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Olddawgsrule View Drop Down
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Posts: 1014 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Charging battery
    Posted: 04 Mar 2020 at 7:30am
Originally posted by offgrid

Originally posted by Olddawgsrule

I'm here reading both of ya's.. Chuckling over your thoughts of yet another generator.. Big smile

Sorry guys.. Don't have and still see no reason.. Ouch 




What do you do if you're camped for a week under the tree canopy with no hookups?  That is typical for me in the Appalachians. Can't use solar under those conditions. Either you run your TV and recharge with the alternator (which is very inefficient) or you bring a genny. I'd love to have a nice silent propane fuel cell but they aren't available yet. 

Or, you could get one of these and pedal your behind off for 12 hours straightLOL


Only got caught once, believe it or not, in the Sou'weast. We packed up and drove away. That took 5 days and we were done there anyway. I do have a solar panel mind ya.. 

All I'm saying is if you can do without those big draw conveniences, you can do without a genny.. Oh we have plenty of trees up here as well and I do seem to get that panel in the sunlight for a few hours a day (ground mount). 
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offgrid View Drop Down
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 Mar 2020 at 9:48am
Cooling fans in summer and heater fan in winter are the big power hogs. We consider those necessities we wouldn’t want to be without. We recharge as needed every couple of days or at mealtimes if we want to run the microwave. So the Honda 2k rides along in the back of the suv. 50 lbs. Propane conversion so no gasoline smell or mess. No extra cost, I already had it for emergency home use.
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Olddawgsrule View Drop Down
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Posts: 1014 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 Mar 2020 at 10:46am
Originally posted by offgrid

Cooling fans in summer and heater fan in winter are the big power hogs. We consider those necessities we wouldn’t want to be without. We recharge as needed every couple of days or at mealtimes if we want to run the microwave. So the Honda 2k rides along in the back of the suv. 50 lbs. Propane conversion so no gasoline smell or mess. No extra cost, I already had it for emergency home use.

Hear ya on the fans! I have 5.2amps dedicated just for fan use on a daily basis. We use the personal size usb fans. The best part of that is they plug into my portable Lipo battery. 
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StephenH View Drop Down
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Posts: 6417 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 Mar 2020 at 10:57am
If our travel plans do not change, we will be in the southwest in June. Since that is a very hot time of year, we will want to be able to run the AC. If we are not at a campground, the generator will be a necessity. We just got a  Renogy solar suitcase for times when high-draw AC items are not needed. I would not mind converting our Generac iX2000 to propane, but I have not found a kit to do so. Given that power output on propane is less than on gasoline, I don't think it would work anyway as the iX2000 can run the AC, especially with the Micro-Air Easy Start, but cutting the power of the generator any would likely eliminate that capability. I don't want to get a larger generator if I can avoid it.
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offgrid View Drop Down
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 Mar 2020 at 4:25pm
While an engine will certainly produce less power using propane, that might not be the limiting factor in output depending on the way each particular generator is designed. The other factor is the inverter capacity. When my Honda overloads the breaker trips before the engine bogs down, so that design tends to be inverter limited. Basically it has the same output capacity whether I run it on propane or gasoline,  at least up to about 4000 ft elevation, which is as high as I've run it. I do need to readjust the mixture at higher altitudes though.
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StephenH View Drop Down
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Posts: 6417 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 Mar 2020 at 10:14pm
Right not though, I am not inclined to spend about $200 for the one kit I found plus more for a regulator and suitable hose since it needs low pressure LP gas to run. I'm waiting on a reply from a seller about another type that would cost about $50 less for the kit but I did not see anything that was suitable for the generator I have. Hopefully, that one will have a suitable kit also.
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Mar 2020 at 4:56am
The Century Fuel kits come with a regulator for a 20 lb tank, or you can add a tee to the low pressure side of your tongue mounted tank setup. I did both. Personally, I would have paid twice that amount if necessary not to have to deal with storing and transporting gasoline, fouled plugs, and gummed up carbs. I’ve had enough of that to last a lifetime. All my power tools are electric.
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lostagain View Drop Down
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Posts: 2595 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Mar 2020 at 11:56am
We can hook our generator up to the low pressure port for a grill on our trailer or run it off a separate LP tank.  Our generator needs a male fitting to go into it, as does the port on the bottom of the trailer, so I would have to jerry rig a hose to work with a shut off valve so I don't accidentally release propane.  There are several configurations on Amazon that are not expensive.  For the time being, I'm just going to use the spare LP tank since we almost never use the generator anyway.
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offgrid View Drop Down
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Mar 2020 at 4:56am
Running off a spare tank is nice as long as you have one because you can relocate the generator farther from your campsite and other campers if you want. 

I have a single tank on the tongue which can feed both the generator and the trailer, and a portable tank to feed the generator. I run the generator from the portable tank until it runs out, then I can connect the gen to the tongue mounted tank until I can swap the portable tank for a full one. If the trailer tank runs out first I put the portable one on the tongue. The two tanks get such different use that they have never run out at the same time. 

But if you already have a dual tank on the tongue carrying around yet a third portable tank gets to be a but much. In that case a longer gas line might be a better option. 
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