12v DC petrol generator

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Wanting to know of a small generator for topping up the battery when the solar cant keep in a bad patch of weather.
Smallest I can find is 800w.
 
Mudgee,

I can only assume the following;

I believe you are wanting a small generator with a 12VDC output to connect directly to your battery, please confirm?

Also what type and size battery do you wish to charge? How much solar do you have? what kind of controller? This info will help you get the correct answer.

Aside from this, the 12VDC output of any generator is purely that, a 12VDC power supply. In most instances it will not charge any battery properly as a battery needs more juice to charge than it actually supplies. i.e. an AGM typically charges at 14.5V, a GEL nearer 14.2V or in the instance of the small Li Ion 18650s some use in their SDCs, they are a nominal 3.7 (some 3.7V) but charge at 4.1V. Even your wet cell car battery charges at a minimum of 13.8V.

A 12V deep cycle battery at 12V is flat and if its already had some solar charging, likely already above 12V. The better way to use a generator is to run a 240VAC charger from it to then charge your battery and of course you need to assess what it draws on 240VAC when charging to appropriately size the genny. I refer to a decent 3 stage charger, not the trickle charger used to recharge a starting battery.

If you have a flat car battery a 12VDC genny output will most likely give enough charge to start your car, but will depend on battery condition.
 
condor22 said:
Mudgee,

I can only assume the following;

I believe you are wanting a small generator with a 12VDC output to connect directly to your battery, please confirm?

he mentions battery's :)

Also what type and size battery do you wish to charge? How much solar do you have? what kind of controller? This info will help you get the correct answer.

Aside from this, the 12VDC output of any generator is purely that, a 12VDC power supply. In most instances it will not charge any battery properly as a battery needs more juice to charge than it actually supplies.

the option is using a battery charger off the 240v output , dirty way to do it but it worx ;)

i.e. an AGM typically charges at 14.5V, a GEL nearer 14.2V or in the instance of the small Li Ion 18650s some use in their SDCs, they are a nominal 3.7 (some 3.7V) but charge at 4.1V. Even your wet cell car battery charges at a minimum of 13.8V.

all modern vehicles bar those with 'smart' alternators charge between 14.4-5

A 12V deep cycle battery at 12V is flat and if its already had some solar charging, likely already above 12V. The better way to use a generator is to run a 240VAC charger from it to then charge your battery and of course you need to assess what it draws on 240VAC when charging to appropriately size the genny. I refer to a decent 3 stage charger, not the trickle charger used to recharge a starting battery.

a deep cycle battery is flat at 12.5 volts ;) continued draw from that point is doing damage and severally lessening the batteries life :awful:

If you have a flat car battery a 12VDC genny output will most likely give enough charge to start your car, but will depend on battery condition.

no vehicle should leave home without one of these :perfect: https://no.co/gb40
 
Im happy to be able to use the 240v ac to run a compatible 12v charger to them.
As I dont use any 240v appliances when camping, I dont want to lug around a big geni
 
I use a Ryobi 1kv its not to big does 240 plus 12v and its an inverter type good on fuel was only about 499 at Bunnings I charge batterys with it run lights etc runs well had no problems with it
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvLsyH6i2Kk

Used one of these for years, 5 1/2 hours on a tank of fuel (2 litres?)
Made up a device (Black box) to run my "old yella" Engel on 240V while the DC outlet was topping up the battery. When the genny ran out of petrol it automatically swapped to running the fridge on 12V. Could stay away from camp all day and not worry about the fridge keeping cold. ****This was before portable solar panels***

Made a mistake at a caravan & camping show telling an Engel engineer about it. You guessed it, the next model of Engel that came out had auto change over built in.
If I'd patented that idea would now be a :cool: :money: millionaire.
Such is life.......
 
An AGM "no load" voltage of 12.5 V is not flat it is approx. 80% full.

I also stated that a car charges at a minimum of 13.8V and I know what smart alternators charge at, I have one. My whole point is that the genny 12VDC won't charge a battery properly/
 
the option is using a battery charger off the 240v output , dirty way to do it but it worx ;)

Bir confused by this statement?
I would have thought a good 7 stage charger like a Ctek for example would give about the best controlled charge you could get?
Meanwhile moveable panels with a quality regulator to ensure your getting max efficiency from the solar system should be first priority. Most of the $10 controllers usually supplied with panels would serve best if used as a door stop
:awful:
 
How many amps/ watts @ 12 v were you looking for?

I was frigging around rewiring a washing machine motor the other day to top up the house battery bank, that is a 48v system though.

You could make something similar and smaller with a brush cutter motor and a small 12v scooter motor, could prob do a direct drive with a coupling.

Anything with a permanent magnet arrangement will work, you'll need to rewire the fingers on the stator for the correct output and rectify the output.
1544940255_dc_gen.jpg
 
mudgee hunter said:
Im happy to be able to use the 240v ac to run a compatible 12v charger to them.
As I dont use any 240v appliances when camping, I dont want to lug around a big geni
i have a 240v toaster , coffee machine and soon a 12v travel buddy and there is no genny needed, solar mats are the duck nuts :perfect:
 

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