LPG Suitcase Generator set up

[bigste]

For what it's worth here are my thoughts. A petrol genny is a big no no for safety reasons. Petrol will eventually get back to the rip off price it was. Consider making the genny a fixed unit on the boat. You wouldn't be the first to have a genny nicked from the towpath.

[cariad]

We used gas powered Honda 2 kw generator to charge batteries through 30 amp sterling charger and as long as you only use it for charging on the low setting you can get as much as 40 hours per 13 kg bottle. The set up was bought as fully adapted for gas only and the only set back really is it takes 4/5 pulls before it starts and the hassle of setting it up on our trad deck. Looking back i would have welded brackets on the Taff rails to accommodate the bottle which would have made it easier to set up.

[by'eck]

 

That last point makes me think.

 

The only reason that I can come up with is to keep the weight of the unit down. Makes lifting on and off the boat easier.

 

Assuming that I get a 30A charger, is a sensible power output 1.5kW? I will have a look on the web to find a suitable generator and come back to check that it is OK.

 

Thanks for the advice so far.

 

N

 

Well the Kipor IG2600 I have provides up to 2600 watts and although at the top end weight wise of suitcase gennies, its no more than a bag of coal.

 

ETA: 1500 watt genny will be fine with that charger BTW.

Edited September 21, 2015 by by'eck

[Sea Dog]

Not inferring Honda is ropping any one off, but that the genset in the link is a blatent copy of the Honda EU20i -- even the model EV20i???

Ray

And I'm not particularly defending Honda Ray - just saying that there's some shiny 'similar' looking items out there that turn out to be false economy at best. Some are a downright liability. Caveat Emptor is as relevant today as it ever was (I must remember to find out how to read that in Chinese characters)!

[FidoDido]

Last winter I ran a Kipor 1KW (900 continuous W) with my Mastervolt combi - found I could use the charger at 40A, but it would often trip the output of the genny on starting to charge, (presumably a start-up surge) - but at 30A the genny never tripped, and in fact ran at the lower noise level "economy" setting, so was happy with that. I found I could start it at 30A, then up it to 50A once all was running, but that was too much hassle to do every time, so stuck with 30A. Got a mooring with a shoreline now, so could be persuaded to sell the Kipor. Its not gas converted tho. REB in Ilkeston (Kipor main repair peeps) can convert them, and often have S/H ones for sale. http://www.smallplantrepairs.co.uk- Richard is very helpful. the 1KW one is light and small enough to easily go in and out of the gas locker for storage.

Edited September 22, 2015 by FidoDido