Generator (1 Viewer)

[jonandshell]

Of course we have all missed the other option in reference to how quick you can charge via a genny.

Link Removed

if you were to buy the Chris green machine type that are on ebay and connect direct to battery you could in fact charge at 50 amps :thumb:

Looks like a standard alternator bolted to a strimmer engine! Nil charging intelligence from the alternator regulator!

Loada noisy crap! Get a Sterling B2B or A2B for a proper charging curve!

 

[Philiphall]

that 1 is fairly light but for the extra cash its best to go for the 1k version i got mine at newark and paid just 200 for it it was only 6mths old so before you pay for a new genny check out the shows and maybe ebay

even beerdrinker1 bought one at Peterborough - so they must be good

 

[Phill D]

for 4 or 5 hours at a time.......thats gonna put a nice glaze on the cylinders.

and as the engine battery will be fully charged already it will only be charging the leisure battery at a bare minimum rate..

And if you have a new rapido and its a Euro 5 you will be sh**ing up your particulate filter at an an accelerated rate... not good! Also most modern engines have smaller fans than they used to as they rely on air ram from movement to supplement engine cooling. So you could be setting yourself up for some issues to run a modern engine with the vehicle static for long periods.:shout:

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[pappajohn]

Looks like a standard alternator bolted to a strimmer engine! Nil charging intelligence from the alternator regulator!

Loada noisy crap! Get a Sterling B2B or A2B for a proper charging curve!

couldnt agree more.

a 50amp car alternator hooked up to a cheap chinese engine.......it wouldnt be so bad if it was a Honda, but it aint.

alternator = £75 at most
50cc engine = £100 at most
ammeter and wiring = £25
frame = £300......

 

[joner8888]

Easiest and cheapest way ,and no lifting or needing petrol,is to start the MH engine and put a small weight on the throttle so the engine is just above tick over.
This charges both batteries very quick and keeps the engine moving.:thumb:
15 to 20 mins and they are charged up.

 

[Peter & Elaine]

What I dont understand is you have solar panels
We have a fitted solar panel and over 3 days at peterbrough we never had battery problems our charge never dropped below 50%
When I checked the regulator at about 10 am it was showing 4. 5 amps and then again around 6 pm reading 0.7 amps so as i understand the battery's have full recharged and the regulator has shut of charge
If and big if as we are new to all this if I am correct if we use up to 50 % of our stored power
our solar panel on a good summers day should recharge our battery's
if I am wrong will some one please put me right ?

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[pappajohn]

What I dont understand is you have solar panels
We have a fitted solar panel and over 3 days at peterbrough we never had battery problems our charge never dropped below 50%
When I checked the regulator at about 10 am it was showing 4. 5 amps and then again around 6 pm reading 0.7 amps so as i understand the battery's have full recharged and the regulator has shut of charge
If and big if as we are new to all this if I am correct if we use up to 50 % of our stored power
our solar panel on a good summers day should recharge our battery's
if I am wrong will some one please put me right ?

doubtful.....

you would need a solid 10 hrs of bright sunlight directly on the panel to get 45/50amps

as the sun isnt directly on the panel (its at an angle all day) the amps will rise before lunch as the sun gets higher and drop off after lunch as the sun moves overhead then gets lower.

but your battery usage isnt as high during the day, no lights, minimal TV etc so nearly all the amps will be stored.

on a cloudless sunny day you may get 30amps in that 10hrs.

 

[jonandshell]

Easiest and cheapest way ,and no lifting or needing petrol,is to start the MH engine and put a small weight on the throttle so the engine is just above tick over.
This charges both batteries very quick and keeps the engine moving.:thumb:
15 to 20 mins and they are charged up.

Err, no, actually!

Your on-board voltmeter will say 13.5 volts or thereabouts, but this is all surface charge and you won't actually have put any real capacity back into the battery. A lot of this depends on the gauge of your leisure battery wiring, but usually this is woefully inadequate for the task in hand.
Skinny wiring equals resistance which equals a major voltage drop at the leisure battery. Applying only 13.5V to your battery reduces the amperage during charging drastically.
If you had, say 25 sq mm cable to your leisure battery you might get 14.2 V at your leisure battery and you would get a reasonably healthy charge.
I would be interested to know the value of the fuse which is connected to your split charge relay. I would hazard a guess that it is less than 30 amps.
Given that your fuse does not blow during charging, I suspect that your actual charging amperage would be around 20 amps.
20 amps for 20 mins equals only 6.5 Ah replaced in your battery!

Hardy fully charged!

Sorry if I sound a bit harsh on you, but this is a very commonly misconceived scenario and many people fall into this train of thought.oh:

 

[jonandshell]

And if you have a new rapido and its a Euro 5 you will be sh**ing up your particulate filter at an an accelerated rate... not good! Also most modern engines have smaller fans than they used to as they rely on air ram from movement to supplement engine cooling. So you could be setting yourself up for some issues to run a modern engine with the vehicle static for long periods.:shout:

Agreed!

