Generator for Escape 21

[gbaglo]

Aside from having to carry fuel, a generator requires regular maintenance. My Honda's carb was full of water from bad fuel. Luckily, I have a friend who was in small engine business and he cleaned it and got it running smoothly. The Honda also sits for months, although I try to run it every 90 days.
I picked up a couple 40 watt solar panels and now leave the genset at home.

[Farther]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

Aside from having to carry fuel, a generator requires regular maintenance. My Honda's carb was full of water from bad fuel.

A good reason to have a propane fired generator.

[firstpug]

Originally Posted by stratos175

Trust me I would much rather live in a world I did not need an air condition but leaving and camping mostly in the south in the summer time they are must have's to run an AC if you do not have hook ups. Our Escape did not come with any solar (wish it did) but plan to add that. One day we will be full timing it more often and see us in areas at times we will want the generator for running the AC.
I understand in Minnesota schools don't have AC, I wonder how much schools in Georgia pay for just that alone every year in added cost?

Enjoy the journey.

Steve

As my fellow Minnesotans can attest, summer in Minnesota is often HOT & HUMID!! I wouldn't be without A/C in Minnesota. Also, our pugs suffer on hot days and need the A/C as much or more than we do.

[Perry Butler]

We live in Minnesota and every school I know has air conditioning.

In 20 plus years of camping with AC we've only used it twice. Others can't live without it. I do understand.

Raised Pugs for nine years (1 male, 2 females, 1 litter each per year). They don't need AC, just shade and water.

The 170 watt solar panel on our camper we took home last fall has yet to fail. We're on our 15th week of camping, including in severely shaded sites, one for 8 days. Other panels seem to fail in shade, but these still charge.

Written from my phone in a laundromat north of San Antonio.

Enjoy,

Perry

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Perryb67

Written from my phone in a laundromat north of San Antonio.



Enjoy,



Perry

You certainly do know how to have fun, Perry.

[Vermilye]

One thought. I have 320 watts of solar on the roof & carry an additional 160 watt portable panel that I add when needed. Even with tilting the rooftop panels and adding the portable, during December & January in Quartzsite, AZ, I've found that a string of cloudy days can take the pair of 6V batteries lower than I'd like.

I admit I use more amp hours per day than most (40 - 50 per day) but to keep doing that, I'm looking at a propane generator just to top off the batteries (not run the microwave or AC). While I haven't seen one yet, the Ryobi 900 watt propane generator looks to do what I want. Has anyone seen this?

[cpaharley2008]

Now that is a nifty little unit, nice!!

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by Vermilye

I admit I use more amp hours per day than most (40 - 50 per day) but to keep doing that, I'm looking at a propane generator just to top off the batteries (not run the microwave or AC). While I haven't seen one yet, the Ryobi 900 watt propane generator looks to do what I want. Has anyone seen this?

Pretty neat. I know it wouldn't be perfect, but I wish those marketing videos would let you hear it run and showed a decibel meter. The Home Depot page says "Operational Volume (dB): 61". I wonder if that is at idle, under full load or somewhere in between. For comparison Honda published specs on the EU1000i are 50 dB(A) full load and 42 dB(A) at 1/4 load. This is at 23 feet with the exhaust facing away according to the fine print.

[padlin]

Question for the electrical folks. If one were to fire up the 900w genny, plug the trailer into it, what would the max amperage @ 12vdc be going to the batteries figuring no other load on the converter/charger?

Same q for a 2000w generator.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by padlin

Question for the electrical folks. If one were to fire up the 900w genny, plug the trailer into it, what would the max amperage @ 12vdc be going to the batteries figuring no other load on the converter/charger?

The WFCO 8955 is rated for 55 amps output. If the batteries are nearly charged that could be at about 14 volts, for 770 watts. Unless the converter is horribly inefficient, that couldn't require more than about 900 watts from the generator to the converter. So you can have the full converter capacity with the 900 watt (continuous rating) generator - as long as nothing else is running.

Originally Posted by padlin

Same q for a 2000w generator.

A larger generator would only

• allow other loads to be on at the same time, or
• reduce the engine speed (assuming an inverter-type generator set in "eco" mode) and/or throttle setting required, for less noise and better efficiency, or
• maintain full charging capability at higher elevation (where engine power is reduced).

[cpaharley2008]

The 900 watts is about 7 amps 120v so it should allow your WFCO to operate or a stand alone battery charger as long as it is 7 amps or less.

[Brian B-P]

The WFCO 9855 specs actually say 55 amps @ 14.4 volts; that's 792 W but they say it can put out 940 watts... physics is apparently different in China. They don't say what the input current might be, and I suspect that 940 watts was supposed to be input power.

It seems unlikely that the batteries will ever accept 55 amps at as high as 14.4 volts, anyway.

