a generator question
Submitted: Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 17:52
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Lyall T
Hi all I am looking to buy a generator and charger to recharge a 60ah battery that runs my lecky 34 lb watersnake. would like to be able charge a flat battery in about 6 hours . I don't have a lot of cash so looking for the budget option if there's one available.
Cheers
Reply By: Member - Rosco from way back - Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 18:23
Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 18:23
As a suggestion ..... based upon your budgetary constraints, why not get a cheap 'n nasty genset from Bunnings et al. Couple this with a budget 240V battery charger and you're in business. The charger should sort out the possibly dodgy AC supply from the genny. But I think you'd be stretching the friendship to expect a 6 hour charge time.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Lyall T - Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 18:48
Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 18:48
Ah yes but what size genny and what size charger, will a 1.6 kw gen be enough to run a 14 amp charger for instance ???? or is it better to run a 10amp or am i talking crap ( extremely possible) looking at all this has really confused me and then theres solar ,aghhh!. but at this stage i'll just deal with genny's .
Cheers lt
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810010
Follow Up By: Member - Rosco from way back - Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 19:20
Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 19:20
Well ........ as an example, I have an old (but still very good Honda 550/600W). That is adequate to run a budget charger, so I would suggest anything up to 1KVA, which is still quite cheap these days for a Chinese piece of gear.
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810017
Follow Up By: Bushranger1 - Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 19:22
Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 19:22
I bought a cheapy 2 stroke Bunnings genny 3 years back & run a 16 amp Battery charger no probs.
Its a 2 stroke job & as long as you throw out the cheap & nasty spark plug & replace with NGK, use good quality 2 stroke oil in the mix & make sure you use fresh fuel you should be fine.
Mine has done
well over 1,000 hrs & it still starts & runs just fine.
Cheers
Stu
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810018
Follow Up By: Lyall T - Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 20:38
Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 20:38
What sort charge time are you getting.
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810025
Follow Up By: Bushranger1 - Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 20:49
Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 20:49
I run a 130 AH battery & I run it down to about 50% state of charge.
The generator is rated at 800W.
Takes about 6 to 7 hrs to get back up to full charge. Basically uses the whole tank of fuel in the gennie. I switch off the gennie before the tank is empty as the power can surge as the motor starves for fuel. This can cause damage to the 240V charger.
FollowupID:
810027
Reply By: Dennis Ellery - Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 19:22
Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 19:22
Yes you can do it but it’s not cheap – the battery is the secrete.
Get yourself a low resistance AGM such as a Lifeline or an Optima.
You can charge these from deadflat to about 95% in two hours.
For a 60 or 70 ah - buy a cheap 40 amp battery charger and a 1 kva genset and you are in business.
I have a 150 ah Lifeline that I charge to about 95% in two hours with 3 cheap 40 amp chargers connected in parallel run from a 2.4 kva genset.
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Follow Up By: Lyall T - Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 20:42
Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 20:42
Thanks for the info all how much is a cheap 40 amp charger.
FollowupID:
810026
Follow Up By: Dennis Ellery - Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 23:18
Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 23:18
The 40 amp chargers are common on ebay and will cost about $80.
Don’t use these on a normal 60ah battery as the charge rate is too high.
To absorb a charge quickly - you will need a low resistance type such as Lifeline, Optima or similar and these are expensive - around $300 to $400.
FollowupID:
810041
Reply By: Travis22 - Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 19:25
Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 19:25
I use our Honda eu10i (1000w max) geni to supply a 15A ctek charger and when using Eco mode the geni will run at the minimum rpm while supplying the ctek. (In other words the 15A charger is only using 200-300w iirc at 230v).
IMO the built in 12V charger is junk, to get the 7-8A out of it the geni needs to be run at full speed (noisy) and it is unregulated so you need to monitor the battery while charging it and have a good idea when it's had enough. So I certainly recommend using the geni to power a dedicated 12V smart charger.
Travis.
AnswerID:
527590
Reply By: Glenn C5 - Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 at 06:59
Reply By: kiwicol - Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 at 21:06
Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 at 21:06
The best thing to do is buy a chri.ty generator puts out a full 55 amps from a bosch automotive alternator, run by a ho.da 4 stroke small engine.
The price between $800 _ $1000.
All it does is charge a 12 volt battery.
Col.
AnswerID:
527656