setting up gen and battery and 12v appliances

Start looking for a good AC battery charger capable of at least 20 amps as the dc output for the gen is hopeless, you'll be there all day trying to get your batteries fully charged.

all the people i have asked about this generator (including experts) assured me it would charge the battery with no problems and i wouldn't need a smart charger. so i do need one?

Haven't had a Yamaha for years so don't know what DC output is ie 12V or higher and the current. As a comparison I was helping a traveller 10 days ago and his Honda 2000 was putting out 17V and 12amps but for how long this could be maintained is the question, especialyy in 40C temps, and 17V DC is a bit high for batteries generally.

Advice above to buy good quality 240 volt battery charger (MATCHED TO SUIT GENNY 240v OUTPUT) and let that be your sole source of charging your battery may be good advice,,, and simple too if you don't understand things. Ensure the current drawn (battery charger watts divided by 240V) doesn't exceed genny 240 rated continuous CURRENT output ie about 4 amps.

Connect fridge direct to 12v battery (buy 2 marine battery fittings with wingnuts) and fit connections to fridge DC leads (if not already fitted).

Buy LCD lights - expensive but draw little current. I would query why you need 3 lights off battery. Maybe 2 at most as if you have kids they usualyy need 1.

Alternatively go to and auto elec and pay for good advice and quality fittings.

Be prepared to run genny longer than you think if you keep taking 12V power from the battery especially in HOT weather.

This is not comprehensive but an outline of the issues as I see them based on years of practical experience.

Remember you stated you had the genny and battery, now you need to match these to your usage. If usage exceeds the input capability 2 things will happen;

1 review your usage ie less lights and laptop work
2 run the genny a lot longer.

How you set up will be the key.

I hope this helps Cheers Baz

aaaaargh, thats it selling gen, and paying someone to setup trailer with 12v wiring and to charge battery from the car. i will run the car to charge battery instead. can someone tell me where to take car and trailer to get this done and approx what they will charge? i do not want to do it myself would rather pay someone to do it for me. thanks everyone for your help.

http://www.exploroz.com/Members/61493.375/1/2009/Electricity_for_Camping.aspx?p=%2fBlogs%2fDefault.aspx

this is ex oz link you could read to help you lovell

thanks everyone for their ideas, i'm really annoyed that the 'experts" tell me one thing and then you guys through experience tell me something else, i know where to come to for answers from now on. anyway back to me being slow, i saw this on a website called Home of the 12 volt, http://www.homeof12volt.com/shop/index.php/page/shop/flypage/product_id/151/category_id/0e66038053f2a2ab6cdfec630495e462/offset/0

DIY K300

The D.I.Y System is an easy to install 12Volt/240Volt charging system for any Caravan, Camper-trailer or Van.
This system is great for someone new to camping.


Price - 438.90 AUD (inc. GST in Australia)
is this something i should look at getting?

Try this,
Your Geny + smart charger are you local elect supplier, who then supplies power to your house(your Battery) ,which then is distributed through a fuse box(good idea to use one) to the appliances as required.
Running your geny daily to keep battery charged is a better
idea than letting it run to low to often.It shortens its lifespan.

Some good info here:
http://www.dynamicsolarsolutions.com.au/index.html

Cheers Ian.

G'day lovell21, here's what I would try. For day running,while the boats are making more noise than the gennie, I would connect a power board with built in surge protector to the 240v outlet. Plug a battery charger into the power board and have the battery charging. The fridge can be connected to the power board and run on 240v. From what I have read on this forum your laptop should be safe with steady current from the Yamaha gennie, though it is user beware.As you will have the gennie as far as practical from your living space, extension leads of convenient length will be needed. In the evenings after you have turned off the 240v gennie and disconnected the power board, try using an inverter which converts 12v to 240v and connect this to your 12v battery by the black lead to negative and red lead to positive. Your 12v light leads can be easily converted to alligator clip connectors and attached directly to the battery and an inline on/off switch easily patched in. Probably same can be done with shower pump. Don't see the need for a battery box though a battery with carry straps would make the battery easier to move. I cannot see why you couldn't leave the fridge disconnected for an hour in the evening while you use the inverter to play a CD or DVD. Depending on how many amps per hour the appliances are drawing will dictate how long the battery will last and from what I have read on this forum it is not adviseable to totally flatten a battery. Happy Days. Pauper.

Yes lovell, if you don't have the time, patience and mindset it's best to find a decent auto sparky and have it all done for you.

But there's no way out of doing this kind of research so you can present the sparky with specs for the system. Down to the level of wire size for the charging circuit from the car.

You may not need a gennie at all. Figure out the draw of your appliances, your typical number of days in camp and the size of battery storage to supply it over that time. We do 5-6 days with 200 amp hours, rarely stay in one stop longer than that, and the drive to the next site is usually enough to recharge the batteries.

hya Lovell,

i did 3x3weeks on the murray a while ago with a similar set-up to what you are alluding to....

after following lots of differant advise and on the second trip in my 100amp/h agm battery failed, the powertracks on my pc's motherboard burnt out and the charger could never keep up anyway.... i successfully sued the store for selling and installing unservicable products....

In the end i just bought a longer lead and ran everything off my yammy ef1000is ... the murray is big, the yammy is quiet...

p.s i have no connetion to yamaha or thier distributers

First thing is to get another REMCO 100ah AGM battery, wire both in parallel, get the battery supplier to cut the (new) *battery cable* to length and crimp on the lugs you will require, so you just wire it up (if he dosn't do it for you)

Get a 3 stage battery charger, probably from the same guy, ask him to wire it up for you, should take him 5 mins, also get a 12v power board to run the 12v accessories from, ask him to wire it to the battery system too.

You just have to turn on (or plug in) the appliances as you need them.

Maîneÿ . . .

thanks everyone for their advice, i have just discovered a place called Award RV in Ferntree Gully Vic, and i am going to give them a call and see if they can set me up with what i need and show me how to use it all, has anyone dealt with them before? and does anyone know of a good auto elec in the hoppers crossing vic area? just in case. lol. cheers everyone and happy travels!!!!