Recently I booked a 4 night stay at a State campground with no electric hookups for this upcoming camping season. It will be my first experience relying on just battery power. My Travel Trailer has the one Marine/Deep cycle battery and I have decided to get 4 Trojan 6V T-105's and wire them in Series and Parallel. I also plan on buying a portable Inverter Generator so I can re-charge the batteries during my stay. I will be conserving power of course and may not need to charge them up, but better safe than sorry. Anyway, there are a ton of them on the market now, each brand having slightly different features. Most of the ones with 3000w or more have an RV plug. Is buying a generator with that plug something I should consider? All of the videos I've seen reviewing them, are all about whether the generator will power the air conditioner. Since most campgrounds limit when and how long you can use a generator (Usually during daylight hours), I'm not understanding the appeal. Being able to run an air conditioner for a couple hours during the day wouldn't be of interest to me. We won't be in the camper then. Mainly, the generator will be used for topping off the batteries and charging cell phones. Is it better to charge batteries directly from the generator to the batteries using a battery charger or through the camper by using the RV plug? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Yeah,a single Grp24 battery will probably be a problem with a lengthier stay. If you do install 4 GC2 6V's you'll have a lot of capacity, probably enough to overnight for a couple of days. We don't know your exact usage, i.e. running a furnace for heat uses a lot of 12 V power. The built in RV converter should be a good charging source and operating a generator is a good time to use that available 120V AC. You could post up the converter model numbers for more focused advice. You can also use a stand-alone battery charger at the same time to limit generator run time. Assumed that the two charging devices charge the batteries quicker, together. The yellow Champion generators are a good buy, IMO. the Honda and Yamaha inverter generators are at the top of the list and have prices that match. I'd avoid Costco WEN generators or Harbor Freight knock-offs. Serviceability is questionable about those latter ones.If you have plans to camp off-grid occasionally, solar panels are like peanut butter and jelly with 12V systems. You do have to get Sun on them but a generator for back-up use is a good plan.

Like you I've never seen much point for running the AC on a generator. I mainly need the AC at night to sleep when you typically can't use the generator. If I was going to just sit in the RV during the day with the AC on I'd just stay home. Having said that, my TC did come with a gen. and I have used it on occasion to run the gen. for brief lunch or child nap stops when traveling. If it wasn't built in (meaning I had to drag out and hook up a portable) I probably wouldn't bother.The Honda or Yamaha inverter generators are the only 2 that would get my money. Their reputations are nearly flawless. Everything else is a little cheaper, a little louder, and a little harder to get parts for, etc.Your RV converter should charge your batteries fine it's a fairly modern 3 stage design. Otherwise, a good external charger might be better. I'd probably just upgrade the built in unit before I spent money on a separate charger. By the way, the "battery charger" output on a generator is typically useless: very low power and poorly regulated.A 30A RV outlet on a generator is certainly a good selling point. I'd be fine with just a 20A however. I frequently camp at small campgrounds with 20A service and my AC runs just fine. I do turn it off when running the microwave.

For 4 days four-6V batteries sounds like overkill, I can go 2 days on dual G29 batteries and that's with a fridge vent fan running.If you have a WFCO converter your money may be better spent on upgrading it to a PD or IOTA.What's your power useage? Do you have LED lighting in the trailer?10 years ago I bought a Honda 2000i and never looked back. It runs everything except the AC.

We camp alot off-road do just fine with our 2KW generator setup. We have a 600W PSW Inverter running off the battery bank that provides for what 120VAC items we want to use when camping off-road. Most everything is run from 12VDC direct connected to the batteries actually... All of this has been planned out to run down our Added battery bank to its 50% charge state by 8AM each morning. Then we run the Generator with the Popup trailer connected to it to use the on-board PD9260C Smart Mode converter/charger to recharge our battery bank back up to its 90% charge state. This takes around three hours to accomplish this. Doing this at breakfast also allows us to use the generator for a couple of other items. All I really need the generator for is have enough watts to run the on-board Converter/charger unit which is around 1000WATTS. There of course could be other items turned ON in the POPUP but all of that gets turned off if it is going to not allow me to use the on-board converter/charger.One must also know how many cycles of 50% to 90% charge states you can do without doing harm to the battery bank. I have to run a full charge on mine after around 12-14 days of doing the 50%-90% charge state cycles. I usually do this at home as it takes around 12 hours or so to do a full 100% charge state for me. That would be too long to run my generator when off road...One could also setup some solar to do this as well but you will still need the generator to get past the initial charge which is my case is around 53AMPS DC current for the first 15-20 minutes or so when I first start my re-charge - then it starts tapering down to the 6-8AMPs DC current after that.. If I had good high sun then I could switch to a few solar panels to finish off my recharge during the day and maybe only run the generator for the first hour. Getting 50AMPS DC current out of solar panels would require many panels on the roof. My idea is to get my batteries back up to their 90% charge state as soon as I can during the day. If I can do this with solar panels I would do it that way and not have the generator running making noise. Getting high sun all day is not guaranteed...After my initial run of the generator the total DC required to finish my battery charge is 6-8AMPS for a few hours. That could easily be provided by solar panels if the sun is out. For me having the generator is a must have item. having solar panels would just be another way to keep the batteries up if needed. You might have rain for two weeks and no sun - who knows...Been doing this 50% to 90% charge routine alot since 2009 and our original GP24 Interstate 12V batteries are just now dropping good performance. I am currently planning a new battery bank using four GC2 6V batteries like you have suggested... This will give me 440Ahs of capacity verses the 255AHs I have had since 2009...We do what you are describing all the time time and after upgrading a few things on my OFF-ROAD POPUP we manage things just fine staying off-road for up to 2 weeks long a few times...We watch HDTV every night and I get to play with my Ham Radio... What more would you want to do haha... Just have to keep one eye on the battery monitor as you do not want to drop below 12.0VDC which is approximately the 50% charge state.Roy Ken

