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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

generator size?

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SEAN
Admiral

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USA
772 Posts

Initially Posted - 10/16/2006 : 22:55:38

If you have a twenty amp battery charger ,
how many amp generator would you would you need ?

I would guess a 20 amp generator (honda 2000)
and if you used a smaller generator honda 1000 would
it just take longer to charge.

any thoughts would help thanks !

Edited by - on

Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1893 Posts

Response Posted - 10/17/2006 : 01:00:43

Sean,

20Ax14V=280W

That's what your 20A battery charger needs (plus a few percent for inefficiencies in the charger, so call it 300W).

2000w/20a=100v

So the Honda EU2000i is rated at 20a @ 100vac, not 12VDC. And by the way, the Honda can only put out about 1,500w @ 120vac continuously. The 2kw rating is part marketing hype and refers to the generator's ability to handle momentary starting loads, not sustained running loads.

But back to your battery charger power requirements. If you had a big enough charger,

1,500w/14V=107A

So the Honda EU2000i could run a 100A 12V charger. The typical batteries used in a 25' sailboat can't absorb even 20A for more than a few minutes without over heating. So purely for battery charging on your boat, the Honda EU2000i is overkill.

Having said all that, if you're serious about a portable generator for use with your boat, I recommend the Honda EU2000i. It's not much more money or weight than the Honda EU1000i, but twice the power. In an emergency power outage, a Honda EU2000i can support a refrigerator, one small A/C window unit, and a couple modest light bulbs. (Run through an UPS, it can also keep a basic TV or PC up and running.) Here in the hurricane zone, that's the difference between living like an animal vs. fairly comfortable camping.

-- Leon Sisson

Edited by - on

SEAN
Admiral

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USA
772 Posts

Response Posted - 10/17/2006 : 16:17:55

Thanks Leon,

ya I was thinking it would be a good duel purpose tool.
house and the boat .
so thats good its more than enough . we use the boat alot and it would be nice to charge the batterys without haveing to pull up the anchor. were on a mooring and
a weighting list for the dock ,so I would like to set the boat up for ac chargeing .

thanks again for the help

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SEAN
Admiral

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USA
772 Posts

Response Posted - 10/17/2006 : 16:27:02

o whats a ups ?

my wife family is from buffalo there out of power for a week . her brother is the one of very few with power ,
he bought a generator for y2k
i cant belive 7 years allready

Edited by - on

Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1893 Posts

Response Posted - 10/17/2006 : 19:56:05

Sean,

Re: "<i>o whats a ups ?</i>"

A (an?) UPS is an Uninteruptable Power Supply. 'Most any place which deals in computers has them in stock, or can get them quickly.

It works sort of like a battery charger in reverse -- it turns 12VDC into 120vac sort of like an inverter with a built in battery. It's installed between your PC (or other electronic gadgets) and the wall outlet. Plug the UPS into the wall, plug the computer into the UPS. Inside is a battery, typically a 12V lead/acid gelcell. When house power is normal, the UPS just sits and waits, keeping its battery charged and ready. If household power goes out, or there's some other powerline glitch, the UPS disconnects its outputs (to your PC) from house power, and starts making 120vac 60hz power itself from energy stored in that internal battery.

This switch over occurs so fast, your computer doesn't even know it happened unless you wire up the UPS to tell it so. Most UPS come with a data cable and a CD-ROM of device driver type software which allows the UPS to let Microsoft Windows know when it's running out of standby power, so Windows can initiate an automated orderly shutdown. I think if the power glitch is brief, the UPS doesn't bother to tell Windows to shut down. I think most all modern UPS also include power surge protection. The one I use also provides lightning protection for my MODEM.

-- Leon Sisson

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