GMC 850w Generators

Goona

I have one of these little 'gems' .

Have had it since about April/May 04 and cost $198.

I purchased it for the 230V capability to drive power tools and haven't really done much with the 12V aspect.

FEEDBACK:

Cost: I was in Bunnings yesterday afternoon where I bought the sucker and they are now selling the exact same one (850W) for $168.

Ease of starting: Normally 1-3 pulls, however yesterday I decided to give it a run and pulled on that rope in front SWMBO until I was exhausted, red in the face and sweating like a pig and still it wouldn't start. Helps when you flip the fuel tap to the ON position. 3-4 pulls and away it went. Can't repeat what SWMBO said.

Noise: Bugger all.

230V: Works like a dream - runs drills, angle grinders (650W) with no disceranble loss of power.

12V: Weeeeeeeeeeell! I thought I would impress SWMBO and said watch this.

Strapped a 12V deep cycle direct to the 12V outlet and said " thats how they charge these cootas out in the bush in lieu of solar power"

Hmmmmmmmm! she muttered and 'why is there smoke coming out of the battery.

Smoke! What smoke?

There, can't you see it. Nup! can't see a thing.

I then notice steam coming out of No. 1 cell via the filler cap.

Sh i i i i i i i i i i i t! open all the cells and watch each cell from No 2 onwards commence to bubble and I think 'boil'.

So out with the multimeter and that 12V outlet was actually outputing 20V.

In view of that you may need some sort of regulator if you intend charging batteries.

Other than that, where else can you get something that does the job and is so cheap AND comes with a 2yr warranty.

I know you get what you pay for, however in the end its your decision.

Regards

Ken Robinson

Hey Goona

A mate of mine just bought one that you described, he reckons it works a dream and it only cost him $98 at bunnings. I believe that if you wait for the specials you should be able to pick it up on the cheap.

Patrick

Hi Goona,

Well everything that is priced to sell volume has its limitations and these style of generators have there own;

1. From what I can ascertain the total capacity of the gen is rated at 850watts at 240volts which equates to around 3.5 amps.

2. The 12volt side is only for delivery of low amp output. I tried looking on the GMC website to find the specs on the unit but no luck. Going on past experience though I would suggest that the 12volt regulation is not good and the amps available is very low. So being able to charge flat batteries probably isn't going to happen.

3. These units are great for running lighting and power tools and for the odd item requiring rough mains output.

Regards,

Stuart

>I have read previous posts on the GMC Generators

I don't think you read mine. I did a minor technical review on the 550W
unit - don' t listen to the "peak" figures and the 650W (what you are
calling an 850W) is either the same unit, or one with _very_ minor
improvements, a couple of months ago.

Unfortunately you missed the $98 special because they were unbeatable
value. If you want a simple, cheap gen. they are fine. They have their
downsides and other people will tell you a Honda or a Christie is better
and they would be correct - however they probably won't offer to give
you the $1000+ dollars price difference.

I use mine for battery charging (you _don't _ need 100A as one person
said) and minor 240V stuff - if you want a _real_ gen buy a 3 or 4KVA
unit - if you want the bit of electricity the GMC units are great value.

Mike Harding

You can connect a battery charger to the 240 volt outlet and charge the battery this way. The Charger should include a built-in or add-on controller which will protect the battery from overcharging.

Amps - doesn't matter. The limitation to charge time depends on the output of charger and how flat the battery is.

Of course, another alternative is to run the vehicle for an hour or so, to put some charge back into the battery(s) via the alternator. This may be your only alternative if you are in a National Park or similar, where generators are frowned upon.

Yea I know that Stuart, I was originally a sparkie by trade.

Just trying to keep my input simple mate.

As sparkies you blokes should know that 10amps at 12V is not 10Amps at 240V, I have run a 20Amp switchmode charger of the 240V no probs off my $99 version. Supplying 20Amps at 14V it would probably be around 2Amps or less on the 240V, or 440W. The 12V out on these is rated at 8Amps and cannot be used at the same time as the 240V, it also is not regulated so you have to watch your battery voltage, but if it's flat it will take a while at 8 amps to overcharge it like 10 hours of running.

I tested one out with a 25 amp battery charger attached to the 240 volt oulet. Worked fine. Attaching a charger to the 240 is safer than using the 12 volt.

cheers,

Jim.

Goona,
I purchased one of the $174.00 - 850 Watt ones from Bunnings with this warning in mind from the two incidinces related here.
1. A friend purchased one and being a sparky decided to check the wiring before starting. Found several connections only finger tight.
2. A workmate purchased one to use for charging his battery bank on his property. (no mains supply). He awoke one morning at 3am to go to work and found that the house lights were not working. On checking the battery bank found that 2 batteries were burned out along with the GMC generator. THe generator was left running when they went to bed.
I checked out every electrical connection i could find on mine and found them all tight.
Second pull the genny started and i stood back in admiration, then after a short while i noticed something dripping on to the bench from under the genny. Upon investigation i found that the fuel hose had a fracture in it and fuel was being sprayed over the motor. Changed the hose and no further problems.
So the moral (s) of the story is, you get what you buy and it pays to fully check them over.
Cheers,
Bros.

Being a trendsette, I picked my 750w unit up when they first came out in late 2002 and paid $298.
Do I now feel ripped off?
No, as I have had almost 2 years of fun out of it on 3 big trips & 2 small, not to mention running for 6 hrs when we had a black out at home.
The only probs in that time was this year camped on the Cooper when the thing stopped and I found the fuel tap blocked.
To charge batteries i use the 240v charger each night when we have the genni on for lights.
Just my 2cent worth
vince

Hi Goona

We pick up the $98 750W generator from bunnings about a week ago to take to bathurst. I didn't want to take my honda eu20i due to the $ value of it. This gennie was awesome and before we left we ran a 1400w vacum, although the genie struggled, it was impressive that it lasted as long as it did.
If you hunt down bunnings you will find one of these, i know i was some near me on the weekend. These have a 12v plug and comes with the battery leads etc.

cheers
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