no noise generators

[relaxin]

hello fellow campers.
with some parks up here now banning generators, some in designated areas and some outright, and the fact that getting a electric serviced site is getting harder and harder during peak season, has anyone tried these new power supplies
back up power
theres this company and another

other company

keep in mind prices are in CA dollars, they are probably 1/4 the price in the US.

Just wondering if this is a possible solution to running a generator, it may not run the A/C very long but up here we can get by without that and the microwave, and run the fridge on propane, just need the lights and electronics pumps, fans and maybe some music for a 3 day weekend. perhaps the tv for a movie on a rainy day.

if you have one let me know how it works for you.

[jaycocreek]

I don't think everyone understands how much it cost to build your own with everything included in these power stations..I have built a couple playing around and have one right now built to be portable like a power station...

Smart battery box with all the goodies(outlets)..Napa $50
100ah LFP battery with ganfeng cells(Zooms)...........$310
600 watt PSW inverter(Giandel)........................$100
Cheap PWM Renogy controller...........................$30

That's right at $500 for a 600 watt power station..Add a 1K PSW inverter and an MPPT controller and it goes up almost $200..

It's not cheap to clone a power station..

[valhalla360]

time2roll wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
Nope, if the "solar generator" is putting out 1500w continuous, it's putting out 1500w continuous regardless of the hum it makes doing so.

Check the thread title again.

"no noise generators"

That would imply the gasser is not running.

OK, so what will these "no noise" generators look like to produce what a small 2000w gas generator can?

The problem is they are intentionally using misleading terminology to sucker people into thinking a small battery pack will do what even a small generator can.

[WinMinnie02]

I boondock most of the time use the generator whenever I want, stayed away from the campgrounds. That is one of the solution. If you need a campground don't go during peak season and there should be plenty of sites with power. That is why we go RVing. Enjoy.

[afidel]

Nickel Iron batteries are not perpetual motion machines, but they're pretty much the closest we've come. They'll last 30 years in daily multiple cycle applications and at the end of 30 years you change out the electrolyte and they're good for another 30 years. The downsides are very poor Wh/kg, low Wh/L, and fairly poor round trip efficiency (80% when new dropping to only 50% at the end of that 30 year life). For stationary applications they're a very real consideration since they don't need a charge controller and along with very cheap solar panels you've got a way to make and store lots of power cheaply, add an appropriate inverter and done. But for RV applications they're worthless.

[Lantley]

naturist wrote:

jaycocreek wrote:
Everyone saying how over priced they are should chime in with there actual cost for there system that they use....There not cheap to do it right..

Lol

While I didn't chime in, I do say they are overpriced.

So I have built myself two such. The first cost me about $1600, the second cost me about $2500. Both have 2200 watt continuous/4400 watt surge pure sine wave inverters. The first uses 2-125 Ah AGM batteries fed by 400 watts of solar panels thru a 40 amp charge controller. I can draw approximately 1500 watt hours from those batteries to take them from 100% charge to the 50% level beyond which battery life begins to degrade. The solar panels produce around 1600 watt hours on a good day.

The second one uses 1-300 Ah LiFePO4 battery fed by 500 watts of solar panels. I can draw about 3000 watt hours from the battery before affecting battery life. The solar panels will produce about 2,000 watt hours on a good day.

I looked into the manufactured units, and what I saw was that matching the capacity of the more expensive of my two units was going to run me between $3800 and $4500 depending on which brand I chose. YMMV.

It should be noted that I chose to not include a shore power charger for the battery to either of them, which commercial units have standard. If you want that capacity, add another $100 to $200 to the cost. And therein lies one of the advantages of building one: customization. Skip the solar panels, you don't need a charge controller either (that would save about $600, counting the added shore power charger).

