Generator charging deep cycle battery

yeoeleven · Guru

Generator charging deep cycle battery

blaze · Guru

I would buy a battery charger to plug in the generator, what comes out
cheers of the 12 volt outlet is I believe unregulated and can vary with revs of the engine
blaze

-- Edited by blaze on Saturday 6th of August 2011 04:37:22 PM

davkar · Senior Member

Hi
Yes you can charge off you generator but if you want you battery to last longer it would be better to charge it by a pulse charger as it will prolong the life of your battery. You can buy pulse chargers from supercheap autos for about $100 but well worth it in the end. We have run a 20amp pulse charger for two years now on mains & generator and batterys are as good as the day we got them. Also with this type of charge it floats battery which helps preserve battery.
Hope this helps.
Regards

Ron and Shirley · Senior Member

Does your van have a battery charger (preferably a "smart charger") such that when hooked up to 240v in a Caravan Park your deep cycle battery is recharged?

If so just plug your generator into the vans 240v inlet.

If not, purchase something like a Ctek battery charger and use this between the genny and the battery (see late edit below). Then down the track get this charger wired into your vans 240v circuit to the battery.

We have a Ctek 7000 that is used to charge the vehicle second battery (115AH) when we are on 240v if we have been parked up for awhile, and our van has a wired in Ctek 25000 for its 200AH battery.

Using the approx 12-14v output of the genny will never properly charge your battery.

Late edit

If your genny does not have a 10amp outlet connect the genny to your vans 240v inlet then plug something like a Cteck charger into an internal 240 power point then connect the charger to your battery.

-- Edited by Ron and Shirley on Saturday 6th of August 2011 08:23:45 PM

yeoeleven · Guru

Thanks for the advice, I do not have a battery charger wired in to the campervan but I do have a MA2500 12 volt charger bought from Super Cheap some time ago. I have used it previously to re charge both the van battery and the deep cycle battery.

The 14 volt reading from the generator was from the DC side I did not test the 240 volts. Part of the question was whether I could use the Anderson Plug connection outside the van which is considerably more convenient than accessing the battery direct and if so would have to make up a converter from the alligator clips on the battery charger to the Anderson plug on the outside of the van.

John

blaze · Guru

with my battery charger, what I have done is cut the 12 volt charger leads in half and fitted a anderson plug to both sides, so if I want to use the alligator clips i plug them in or plug direct to 1 of the couple of anderson plugs around the van. I have 3 adderson plugs on my van, 1 inside, 1 ouside for the fridge for when parked up and 1 on the draw bar to charge when travelling, any one of those is suitable for the charger
cheers
blaze

Happywanderer · The Master

Where do you store your generators yeoeleven. I know from the space in my van there is not a lot of room for larger items. And of course some fuel to operate it as well.

yeoeleven · Guru

Marj,

I have a large cupboard below the fridge and microwave and if I remove the handle it only just fits in. Had to cut away the lip protruding up from the floor and change the cupboard opening from right to left.

Will take a picture tomorrow morning and post it here.

I have mounted a 20 ltr fuel tank on the front of the vehicle

John

-- Edited by yeoeleven on Sunday 7th of August 2011 06:51:23 PM

Happywanderer · The Master

I've got that same cupboard yeo, the door opens downwards though, yes does have that lip too. Mines used for hoses and electrical cords at the moment until I do some rearranging.

Jacko · Veteran Member

Darling John did you get some advice prior to buying the gennie? Darling there were superior options to a gennie and cheaper.

Oh dear John having 20l of fuel mounted on the front is not only illegal, darling it is incredibly dangerous. Darling please oh please darling remove the fuel from the front. Darling one small bump could mean a nasty explosion and fire which would guarantee death the fire would be so fast and intense.

jimricho · Guru

Assuming your van has a "smart" charger (240v) fitted to enable recharging when on "ground" power the simplest and most likely best way is to just plug the genny (240v) into the van and let the van's charger do the job. At the risk of being chastised by one of the village pedants you may need a short "cheat lead" to enable connection between the genny (10amp) and the van (15 amp)

If you need a quick boost charge, if practical, try using a set of jumper leads (preferably with spark suppressors fitted) from the tug's battery to the van battery (may require temporary removal of the van battery). Idle the engine for about an hour or so, no need to set the revs any higher than a normal idle. An hour or so won't fully recharge the battery but will deliver a useful charge.

PS: I do wish Jacko would stop littering her posts with intelligence insulting "darlings" as her post otherwise makes good sense.

-- Edited by jimricho on Tuesday 23rd of August 2011 08:30:36 AM

ken thomas · Guru

Jimricho
How do you know Jacko is a her ??
Ken

yeoeleven · Guru

Thanks for the answers I have now decided to charge the battery via the charger that I previously bought and has regulation.

I will plug the charger into the generator and connect the clips to a cable taking care to keep them seperated which will charge through the anderson plug.

As far as the petrol at the front of my van, I agree it is dangerous but I am more in control of the front than the back of the van where any driver can hit me. Anyone can have an accident but the chances of me hitting someone are much less than anyone hitting me. If I am pulled over and told to remove it I will worry about where to put it then.

John

jules47 · The Happy Helper

Don't know much about the subject - but I agree with Yeoeleven - the "darlings" are annoying - male or female!!!!

jimricho · Guru

ken thomas wrote:
Jimricho
How do you know Jacko is a her ??
Ken

OMG!

gubby · Guru

If you look on Jacko's Profile it has an "F" under Gender...

Esmeralda · Guru

She has been quiet lately - thought she had woken up to herself just how annoying she is.

PeterD · Guru

John, you are measuring the open circuit voltage of your generator. When you apply a bit of a load on it, the output will drop to be closer to 12 V. The generator 12 V OP will put enough charge into a battery in halt to one hour t get a motor started but it will not effectively charge a deep cycle battery.

See this article which was originally published in the CMCA journal.

yeoeleven · Guru

Thank you Peter,

that link explains clearly what the pitfalls are in trying to charge a battery from the 12 volts connection on a generator. It also indicates that charging from the 240 volts connection via a battery charger is a way of solving the charging problem.

John