On Jul 7, 10:14*pm, Fredxx wrote:
On 07/07/2011 20:52, NT wrote:



On Jul 7, 8:44 pm, "David WE Roberts"
*wrote:
snip snip

Aldi have an 800w (peak) 650w standard generator up for 59.99 this Sunday.

I am considering this as an emergency power supply to the motorhome when
wild camping.

Hmmm.......any way of linking the output of 3 of these together?
That would give 2.4kw (peak) 1.95kw (standard) of generating power for just
under 180 which does compare favourably with 400 for a 2Kw generator from
Kipor.

All I really need is something to recharge the batteries without having to
run the engine.
So with 2 * 100 amp hour batteries to charge from 50% to 100% I would need
100 amps for an hour - well, lets say 50 amps for 2 hours.
Amps = watts/volts so
300 watts at 12 volts should give 25 amps charge current - 4 hours running.
600 watts at 12 volts should give 50 amps charge current (if the system
would take it) - 2 hours running.

All in all, a 600w generator run for a couple of hours in the morning should
be a reasonable alternative to a solar panel on the roof, given that 100w of
solar panel can cost 300 without the controller or fixing kit.

So , what does the team think?

Cheers

Dave R

P.S. there must be a reasonably simple way of combining different 240V
inputs or the whole concept of solar feed in just wouldn't work.

If your chagrer is electronic swtched mode, just full wave rectify the
output from each gen, then conncet all 3 together. Check the genny
chassis is NOT connected to either L or N before doing this - it
probabyl wont be.

Wouldn't it be cheaper and less hassle "just" to get a bigger genny?

Another option I looked at for much teh same task was to build a big
nonrechargeable battery.

Why? *If cost is an issue, how can that be cost effective?

A big battery costs peanuts compared to a generator. There's a wide
variety of chemistries available, IIRC the one that tempted me was
aluminium electrodes in what was it, soda? I dont remember the
electrolyte now.


NT