Suitable generator for a Camper Trailer

Look at the christie generator.
Col

G"Day
I brought a 3.2kva Genset from AGR Machinery http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160555827826%29. Its a great little unit, runs for 8 1/2 hours with the same fridge, 2 x 240vlt fluro's, and some other small appliances. Good value for money. My mate had a Honda Genset there, and you couldnt tell the difference in noise output. Highly recommend it!

Hi Paul,

you probably know this already: generators and alternators are great for high current (bulk) charging of batteries.
A state of charge of up to 80% can be achieved within a relatively short period of time.
But for good battery health, it is highly recommended to recharge them to 100% SOC before discharging them again.
Because it takes time to recharge them from 80% to 100%, and also a higher voltage, solar is the most economical option while you're stationary.
You could use your alternator for a few tens of minutes in the morning, followed by hours of solar charging through a 80/100W panel.

cheers, Peter

PaulJ

Why not go solar !

Less noisy, less polution, safer.

A 120-140 watt folding solar panel will keep you going, easily, privided you have not gone overboard with electrics.

Cheers Bucky

Hi Paul,

I've got a Honda 1kva and it charges my 200 a/h deep cycle with a 20 amp charger. I run the engel 40lt and a flouro light at the same time.

I dont wanna get into a Honda v Yamaha debate as they both are good

Cheers Wilko

Hi Paul,

I've added a Ctek D250S to my camper.

Its got two inputs - one for the solar and one for the alternator feed from the front (taken straight off the aux battery under the bonnet.)

I've got a Ctek mains charger wired across the battery also for camping on powered sites and looking after the battery when we're at home.

The D250S is a 12v powered charger. It's significantly more advanced than a simple isolator. It's extremely difficult to charge a camper battery from the vehicle when on the road each day because it is generally hanging off 6 - 10 metres of cable, and often that cable's too small to do the job because the cable that they should have used is heaps expensive.

The D250S takes the 12.5-12.9 volts that arrives down the back end of the camper where the battery is, bumps it up to 14 or so which is required to charge the battery and also computer manages that charge.

It's even cleverer, as when we're at camp it will take the input from the solar panel and charge the camper battery, and if I then leave the vehicle plugged into the trailer (I carry an Anderson-Anderson extension lead to do that) it will also charge the auxiliary in the vehicle once the camper battery is full.

So I would suggest if you want a quiet camp site go the solar option, but manage your camper battery better so that it is actually charged when you arrive at camp. That way it's going to last a lot longer at camp before you need to worry about either the solar panel or a generator.

Dave