Honda battery charger

[CompairHolman]

I've been offered one of these , they are 12 /24 volt output only, at 20 amps , they are super reliable, cheap secondhand, and quiet, the voltage is set by the rpm, and there is no control of the charging at all, my question is , is there a charge controller that I could use with this ?

 

I want to use it to top up my batteries in the winter when my solar panels are dormant.

 

[WotEver]

If the output voltage can be accurately set to about 14.5V then you don’t need anything else. 

[Guest]

I have one of these (very similar anyway) as a standby. Excellent piece of kit. Great for desulphating batteries as you can squeeze 16 volts out of it.
I have often wondered if a reg off a car alternator would do the job of stabilising the voltage?

Edited January 7, 2019 by Guest

[Neil Smith]

I made one using a spare honda engine I had and a 100 amp car alternator, works great with its built in regulator.

neil

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Neil Smith said:

I made one using a spare honda engine I had and a 100 amp car alternator, works great with its built in regulator.

neil

Interesting. I have considered similar and running off propane. May I ask what HP of engine you used, and does it have stalling problems when under load? Many thanks.

[Tony Brooks]

12 hours ago, catweasel said:

Interesting. I have considered similar and running off propane. May I ask what HP of engine you used, and does it have stalling problems when under load? Many thanks.

You will probably do better with a generator and mains charger so you can set some charging voltages. With a simple alternator the current will start to drop not so long after starting where as a charger may be settable to a higher absorption voltage and thus increase the charging current over a simple voltage regulator (unless you also fit an advanced alternator controller as well.)

[Boater Sam]

My old battery charging genny/alternator had just a switch I fitted to cut the regulator out completely. Just had to watch the voltage on the batteries and knock it of before they cooked.

Lawnmower engine and AC30 alternator.

[Sea Dog]

20 hours ago, CompairHolman said:

 

 

Is it a coincidence that suitcase generators and "boogie boxes" look similar?  Perhaps it's an international standard for things which are going annoy the neighbours and therefore should only be used miles away from anyone else? 

[Tony Brooks]

32 minutes ago, Boater Sam said:

My old battery charging genny/alternator had just a switch I fitted to cut the regulator out completely. Just had to watch the voltage on the batteries and knock it of before they cooked.

Lawnmower engine and AC30 alternator.

That's good, you could get an equalisation charge as well.