GENERATOR |
Post Reply | Page 123 4> |
Author | |
hogone
Senior Member Joined: 09 Apr 2013 Location: St. Louis Online Status: Offline Posts: 1043 |
Topic: GENERATOR Posted: 22 Sep 2014 at 6:56am |
another generator question. what would be the smallest gen needed strictly to charge the batterys when dry camping and maybe plug in pod for occasional use of outlets (small electrical heater, charging cell phones, computer, other small plug-ins, etc). hogone
|
|
Jon & Pam
2013 RP177 2010 F150 2017 HD Streetglide 2009 HD Lowrider CHEESEHEAD |
|
techntrek
Admin Group - pHp Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9059 |
Posted: 22 Sep 2014 at 8:24am |
Two different answers. If you just want to top off the battery and charge a laptop and phone, a 1000 watt generator will work. That size really only has 2 options - an incredibly cheap but incredibly loud 2-stroke engine or one of the quiet but expensive Honda or Yamaha inverter-generator options.
An electric heater may not work with a 1000 genset, even on its low setting (definitely not on its high setting), since they have a startup surge and the converter will use some of the available power. It is possible if you plugged the heater in directly via an extension cord with nothing else plugged in to the genset it might work, but your only safe option is to move up to a 2000 watt generator. Again cheap + noisy or quiet + expensive options are available.
|
|
Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
|
|
Podster
Senior Member Joined: 16 Sep 2014 Location: San Antonio Online Status: Offline Posts: 1108 |
Posted: 22 Sep 2014 at 10:19am |
Speaking for myself, of course, I would be inclined to go solar in this situation to charge the battery and use propane for heat. Solar is cheap and easy. You don't necessarily have to have the expensive ZAMP setup to accomplish this. Any good 100 watt panel with a charge controller can be connected directly to the battery. The Renology Solar company is one of several that offer affordable panels and chargers.
|
|
techntrek
Admin Group - pHp Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9059 |
Posted: 22 Sep 2014 at 10:40am |
One downside of the propane heater is the noise. I can remember one weekend of chilly fall weather, and I was camped where I could run the genset all night. I chose to run the genset to run an electric heater rather than use the propane heater. That said, there are silent catalytic propane heaters that don't use any electric, used often by boondockers. Olympian Wave is one.
Solar would often be an option in TX, but not where tree cover is the norm. I'd love to use it with my camper but trees are usually in the equation where we camp, which is true for many others, too. Hope to get solar installed at my house some day...
|
|
Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
|
|
Podster
Senior Member Joined: 16 Sep 2014 Location: San Antonio Online Status: Offline Posts: 1108 |
Posted: 22 Sep 2014 at 11:47am |
Some panels generate in the shade or in any light, but I'm not sure it would be enough without a demand study. What if the panel was portable and could be placed? Would it still be impossible to get direct rays? Even with a 50' feed line?
|
|
techntrek
Admin Group - pHp Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9059 |
Posted: 22 Sep 2014 at 2:14pm |
PV drops to 50% output with just a corner shaded. It doesn't take much more shading to drop the output to near zero.
You can make the panels portable, but that introduces new challenges. Security - you need to babysit them as long as they are sitting out or they will walk. Wiring - at the voltage levels used by PV (around 18 volts in parallel, maybe 2-3 times that if in series and using MPPT) to feed a 12 volt system you need some seriously thick wires from the panels to go more than 10 feet away from the battery. Forget extending out beyond 50, so while the pod can be in shade it would have to be right on the edge of full sun anyway. Weight - going with more panels or fewer large panels to get into the 100-200 watt range starts to get heavy, lugging them out, setting them up, putting them back. If you have large gauge wire that gets heavy, too. Fiddle factor - similar to the weight problem, you are introducing that extra setup/teardown into your routine, and maybe even moving them several times a day to chase the one patch of sunlight you can reach.
|
|
Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
|
|
Podster
Senior Member Joined: 16 Sep 2014 Location: San Antonio Online Status: Offline Posts: 1108 |
Posted: 22 Sep 2014 at 3:24pm |
Hmm, all very good points. I wonder how long, at idle, it would take the TV to charge the battery. Most people camp with bikes, perhaps a pedal driven high output charging generator?
|
|
techntrek
Admin Group - pHp Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9059 |
Posted: 22 Sep 2014 at 3:43pm |
Forget the human-powered generator. If you've ever gone to a science center and tried one of their exhibits where you pedal or hand-crank to produce eletricity (for anything other than a radio or flashlight), you'll discover quickly that you won't get many electrons even with a lot of work. It would be a useful way to harness some energy if your primary purpose was a good workout.
Using the TV with a good set of jumper cables (not the Bargman connection) is useful in a pinch. Run it for 30-60 minutes every other day - not every day. You get more electrons for every gallon of gas burned that way.
|
|
Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
|
|
hogone
Senior Member Joined: 09 Apr 2013 Location: St. Louis Online Status: Offline Posts: 1043 |
Posted: 22 Sep 2014 at 8:28pm |
rog on the cables; any certain ones? jumpers? and to clarify, how to hook up? hogone
|
|
Jon & Pam
2013 RP177 2010 F150 2017 HD Streetglide 2009 HD Lowrider CHEESEHEAD |
|
Podster
Senior Member Joined: 16 Sep 2014 Location: San Antonio Online Status: Offline Posts: 1108 |
Posted: 22 Sep 2014 at 10:05pm |
I believe it is very plausible to charge a battery using human power given the right setup. It's all about consumption. Take out the heater and the consumption is very low. Heck, he might be able to get by for days just on a fully charged battery alone.
|
|
Post Reply | Page 123 4> |
Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |