Small petrol generator

[ianc1200]

Thinking of trips from the Essex coast to The Broads/Upper Thames this year. For days moored to a bankside I was thinking about a small petrol generator. But wondering how these are wired to charge the batteries - is it generator via shore power to power the boat's charger or a more direct connection to the batteries? (I remember my parents taking a large generator with us on up Thames holidays in the 60's, when we got it going it was connected to the batteries with crocodile clips, sure that's not how it's done now).

Any particular recommendations for a suitable genertor? Was thinking a Honda but see there are many others available.

(have noted the earthing threads & will have a read)

 

[ylop]

How much power do you need? Small petrol generators are noisy. If I had moored up to a Bankside I would be looking for peace! Any of these would give SOME extra capacity:

- an additional battery on the boat
- solar panels
- one of the “power pack modules” which are typically lithium battery with inverter all in a relatively portable case (similar size to a small petrol genny).

 

[ianc1200]

In this case I'm looking to get a generator.

 

[aerobat]

On my last boat i had a 1200watt chinese honda copy inverter genny and it worked great .

Just plug it to shore power cord and use any outlets like on shorepower , of course observe load limits of the genny .

The main benefit was to run a small electric heater in the cabin to have cozy nights , fridge and lightning alone we were able to easily stay 2-3 days on a decent battery alone .

Place it a bit away and maybe chain secure it against a tree , make sure you buy an extention tank since the mounted tank on these gennys will not make a night .

Mooring in the wild is a great camping adventure !

 

[ylop]

In this case I'm looking to get a generator.

Ok - well that doesn’t really answer the question about how much power you need - a small suitcase generator might have an output for 8A at 12V so is that enough for your charging needs? If you have already maxed out the onboard batteries how big are they and thus how long will you need to charge them? If you connect shore power to 240V output the same question will apply but this time need to consider the size of your charger. A charger is probably nicer for the batteries. How long are you prepared to listen to the generator run for?

 

[jct1981]

I've got a Honda EU22i - a 2KW (1.6 or 1.8 continuous from memory) generator which I can recommend. It will happily power the immersion heater in the calorifier. The EU10i doesn't have the power to do that on standard immersion heaters, unless you drop down to a lower power one.

This is connected via the shore power connection using an adaptor like this. Your milage will vary depending on what your shore power connection is - mine is a Commando type, but you may have a Marinco, or others.

 

[wonkywinch]

I was looking at those suitcase gennys but I'm reluctant to carry petrol on the boat.

 

[westernman]

Cheapest small diesel generator:
Groupe électrogène Diesel 5.0kVA, 1 x 400V, 1 x 230V, 1 x 12VDC
But you won't have any friends if you start one of those up.

Cheapest diesel generator with at least some sound dampening:-
Groupe électrogène Diesel SILENCIEUX 5.5 KW 230V + 12V

 

[wonkywinch]

Cheapest diesel generator with at least some sound dampening:-
Groupe électrogène Diesel SILENCIEUX 5.5 KW 230V + 12V

It's not the price that would worry me ... "Poids Brut: 150 kg"

 

[Chris_d]

Normally if you are running for enough hours a day you don't need a gennie, in 50 years of Thames boating I've used one once. Remember there are also a few restrictions on them you should only use from 8am-8pm and even then you won't be popular, also remember the carbon monoxide risks and don't use it on the boat but as far away on the bank as possible, petrol gennies have killed a lot people on inland waterways.

 

[westernman]

Normally if you are running for enough hours a day you don't need a gennie, in 50 years of Thames boating I've used one once. Remember there are also a few restrictions on them you should only use from 8am-8pm and even then you won't be popular, also remember the carbon monoxide risks and don't use it on the boat but as far away on the bank as possible, petrol gennies have killed a lot people on inland waterways.

I agree.
I think the first thing to do is add a seriously beefed up alternator to the engine and use that.

For instance a 250A 12V Balmar alternator (that is more than you get out of small generator) and back that up with batteries that can take that amount of charging current.

 

[ianc1200]

Chris_d we were 38 years on the Thames, based at Hurley/Freebodys Boatyard. But now on the NE Essex coast and have an Aquastar 38 & intend going to the Broads and Thames. Unless things have changed drastically we will need to either run the engines for a couple of hours - and these are 250hp Cummins - or a small generator. I've sat at Beale Park, Fawley Meadows & even the public mooring below Abingdon Bridge and have had others run their integral or suitcase generators next to me. Whilst a lot of the moorings are 24 hours now, short runs between Pangbourne & Beale Park won't provide enough power for the fridge etc. I've been down the route of solar panels on previous boats and always been disappointed, and do not want to cover this new to me Aquastar with s panels. Thanks for all the suggestions - the Honda EU22i which jct1981 recommended was about top of my list, but they don't seem commonly available. Our leisure battery cappacity is 240AH.

 

[ingenious]

I was looking at those suitcase gennys but I'm reluctant to carry petrol on the boat.

