a <span class="highlight">generator</span> question

Submitted: Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 17:52
ThreadID: 106525 Views:2113 Replies:5 FollowUps:7
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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
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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: 527582

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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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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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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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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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.
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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.
AnswerID: 527588

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.
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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.
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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

Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 at 06:59
http://www.australiandirect.com.au/shop/caravan-camping/generators/1309

Had one of these for about 4 years and had no problems.
AnswerID: 527613

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.tygenerator 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

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