Honda 1000 ?

[monkey44]

If all we want to do is charge one/two batteries (Gr29,), is the 1000i enough. Prefer not to go 2000i, even for only $200 more.

I'm concerned about size and weight, somewhat ... and will never care about A/C or MW - it for a few days boon-docking at a time, and we mostly just want to keep from running the truck, or driving it all day. We want to drop TC, and drive w/o ... generally two/three/four days at once, then we'll have FHU for a day or so to regroup.

Can a hand held tester monitor the charge, or if I charge through the 110v system, and though the regular TC charging system, should need no monitor? Right. The system will monitor as if we have FHU

[monkey44]

billtex wrote:
If you are on the move...you will be charging while driving.

Trying to charge at idle...especialy without upgrading your charge wire and charging system...is futile.

I know - I get it, driving and charging - my entire query here is so we an Drop the TC and drive into areas we can't go with it on - in the boonies, so, we are not driving with it on therefore not charging.

And BTW: I have 8gg wire from alternator in truck to charging bank in camper ... not standard thin wires.

SO, we were trying to decide if running our truck for a while each day can maintain it enough for three or four days.

Okay, we did it, it is enough - we just hooked up and re-charged at a FHU site ... now, we will go for another few days running the truck for a half-hour in AM and see what happens.

That's the real way to know - just do it. It's more complex an answer that I thought - but if it charges enough to overnight out int he boonies, we'll do it that way. We'll know in a month or so how it works (or it won't work, or it will kill our battery - one way or the other, we'll know ... if it doesn't work out then we'll buy the generator.

I really hate giving up that storage space, and hoped we'd not have another headache too - that is, carrying extra fuel can.

[billtex]

If you are on the move...you will be charging while driving.

Trying to charge at idle...especialy without upgrading your charge wire and charging system...is futile.

[69_Avion]

I will run my Yamaha 1000 or my Honda 2000i before I idle my truck to charge the camper batteries. That is what a generator is for.

[bighatnohorse]

Over time, all that truck idling is going to more than pay for that Honda.

[billtex]

monkey44 wrote:
All of this info is extremely enlightening - we have decided to 'go for it' using truck for charging a half-hour or so each morning. See how that works, of it's more hassle or doesn't work as we like, we'll go buy a 1000i, and charge through the TC charger -

This info has given us enough to monitor and make an informed decision as we begonr the trip in a week or so. Thanks again Guys - all info appreciated.

As usual, RV.net passes the winning flag, hands down. Will let you all know how this works our after the first few weeks ... happy camping M44 & Genie

FWIW; if your power useage is minimal (no A/C,TV, micro, ect) and I think that is what you are saying...we have spent an entire month on the road w/out hookups and are fine.

Our charging system is top notch and we don't use A/C, micro, etc...

You should be fine on an extended trip.

What do you have for a C/C and batteries?

Bill

[Airstreamer67]

I carry a 1000 watt Honda for battery charging only. Have done so for the past 15 years. Works very well.

I also like having the Honda along with me as a "spare tire" so to speak. If I were to accidently draw down my starting battery in any way (eg leaving the headlights on), my Honda is there to save the day.

Along with my faithful little Honda I have a Black & Decker 45A smart charger and a gallon of gasoline.

I won't leave home without them.

I do not use the RV for charging batteries except when I'm going somewhere in it anyway. Making the RV idle just to charge batteries can cause engine damage relating to excessive idling, something best avoided.

[monkey44]

All of this info is extremely enlightening - we have decided to 'go for it' using truck for charging a half-hour or so each morning. See how that works, of it's more hassle or doesn't work as we like, we'll go buy a 1000i, and charge through the TC charger -

This info has given us enough to monitor and make an informed decision as we begonr the trip in a week or so. Thanks again Guys - all info appreciated.

As usual, RV.net passes the winning flag, hands down. Will let you all know how this works our after the first few weeks ... happy camping M44 & Genie

[MTRhino]

It sounds like we camp in the boonies the same way. We even have a battery operated LED lantern that we use on extended trips instead of the camper lights. We can do a week with 2 Group 27's in the summer (no furnace) easily and as much as 3 days with the furnace running at night. If you are willing to run the pickup 1/2 to 1 hour a day and plan on finding hookups every 4 to 5 days I see no reason for the generator. I have an 1800 Homelite that we take but only if it is an extended trip and we are towing a trailer so I can haul it in/on the trailer along with the fuel. We rarely camp with hookups and most of our trips are 3 to 5 days without the generator, without running the pickup every day.

How is that for non-technical---hope it helps.

[jimh406]

Just another related note, if I run my generator and onboard charger via the AC, my batteries generally charge back up according to the "dumb" led in an hour or so. I can't think that running the truck is any worse for the batteries than the charger. I think the house charger is designed to bring the charge up to a certain percentage relatively quickly. The rest of the charge comes slower to bring it up to 100%.

As someone else noted, as long as you charge reasonably often and don't go to a very low percentage, I think you will be fine using the truck to charge.

[bighatnohorse]

If it works for you, that's all that matters.
The truck's charging system has a built-in delay. . .after starting it, it takes 45 seconds (approximately) before the alternator kicks on.
Is it a Ford?

[billtex]

monkey44 wrote:
Okay - here's my plan.

Fire up the generator, plug a standard ten foot 12gg extension into the 20a outlet on the generator. Plug the other end of the cord to my 30 amp pedestal cord, with a 20a adapter - same as I do when we plug into my garage plug.