[Vermilye]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

The WFCO 9855 specs actually say 55 amps @ 14.4 volts; that's 792 W but they say it can put out 940 watts... physics is apparently different in China. They don't say what the input current might be, and I suspect that 940 watts was supposed to be input power.

It seems unlikely that the batteries will ever accept 55 amps at as high as 14.4 volts, anyway.

Well, that is part of the problem I'm looking into. I am switching to a pair of 100 amp hour Lithium batteries. They charge at pretty much the full output of the converter until full, unlike lead acid batteries. Since I use solar for most of my battery charging, the times I would likely be using the generator will be after a string of cloudy days & I suspect I will need to find a way to limit either charging current or the input voltage/current to the converter. Since most converters have a rather high power factor, the current demands will likely be higher than what the wattage indicates.

One possibility would be to switch to a lower output converter.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Vermilye

Well, that is part of the problem I'm looking into. I am switching to a pair of 100 amp hour Lithium batteries. They charge at pretty much the full output of the converter until full, unlike lead acid batteries.

I agree, that would make you more likely to use the maximum converter output.

Originally Posted by Vermilye

Since I use solar for most of my battery charging, the times I would likely be using the generator will be after a string of cloudy days & I suspect I will need to find a way to limit either charging current or the input voltage/current to the converter.
...
One possibility would be to switch to a lower output converter.

I don't think "browning out" the converter is a viable option. You could place a charge controller between the converter and the batteries, but that would confuse the converter operation. I think it makes more sense to just not use the stock converter for charging (although you could keep it as a DC power supply for use while on shore power if you wanted), and put in something more suited to the task of charging the lithium battery bank (in terms of both capacity and output voltage control). For instance, Progressive Dynamics has appropriate converters (with fixed 14.6 V output) in various sizes and formats, including a 60-amp replacement unit for the WFCO and free-standing PD9100L series converters up to 80 amps output. 80 amps @ 14.6 V is 1168 watts - so 1.3 kW or more input - so that would call for a more than 1000 watt generator. If you choose a lower-output unit, it will presumably limit output to the rated power level, limiting the input power requirement.

Originally Posted by Vermilye

Since most converters have a rather high power factor, the current demands will likely be higher than what the wattage indicates.

Yes, but the individual generator design will determine the current limit in this case - it could be quite a bit higher than the power limit would imply with unity power factor. Unfortunately, again, no input spec on that WFCO page...

[Vermilye]

I've got a request for information at the Progressive Dynamics website on whether their 55 amp Lithium replacement converter (for the WFCO) wall mount (PD4655LIV (55-AMPS)) can be "dialed back" to match the output of the 700 watt generator. They do make a 35 amp version - PD4635LIV (35-AMPS), which might be a solution.
While it would be nice to get a solution for the larger converter, I suspect it will be an unusual request. Most of the Lithium users want the fastest charging possible...

[Upfisk]

At orientation our advisor asked if we were going to run the A.C. on a generator. We said yes, and she told us to use nothing smaller than a 3000 watt, that a 2200 or 2400 watt just won't work. You can get the microair soft start installed for about $300, just for the device, and then the smaller Honda or Yamaha genset will work.

[PGDriver]

Originally Posted by Upfisk

At orientation our advisor asked if we were going to run the A.C. on a generator. We said yes, and she told us to use nothing smaller than a 3000 watt, that a 2200 or 2400 watt just won't work. You can get the microair soft start installed for about $300, just for the device, and then the smaller Honda or Yamaha genset will work.

I’m afraid your advisor misled you, the Honda 2200 actually works great with the AC, also we haven’t done any mods to the AC either it’s stock from ETI.

[casejh]

Before we got our 21 Reace told me my Honda 2000 would run the AC just fine. Sure enough it does, but it cannot run much else at the same time-just a few LED lights and keeping the batteries charged.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Upfisk

At orientation our advisor asked if we were going to run the A.C. on a generator. We said yes, and she told us to use nothing smaller than a 3000 watt, that a 2200 or 2400 watt just won't work. You can get the microair soft start installed for about $300, just for the device, and then the smaller Honda or Yamaha genset will work.

I don't have an air conditioner, so may be my info is really out of date. But Reace put the A/C through it's paces in 2012 with a Honda Generator here: http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f2...html#post14704

[akmacs]

I have the Honda 2200 and as others have stated it will run the A/C but it can't handle much additional draw beyond that. You definitely cannot use the microwave or things such as a coffee maker while you run the A/C with the 2200. For that you would need a much bigger generator. I took mine on all my trips so far but since we don't need the A/C much around here we have barely used it. It's relatively quiet but it is noticeably louder than my friend's Honda 2000. You can get an aftermarket propane kit ($$) for the Honda but I'm not sure you would be able to run A/C while using propane instead of gas.

In my research on the Honda vs comparable models, my decision came down to parts and service availability. I'll find out how the service works soon as mine is subject to the recall.