Likewise. Thankfully the boat I've bought has a neat little Paguro generator installed in the engine bay.
But, amusingly, when the survey was being done yesterday, the surveyor said he was unable to test the outboard for the tender because there was no gasoline onboard...
The owner offered to go get some but I said not to bother as it was brand new.

 

[Tranona]

Our leisure battery cappacity is 240AH.

That is not much capacity - maybe enough for one and bit nights' usage before going below 50%. Double that for a fraction of the cost of s genny.

 

[jct1981]

Chris_d we were 38 years on the Thames, based at Hurley/Freebodys Boatyard. But now on the NE Essex coast and have an Aquastar 38 & intend going to the Broads and Thames. Unless things have changed drastically we will need to either run the engines for a couple of hours - and these are 250hp Cummins - or a small generator. I've sat at Beale Park, Fawley Meadows & even the public mooring below Abingdon Bridge and have had others run their integral or suitcase generators next to me. Whilst a lot of the moorings are 24 hours now, short runs between Pangbourne & Beale Park won't provide enough power for the fridge etc. I've been down the route of solar panels on previous boats and always been disappointed, and do not want to cover this new to me Aquastar with s panels. Thanks for all the suggestions - the Honda EU22i which jct1981 recommended was about top of my list, but they don't seem commonly available. Our leisure battery cappacity is 240AH.

Available on Honda website, including the current discount to market.

EU22i 2200W Portable Generator

I don't carry any extra fuel - the approx 4 litre fuel tank lasts me a very long time, as it's only used for a short while when needed to make some hot water in the mornings for a shower or two. I use super unleaded as it's often only filled once or twice a season.
Need to buy some lagging for the calorifier as the SureCal loses heat easily. Also need to improve charging when moving with either Victron Orion XS or Cyrix.

 

[Refueler]

Many of the later small gennys have 12v and 240v outlet ... BUT I would suggest that the 12v is not for charging your batterys - use the 240 with a suitable mains based charger.

One of the best small gennys was the Kipor - but they were forced out of market by Honda ... they claimed copying !

I used to have a small Wolf genny ... but it was noisy ... and only 600W ..

The limitation with the small gennys of the 600 - 900W ... they do not like Induction Motors - in fact will often refuse to even get them to run at all. My Wolf 600W would not run a 500W chainsaw because it had Induction motor ... but the previous non-induction motor chainsaw at 700W ran on it !

I now have a 3KW Handy Gen .. Briggs and Stratton job - but its not a portable machine - needs two people to lift and move it.

 

[Chris_d]

Chris_d we were 38 years on the Thames, based at Hurley/Freebodys Boatyard. But now on the NE Essex coast and have an Aquastar 38 & intend going to the Broads and Thames. Unless things have changed drastically we will need to either run the engines for a couple of hours - and these are 250hp Cummins - or a small generator. I've sat at Beale Park, Fawley Meadows & even the public mooring below Abingdon Bridge and have had others run their integral or suitcase generators next to me. Whilst a lot of the moorings are 24 hours now, short runs between Pangbourne & Beale Park won't provide enough power for the fridge etc. I've been down the route of solar panels on previous boats and always been disappointed, and do not want to cover this new to me Aquastar with s panels. Thanks for all the suggestions - the Honda EU22i which jct1981 recommended was about top of my list, but they don't seem commonly available. Our leisure battery cappacity is 240AH.

Sorry didn't realise you were familiar with the Thames you've changed your avatar I think We have a similar size boat and engine and normally don't have an issue with the fridge etc.. although we do cruise a bit further between stops for that reason.

 

[Boaty_Pete]

Upping the battery capacity still won't help much as the more capacity you have the, the longer you need to run to recharge unless all of that system is upgraded too.
There's no perfect solution.
The best compromise may be to look for quiet spots away from others. Then get the honda (very highly recommend) with a lead long enough to put it away from you, while running your onboard charger via your shore power, connected to the genny.
However if your battery charger is due an upgrade, now is the time to do that.

 

[Bouba]

My Honda 2kw genny has a dedicated socket for charging batteries....but didn’t come with necessary cables. And I bought some generic made in China off the internet....and they didn’t fit
But if your boat has a built in battery charger then just plug it into the shore power
Alternatively, you can plug in a normal portable battery charger that you might already have in your garage

 

[ianc1200]

Upping the battery capacity still won't help much as the more capacity you have the, the longer you need to run to recharge unless all of that system is upgraded too.
There's no perfect solution.
The best compromise may be to look for quiet spots away from others. Then get the honda (very highly recommend) with a lead long enough to put it away from you, while running your onboard charger via your shore power, connected to the genny.
However if your battery charger is due an upgrade, now is the time to do that.

We were moored at Fawley Meadows (ie Henley on Thames) one night and a boat moored perhaps 50 yards away, then we were aware of a generator noise. In the dark I went out and found the boat had done just that, put a genny on the bank far as they could away from them, but very close to us. So I approached the boat & could see through the open window without a curtain things were getting heated & not much clothing on. The guy was very upset to be interupted and refused to move the genny - I offered to shove it in the river etc. It did go off quite quickly and they did move off very early the next morning.....