RobWNY wrote:My Travel Trailer has the one Marine/Deep cycle battery and I have decided to get 4 Trojan 6V T-105's and wire them in Series and Parallel. I also plan on buying a portable Inverter Generator so I can re-charge the batteries during my stay.Why would you bother with 4 T105s if you plan to also invest in a genset for recharging the batteries? :h A pair of those 6 volt jugs would cover most common situations for at least a day or two, even power a mid size inverter if you'd like to run a small coffee maker, toaster, etc. Since you'd have a genset for recharging having four instead of two 6 volts really doesn't buy you much advantage, especially considering that most trailers will easily accept two 6 volt batteries but often require some imagination to mount four. K.I.S.S. ;)

Inverter Generator Help Please | Good Sam Community

TomG2
Explorer
Jan 01, 2017
Boon Docker wrote:
I was curious about your assumption that a Champion 3500/4000 is not in the same category as a construction generator. But seeing as you can not back up that assumption, I guess there is no sense in continuing.

Do you actually have a point that is germane to this thread or just want to knock Champion Generators? The OP is looking for a strategy that will let him enjoy a few nights in a state park. Walk by the typical construction site if you want to compare generators? Not my job to educate.
Boon_Docker
Explorer III
Jan 01, 2017
I was curious about your assumption that a Champion 3500/4000 is not in the same category as a construction generator. But seeing as you can not back up that assumption, I guess there is no sense in continuing.
TomG2
Explorer
Jan 01, 2017
Boon Docker wrote:
I would like to see an example of a construction generator, if the Champion 3500/4000 open frame is not a "construction generator".

Work in the construction industry like I did for forty years and you would understand the difference.

What has your doubt got to with what will work best for the OP?
Boon_Docker
Explorer III
Jan 01, 2017
^ You said, "Comparing the Champion 3500/4000 at 68db to a 80db construction generator is comparing apples to oranges."

I would like to see an example of a construction generator, if the Champion 3500/4000 open frame is not a "construction generator".
TomG2
Explorer
Jan 01, 2017
We used to have Homelites there were deafening. Huh?
Boon_Docker
Explorer III
Jan 01, 2017
TomG2 wrote:

Comparing the Champion 3500/4000 at 68db to a 80db construction generator is comparing apples to oranges.

Please give us an example/link of a construction generator.
TomG2
Explorer
Jan 01, 2017
bikendan wrote:
i own the Champion 3500/4000 generator you're recommending and it is NOT appropriate for campgrounds!:E

Where did I say that it was appropriate for campgrounds? I said it provides plenty of power to run anything in the trailer at places like Walmart parking lots.

With four gold cart batteries and some good power management, the OP can get by for a few days with NO generator. Even if he had to take along a fully charged 12 volt battery it would be quieter than ANY generator.

Apparently you have not been around actual contractor generators or you would not make your comparison. I have. :S
bikendan
Explorer
Jan 01, 2017
TomG2 wrote:
Comparing the Champion 3500/4000 at 68db to a 80db construction generator is comparing apples to oranges.

the open frame Champion 3500/4000 IS a construction generator, compared to the 53-56db inverter generators.

i own the Champion 3500/4000 generator you're recommending and it is NOT appropriate for campgrounds!:E
TomG2
Explorer
Jan 01, 2017
Boon Docker wrote:
^ The OP's question is about an inverter generator to charge the batteries not a noise construction generator to run the AC. Just saying.

Just saying, there is no generator that is quiet and the hours are limited. The OP can get by with the upgraded batteries for the few nights he is talking about. He could add a little solar if necessary and that is truly a quiet power source. My point is, if he cannot run a generator, why purchase one. If he wants one to use at Walmart or truck stops, the Champion will provide plenty of power. Comparing the Champion 3500/4000 at 68db to a 80db construction generator is comparing apples to oranges.
theoldwizard1
Explorer II
Jan 01, 2017
RobWNY wrote:
So my power requirements will be likely be Furnace fan, Refrigerator fan, the LED lights, water pump, Slide out when arriving,

If it is very cold and the furnace has to run a lot, you are going to need those 4 6V batteries to allow the furnace to run all night !

If the point of the generator is just to charge the batteries and you are going to use your existing converter/charger then a 2000W (peak) is adequate. Buying a larger generator, especially one that has an outlet compatible with your plug, is a good idea.

If your batteries get run down a long way, it will take several hours of charging with the generator running.

Do NOT use the 12V output of the generator. It is not meant for battery charging.

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