Charging a camper battery with a generator?

Does anybody here have experience with this?

I have a small Aliner camper with a 75 amp hour marine battery (will upgrade to 100AH when I replace). Now that I know my usage patterns with it, I have rejected going the solar route and am looking at the Honda EU1000 generator for recharging the battery on longer boondocking stays.

I'm wondering what the best way to use this generator is?

I can recharge via 12V DC direct to the battery. This output is not controlled to shut down when the battery is recharged if done that way. The generator puts out 8 Amps/96Watts at 12V DC.

Or I can plug my battery charger into the generator's AC outlet and hitch that up to the battery. The generator's 120 V AC output is 7.5A/900W. the battery charger puts out 6A at 12V, then goes down to a trickle charge when it reads the battery as being fully charged.

Which is best?

My electric consumption when boondocking in this camper is pretty low. I run a couple of LED interior light bulbs (1141 replacements) in the evenings for a total of 7.2W. My furnace operates on LP gas, but the electric demand for the fan is 41W. If it is warm, I might also run a 3A FanTastic vent fan for a max of 15 minutes/day. I think I am good for at least 2 nights on my current 75AH battery before recharging. If anyone has experience with a similar situation, I'd love to hear how long I would need to run the generator to recharge it after this. Or how often I should run the generator to recharge.

Many thanks!

Brad

OF. I have a TC and when I have to charge my battery's I do it through my converter or with my three stage battery charger. I would recommend getting a 3 stage like a Shumacher, they are about $75.00. When you upgrade look into getting an AGM size 29 or 31 if it will fit your box. I would also recommend getting it from http://www.bestconverter.com. With an AGM you do not have to worry about putting water in the battery.

If you charge with the genset itself it will take forever and will not charge it full. One other thing besure to measure power usage in amphrs to get the correct amount of usage.

Plug your battery charger into your gen-set then hook it to your battery. No different than plugging your charger into a home receptacle. The only diference could be minor voltage fluctuations but as you mentioned a Honda, they won't be enough to consider. We've been doing that very thing for decades on equipment batteries in the field. I woudln't charge it directly from the 12V receptacle on the gen-set.

That generator has a built in 12v charging system and unless it is an older model it should have a shut-down when the battery is charged. I have run marine batteries regularly with both charging systems hooked up when I needed juice NOW to start a boat engine...

Plug your trailer into the 120V on the generator and let the converter charge the battery.

I have two 85 AH batteries on my trailer. With the water pump, lights etc. I can get through a three day weekend without recharging. Any longer or if I need the furnace, I run the generator to recharge. The fan on the furnace is the biggest draw I use.

Went through the same evaluation when I bought my EU2000 last summer. Check the charging output of your converter. Mine was only 3 amps--really only a trickle charge. I could get 8 amps from the generator 12v outlet, or I could plug in the battery charger which outputs up to 15 amps. So that's the way I went. I since have acquired a new camper with a better converter with higher output. I think I'll just plug the camper into the generator and let the converter do it. That's definitely the easiest thing to do.

We run 2 80aH batteries on the camper. Fairly conservative usage like you describe, and we can go up to 4 days without needing to recharge.

BTW, it's hard to justify the EU1000 when the EU2000 is just a couple of hundred bucks more. Keep in mind the output is reduced with altitude. The 2000 is a little bigger and definitely heavier, though.

Hey folks, thanks for those very helpful responses!

I spent about an hour Googling to discover my Centurion CS 2000 XL convertor's charging amp output, but no luck. I'm going to assume it is not high enough and go the 120V battery charger route.

Trigg, sounds like you have been down almost exactly my path. What brand/model of battery charger did you use successfully? And I've been debating myself regarding the 1000 vs 2000. I wasn't aware of the altitude issue and will have to check this out. Plus, I need to find a dealer that stocks both so I can hoist them both up and figure out how much of an issue 29# versus 47# will be for a senior citizen who hopes to be able to use my camper for many more years.

I'll look once again at the AGM versus flooded options. I'm going to have to weld on a new battery box holder soon in order to put on a swing-away jack. That leaves me open to a bunch of battery options, but I think I will shy away from parallel golf cart batteries like the Trojan TJ 150s because of tongue weight issues.

If you are near Henderson Colo. go by Five Star Camper, they should be able to help you

Man, am i debating this one! And spending lots of time on research. My current conundrum is that the model choice seems to fall on the borderline in all regards.

I went to a local dealer today and hefted both models. The Honda EU1000 is way easier to lift, but I also think I'll be able to lift the EU2000 for the remainder of my camping years. I figure I'm using a little over 17 AH/day max when dry camping so, if I upgrade to a Walmart Maxx 29 125 AH battery, I'm good for 3 days before needing a recharge. I'll rarely be dry camping for over 4 days.

