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Generator size watts


b0atman

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I am thinking of buying a Quiet generator or is that quietish ?

My system needs are will need to feed a Sterling 50amp 4 step digital battery charger .

The system will be charge assisted by 3 of 100watt solar panels through an Mppt controller I do not Know my Dc amperage useage until I fit My Sterling power management panel but basically I have a 12v larder fridge and a 12v freezer.

All lights are Leds

So what do you recommend based on your experience?

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main battery bank 3 x 135amp feeds 3kw victron inverter run engine when using for washing machine also feeds 12v fridge and 12v freezer.

second battery bank ! x 110amp feeds usual boat dc lights water pump radio and shower pump out pump.then starter battery.

I just want the generator to run the charger with maybe ? run whilst washing machine is on for 28 minutes quick wash heater basically not used as I feed hottish water from gas heater

Edited by b0atman
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The biggest 'load' will be the washing machine heating element, probably 2,000 watts (check label on machine or the manual) so a 2,500 watt generator would be more than adequate. Check 'continuous load' and 'peak load' and how long the peak load is possible

 

It will have to be a 'pure sine wave' not 'modified/ square wave' to ensure that the electronics on the machine work correctly.

 

I know you said that hot water is supplied from the gas heater so the generator could be smaller.

 

Scenario:

 

Generator running to charge batteries via charger, plan to use washing machine at same time as the generator will be running for more than the wash cycle use cold fill and let the element do the water heating.

 

or reverse

 

Generator running to use washing machine again use the element to heat water and the batteries will get a charge.

 

Different subject.

 

I note you said you have two domestic battery banks, assuming both banks are 12v, why ?.

 

It is usually advised to only have one domestic bank and one start bank.

 

The start bank is just that to just start the engine and nothing else.

 

The domestic bank does everything else.

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inverter is pure sine wave trial and error has sorted out where gas heater settings need to be to stop washing machine heater from coming in to play however I would only use washing machine when boat is moving.

I have two 70amp alternators so using one to feed a starter battery is a waste this system works well .

what are other people using I want quiet for minimum disturbance of others would Honda suitcase 2kw generator suffice or could I go lower based on other users experience

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We used a Honda EU10i this past winter and it did the job superbly. We only have a 20amp mains charger though, so whilst charging battery bank it's running all our other equipment as well. Running costs are quite cheap and it's a very quiet unit. We only need to use it 4/5 months of the year as solar does the other 7 or 8 We were going to fit asmallengine driving alternators for additional charging, but the small genny has worked so well we've abandoned that idea.

 

The Honda EU10i will power a 50amp charger though but not much else I believe. What we found in the winter period was where solar didn't contribute much, we would run the boat engine for 1 hour, this would give us a tank of hot water and bulk charge the batteries. After a one hours charge, the batteries were usually only accepting around 30 amps anyway, so continuing with the engine was wasteful anyway. The use then of the wee Honda via the 20 amp mains charger along with the 12v charge output would then finish charging the batteries. This worked really well and generator running time was kept on average below 2 hours per day.

  • Greenie 1
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Julynian thanks for input (all out of greenies)so if I go for the next sizes up then all should be ok best option would seem to be 2kw unit.It seems that generator needs to run when sun is not being friendly and would be best to be in morning and hope that genny is not required at end of day personally I think cut off should be 18:00 hours for noise makers

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Julynian thanks for input (all out of greenies)so if I go for the next sizes up then all should be ok best option would seem to be 2kw unit.It seems that generator needs to run when sun is not being friendly and would be best to be in morning and hope that genny is not required at end of day personally I think cut off should be 18:00 hours for noise makers

 

Hi Boatman

 

Of course it depends on the level of solar you have and usage. I do note many boaters go for 2kw though. The reason we don't is in winter the engine running gives a days hot water as well as a bulk charge. Also the 1kw suffices the 20a charge but also runs 2 lap tops 29 inch tv and fridge, so in reality all we need. If you think about it though if a 1kw genny does your charger at 50A bear in mind that your batteries would be a pretty low SOC to accept that. I would guess that your batteries for much of the time would not take the 50 amps available so then the genny would in effect be running your onboard 240v equipment whilst charging too.

 

There's a balance that needs to be struck, but of course so many variables LOL Basically though it works well for us and not overly expensive to keep a good supply of power on the boat. I recall it averaged out at £1.50 per day through Nov to end Feb.

 

Other things I would mention. The 1kw model is nice and light and Lynn can start it on her own even though suffering some kind of muscle pain.

 

Of course it's small too, and easy to tuck away somewhere in the summer.

Edited by Julynian
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We run a Honda eu20i, it quite happily runs the washing machine and battery charger, we also have 2 domestic battery banks, one bank runs the the fridge and freezer, the other runs the rest of the domestic kit. We find this system works very well and when away we only used to need to run the engine every 2 days if we didn't use the washing machine, Having recently purchased the generator we just tested it on a 2 week trip away and it powers everything on the boat perfectly. I would recomend buying a brand new one as they have a 5 year warranty and we found one cheaper than many of the secondhand ones on the internet.

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We run a Honda eu20i, it quite happily runs the washing machine and battery charger, we also have 2 domestic battery banks, one bank runs the the fridge and freezer, the other runs the rest of the domestic kit. We find this system works very well and when away we only used to need to run the engine every 2 days if we didn't use the washing machine, Having recently purchased the generator we just tested it on a 2 week trip away and it powers everything on the boat perfectly. I would recomend buying a brand new one as they have a 5 year warranty and we found one cheaper than many of the secondhand ones on the internet.

 

Note the terms & conditions, the 5 year warranty only applies if you undertake regular servicing. If you don't service with a proper Honda dealer within the first year there's no 5 year warranty. I was quoted locally £70 + v.a.t for a Honda EU10i service bigger units are dearer.

Edited by Julynian
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Thanks for that, I service my own, so would loose the warranty anyway, only because I hate paying people to do a job I've been doing all my life, mind you I might check if it comes under the block exemption rule like vehicles have come under since 2001.

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Thanks for that, I service my own, so would loose the warranty anyway, only because I hate paying people to do a job I've been doing all my life, mind you I might check if it comes under the block exemption rule like vehicles have come under since 2001.

 

Not many people bother, and I'm also loathed to do so. Talking to market stall owners, they just seem to keep topped up with oil and they seem to run happily for years on end, and occasionally replace a spark plug LOL

 

I'll probably do my own servicing too. Having read through the proper service sheet though, the 2nd or 3 rd service is quite in-depth and also covers all electrical generator output, and much i never realised.

 

I did work out though to keep within the 5 year warranty you only need undertake 3 services. So at £210 over 5 years, you could argue not too bad a deal, as you would pay similar for a 5 year extended warranty on a quality product. Thing is we only use it 5 months of the year.

Edited by Julynian
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Don't underestimate the start up current of a Sterling 50 amp charger. Mine used to trip a 10 amp AC breaker occasionally - cured with 16 amp one.

 

My Kipor IG2600 (2300 watts continuous) inverter/generator certainly notices the 50 amp charger when its first switched on, and it barely copes with a 100 amp one.

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