Okay to use 'crude' generator with smart charger?

contessaman

contessaman

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I have a Honda generator - its an older model not an inverter type. The voltage is reasonably stable but does vary a little. Am I okay to use this with the 40 amp 4 stage battery charger I have in my boat? The latter is clearly microprocessor controlled and I'm just not sure if this is safe to use with this type of 'crude' generator..
Cheers
 
contessaman said:
I have a Honda generator - its an older model not an inverter type. The voltage is reasonably stable but does vary a little. Am I okay to use this with the 40 amp 4 stage battery charger I have in my boat? The latter is clearly microprocessor controlled and I'm just not sure if this is safe to use with this type of 'crude' generator..
Cheers
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I have used my Honda E1000 generator (old non inverter type) with various battery chargers and I have used a Ryobi 2300 Kva non inverter generator with my 50 Amp 3 stage battery charger both OK no problems.
 
pvb said:
Why not try it and see what happens?
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More worried about damage to the charger than it not working...
Not sure of the make it came with the boat but its German and looks expensive!
Meter on the Genny shows its 220v + or - about 5v so its certainly not going to overvolt the charger just worried about roughness somehow bothering the electronics.

My mains hookup on the boat has an accurate volt and hz meter so I might get that all powered up first with the charger cb tripped then bring it in if all is steady....
 
I have a 'crude generator', it is one of the type that has a torque arm connected to the throttle to regulate voltage, pretty rough voltage. Anyway, I have used to with my Sterling Pro Charge Ultra over 2 years when the boat was out the water. The charger eventually stopped working and I sent it back to Sterling for repair but was beyond repair. The generator power was supplied to my shore power inlet and the charger run off the boats 240V ring main. On occasion when using a mains inspection lamp, it would dim and glow brighter from time to time, so the voltage was not smooth, also on occasion the bulb would have a very fast but noticeable flicker. I would not be tempted to run electronic devices from 'crude generators'. In defence of the Sterling it is designed to work with various mains voltages and frequencies without user adjustment, according to the blurb, so I guess there is a certain amount of robustness built in. Anyway, that's my experience.
 
contessaman said:
I have a Honda generator - its an older model not an inverter type. The voltage is reasonably stable but does vary a little. Am I okay to use this with the 40 amp 4 stage battery charger I have in my boat? The latter is clearly microprocessor controlled and I'm just not sure if this is safe to use with this type of 'crude' generator..
Cheers
Click to expand...

We have been do just that for the Las few years with no problems
 
It is the cruder inverters which tend to destroy electronic equipment because their "modified sine wave" is sometimes closer to a square wave. As I understand it, the type of generator you describe produces a pure sine wave output, and electronic equipment will usually cope with minor fluctuations of voltage or frequency.
 
I have a LIDL generator that is said to be an inverter. When I put a multimeter on it the screen went berserk. Now I am not keen to connect it to my boat mains charger. Am I right or overcautious?
 
Slowtack said:
I have a LIDL generator that is said to be an inverter. When I put a multimeter on it the screen went berserk. Now I am not keen to connect it to my boat mains charger. Am I right or overcautious?
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The digital multimeter going berserk is not surprising as it samples the voltage periodically at a rate of many per second.
The waveform from the generator is likely to be modified square wave so meter can end up measuring at various points on the wavefrom. So don't let the DMM result worry you. The voltage should best be measured by an analogue needle type meter or an oscilascope. Practical way to measure voltage is to compare brightness of an old filament bulb to that when connected to the mains.
However the modified square wave output of the generator would be a good reason to be reluctant to run a battery charger from it.
Re OP question yes it is the modern modified square wave inverter type generators that can cause trouble. The older direct drive to a 50 hertz alternator give a good sine wave shape. They are characterised by needing to run at 1500 RPM at all times regardless of load. The beauty of the inverter type (sine wave or modified square wave) is that the engine can run at low speeds with low load and high speed at high load. That is because the inverter can happily run on whatever DC voltage the generator (alternator) connected to the engine can give. good luck olewill
 
William_H said:
The digital multimeter going berserk is not surprising as it samples the voltage periodically at a rate of many per second.
The waveform from the generator is likely to be modified square wave so meter can end up measuring at various points on the wavefrom. So don't let the DMM result worry you. The voltage should best be measured by an analogue needle type meter or an oscilascope. Practical way to measure voltage is to compare brightness of an old filament bulb to that when connected to the mains.
However the modified square wave output of the generator would be a good reason to be reluctant to run a battery charger from it.
Re OP question yes it is the modern modified square wave inverter type generators that can cause trouble. The older direct drive to a 50 hertz alternator give a good sine wave shape. They are characterised by needing to run at 1500 RPM at all times regardless of load. The beauty of the inverter type (sine wave or modified square wave) is that the engine can run at low speeds with low load and high speed at high load. That is because the inverter can happily run on whatever DC voltage the generator (alternator) connected to the engine can give. good luck olewill
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I am definitely NOT an expert in this area but that is kinda the opposite of my understanding. Certainly I've blown up a microprocessor controlled Dremel by attaching to an non-inverter generator. The problem as I understood it is as load changes it has to adjust the throttle of the motor to keep the speed constant, but while it's doing that the voltage and/or frequency change, causing the kind of brown out or surge conditions that can be damaging. The inverter generator on the other hand is able to adjust for this. There are better and worse levels of inverter generator, e.g. modified sine wave and pure sine wave, the one you want for sensitive electronics is pure sine wave (reference https://www.altestore.com/blog/2015/10/pure-sine-wave-vs-modified-sine-wave-whats-the-difference/).

Now I hate to contradict a forum stalwart, but just to be safe suggest you (OP) research and double check!
 
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Hmmm... Interesting and valuable replies from all. For sure The Genny I have is the old crude sort that produces pure sign wave, if a little unstable, electricity. I have a kipor sinemaster that came with my boat but its not very well at the moment (A.k.a. bu**ered ) so that leaves me with my dependable old Honda.

I'm going to risk it. Will try my electronic charger with the crude honda generator. At least its a good quality Honda not Chinese junk.

Will advise if it blows it up.
 
yachtorion said:
I am definitely NOT an expert in this area but that is kinda the opposite of my understanding. Certainly I've blown up a microprocessor controlled Dremel by attaching to an non-inverter generator. The problem as I understood it is as load changes it has to adjust the throttle of the motor to keep the speed constant, but while it's doing that the voltage and/or frequency change, causing the kind of brown out or surge conditions that can be damaging. The inverter generator on the other hand is able to adjust for this. There are better and worse levels of inverter generator, e.g. modified sine wave and pure sine wave, the one you want for sensitive electronics is pure sine wave (reference https://www.altestore.com/blog/2015/10/pure-sine-wave-vs-modified-sine-wave-whats-the-difference/).

Now I hate to contradict a forum stalwart, but just to be safe suggest you (OP) research and double check!
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Do feel free to contradict olewill. I had not considered the problems of voltage and frequency stability resulting from varying load. Of course you could minimise this by having a steady load like an old incandescant light bulb.
I would not think the varying frequency would matter so much but the output voltage could rise with removal of load although I think they all use an electronic voltage regulator in conjunction with the throttle govenor. olewill
 
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