads but not this exactly, so on the off chance that someone has exactly this experience I would like to ask:
what rating of generator will definitely power my coffee machine?
it is a Nespresso rated at 1200-1310W (that is what it says on the bottom). I would guess that there might be a bigger start-up current draw but how much? As much as double?? Or just the rated power plus maybe a little?

I am looking at a Hyundai 1700W or maybe a Hyundai 3100W. Now the real reason to buy a generator is to charge up while spending almost all my time off EHU, especially with winter coming and my small solar arrangement being useless. Obviously one option would be just to find a hookup once or twice a week. Another is a small and cheap (sort of) generator. And a third is a generator with a comfortable overhead.

Being able to use the "shore power" coffee machine would be a bonus, but if it needs the bigger capacity of generator only for that and otherwise a smaller generator would do, is it worth an extra several hundred? OTOH if that bonus would come with the 1700W generator, that will help to persuade me to buy it.

 

[davejmobile]

I have the Honda 2 don’t use it a lot but carry it just in case we have not got a plug in and you two or three days no charge on solar so ten minutes during the day should not be a problem plus I can get my coffee

 

[EdwardFT]

I have the Honda 2 don’t use it a lot but carry it just in case we have not got a plug in and you two or three days no charge on solar so ten minutes during the day should not be a problem plus I can get my coffee

What coffee machine do you use?

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[EdwardFT]

As for charging the batteries, I am reckoning that if I do that by plugging in the van and letting the EBL99 do the charging, it will charge up to 18 amps which will correspond to a mere 1 amp at 230v from the generator, so any (pure sine wave) generator from 300W upwards would be ok for the charging. Which however could be expected to take many hours? I have 2 x 90Ah batteries so if they were down to 50% that would be 5 hours charging, says the back of my envelope.

 

[EdwardFT]

I might add that some people do take their coffee seriously. I don't roast or even grind my own beans on the road, but I do have a Gaggia machine at home, which cost as much as a generator, and as an alternative on the road I am considering a manual espresso machine. Those tend to be £500 up to 4 figures.

 

[funflair]

If you are going to charge your batteries with a generator it would be worth putting in a bigger battery charger so that you can charge closer to the maximum rate for your batteries, this could halve the run time for the generator, again a generator would cope with another battery no problem so if that is possible it might be worth thinking about as it will give you longer between generator days.

As for the coffee machine there should not be any big start up current so go with whatever it says on the label.

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[EdwardFT]

Ah... I see... Mr FT, you have to spend hundreds of pounds (impressing the neighbours?) on machine to display your serious love of coffee...

Interesting.


JJ

Nobody else knows that I have a Gaggia, as I happens, and indeed it is not an especially upmarket machine for a real coffee aficionado. I don't especially care to impress the neighbours, nor indeed the forum members. But I do care to impress myself with my coffee - not the machines, but the coffee.

You may note that I have not insulted or denigrated anyone in this thread, but you have, without reason.

 

[Reallyretired]

You could run your coffee machine on inverter and thus only need a small generator just to charge the batteries.
A 1500w inverter would do and would draw say 120A for the couple of minutes you run the machine. The 18A charger would recharge the batteries by this amount in about 20minutes.

 

[John Barrett]

Ah... I see... Mr FT, you have to spend hundreds of pounds (impressing the neighbours?) on a machine to display your serious love of coffee...

Interesting.


JJ

I installed a big Sterling inverter purely to run our Nespresso machine. I have to say that your posts on this thread are not exactly constructive...

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[Yorick]

So do the millions that purchased Maxwell house, Gold blend, Nescafé, etc believe they were drinking a decent cup of coffee? They were drinking brown water and extremely uneducated to what decent Coffee was until the above brands and the rest lost popularity as people did become educated to what Coffee should taste like.

Coffee should taste how you like it. Not like some internet expert says

 

[EdwardFT]

If you are going to charge your batteries with a generator it would be worth putting in a bigger battery charger so that you can charge closer to the maximum rate for your batteries, this could halve the run time for the generator, again a generator would cope with another battery no problem so if that is possible it might be worth thinking about as it will give you longer between generator days.

As for the coffee machine there should not be any big start up current so go with whatever it says on the label.

Thanks for the info. So a bigger battery charger, then extra wiring to disconnect the Electroblock while charging from generator? Hmm, possible.

 

[EdwardFT]

I installed a big Sterling inverter purely to run our Nespresso machine. I have to say that your posts on this thread are not exactly constructive...

