Cheap little generator?

[ChasB]

Am about to go away on a little cruise and likely to have to live without shore power. Would be nice to have the reassurance of being able to power the battery charger should the batteries go flat.

Anyone know where I can source a decent generator from? Can be low power supplying 120 or 240V but needs to be a decent non-spikey sine wave. Ideally small quiet and cheap.

/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[VicS]

[ QUOTE ]
decent ........... and cheap

[/ QUOTE ] No chance the two are mutually exclusive.

Its only a few weeks since forumites were reporting experiences with cheap generators which either did not work at all or failed within a few hours.

 

[sarabande]

there's a little kwakkers on ebay.

170138860507

Edited. Lots of baby Hondas if you search on "honda generator" too

 

[ChasB]

Nottingham. I need it from Sunday.

" Its only a few weeks since forumites were reporting experiences with cheap generators which either did not work at all or failed within a few hours. "

No recommendations then...?

 

[sarabande]

It might help if you could say whether you need 300w or 5kva.

If it's peace of mind rather than cost, then hire one from your local hire centre. I have a suitcase Honda which gives out proper 50cycle AC pure sine wave. It starts brilliantly even when ignored for 4 months, and is genuinely QUIET.


Ask down the pub ?

 

[Anonymous]

As VicS says, you won't get a decent cheap one though you might get a good second hand deal on a second hand one.

Just one thought...people who run cheap generators on moorings and in anchorages are not popular as they are not just noisy, they have a very unpleasant sound.

The Honda ones seem to be pretty tolerable.

 

[ChasB]

It's only as a backup. I have petrol engines that demand full voltage from the batteries. If they're the slightest bit flat, or if the engine's cold...

Some way of getting a bit of extra oomph reasonably quickly is desirable.

And yes, i do keep a spare battery on board, but that's a lot of faffing around.

I'll look into the Honda.

 

[Anonymous]

A trick I'm been toying with (but never done) is to use an inverter with a smallish battery charger to use one battery to bring up the volts on the other. Very inefficient in energy terms but could get an engine going.

I am surprised you have that problem with petrol, I thought that it was mainly a diesel problem (though my Yanmar diesel starts before the crankshaft has rotated through 360 degrees).

 

[paulm299]

If it's only for an emergency boost , What about the power-packs used to jump start cars ? I use one too power an automatic 12v Bilge pump , ( Keeps the rainwater from building up in the cockpit ) Kept charged by a solar panel .

 

[roly_voya]

Have you checked the V drop from battery to starter, if the cables are undersize or degraded it might be that the resistance in them is causing the starting dificulty - much cheaper and simpler fix than carrying a geny

 

[VicS]

[ QUOTE ]
if the cables are undersize or degraded it might be that the resistance in them is causing the starting dificulty

[/ QUOTE ] Not to mention the crimped terminals!

 

[steve_cronin]

This,

Which is imported and marketed from somewhere quite near you:-

Green Reaper's advertised merchandise is advertised as having a 7 metre sound level of 58dB. When you get it home you will discover that this IS in fact CLEARLY printed on the box AND the machine as 92dB which since decibels work on a logarithmic scale is hugely more noisy. It just ROARS!!!

Run one alongside a Honda 10iu which is also advertised at 58dB and you are not aware of the Honda running at all. I do not doubt however that the output of the Trent power IS pure sine wave - unless someone else knows differently.

I actually witnessed such a comparison last month in Greece.

Trent Power themselves are at:- this, their website

Do you have the number for Nottinghamshire trading standards?

Steve Cronin

 

[steve_cronin]

Have you ever seen...

fine stranded welding cable after it has been impregnated with sea water?

It's a bit like that scene from Indiana Jones' Raiders of the Lost Ark when the nazis turn to dust.

Great stuff for welding but only tinned 19strand should be used for starter motors etc on boats.

Steve Cronin

 

[Anonymous]

I know of them but not about them. You need to bring the volts up to the late 13s to get a 'fresh as a daisy' start. It takes surprisingly little to bring the volts up for long enough to crank an engine and of course, if the engine is in good condition, fuel in the injectors/carb, low resistance cables, not too cold, etc., then it can start very quickly. I have a resistor from my main battery giving about 50 mA into the generator start battery when the main battery is at 13.6V (my normal float) and the generator battery is 12.6V. R = V/I = 1/0.05 = 20 Ohms. Works a treat all over the winter when the generator is never used other than to turn the oil every couple of months.

 

[ChasB]

[ QUOTE ]
if the cables are undersize or degraded it might be that the resistance in them is causing the starting dificulty

[/ QUOTE ]

I think they might well be degraded after 20 years of use (and judging by some of the other bodge jobs aboard). But it's too late now for this weekend's journey. I'll look into it when I return.

[ QUOTE ]
I have a resistor from my main battery giving about 50 mA into the generator start battery when the main battery is at 13.6V (my normal float) and the generator battery is 12.6V. R = V/I = 1/0.05 = 20 Ohms.

[/ QUOTE ]
Could you explain how that works?


Does all this never end..? /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[Anonymous]

[ QUOTE ]
Could you explain how that works?

[/ QUOTE ]
Ohm's Law
R = V/I

 

[Guest]

My Wolf 800 gives steady 650W or 750W peak .... does all I need ... but you have to use an older non fancy battery charger ... one without fancy internal electronics - basic Gunston or Halfords cheapo charger !!

Wolf 800 was about 50 quid ... runs for about 3hrs on a full tank. Medium quiet - not as quiet as a Kipor or Honda ... but then its a 1/3rd of the price !!

Oh and mines a year old about - still fine ... get's dragged around in garden .. abused ... never cleaned or serviced ... starts with a few pulls ... Occasionally I have to drop a tiny smidgeon of gasoline in plug hole !! to persuade it to go when it's stood a while ...

 

[yoda]

My £50 unit from B&Q has a 14v DC output for battery charging, not over quiet but unless you spend a few hundred I expect that is a price you pay.

Yoda