Engine charging requires advanced charging regulation in order to reduce engine run times.

A Sterling B2B or A2B charger will help in this respect.

As an example, we have a 150 amp alternator and a 160 amp Alternator to Battery charger. At tickover, we have 90 Amps going into our habitation battery bank!:thumb:

Raising engine speed to +1200 RPM gives 120 amps!

These were measured with a quality clamp ammeter and I stand by my observations before you doubting thomases give me hard time!!!

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[Peter & Elaine]

doubtful.....

you would need a solid 10 hrs of bright sunlight directly on the panel to get 45/50amps

as the sun isnt directly on the panel (its at an angle all day) the amps will rise before lunch as the sun gets higher and drop off after lunch as the sun moves overhead then gets lower.

but your battery usage isnt as high during the day, no lights, minimal TV etc so nearly all the amps will be stored.

on a cloudless sunny day you may get 30amps in that 10hrs.

So the loss of amps at 6pm is the panels not producing power rather than the battery's being full ?

 

[joner8888]

Agreed!

Engine charging requires advanced charging regulation in order to reduce engine run times.

A Sterling B2B or A2B charger will help in this respect.

As an example, we have a 150 amp alternator and a 160 amp Alternator to Battery charger. At tickover, we have 90 Amps going into our habitation battery bank!:thumb:

Raising engine speed to +1200 RPM gives 120 amps!

These were measured with a quality clamp ammeter and I stand by my observations before you doubting thomases give me hard time!!!

There must be lots of calculations but against me using the engine but, i use a basic x1 leisure battery x1 engine battery.
20 mins @ 1500 rpm after 3 days use will last another 3 days :thumb:
There is probably a science to say no ,but i must have a magic MH

 

[haganap]

Err, no, actually!

Your on-board voltmeter will say 13.5 volts or thereabouts, but this is all surface charge and you won't actually have put any real capacity back into the battery. A lot of this depends on the gauge of your leisure battery wiring, but usually this is woefully inadequate for the task in hand.
Skinny wiring equals resistance which equals a major voltage drop at the leisure battery. Applying only 13.5V to your battery reduces the amperage during charging drastically.
If you had, say 25 sq mm cable to your leisure battery you might get 14.2 V at your leisure battery and you would get a reasonably healthy charge.
I would be interested to know the value of the fuse which is connected to your split charge relay. I would hazard a guess that it is less than 30 amps.
Given that your fuse does not blow during charging, I suspect that your actual charging amperage would be around 20 amps.
20 amps for 20 mins equals only 6.5 Ah replaced in your battery!

Hardy fully charged!

Sorry if I sound a bit harsh on you, but this is a very commonly misconceived scenario and many people fall into this train of thought.oh:

Beat Me.

Agreed!

Engine charging requires advanced charging regulation in order to reduce engine run times.

A Sterling B2B or A2B charger will help in this respect.

As an example, we have a 150 amp alternator and a 160 amp Alternator to Battery charger. At tickover, we have 90 Amps going into our habitation battery bank!:thumb:

Raising engine speed to +1200 RPM gives 120 amps!

These were measured with a quality clamp ammeter and I stand by my observations before you doubting thomases give me hard time!!!

Show off :Tongue1:

So the loss of amps at 6pm is the panels not producing power rather than the battery's being full ?

more than likely.

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[pappajohn]

So the loss of amps at 6pm is the panels not producing power rather than the battery's being full ?

probably correct, but your batteries could be charged...depends on your daytime battery usage.

if the battery isnt charged as the sun drops lower it wont get charged that day.

at 'high' noon on a clear sunny day my panel will produce around 12/13amps but as the sun drops it progressively reduces to next to nothing....by 6pm it could be as low as 3amps

when the sun has gone but its still bright i can still get around 1/4 amp...but not for long.

we are heavy users (most RV's are) and the batteries take a hammering so my 170watt panel wont come anywhere near fully charging the 440amps of batteries from 50% (not that we get that low) in one day

 

[maxsdad]

We also have a new 891M even when the batteries are fully charged the indicators on the control panel only reads 2/3 charged.
If you are concerned about the life in the battery's why not test the system out at home for a few days just use the lights and tv etc as you would on a site, you don't even have to stay in the van just turn of before you go to bed.
The banner batteries fitted should be well up to the job changing the halogen bulbs to LED would help also.

 

[andyman]

I have a 80watt solar panel and 2 110 amp batteries. Fridge on and a few hours tv on Friday night and the blown air heating on all night. Ran the genny for 10 mins Sat morning while Lynn dried her air. By 2.00pm the batteries were fully charged. Much the same on Sunday.

Daft question but what makes you think the battery was low, is it a volt meter or a meter that shows red yellow green or similar.

