OK - I am at an event from the Tuesday until the Sunday (working)
No hook up
We have a leisure battery but it won't last that long and also it won't power any sockets for me to be able to charge the phone / iPad / laptop (I will need these for the business)
I have a generator a Honda EX650
Specification
Engine Side valve 4 stroke petrol
AC watts rated 240v. 450 at 50hz, 550 at 60hz
DC outut 12 v DC 8.3 amps
I don't think it's an inverter type.
Last year I used a friends generator and it caused electric problems.
Is there anything I can do to make mine safer?
Should I hire one? If so what sort?
When it's running will it charge the leisure battery?
You can easily get leads to charge your Ipad/laptop from the cigar lighter socket in your car - try Maplins or Ebay.
Depending on the capacity of your LB, a generator will take hours longer than your car's alternator to charge the battery (and probably upset the neighbours, assuming the site even allows generators). If you can secure your LB when travelling around, you can rig up some 40A cables between the LB and the starter battery. Otherwise, when on site, I have connected the 2 batteries with jump leads and let the car's engine tick over for a half hour - this puts in a healthy amount of charge
I have got the same generator as you and yes it will charge the leisure battery but if you are concerned that it doesn't incorporate sine wave technology then the simple solution is to purchase a surge protected extension and plug that into the genny first as this will reduce the spikes or surges producing a smoother current. I bought a cheap 4 gang surge protected extension this year from Morrisons for about a fiver but there are more expensive ones on the market that are probably better. If you do a search on the net you will find different makes at various prices.
I won't be able to drive around as I am a trader at an equine event for the week and not parked on a camping site so noise isn't an issue.
I will try the other suggestions though.
The Honda EX650 is one of the quietist generators ever made anyway so there's not really a noise issue compared to other generators I have heard on rally fields in the past.
Quote: Originally posted by tango55 on 29/7/2013
The Honda EX650 is one of the quietist generators ever made anyway so there's not really a noise issue compared to other generators I have heard on rally fields in the past.
Not very noisy is true, but it can still get tedious for your neighbours, when it needs to be on for over 10 hours to charge a flat battery.
It's got a DC output rate of 8.3A so unless you run the battery completely flat 4hrs should be more than enough to recharge a battery if all you want is Laptop and recharging facilities!
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Topic: Generators / Leisure Battery - Help!