The standard "marine deep cycle" battery most small trailers come from the dealer sporting is an 80 Ah flooded cell battery weighing around 60 lbs, and costing around $200 give or take. The 300 Ah LiFePO4 battery I used cost $1079, and weighs 70 lbs. If you have a converter capable of dealing with a lithium battery, you could just swap in such a battery to get the capacity of about 6 of the batteries that came with your rig, add a mere 10 lbs to your tongue weight, and never have to replace batteries again, as the life of such a battery should be around 10 times as long as the flooded cell battery.

Those "solar generators" are, however, aimed at people who are not handy enough to build one, and for such a person, they will do the job, provided they are sized correctly for your needs.

How much time did you spend building your unit including research?
My point is you have no labor or overhead in your pricing. So how does that make those for sale over priced?
I can make my own hamburger or I can go out and buy one.
Does that mean McD's over priced?

[naturist]

jaycocreek wrote:
Everyone saying how over priced they are should chime in with there actual cost for there system that they use....There not cheap to do it right..

Lol

While I didn't chime in, I do say they are overpriced.

So I have built myself two such. The first cost me about $1600, the second cost me about $2500. Both have 2200 watt continuous/4400 watt surge pure sine wave inverters. The first uses 2-125 Ah AGM batteries fed by 400 watts of solar panels thru a 40 amp charge controller. I can draw approximately 1500 watt hours from those batteries to take them from 100% charge to the 50% level beyond which battery life begins to degrade. The solar panels produce around 1600 watt hours on a good day.

The second one uses 1-300 Ah LiFePO4 battery fed by 500 watts of solar panels. I can draw about 3000 watt hours from the battery before affecting battery life. The solar panels will produce about 2,000 watt hours on a good day.

I looked into the manufactured units, and what I saw was that matching the capacity of the more expensive of my two units was going to run me between $3800 and $4500 depending on which brand I chose. YMMV.

It should be noted that I chose to not include a shore power charger for the battery to either of them, which commercial units have standard. If you want that capacity, add another $100 to $200 to the cost. And therein lies one of the advantages of building one: customization. Skip the solar panels, you don't need a charge controller either (that would save about $600, counting the added shore power charger).

The standard "marine deep cycle" battery most small trailers come from the dealer sporting is an 80 Ah flooded cell battery weighing around 60 lbs, and costing around $200 give or take. The 300 Ah LiFePO4 battery I used cost $1079, and weighs 70 lbs. If you have a converter capable of dealing with a lithium battery, you could just swap in such a battery to get the capacity of about 6 of the batteries that came with your rig, add a mere 10 lbs to your tongue weight, and never have to replace batteries again, as the life of such a battery should be around 10 times as long as the flooded cell battery.

Those "solar generators" are, however, aimed at people who are not handy enough to build one, and for such a person, they will do the job, provided they are sized correctly for your needs.

[fj12ryder]

I think some of the old folks on here can't grasp the idea that people will buy into the idea of a "solar generator"...and pay big bucks for the privilege 🙂

[Lantley]

I think some of the old folks on here can't grasp the idea of silent power.
In many cases power can be provided without the noise.
No noise changes everything.

[time2roll]

valhalla360 wrote:
Nope, if the "solar generator" is putting out 1500w continuous, it's putting out 1500w continuous regardless of the hum it makes doing so.

Check the thread title again.

"no noise generators"

That would imply the gasser is not running.

[valhalla360]

time2roll wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

time2roll wrote:

jaycocreek wrote:
Everyone saying how over priced they are should chime in with there actual cost for there system that they use....There not cheap to do it right..

Lol

How many solar generators would it take to match 675w solar and 1000 Ah?

And if we are referring to them as "generators", how big will the system have to be to match a small 2000w suitcase generator putting out 1500w continuous for 23hr of a 24hr day?

Depends on how much noise is allowed.

Nope, if the "solar generator" is putting out 1500w continuous, it's putting out 1500w continuous regardless of the hum it makes doing so.

