What size genny for battery charging

Thnx Ross M.......

I didn't make myself very clear .... I have a 15amp CTEK

charger...in its spec sheet it states its 240v power use is 1.8a rms.....at its max

output (15 amps I guess)

& how much power is this 1.8a rmp????

thnx

Possibly what you should have said is the FULL INPUT is 1.8 rms and at 240v that equates to a far higher charge current to batteries as others have also mentioned.
It does change the equation somewhat.
Akracy, acurcy, accuracy is the best thing. I just followed the path I was shown.

Actually 1080, you would be better thinking solar as a 200 watt panel will cost around $250 and a MPPT regulator will cost around the $100.

About the same price or less than a cheap 1 KW genny and be a whole lot more environmentally and people friendly as well.

My 80 watt solar beats a genny hands down. My 2 X 100 AH batteries are always fairly fully charged with a couple of hours of sunlight.

In fact I do not use the genny any more when travelling, it stays home.
And when staying in van parks I do not use their power as I do not need it, the solar looks after it all.

Just a thought. I have nothing against gennys unless it is under my nose.

Cheers, Bruce

“My 80 watt solar beats a genny hands down. My 2 X 100 AH batteries are always fairly fully charged with a couple of hours of sunlight”

An 80watt panel and 2 hours of sunlight – What are you running, an electric toothbrush?

Dennis Ellery,
I have all LED lighting in the van, a 12 volt TV, the usuall 12 volt water pump and 12 volt powered piezo lighting on the gas stove. The frig runs beautifully on gas. I also have, but have not used in a long while, a Waeco CF35.

As I keep saying, everything 12 volt so that I do not waste power.

What I use is the tip of the iceburg of what I have available. From what I hear most caravan dealers are telling people that all they need is 1 X 80 watt panel. I can vouch for that philosophy but you are advised not to run inverters etc.

My 80 watt panel, I assume it is 80 watts, and poly crystaline at that, is more than edequate under normal conditions with my set up.

When on the road I turn on the telly, if reception is good enough, at about 5:30 and often wake up at 1:30 in the morning and turn it off. Batteries are topped up after a couple of hours of good sunlight so I do not worry about going to sleep with it on.

I was going to include in my previous follow up that I am about to fit a 200 watt Monocrystaline panel to suppliment the existing 80 wat poly on the van for the event of extended periods of overcast weather or camping in shady locations.
I did not mention it as I wanted to keep the comment brief.

However, if you keep your power consumption conservative and do not waste it then you can get away with fairly small consumption.

I have been experimenting with solar at home over the last 12 months as I had previously bought a folding 160 watt setup and tried several different PWM and MPPT controllers. I cannot notice a great deal of difference between any of them. Perhaps if I metered them I may have a better idea of difference.

One thing I have learned is that it would be a small jump for me to get off the 240 grid and go totally solar as there is so much available in 12 volts these days.
I even run 12 volt LED string lights in the house of a night. Plenty of light to see to get around with just 2 metres of LEDs.

So, what are you people doing that I am not, that you need so much power?.

BTW. I cannot afford an electric tooth brush, I am a pensioner after all. LOL.

Cheers, Bruce.

Hi Bruce,
I must admit my wife and I are big consumers of electricity - about 120 ah/day – compared to you at approx. 12 ah/day (80 watts X 2 hours).
We have gas cooking and a 3 way fridge but 12 volt usage includes a 40l Engel as fridge, CF 40 Waeco as a freezer, TV and a few other bits and pieces.

I'm thinking of buying a 2kva Honda genny for about $1900, as that will cover us for when we have a power outage at home (Perth Hills) such as we had a few months ago (30 hours), and it would charge our fridge battery when we travel outback and/or supply 240v power. The battery charger @ $1408 + freight would come close to the genny cost.
Any comments welcome please.

thanks

Hi Mark
For the camper or caravaner the 240v genset is a more versatile option – compared to a dedicated 12volt dc generator. You will normally have a 250v battery charger anyway, for use when on mains power.