Here's where I could use some advice from an expert. The EU1000 puts out 7.5A. The EU2000 puts out 13.3 amps. But my battery charger puts out only 6A. Does that mean I would be recharging for the same time with either generator? Is there an advantage as regards the generator's life span in using up only 45% of the generator's output with the 2000 versus 80% with the 1000?

Another question regards altitude. I live at 5500 feet, but most of my dry camping is done higher and I don't envision any under 5,000. In addition to recharging my camper's batteries, I am thinking this generator will be handy running lights, TV and a computer when the house power goes out. Honda generators can be set up with 3 alternative carburator jets. Factory is 0-5,000 feet above sea level. Next is 5,000-7,000. Then comes 7,000+. That led me to suspect I'd be best off getting the 5-7,000 jet installed. But the dealer folks I talked to today expressed a "don't worry about it" attitude. Any thoughts about this?

Many thanks for any feedback!

Brad

OF...

The charger I use is a "Durabuilt Smart battery Charger." I recall that being about a $75 thing. I'm sure there are lots of similar ones out there. Re Altitude: The EU1000 owners manual says even with carburetor modification, engine horsepower will decrease about 3.5% for each 1000 ft altitude gain. Don't know how that actually affects electrical output.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by oldfrat

The EU2000 puts out 13.3 amps. But my battery charger puts out only 6A. Does that mean I would be recharging for the same time with either generator?
Brad

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Yes. Your battery charger probably draws about 1 amp or less at 120v. Keep in mind the DC output of your battery charger is at 12v, since power (Watts) = volts * amps, 6 amps at 12 volts is 72 Watts, which is the same as .6 amps at 120v.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by oldfrat

Is there an advantage as regards the generator's life span in using up only 45% of the generator's output with the 2000 versus 80% with the 1000?
Brad

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Dunno. But I decided that another reason to use the charger rather that the DC output of the generator is that the EU2000 owner's manual says if you use the DC output, you should turn OFF the EcoThrottle feature (so the generator runs at full speed). When I plug in my charger, I run with the EcoThrottle ON at much lower engine speed.

Wrt the carburetor jet modifications... I recall that if you go for the higher altitude jet, you can improve efficiency, but you then CANNOT run the engine at lower altitude or it can damage the engine. So be sure you're not going to use it lower than speced.

Also, you should contact Zackdog. He's got this down to a science, and I know he upgraded the carburetor jets on his EU2000. I think he just plugs his camper/converter into the generator, but he also charges his trolling motor battery.

Good luck!

I have a Honda clone and last year I installed the high altitude jet. The genset now runs better at altitudes from 2K to 9K. One thing about the larger jet you will not get the run time you do with a small jet. You should try to upgrade your charger to a three stage you will get a faster charge and a deeper charge then using a single 6 amp charge.

Thanks, Trigg! Very helpful. I wasn't thinking about the charger converting output to 12V, so was way off in my thinking.

From conversations at various LAF gathering, I know Zackdog lives pretty close to 9,000 feet and spends long outings at Delaney Butte, which is about 8,000. So I suspect he's set up for the 7,000+ jet. I'm back to thinking about converting to the 5-7,000 feet jet. Kind of splitting the difference. When I take the camper below 5,000 feet, I'm always on shore power.

Brad

This is an issue for everyone that does any dry camping. I have a camp trailer equipped with 2 100 Ahr batteries in series. In the summer time, long days, warm nights, I find I can go almost a week without charging, the primary electricity usage being the water pump and maybe a brief use of the heater to take the chill off in the morning. In colder seasons I might only get 2 - 3 nights out of a charge.

I have a generator and lug it along on every trip longer than a weekend but it is truly a PITA. Heavy, noisy, smelly, and generally not conducive to quiet contemplative camping. This year I think I am just going to buy two more RV batteries and built a box to carry them in the bed of my pickup. I will charge them up at home and just swap batteries in camp. I should be able to greatly reduce the number of times I have to put up with the generator.

Just another possibility if you generally do short stay trips.

Thanks for that advice.

I no longer have a truck, though, so I'm looking at the generator route. The Honda generators are well regarded for being quiet -- about the same db as a normal conversation, and I can run them at a time when they should not bother other campers. My camper is equipped with a lot of power draws --AC, H&C water, 3-way refrigerator among them. But, when I dry camp, I go with gallon water bottles and ice-filled coolers, and will not use the AC. Thus, my daily power consumption is only about 17 AH at max.

Moving to a 4-battery set up would be cheaper than going the Honda generator route, at least if I was sticking with standard flooded marine batteries. Moving to golf cart batteries is not an option for me given the size of my camper and tongue weight issues. I'd seriously consider going to solar if I planned on doing lots of days of dry camping over many years, but I'm too old for that option.

