Suitcase generator - recommendations?

[I Spartacus]

This site has a vast collection that might be of interest to you

http://www.sgs-engineering.com/generators/inverter

[Bewildered]

I bought one of these last year when the water pump on the engine sprang a leak and I had to wait for replacement parts. It was the only generator I could buy within a reasonable distance to transport back to the boat on a trolley.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=hyundai+generators&sa=X&rlz=1C9BKJA_enGB603GB611&hl=en-GB&biw=1024&bih=653&tbs=vw:l,ss:44&tbm=shop&prmd=snvi&srpd=11014447035277237310&prds=epd:5930096914425205046,cdl:1,cid:670541320640653434&ved=0ahUKEwi2_KTHz7bSAhWqLsAKHV5jDfMQgTYIjgQ

It is a bit on the heavy side around 30 kg I think so a pain in the arse to lift on and of the boat (manageable if you are active enough), could run it on the cruiser stern but it makes the metal deck plates vibrate which is damned annoying. 

Has the advantage of electric start so no messing with pull cords unless the battery goes flat or the stater fails. 

it also has a remote key fob to start it. I can't see the point of this though as it needs the fuel priming, about 30-50 pushes before starting. Also if the switch for the remote is left on it will flatten the battery. I've never bothered with it. It may be a useful feature if I ever get the lpg conversion, but would still need to make sure the remote circuit doesn't get left on for long periods and flattens the battery.

[WotEver]

5 hours ago, Bewildered said:

... could run it on the cruiser stern but it makes the metal deck plates vibrate which is damned annoying. 

And dangerous. CO from the exhaust will flow down into the cabin where it has nowhere to escape to. 

Petrol generators should never be run on a cruiser stern deck. 

[Momac]

 

I bought an Impax 1500 from Screwfix in late summer 2015 . Not used it a great lot but it has had no faults.

As said it is quite heavy enough to be lifting on and off a boat. A friend bought the smaller impax 800  which is very light and it does run his battery charger even if at a modest rate of amps.

As already said but wort repeating  you must  Only run these petrol generators off the boat and nowhere that the exhaust might get blown into your boat or another.

We bought a 12volt hair dryer  but it was useless and melted its own fuse . Therefore declared it unsafe and binned it..  The hairdryer problem was solved by the wife getting a  shorter haircut. (She does like to use a hair dryer but just has to wait until we have shore power.).

 

 

 

[blackrose]

On 27/02/2017 at 17:07, Alan de Enfield said:

EU30I = Dry Weight 131lbs (60kgs) Not something for a one-man lift, or anything you'd want to move on a regular basis.

Once they go above 2kw (1600w continuous) Honda call them 'Commercial Generators'

If you need to go that big, go or a 'proper' built in diesel powered, water cooled generator. With the Honda RRP being around £3000 there is not a huge difference to getting a 'built-in' generator

A decent marine diesel generator is going to cost more like £5K once you include the cost of installation. I bought a second hand Honda EU30i ten years ago for £1000 from ebay. It's done everything I wanted of it and been a great bit of kit. If money was no object I'd have bought a Northern Lights 5kW, 1500rpm marine diesel generator but the costs once installed were about £6K and I really couldn't justify it. 

Most narrowboats won't have the space for a EU30i, but then most probably won't have enough space for a built in marine diesel either.

[cereal tiller]

6 minutes ago, blackrose said:

A decent marine diesel generator is going to cost more like £5K once you include the cost of installation. I bought a second hand Honda EU30i ten years ago for £1000 from ebay. It's done everything I wanted of it and been a great bit of kit. If money was no object I'd have bought a Northern Lights 5kW, 1500rpm marine diesel generator but the costs once installed were about £6K and I really couldn't justify it. 

Most narrowboats won't have the space for a EU30i, but then most probably won't have enough space for a built in marine diesel either.

Inboard water cooled DC Generator is a good option,I use an Electric start Farymann 18W which is Installed above and beside the Boat's main Engine

The Engine was a discarded one from an AC set,it now has a 75 AMP Alternator and is set in a Sound proofed Enclosure that is very easy to access

The whole Machine weighs only 40 Kilos but it never has to be carried! Diesel supply is from the Boat's main Tank

CT