I am using a Honda 2000i for keeping the battery charged while dry camping.My question: When charging your battery do you just plug the trailer shore power cable into the generator or do you connect the generator directly to the battery.It seems that with our new trailer the convertor/charger system used in the trailer is designed to cut way back on charge voltage as the battery is charging to extend battery life. This may be good for battery life, but it makes it almost impossible to get a fully charged battery without letting the generator run all day long.ThanksBill

I would stick with plugging the trailer into the generator even though it takes a long time. It may have a good quality charger built in. Basically a good external automatic charger will do the same thing. I'm not sure how the Honda charges the battery.

You may want to upgrade to a three stage converter/charger. My Magnetek 6300q is obsolete so I'm going with the 45 amp converter kit. You may still need to run your generator for many hours on some days to fully charge. I understand that I will be able to go from about 50% state of charge to 80 % soc in a few hours. I understand that I will be able to do this for a number of days and will then have to run possibly 10 or so hours to fully charge and avoid sulfation/stratification. There are many posts on here from the battery gurus about deep cycle charging. http://www.bestconverter.com/MagnetekParallax-63007300-Upgrade-Kit_c_64.html

We just plug the shore power cord into the generator. That way the RV has shore power, and the converter can handle recharging the batteries. I leave the water heater on gas to free up some amps for charging rather than heating the water.

The charger is already set to run off the generator. If you want to charge the house batteries faster you will need a portable battery charger. Use an extension cord to run from the generator to the charger and then connect the charger to the battery or batteries, as the case may be. Just remember, that too high a charge rate will cause internal problems with the batteries and will kill them faster than a slow steady trickle charge. Personally I would not do this except in case of an emergency. The generator & charger are designed to give you the best performance and extend the life of your batteries.

My setup has a smart mode PD9260C Converter/charger and I want to get my batteries re-charged to their 90% charge state as soon as possible after they have been run down to the 50% Charge State. We always run into the campground generator run time restrictions here on the EAST side of the US.By connecting the trailer SHORE POWER CABLE directly to my 2KW Honda Generator 120V RECEPTACLE using a RV30A-15A ADAPTER then I can recharge my 255AHs capacity batteries in a three hour generator run time. When my batteries get back up to their 90% charge state I can use them all over again for the next day/night run off the batteries. I can do this 50% to 90% charge state for about 12-14 cycle times before I have to do a full 100% charge state which would take a good 12 hours to do using the shore power cable method.If I was to use the 12.0VDC unregulated 8AMP BAT CHARGE source on my 2KW Honda Generator it would take a good 24 hours (or more) to get my batteries back up to their 90% charge state. My Batteries needs 14.4VDC @ around 18-20 DC AMPS for each battery to re-charge to their 90% SOC in a three hour period.Both ways will work but if you need a long time to re-charge your batteries then you may be sitting in the dark all night waiting for it to re-charge even if the camp ground will allow you to run your generator for that long of a period. My generator will only run for about 7 hours before having to re-fill the gas tank...This is what works best for me when i am camping off the power grid.Roy Ken

Recharging with a Generator | Good Sam Community

14 Replies

RockyMt
Explorer II
May 30, 2014
I have used a external battery charger for the last several years-other means did not work out that well.Battery chargers have overcharge protection and work much faster than direct or ac plug.
time2roll
Nomad
May 30, 2014
2stepn wrote:
It seems that with our new trailer the convertor/charger system used in the trailer is designed to cut way back on charge voltage as the battery is charging to extend battery life. This may be good for battery life, but it makes it almost impossible to get a fully charged battery without letting the generator run all day long.

Nothing to do with battery life. The RV manufacturer is just saving a few nickels on the choice of converter.

Go ahead and post the model number for best replacements. Or get a 40 amp portable charger. You have at least two group 27 batteries yes?
old_guy
Explorer
May 30, 2014
I used a car charger for years to charge the battery. And then I found out the charger only put 12 amps into the battery and the on board TT converter put in 45 or more amps. So the on board charger does it in a faster pace
full_mosey
Explorer
May 29, 2014
I charge a 110AH bank(Optima: 2 x 55AH)with a MMS 1012 inverter/charger(1000W/50A), plus solar.

The charger has temperature compensation via a cable to the battery and can adjust the charging. Now, that is automatic! I have no concerns leaving setup this unattended at ANY temperature.

Generally, you will not find temp-comp in a converter/charger. Here is a 55A that is on my short list; Parallax Paramode with TempAssure.

HTH;
John
bpounds
Nomad
May 29, 2014
micar wrote:
what about using the battery charging cables you can buy for the Honda 2000?
Mike

Never seen those, but unless they include some kind of converter (doubtful), they are just going to put out the 8 amps that was mentioned above. That is very low power and you would be looking at a long run time to achieve anything.

My routine for charging the batteries goes like this. I plug the shore cord directly into the I2000 and use the fiver converter/charger. That's what it is for. If I'm going to be camping off-grid for more than a couple of days, then I run the generator for 2 hours minimum on the day after we setup, and for 2 hours minimum every day after that. The key is to keep the battery charge level high from day one. Don't wait until you're down 50% before charging. In most cases you can't get 50% back into a couple of 6 volt deep cycles in 8 hours of charging. Spread it out over your entire stay.

An upgraded converter/charger is money well spent. A dedicated external charger may be even faster, but I don't care to fool around carrying another gizmo.

My routine, my opinions.
micar
Explorer
May 29, 2014
what about using the battery charging cables you can buy for the Honda 2000?
Mike
2oldman
Explorer II
May 29, 2014
Page 61 of the owner's manual lists the charging output at 8amps, unregulated.
gjwarneke
Explorer
May 29, 2014
RoyB great info & pics Thanks very much.

Jo
jmcgsd
Explorer
May 29, 2014
My TT has an aftermarket SEC 1230UL charger installed. When I plug the eu2000i into shore power that charger takes care of the battery which is a 4D Lifeline AGM.
RoyB
Explorer II
May 29, 2014
My setup has a smart mode PD9260C Converter/charger and I want to get my batteries re-charged to their 90% charge state as soon as possible after they have been run down to the 50% Charge State. We always run into the campground generator run time restrictions here on the EAST side of the US.

By connecting the trailer SHORE POWER CABLE directly to my 2KW Honda Generator 120V RECEPTACLE using a RV30A-15A ADAPTER then I can recharge my 255AHs capacity batteries in a three hour generator run time. When my batteries get back up to their 90% charge state I can use them all over again for the next day/night run off the batteries. I can do this 50% to 90% charge state for about 12-14 cycle times before I have to do a full 100% charge state which would take a good 12 hours to do using the shore power cable method.

If I was to use the 12.0VDC unregulated 8AMP BAT CHARGE source on my 2KW Honda Generator it would take a good 24 hours (or more) to get my batteries back up to their 90% charge state. My Batteries needs 14.4VDC @ around 18-20 DC AMPS for each battery to re-charge to their 90% SOC in a three hour period.

Both ways will work but if you need a long time to re-charge your batteries then you may be sitting in the dark all night waiting for it to re-charge even if the camp ground will allow you to run your generator for that long of a period. My generator will only run for about 7 hours before having to re-fill the gas tank...

This is what works best for me when i am camping off the power grid.

Roy Ken