Hi,Can anyone out there help me on the question of petrol generators ?
I want to do as much wild camping with my motor home ,and to avoid the camp sites as much as possible, So i was considering using a generator to run my electrics off,would that be a good idea or not ?
We have done this many times in Scotland. It is defi nitley a good idea, we bought a Honda EU10i, it is pricey (about £500) but worth every penny it is so quiet we put it next to the motorhome and you can't hear it over the T.V. and it hardly uses any fuel at all.
As for running our electrics, we run the fridge, T.V, electric water heater, lights and it also charges the battery at the same time it's like having an electric hook-up. But you can't use items such as electric kettles and heaters because they drain too much power and will damage your generator so make sure you have enough gas.
stroller2 welcome, i would ask the question if your wild camping don't you want peace and quiet,i haven't used my generator for years now when i did i had a powerful leisure battery, ran the genny every third day charging the battery at the same time,this gave me 2 days peace and quiet.
mike
------------- they said it couldnt be done so i left it and went camping
a bad days camping is better than a good day at work
Why not bung a few solar panels on your roof which will keep the battery topped up?
I do a lot of wild camping and have never had a problem with low batteries.If I suspect it is getting very low then its usually time for a shower anyway so we go into a campsite with a hook up, charge everything and have a shower.
I do Motorsport with my son and have no hook up at any of the tracks, so we bought the Honda EU20i generator.
I have to say if you really need to use a generator then you simply will not beat the Honda suitcase generator for relaibilty, power output and if you want to be popular with the neighbours they are just unbelievably quiet.
Wish they were compulsorey,(the honda genny -if folk do have to use them ) went somewhere once where a guy had like an industrial genny, all so folk can watch tv and not use the gas.
------------- Keep smiling, its later than you think !
Well I have a suitcase genny made by mitubishi fo rsale.Its a 1kw. Geny ultra reliable and compact being a suitcase type. It's designated as an ultra quiet genny and petrol. 1 kw is ok for most year round use although if you wanted to do some serious winter camping you ought to have a 3kw. I brought it for my skiing trip and found it really useful although I felt like a bit of a gypsy using it on some aires. It was deffinately the quietest one about thats for sure.
£250 ono is what its for sale for. Whatever you do, I would not buy one of those ebay £70 jobbies from ebay. You may find that trying to start the things has left you with a very bad back.
Quote: Originally posted by stroller2 on 10/2/2008
I want to do as much wild camping with my motor home ,----- using a generator to run my electrics off,would that be a good idea or not ?
If you are "wild camping" then the last thing that you want to do is advertise your presence. Most gennies are a bit noisy with possible exception of the Hondas and some of the Kipors (spelling?)
Take T4's suggestion, a couple of decent solar panels and 2x 115A Leisure batteries should see you OK
Quote: Originally posted by Big Brian 56 on 12/2/2008
There,s some on e-bay for £99.9 panagah 58db running at 1kw so maybe should lower price? OR shall we arm wrestle for it at Newark ?
Brian trust me those on ebay are nothing like as good as mine. Mine new is over £500. My mitubishi is basicaly the same as hte Honda.
We have got the Honda that cost over £500 - we run it on gas - I think it is noisy - I know nowhere near as noisy as the cheap ones but still noisy - if we use it we tend to charge up completely during the day say when not many people about and then it's ok for night. Solar panels sound interesting - we do tend to stay on sites though at the moment but don't always use elec as we have the genny (but not all sites let you use them as they are noisy - bit of a catch 22).
Go for a 130W solar panel, and 2 off 110ma + leisure batteries and an 1800W inverter. This setup would be no good if using a heavy amount of 240VAC, but will last for several days normal usage.