Why does it have to be more complex than that? It's how we charge when we plug into a CG pedestal? Right?? And the generator charges the battery using the TC charger, just as if we were plugged in.

We don't use MW, AC, or TV - we use only lights and whatever electronics our fridge, and gauges use ... ALL we want is to charge batteries - that's IT.

NO TV, no video games - we do that in parks with FHU, but not when boonies.

Am I missing something?

And, just for a test - I was at a 12.04 reading on my hand voltmeter this AM on my TC battery after three days of use.

The reader inside the TV showed - Yellow, on the charge gauge - it has "Green, Yellow, Red". I charged on my truck for one hour. The hand meter then read - 12.24 on the gauge (I shut off the disconnect, so was only reading the TC battery, nothing else) and then I engaged the disconnect and the internal meter read - Green, as in charged.

So, explain this to a non-tech person, because if you get complex, you will lose me.

What does all that tell me??

See, I'm debating about a generator at this point - and if my truck can charge my TC battery in one hour - like it did today, after three days of use in dry-camping. Then, I do not need a generator ... I'll charge every three days, or will be driving after three days, and it won't matter.

We're trying to keep as simple as possible -- I know, solar - I'll consider that separately - I want to know only about the charging and generator now, THEN will look at the solar option ... THEN will decide.

At 12.04 v your are at less than 50% state of charge...close to damaging your batteries (are they wet cell or AGM?).
The other question is what do you have for a charger/converter in your TC?
Fully charged after 1 hr is not likely...this would be a "surface charge". You C/C converter at full load likley draws more than a 1k genny will out put...this is why 1k gennys are not very effective.
A 1k will charge your house batteries using the C/C...but there are many variables...and this will not be very efficient.
Look at it this way, even with a high quality C/C converter a 1k genny may need to run 7-8 hrs to charge batteries to 90%. A 2k could do the same in 2-3 hrs.

Charging from your alternator, even if you upgrade the hot wire...will take a LONG time.

Having said all that, we only carry a genny in winter when skiing and need heat.
But I have upgraded our C/C and batteries to AGM.
If you want to spend some $ on your electrical system...this is where to start.

[monkey44]

This is our fourth day boonies - with no charger. I ran the truck one hour yesterday, after three days. I ran it a half-four last night. And am running it this AM for half hour.

Each time, I get the bright Green market lit - I know, not a great indicator, but when it's lit, I've got good power in the battery, even if a super tech reading tells me something different.

Here's a weird reading (to me anyway) Woke up, read truck battery at 12.88, read TC battery at 12.13 .... started truck, read TC battery at 11.79 steady...
went back and read truck running, 14.3 (bounces around a little.

I assume I'm reading it right - I have a voltmeter, turn it to DC and '20', and put red spike on positive black spike on negative, and read the digital dial.

Am not always sure what everything means electronically, but I can at least figure it out with a little coaching. but have never worried about this, as I didn't care so much about battery - now, we're sitting longer in the boonies, so it makes a difference.

we ahve the availability of power any times I want to drive there (few miles) we are now "testing this battery issue" at a local CG with no power - we're planning a five months trip with lots of bonnies camping, and want to decide if we need a geneator - would prefer not. But want to enjoy it, and not fight the battery. But giving up that space and carrying extra gas is somewhat a hassle, so am giving this a try first.

I thought this was an easy Q - but no quite as easy as I thought. It looks like I will not need a generator because this is our fourth day - and all is fine with power. If we can do four days at once, that's our plan, and hen head to FHUs after four boonies days on this trip we're planning. So, from the looks of things, we can do it with the truck. I know, I know running the truck takes fuel - but so does generator, and carrying more fuel, and carrying the generator, and buying it cost a lot more than the fuel we'll spend in the truck.

does anyone have comments at this point in the 'test' ... and thanks for all advices.

Good idea to 'test time' the charge rate from home current - that would give me the charge time needed after one night on the road. Btw; we use whatever power we want on the road camping, we don't skimp' its juts that our camping style does not use a lot of battery. We don't use MW, TV, Movies etc unless we have FHU, it's just a way of camping we enjoy. SO, works well for us ... might not for others.

[time2roll]

If you are driving around in the truck maybe mount a battery or two for charging while you drive. Then have a quick connect to power the TC for the evening. I used to do this with my pop up trailer, worked fine.

[wnjj]

monkey44 wrote:
"According to the techies at Power Dynamics, a 25-percent charged battery will take approximately 35-hours to reach "full" charge!"

I' cant argue with techies, I don't know enough. But this statement makes NO sense. Most of the TT, 5'ers run generators for a couple hours in the AM at most, and they certainly have more that one Gr29 ... and do it day after day.

I think people are trying too hard to "help" you here. While charging to "full" may actually take 35 hours that's only because the last imcremental charge takes infinitely longer than the first. When people charge a little each day all that matters is that they replace the charge they used. So if you deplete your battery down to 80% one day but only bring it back up to 90%, my question is so what? The next day it may drop to 75% but recharge back to 90% in short order.

This is one of those cases where trial and error probably works out better than calculations since it totally depends upon your usage.

If you can put 30-40 amp-hours back in with an hour or two of run time that may be just fine for days on end.

You don't need to spend anything to test. The generator will charge at the same rate as 120V hookups--the rate your onboard charger provides. Try it out at home by running the battery down and the only plugging in for an hour or so each "day".