[time2roll]

valhalla360 wrote:

time2roll wrote:

jaycocreek wrote:
Everyone saying how over priced they are should chime in with there actual cost for there system that they use....There not cheap to do it right..

Lol

How many solar generators would it take to match 675w solar and 1000 Ah?

And if we are referring to them as "generators", how big will the system have to be to match a small 2000w suitcase generator putting out 1500w continuous for 23hr of a 24hr day?

Depends on how much noise is allowed.

[valhalla360]

time2roll wrote:

jaycocreek wrote:
Everyone saying how over priced they are should chime in with there actual cost for there system that they use....There not cheap to do it right..

Lol

How many solar generators would it take to match 675w solar and 1000 Ah?

And if we are referring to them as "generators", how big will the system have to be to match a small 2000w suitcase generator putting out 1500w continuous for 23hr of a 24hr day?

[Itinerant1]

I did not say these batteries don't lose capacity and eventually end up in the landfill or recycling center, everything does.

But once again you go off on a different chemistry within lithium.

As far as the deflection to EV in an rv thread... who would of thought that batteries will need replacing. Can't offard to play in the EV playground stay with tried and true gas engine vehicle.

[Gdetrailer]

Itinerant1 wrote:


If your going to quote and use it like the gospel try staying in the same chemistry. Li-Colbate is not LiFePO4 which is used in these battery/ inverter devices and what most are using in the rvs.

Next will be Lifepo4 isn't safe because Li starts fire on planes.

While it may be a "different chemistry", it will like any other battery STILL lose capacity each and every use, it WILL still degrade over time whether "stored" or "in use", it CAN AND WILL degrade if not used and stored properly.

Everything degrades, the Earth, the sun, your body, your RV, your device you are typing on, solar panels,the chemistry in your batteries, nothing is exempt and has a FINITE life.

To think otherwise, you are saying "we" as in "man" has discovered the magical and mythical "perpetual machine" (AKA "over unity") which would break every known and unknown scientific facts to man and universe..

Man has been searching for ways to create a perpetual motion machine since the dawn of time.. It can't be done and it won't be ever done as that is just the way the Earth and the entire universe works.

Even a generator degrades, but it can be easily stored and brought back to life many yrs later with virtually no ill effects unlike any battery.

A generator you CAN repair.

A battery, you CAN'T repair. You must replace the battery and 5 yrs later, odds are, you will never find a battery to fit your device as there is no set Lithium battery size and capacity standards to follow.

A very good example of where the Lithium battery thing is headed in the near future, everything powered by battery will be disposable throw away.. That future is already here..

HERE

"Electric Car Battery EV Replacement Cost Exceeds Vehicle Value
Thinking about buying a used electric car? The cost to replace its battery could exceed the vehicle’s value. For a St. Petersburg family, that is the shocker when mechanics diagnosed its battery needed to be replaced. This 17-year-old was excited to get a car to drive herself to and from school. Her parents spent $11,000 on a used electric car for her. It’s a Ford Focus Electric. The car is a 2014 model, with 60,000 miles. Replacing the Ford Focus battery costs $14,000, exceeding the car’s book value!"

Imagine buying a 8 yr old EV with only 60K miles for $11K then 2 weeks later discover that the battery is dead and the replacement is $14K!!

Even worse, the Ford dealer while looking into that battery discovered that Ford has discontinued that battery and it is no longer available!!

60K miles on a gas engine now days isn't even broke in.

[time2roll]

jaycocreek wrote:

time2roll wrote:

jaycocreek wrote:
Everyone saying how over priced they are should chime in with there actual cost for there system that they use....There not cheap to do it right..

Lol

How many solar generators would it take to match 675w solar and 1000 Ah?

12,800 watt hours devided by whatever the power station is rated for..lol..Solar wise,whatever the max input or said power station is...

Did I pass the quiz..:B

Gives me at least $30,000 budget to install my own.
Mine probably cost $5000. Might be double if pro installed.

The point was the "generators" are more expensive.