Generator/LED Questions |
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P&M
Senior Member Joined: 13 Aug 2012 Location: Spokane, WA Online Status: Offline Posts: 454 |
Topic: Generator/LED Questions Posted: 05 Feb 2013 at 9:12am |
Burt, any chance you remember or know of the part numbers you used when ordering these? I want to change mine out and went to this website & the prices are great, but trying to find the right ones out of the hundreds offered is a bit mind-boggling.
Thanks - P
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P & M ... and Comet too!
2012 171 -- The Monkey Pod 2018 Ram 2500 |
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techntrek
Admin Group - pHp Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9059 |
Posted: 04 Feb 2013 at 9:31pm |
Welcome. As was mentioned above, you are taking your battery too low. The correct info is - keep it to 50% SOC (state of charge) most of the time, but you can occasionally go as low as 30%. Never go below 30%. Batteries accept a charge faster the more discharged they are, and will quickly charge up to 80%. Its the last 20% that takes a very long time. So for best use of your fuel keep an eye on the SOC via the voltage (see Wind Sun's battery FAQ for a chart and lots of good info). Once you get down to 50% then start the generator for an hour or two. You may find you only have to do this every 2-3 days, but not every day. As for that last 20%, don't try to put that charge into the battery via a genset, that will be a big waste of fuel. Wait until you get home and let the grid do that. With on exception - if you will be on the road for longer than a week, once a week you must get the battery back to 100% to prevent sulphation. |
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Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
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renosteve
Newbie Joined: 12 Dec 2012 Location: Reno, NV Online Status: Offline Posts: 26 |
Posted: 04 Feb 2013 at 7:54pm |
Thanks everyone for the info. I think I'll compare several generators. The Hondas seem expensive.
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Keith-N-Dar
podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 03 Apr 2011 Location: Mayville, WI Online Status: Offline Posts: 1447 |
Posted: 03 Feb 2013 at 10:06pm |
I have a Champion that is big enough to run everything on a Pod and was less than $400. It has a clean output and is a few db louder than the Honda, but is twice the output of a 2000, and works well. You can't run any of them in quiet time and the noise is not objectionable. You need to decide how to spend your money.
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Keith-N-Dar
Boris & Betty (Boston Terriers) 2011 R-Pod 177 2010 Ford F-150 |
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Kickstart
Senior Member Joined: 20 Sep 2010 Location: Ocean Shores, W Online Status: Offline Posts: 267 |
Posted: 03 Feb 2013 at 8:11pm |
Either a Honda 2000 or a YamahaEF2000is would do a good job for you, but you're looking at nearly $1000 for either. You do get what you pay for here, as both are quality generator/inverters, and being inverters is important to protect electronics. A 1000 Yam or Honda would also charge well for you, would be 20 or so lbs. lighter, and a couple hundred dollars less. I've never timed it, but it usually takes a couple three hours to charge my battery with my 2000 Yamaha. Some of the knock off brand generators are considerably cheaper, but may not be inverters and up to now have been pretty noisy compared to the Honda and Yamaha. I, too, replaced all of the lights in our Pod with LED's bought on EBay from China. They were cheap and work well. Just be careful, as some LED's have a bright white glow and some are more creamy. Some people like one and some the other.
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'10 RP 175-Replaced by 2014 Kodiak 173 QBSL
'12 Toyota Tundra '05 Sportster (half a Harley) Retired-We're on Beach Time! |
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Burt
Groupie Joined: 04 May 2012 Online Status: Offline Posts: 62 |
Posted: 03 Feb 2013 at 5:13pm |
Renosteve:
Batteries you should not let a battery go below 10% of their charge prior to re-charging. In order to charge a battery, you must put at leas 2V more into the battery. 12V charge should be 14V input. Do not let a battery get down to 25% or you will soon be buying new batteries. For dry camping, you could use for instance, the Honda 2000EUI but then it does not have the 30Amp hookup on the side. Their next size up does and it will cost you more. Honda's are the most expensive generators and yet, the quietest and most reliable (my opinion). You can also gang 2 of the 2000EUI together with a special cord. So, to answer your question, the 2000 is the smallest but highly recommended is the 3000. You can charge your batteries with the 2000 but the connections will need to be changed or you will need some adapters. The 3000 has the 30Amp connector built in. The 2000 does not. Every camper I have known has had a problem of the "assumption of cities" when camping. Just turn on the heater, the stove,etc....so, either mark everything good when just "charging" the batteries or expect a crapout. LED bulbs...I found them a DHGate. They are shipped over here quickly and are the best bargains of all. We changed every bulb in ours out to LED's. Burt |
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renosteve
Newbie Joined: 12 Dec 2012 Location: Reno, NV Online Status: Offline Posts: 26 |
Posted: 03 Feb 2013 at 4:56pm |
We are going to buy a generator for dry camping. We plan to run it just to charge the 2 batteries by using the shore power cord and trailer charger. My questions are: (1) Can we charge the batteries this way? (2) How long will it take to charge the batteries if they are down to 25%? (3) Any recommendations on the smallest generator(s) for this purpose? I am also replacing the light bulbs with LED ones. Does anyone have a good source for these LED bulbs? Thanks.
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