Kraftmburg KM8500 Generator

[Tom Morgan]

I  managed to get over to the boat this afternoon, to see what will need taking off/tying down etc before it's moved by road. It's only my second visit, and the first as the actual owner. In the cockpit, neatly boxed in (only to cover it, not for use!) is a Kraftmburg KM8500 petrol generator. It looks very tidy but I didn't try to get it off the boat or start it.   Are they any good? It seems to be one of several manufacturers whose generators are identical apart from the name-stickers.

 

It looks like this one.

Edited September 30, 2018 by Tom Morgan
To add a photo.

[OldGoat]

Never heard of it - so I googled it...

Golly, gosh looks just like one I bought years ago with a large tank. A Honda copy, but not with the same quality.

I found it a pain to start, because the cord was not long enough and the handle placement meant you barked your knuckles on the ground (Ouch).

It worked OK - not hugely stable, but enough to run my house's fridges / freezers c/h and lights - in the days when our overhead supply kept failing....

 

Quite heavy - so don't be tempted to run it on the boat (whatever type of boat....)

[Tom Morgan]

No change of that, OldGoat.    To be honest, it seems a bit of overkill for a Norman 23.  With the boat as it is at the moment, the only thing I could possibly run off it is the battery-charger.

[Tony Fuller]

I bought one of these a couple of years ago. They are cheap mass produces Chinese generators.

They are just an engine driving a 3 phase alternator.

There is no regulation of the Power Supply, so the Voltage will be 'all over the place' depending upon the 'load'coupled up to the machine.

Will work OK with a Welder or Power Drill but not good to run, Boat battery Chargers, TV's or charging Phones or other sensitive equipment.

Use with Care!!!

Tony

[OldGoat]

11 hours ago, Tony Fuller said:

I bought one of these a couple of years ago. They are cheap mass produces Chinese generators.

They are just an engine driving a 3 phase alternator.

There is no regulation of the Power Supply, so the Voltage will be 'all over the place' depending upon the 'load'coupled up to the machine.

Will work OK with a Welder or Power Drill but not good to run, Boat battery Chargers, TV's or charging Phones or other sensitive equipment.

Use with Care!!!

Tony

Good point - haven't used mine for years as UK Powernotworks  have rebuilt their overhead network to us... For 'modern' use I guess an inverter type genny would be better.

[Tom Morgan]

Hmmm. It's not going to be of much use to me, then.  The only use I would have for a generator would be battery charging.   

[OldGoat]

3 hours ago, Tom Morgan said:

Hmmm. It's not going to be of much use to me, then.  The only use I would have for a generator would be battery charging.   

You could use it for battery charging - it's just a bit OTT for your requirements.  (as mentioned) I had / have one of those coupled to an older style inverter battery charger (PowerMaster) and it worked fine for me, but it was xx years ago when electronic kit was not so sophisticated. Just don't run the genny on the boat...

[Tom Morgan]

Sorry, OG - I understood you to say that it wouldn't be reliable for battery charging.  Although it's big, bulky and probably very noisy, it might be worth a try then.  If it does the job, it may tide me over until I can save up to get something more modern and compact.

 

[Tony Fuller]

It may be OK on an older heavy transformer based battery charger, but I don't think that the modern 'multistage' electronic chargers are going to like the waveform & the unregulated voltage supply