portable generators

Hello bripet, that would work fine, the only problem would be with carbon dioxide in a semi closed area.

I would look at going to the eu20i instead of the eu10i, they aren't much more expensive and not much bigger.

You can always build a sound proof enclosure for it and vent the exhaust outside.

In our camper trailer we have the batterys to run all the lighting, radio, fridge etc. and a 25 amp charger connected all the time. The camper trailer is wired for 240 volts so if we have mains power handy we can charge the batterys and run the 12 volt gear or if no power is avaliable we can use our eu20i.

regards Richard

G'day Bripet,

Both of those Honda's are excellent gennies, although I'm biased, having owned one for a few years now. Before racing out to buy a new gennie, perhaps have look at your needs. If you want to run small 240 volt appliances like a lap top tv etc, the eu 10 will do the job easily. If you want to cook the toast or run a hair dryer you'll need the eu20. Both are excellent gennies and will give you years of reliable service. If you're just going to run the battery charger, then any of the cheaper gennies will do the job just fine (albeit noisily). You'll be looking for a long lead and a tree to hide the thing behind. Another option is a Christies battery charger coupled to the Honda motor. They're a high capacity unit, so you only need the thing running for half the time. They're also a lot cheaper, but they only do 12 or 24 volts, not 240. http://www.christieengineering.com.au/

240V generators are a VERY poor choice for charging 12v batteries. Check out the Christie engineering site for a much better solution. They have chinese one too, or you can make your own like we did for my old man's boat. They are very simple if you aren't critically short on space.

Paul

Gday bripet

As many have said, it depends on what else you can use the gennie for. if soley for the charging, the christie may be the go, but it is very handy to have portable 240 volt power in some situations. 240 volts and water isn't a real good mix, salt water is a lot worse, on the marlin board one splash could be expensive...(a few safety issues as well).

If its not going to be very often that you anchor for more than a couple of days, it may be more economical to charge with the boat motor for an hour or so every other day. (I'll take a punt on it being inboard here). This time could be also used for heating water for shower etc with a heat exchanger, and cranking the fridge right up to get a bit of a 'cold sink' happening in the fridge so it doesn't have to run for a while once the engine is turned off.

Having said that, especially if you are a bit remote with your boating, having an alternative charging method to the main engine is a step toward the security of twin engined boats...

May not be an answer, but food for thought

Cheers Andrew

My parents lived aboard a boat for about 12 years. They made use of marinas from time to time and carried a portable petrol powered generator. However, most of their battery power came from the sun.

They had 2 solar panels mounted permanently. Sorry I can't tell you any specs but they were purchased in 1989 I think so the technology has improved a bit since then. They also carried a large solar panel which had no permanent mounting, but did have a long lead attached so they could put it wherever they wanted on the boat and plug it in.

This panel was brought out and positioned so as to be out of the way and catch the most of the sun, you could virtually start the motors on it. It was not used for long periods because it did not need to be.

Perhaps you could consider something like this. My Dad was pretty tight but he was also paranoid about battery failure. Their current draw amounted to navigation equipment, lights and a 120l Trailblazer Fridge which ran pretty cold, the bottom 2/3 acted as a freezer.

The boat is a sail boat and the engines did not run that often, neither did the genie.

Duncs

ABR now has a 50 amp petrol 12 volt charger that's about the size of a Honda.

http://www.sidewinder.com.au/page154a.html

Beware of the "12 volt" output on any of the small 240volt generators - this is a totally unregulated output which will damage 12 volt appliances if you connect them to it without a battery.

If you use it to charge a battery, it will damage the battery if you don't disconnect, it once it's fully charged.

bripet,
Why does the hull not lend it's self to Solar power ???

There are boats every where with Solar systems as their only source of battery recharge method and as pointed out above 12v genies are not the most efficient choice for charging 12v batteries.