Home brew hybred inverter generator set up
Home Depot had the tiny Sportsman 800/1000w inverter generator on sale for $157 right before I left Denver. Normally I'd stick to one of the big three but at that price I took the chance. I broke it in at home up to the point it could handle a 600w heater at 5000 ft, a friend at a rally finished the job using it to run a work light while he outfitted his box truck in Quartzsite.
I knew better than to think it could handle starting the little 5000 BTU A/C and sure enough it couldn't. My solution was to plug the shore cord into the generator with the converter on, and then plug the A/C into the inverter. That way the batteries took the surge and the generator then had no issues with the 450w running load. Normally I run the A/C off of the solar and batteries but it's nice to know I can use the generator should the need come up.
I know it will be asked. Noise wise the Sportsmans eco mode is barely quieter than not having it on. Under load it is comparable to the Honda 2000 under load that was in the next site.
I knew better than to think it could handle starting the little 5000 BTU A/C and sure enough it couldn't. My solution was to plug the shore cord into the generator with the converter on, and then plug the A/C into the inverter. That way the batteries took the surge and the generator then had no issues with the 450w running load. Normally I run the A/C off of the solar and batteries but it's nice to know I can use the generator should the need come up.
I know it will be asked. Noise wise the Sportsmans eco mode is barely quieter than not having it on. Under load it is comparable to the Honda 2000 under load that was in the next site.