Andy

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[Snowbird]

To put things into perspective, I have 330amps of batteries charged by 2X75 watt solar panels. I have just spent 6 weeks in Spain on hookup BUT with the on board charger switched off. The reason for this is that on 4kw per day electric and running the fridge freezer, beer fridge, electric water heater, and hair dryer on electric my charger would take me over the 4kw per day allowance. The TV, Oyster, Laptop charger, Phone charger, Kindle charger, Lights, Water pump and occasional heater fan are all 12 volt. The on board charger was never switched on in 6 weeks and the batteries never went below 60%.

 

[jonandshell]

There must be lots of calculations but against me using the engine but, i use a basic x1 leisure battery x1 engine battery.
20 mins @ 1500 rpm after 3 days use will last another 3 days :thumb:
There is probably a science to say no ,but i must have a magic MH

Of course it depends om your useage! You must use candles!

Us? Our useage at Peterborough was ironing 3 shirts and a pair of jeans, 2 uses of the hairdrier, 2 uses of the hair straighteners and all our cups of coffee and tea from an electric kettle! And lights and a little TV!:thumb:

And of course running the diesel heating for 2 chilly nights.

70% discharge of our 345 Ah battery bank, definitely NOT recharged after the hours drive home!oh:

 

[Snowbird]

Of course it depends om your useage! You must use candles!

Us? Our useage at Peterborough was ironing 3 shirts and a pair of jeans, 2 uses of the hairdrier, 2 uses of the hair straighteners and all our cups of coffee and tea from an electric kettle! And lights and a little TV!:thumb:

70% discharge of our 345 Ah battery bank, definitely NOT recharged after the hours drive home!oh:

Wish I had an ironing lady

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[Peter & Elaine]

What's a iron ?

Ouch I wish she would not read over my shoulder

 

[Snowbird]

What's a iron ?

Ouch I wish she would not read over my shoulder

Something you play golf with I think.

 

[Peter & Elaine]

I thought that was a driver who stuttered

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[duane0001]

This Thread was sorted on page 1, on response number 1
Now its gone to 7 pages and contains all sorts of calculations, jokes, and tomfoolery
Damn this motorhome fun

 

[pappajohn]

This Thread was sorted on page 1, on response number 1
Now its gone to 7 pages and contains all sorts of calculations, jokes, and tomfoolery
Damn this motorhome fun

but it would be a very slow forum if we didnt have the banter and stupidity. oh:

I'm a member of a none motorhome forum and when i post a thread it can take from a few hours to a few days to get a response....
fun...no, boring...yes, but it answers my questions eventually though i usually find the answer elsewhere first

Oh, and i use a Kipor engine just to start ,my generator

 

[jonandshell]

We also have a new 891M even when the batteries are fully charged the indicators on the control panel only reads 2/3 charged.
If you are concerned about the life in the battery's why not test the system out at home for a few days just use the lights and tv etc as you would on a site, you don't even have to stay in the van just turn of before you go to bed.
The banner batteries fitted should be well up to the job changing the halogen bulbs to LED would help also.

You will have a CBE electrical system the same as us.

The best thing to do would be to buy a voltmeter and test the battery voltage as the battery gauge falls therefore you will know how much the indicator is indicating!

Ours has a series of led lights ranging from green through to yellow through to red. After stopping, we soon fall to one of the three green lights. This green light doesn't last long before we are on yellow. Then, depending on useage, we will be on yellow lights for days. One yellow light left indicates we are near 11.7 V and it is nearly time to think about recharging. We never have hit red yet, but doing so would be over discharging the batteries.

We do have traction batteries so do discharge deeper than most folks.

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[Snowbird]

This Thread was sorted on page 1, on response number 1
Now its gone to 7 pages and contains all sorts of calculations, jokes, and tomfoolery
Damn this motorhome fun

I agree, thats all well and good for the drones and worker bees, but what about the idle rich pensioners amongst us who have nothing else to do but take the Micky out of each other all day

 

[tattytony]

Most likely too late to post this but I have a Honda EU10I 1kw and its lighter than the Kipor 1kw

 

[Jaws]

for 4 or 5 hours at a time.......thats gonna put a nice glaze on the cylinders.

and as the engine battery will be fully charged already it will only be charging the leisure battery at a bare minimum rate..

My system is a pucka split one PJ.. I just presumed that is how most modern vans are made.

After 3 years of ownership I still get amazed at how high spec the Miller is.. The charging circuit does full charge on whichever part of the system is low.

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[Snowbird]

Most likely too late to post this but I have a Honda EU10I 1kw and its lighter than the Kipor 1kw

But at three times the price I would expect more for my money...not less

 

[tattytony]

But at three times the price I would expect more for my money...not less

I thought I got a deal at £450 new online, just watch ads and ebay

 

[marrod23]

generators

Honda honda honda !

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