Generator question

[Captain Coochie]

Hello everyone /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
I took my new generator to seaspray today (woohoo) and clipped my battery charging extra on and pulled the chord , she lit up like a christmas tree , everything worked ! The bilge pump was like a fire hose .
My question is can i damage a battery by running the generator and pulling the current through a flat battery . Im not bothered about the old battery but now im gonna get a proper real boat one and they are lots of beer tokens so i wanna treat it right
Generator > Battery > Cut off switch > Fuseboard > Boat stuff
THANKS

 

[Forbsie]

At least Gill will be able to iron the net curtains now. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[TigaWave]

As long as the current you are drawing is less than the capacity of the generator, then there will be a nett current being put into your flat battery. As you've said with the generator running you have a higher voltage, faster motors on things like bilge pump and probably brighter lights, this indicates that the generator is supplying more current than you are using.
Just monitor the voltage as you switch more on, you may reach a point where you have more switched on than the generator can supply and the voltage will drop. with Gen running you should be seeing 13V to 14.5V.

Neil

 

[Captain Coochie]

Do i have to watch that i dont overcharge or fry the battery because the charging leads dont seem to have a cut out on them ?