I have stopped short of that, though I did consider it, but I still have the requirement to keep the batteries charged so I am looking to kill 2 birds etc. If I installed a big inverter then I would need the charging even more!

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[Littlewheels]

Coffee should taste how you like it. Not like some internet expert says

In the days of Maxwell House,Nescafé,Gold Blend etc being Brand leaders the general public had hardly heard of Ground Coffee or Aribica Coffee Beans, fortunately,many have moved on hence the popularity of Coffee Machines and Generators

 

[Littlewheels]

I have stopped short of that, though I did consider it, but I still have the requirement to keep the batteries charged so I am looking to kill 2 birds etc. If I installed a big inverter then I would need the charging even more!

l overcame this as others have done with Lithium Batteries, My Coffee is expensive but what the hell.

 

[EdwardFT]

Hilarious!!!!!!

a First world problem maybe?

Oh dear,indeed!

A First World question without a doubt. Does that invalidate it as a question?
Perhaps you mean that it is a question that doesn't interest you? If so, there is no need to be insulting about the fact that it does interest me.

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[EdwardFT]

l overcame this as others have done with Lithium Batteries, My Coffee is expensive but what the hell.

So we are cheap because we stay off hookup, but spendthrift because we spend out money on something that matters to us?

Thanks to all the people with sensible suggestions.

 

[funflair]

l overcame this as others have done with Lithium Batteries, My Coffee is expensive but what the hell.

I thought about suggesting Lithium and then he could really bang some charge in thought I might frighten him though.

 

[John Barrett]

So we are cheap because we stay off hookup, but spendthrift because we spend out money on something that matters to us?

Thanks to all the people with sensible suggestions.

At times like this I thank my lucky stars that I'm not a churlish Socialist!
John

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[Littlewheels]

[

So we are cheap because we stay off hookup, but spendthrift because we spend out money on something that matters to us?

Thanks to all the people with sensible suggestions.

I think you misunderstood, l am agreeing with you, however , l did resolve my personal power needs via Lithium and Efoy as it happens.

 

[Littlewheels]

I thought about suggesting Lithium and then he could really bang some charge in thought I might frighten hime though.

Well, you can see the response,perhaps l should have done the same.

 

[tonyidle]

What is wrong with a Moka?

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[funflair]

Thanks for the info. So a bigger battery charger, then extra wiring to disconnect the Electroblock while charging from generator? Hmm, possible.

Everything is possible it just depends how far you want to take it

 

[Podney]

What is wrong with a Moka?

I don’t know. What is wrong with a moka/mocha?

 

[davejmobile]

If you break down in a field in the middle of France because you’re battery’s have had a fit and discharged themselves you need a very sunny day or generator I will take my chances with a genny and have a coffee while I waiting for power each to there own

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[tonyidle]

I don’t know. What is wrong with a moka/mocha?

Aimed at those who need electricity to make good coffee:

Bialetti Moka Express Hob Espresso Coffee Maker, 6 Cup

Buy Bialetti Moka Express Hob Espresso Coffee Maker from our Cafetieres range at John Lewis & Partners. Free Delivery on orders over £50.

www.johnlewis.com

 

[DBK]

I run my 1200W coffee machine off a 1500W pure sine inverter. It only runs for a minute or two so the power consumed is probably less than 50 watt-hours which is the same as about a 4 amp load for an hour. Of course the batteries are hit with around a 100A load while the machine is running but that is only for a brief period.

The upshot is 200W solar soon recharges the batteries and in winter a short drive quickly replenishes everything when the 60A battery to battery (B2B) charger kicks in.

Having to dig out a generator to make a coffee sounds a bit masochistic, with an inverter you can make a coffee silently and without annoying anyone. Generators also prone to theft.

 

[joe and sue]

A simple cafetiere with a good quality ground coffee works for us whilst away in the MH, very little extra weight, very little cleaning up, no foil / plastics to dispose of, simples!!

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[phase3begins]

Good lord. Must be the clocks going back made everybody snippy.
enjoy

 

[EdwardFT]

[


I think you misunderstood, l am agreeing with you, however , l did resolve my personal power needs via Lithium and Efoy as it happens.

I didn't misunderstand, I was being ironic about certain others. I like your posts. Oops - must go and "like" them.

 

[EdwardFT]

What is wrong with a Moka?

The Bialetti? That is what I currently use off grid, I am drinking a cup right now. But I have an espresso machine with me for when I am in EHU, and since the need/wish for a generator has arisen anyway, I got to wondering if the generator would also happen to let me use it.

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