Member - Tony W (VIC) posted:

Derek, on paper they look good, and quiter than the Hondas by about 4 db. Is that your real world experience?

Also the 12v looks great to give a quick boost to batteries. However I am considering if I need 240v at the moment.

I have a few questions if I may, hopefully these will help Wilgadine too.
Does the 240v unit put out 240v at 10A AND 12v at 8A at the same time? (240x10.4 + 13.8x8.3 ) = 2610W.
Am I right to assume the 12v is really 13.8 or so for charging?
Is it a modified or true sine wave? Engles have difficulty with many devices like aircons.
Do you see any reason why I couldn't put a standard mains powered 20A battery charger on it for a more rapid charge ( apart from it being only 80 - 90% efficient)

Thanks

Derek from Affordable Batteries & Radiators posted:

Hi Tony

The 12V out does not effect the 240V side of the generator and I would recommend a 240V Smart Charger as the 12V out is unregulated and can over charge batteries if left for too long.

These are pure sine wave and run a/c and refrigerators fine, our test side by side with a Heron 2.2 a/c and a 30A Smart Charger showed the Honda to be the same in noise but the Honda would stall if the charger was switched on first before the a/c.

Regards

Derek.

Member - Tony W (VIC) posted:

Sounds nice.

What would I expect to see on the unregulted 12v under say a few amps, and full load. Could I put an external 13.8v regulator on it and still have it charge?

Member - Mike DID posted:

Just don't use a shunt type solar regulator, as these will only work with the constant-current output of a solar panel.

Derek from Affordable Batteries & Radiators posted:

They will produce 13.5 volts on smart throttle and 14.5 volts at full speed.

I would recommend a automotive external regulator if you wish but a 10A charger is more cost effective.

I only use my 12V output to run a camp light.

Member - Tony W (VIC) posted:

Hmm not bad.

Based on that I would probably do as you say and use a 240V battery charger unless the 240V is loaded up, and then use the 12V with a timer which can be set to a few hours then cut out for the barreries. Though tt would be unlikley to be running for a few hours anyway but you never know what can happen if I am having a few tinnies, in that case the timer might be the fuel.

Member - Tony W (VIC) posted:

Hmm those beers are cutting in now.

Batteries not barreries, and it not tt.

V8 Troopie posted:

Quote"Member - Mike DID posted:
Just don't use a shunt type solar regulator, as these will only work with the constant-current output of a solar panel.
Mike R"

Mike, that does not make any sense at all.
Solar panels do NOT have a constant current output, just watch an amp meter connected between panel and battery on a cloudy day.

Shunt regulators are exclusively for wind generators, they 'shunt' (reroute) the output to an external load when the battery gets full.
Why? you cannot just remove the (battery) load from an operating wind generator as it will then overspeed and possibly self destruct.
I hope that clears it up a bit for you.
Klaus

Member - Mike DID posted:

Klaus, if you have a look at the output graph of ANY solar panel you will see that the current varies very little as the load is increased - there is little difference between the current at normal charging (at 15 volts) and the current into a short circuit.

This is all referring to the current output at the same level of illumination - after all, the regulator isn't going to wait until the sun goes down to stop overcharging the battery.

The shunted current can be used to heat water.

Just because nearly every other electrical source we have is constant-voltage, it's seems to be really hard for people to accept the concept of a constant-current source.

Mainey (wa) posted:

Boys
'Shunt' <-is what trains do when they move carriages from place to place in the rail yards :-)

I've never heard of a wind generator self destructing when battery is disconnected

Mainey . . .