If you are not happy with your current generator, you may want to check out the Honda ones. It is possible that they may offer you a better option than going to 4 batteries. But, as I've been learning as I've used my camper for a couple of years and spent much of that researching my electrical options, the right solution really varies by individual.

Here's a site that may interest you given what you have described. http://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/t...ging-puzzle-2/ Warning: it is hard to read due to the author not using paragraphs properly. But he seems to feel that you might be doing better with your current battery set up.

Again, thanks for the advice. Darn, this stuff is confusing to an old Marketing guy like me. Should have studied Electrical Engineering!

Brad

Pardon me for getting into this discussion...But, darn this electrical stuff is confusing to an old Finance guy like me too!

What am I missing here? It seems to me that when you consider the cost of the Honda generator, the fuel cost to operate it, and the space and weight issues involved with taking the generator and fuel with you when you go camping, that it would be a lot cheaper and less cumbersome to just to buy an extra battery to take with you, and swap it out with your other one if, and when, needed.

Unless you're going to use the generator for other puposes, you'd probably only ever need to buy a couple extra batteries (costing what, $300?) that would last maybe 8-10 years or so, versus the $1,000 you'd pay for a new Honda generator and fuel to run it over the same period of time.

I've got an almost new Honda eu2000i generator that just sits unused in my garage. I dearly love the thing, but almost never take it anywhere because it just plain takes up too much space.

John

Here are two sites that may help, Http://www.rv.net , go to the forums section and google the, 12volt side of life, it has some great info

I run the generator to charge the batteries but also to power the DVD player and TV so my bride can watch her favorite movies. ;)

bottom line, USE A REAL CHARGING SYSTEM to recharge your batteries, whether it is built into your genset or you plug a good charger into an AC outlet on your genset. Just because your gen is capable of providing 12V at 6A or 10A or whatever, doesn't mean it should be provided to a battery in an unregulated fashion! There is a hell of a lot more to correctly charging a battery than just "filling it up as fast as you can"... it's not like a bucket of water.

Guys, I've dealt with all types of batteries on a professional level for many years and have seen the improvements and changes in battery tech, to today's SLA/AGM/VRE batteries for the uses you state. It would take a book or two to go into it in depth. Believe me you can ruin a good battery fairly fast by improperly charging it. Today's chargers take any guesswork out of it.

Whoever said "3A is basically a trickle charge" needs to do a little research!!

John, leave it up to an old Finance guy to come up with what may be the most elegant solution to my camper situation. Two 125AH batteries would take care of all my anticipated camper needs. Now I have to consider the value of a generator for home power outages.

And, again, thanks to all for your help and advice here!

Brad

Honda 2000 Engine	Before you buy one, may I offer an alternative. We bought two of the Champions and an adaptor to run two for the air conditioner. They are more quiet than the twice as expensive Honda. Got ours for $499. ea at Sam's Club http://www.championpowerequipment.co...rators/73531i/
Displacement	98.5cc
AC Output	120V 2000W max. (16.7A) 1600W rated (13.3A)
Receptacles	20A 125V Duplex
DC Output	12V, 96W (8A)
Starting System	Recoil
Fuel Tank Capacity	1.1 gal
Run Time per Tankful	4hrs. @ rated load, 9.6 hrs. @ 1/4 load
Dimensions (L x W x H)	20.1" x 11.4" x 16.7"
Noise Level	59 dB(A) @ rated load 53dB(A) @ 1/4 load
Dry Weight	46.3 lbs. Champion 2000 Specifications Rated Watts1600 WattsMax Watts2000 WattsAC Load120VPhaseSingleFrequency60 HzEngine80cc Champion OHVOverload ProtectionAutomaticRPMAutomatic (based on load)Fuel Capacity1 gal. (3.8 L)Oil Capacity.42 qt. (.4 L)Recommended OilSAE 10W-30Start TypeRecoilLow Oil Shut-offAutomaticPortabilityBuilt-in handleChoke TypeManualNoise Level53 dBA at 23 ft.Length19.3 in. (49 cm)Width13.2 in. (33.5 cm)Height16.3 in. (41.5 cm)Weight48.1 lb. (21.8 kg)EmissionsCARB (50 State) Just a thought, and we just plug our trailer into it and it charges the Trailer batteries.

FG, Thanks for that post.

I went on to research that generator brand. Found mixed reviews. Some owners just loved them. Some were disappointed. The consensus among those I read who owned both seemed to be that the Champions were not as good as the Hondas, but a whole lot less expensive. More Champion reviewers seemed to be critical of altitude performance issues.

I couldn't form an opinion on this, other than that Champions would be a viable alternative if Costco has them on sale.


Brad

Well, I live in the Rockies. Go from 4,000 to 10,000 and no problems. Third year on them. Now my brother has the Honda 2000, wishes he could say the same. Got to love the reviews, huh.