# Back-up generator



## griffo

With a trip to the outer Hebrides planned, I decided it might be wise to buy a small generator to allow me to recharge my leisure battery in the absence of hook-up. I bought a very basic 2 stroke 750 Watt machine on ebay. Problem is when I hook it up to my 240 volt input I get the reverse polarity light illuminating, on the van control panel. I suspect this may be more to do with the waveform of the output rather than an actual polarity issue. Question is, is this likely to do any harm to my control panel if I try to use it ?


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## Davesport

A (cheap) genny that does'nt keep tight control over output voltage, frequency & wave form could do damage to any connected electronics, not just your control panel.

I know of one person who's had to replace the panel in his Niesmann & another who fried the board in his fridge. Both were attributed to the output of the connected genny.

Dave.


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## merlin wanderer

*generators*



griffo said:


> With a trip to the outer Hebrides planned, I decided it might be wise to buy a small generator to allow me to recharge my leisure battery in the absence of hook-up. I bought a very basic 2 stroke 750 Watt machine on ebay. Problem is when I hook it up to my 240 volt input I get the reverse polarity light illuminating, on the van control panel. I suspect this may be more to do with the waveform of the output rather than an actual polarity issue. Question is, is this likely to do any harm to my control panel if I try to use it ?


 Fellow campers dont get bogged down on generator issues
the best way and probably the cheapest (unless your driving a six ltr monster) is just to run the engine and charge with your onboard zig units
modern alternators have a very good output for doing the job if anything
add another battery


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## janeandbob

*RE Generator*

Problem is when I hook it up to my 240 volt input I get the reverse polarity light illuminating


Hi griffo  I have the same with mine its called a floting EARTH. What you need to do is get an earth stake and bang it in the ground tnd earth the generator I Dont alway bother everything is still OK. Good Luck Bob.


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## wildman

Hi, firstly A/c means alternating current, electrons run one way then another.  what matters is the earth. If you are really bothered about the van electrics use a change over switch to isolate the vans electrics and add extra 240v sockets then add a seperate 12v battery charger for generator use only. See below for link to automatically switch power. Good luck

http://www.kampenwagen.co.uk/power_selector.htm


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## shortcircuit

Before you connect to van, let generator run for a bit to settle down.  Purchase a Surge Protector, which is plugged between the generator and the van.


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## Don

I go with Janeandbob, and that iswhat the manual states as essential, Place a steel rod into the ground and connect to the earth point on Genny.
I went Solar and made the genny redundant.

Don


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## tresrikay

Genny,s are outdated dirty technology, they are heavy, extremely annoying to your neighbour's ( Easter at bakewell when the site electrics failed they nearly drove us to leave, because of the incessant monotonous drone of those using genny's) You have to carry an extremely volatile, smelly fuel and a decent one costs more than a solar panel, which works all hours of daylight, is silent lasts indefinitely, needs no substitute fuel and can keep you topped up year round whether you are on the van or not.


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## tresrikay

***** said:


> I have had a geny for 2 years and it has been used for less than 10 hours, but it is a real good piece of kit and will power anything that I would ever want to use and is a very powerful piece of mind
> You cannot blame the geny for other campers total disregard for fellow campers, just like a gun, it is the person and not the tool
> Maybe green issues cloud an objective view
> Everybody to their own.
> I know that I am happy to carry a geny, but I wish that I had purchased a Kipor and not a Honda as much cheaper and will do the same job



 Iknew I would wind you up with that post But honestly why carry all that weight around for two years just to get 10 hours use, when if you had a (very light) solar panel on your roof it would have been putting amps in your batteries every hour of daylight?


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## tresrikay

***** said:


> No, I was not wound up at all, but I do get a little fed up with all the Green Issues
> Regarding Solar Panels. They just will not do what a generator will
> on call when ever you need it, spontaneous
> I just like my geny for piece of mind and self sufficiency.
> Solar panels are also good, but it is horses for courses and if we were all the same, we would have the same M/H, same car, same clothes etc boring boring



When I was fitting out Boats, I worked from a van, Mobile lugged a Genny around (honda) for 6 years, It was brilliant as a tool to serve my business. However the noise I hated, The exhaust fumes I hated, The weight I hated, The pulling on that starter, I hated, leaking petrol, I hated. but it served me well and didnt break down too often. But boy was I glad to see the back of it, in fact i gave it to another boater, and swore I would never give another one house room. That is why I have made my van low draw L.E.D and put a solar panel on so the worst i will ever need, is to run my engine (already on board) So I cant think why I would need the use of a genny. Been M/Hing now for over 5 years and never needed one yet. There was no Solar panel or l.e.ds on my last van and I didnt need one for that either. Its not so much about green, as convenience.


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## Journeyman

*Gene V Site Electrics*



tresrikay said:


> Genny,s are outdated dirty technology, they are heavy, extremely annoying to your neighbour's ( Easter at bakewell when the site electrics failed they nearly drove us to leave, because of the incessant monotonous drone of those using genny's) You have to carry an extremely volatile, smelly fuel and a decent one costs more than a solar panel, which works all hours of daylight, is silent lasts indefinitely, needs no substitute fuel and can keep you topped up year round whether you are on the van or not.



Looks like the site electrics went down and your fellow caravanners did exactly what the original post was asking about. They used their genes for Backup.
Ach well if you must stay on a caravan site what do you expect. Now if you were a true Wilder you would have more than one facility as backup:
Engine, batteries, solar and a gene and even a wind(dare I say it) GENE!!!


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## lenny

Now there's a good point*, Wind Generators*, not seen much on these things but believe they are expensive,.
All the wind we've had lately you could power a small village with one


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## tresrikay

Journeyman said:


> Looks like the site electrics went down and your fellow caravanners did exactly what the original post was asking about. They used their genes for Backup.
> Ach well if you must stay on a caravan site what do you expect. Now if you were a true Wilder you would have more than one facility as backup:
> Engine, batteries, solar and a gene and even a wind(dare I say it) GENE!!!



Thats why I have a solar panel, low draw lighting, refillable gas bottles.......... and thats what I was using while they could not exist without......... halogen heating in the awning, electric kettles, microwaves, toasters, hairdryers, Irons.............. " Well we wanted a home from home". We disconnected and sat back and watched the fun as people wandered about with torches, knocking to ask if you had lecky... " don't need it mate"


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## tresrikay

***** said:


> How about this for a slogan.
> Get a life, get a geny



OR, ruin someone elses peace, get a genny


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## tresrikay

***** said:


> Got yah mr Greeny



UHH!


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## Belgian

*Let the wind blow*



lenny said:


> Now there's a good point*, Wind Generators*, not seen much on these things but believe they are expensive,.
> All the wind we've had lately you could power a small village with one



I allways wondered why we don't see small windgenerators on MH's
They exist for yachting. Isn't there any wind on land ? And why is the price of the smallest model so extremely high ? All by all it is mainly a propellor and a dynamo connected together. I guess it could be sold 10 times cheaper than they do now - (or am I so naive ?)


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## Trevor

Belgian said:


> I allways wondered why we don't see small windgenerators on MH's
> They exist for yachting. Isn't there any wind on land ? And why is the price of the smallest model so extremely high ? All by all it is mainly a propellor and a dynamo connected together. I guess it could be sold 10 times cheaper than they do now - (or am I so naive ?)


If i remember right someone was selling the plans to make a wind generator.
Could probably make one with a alternator from a scrapyard


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## Trevor

***** said:


> I could even paint my geny green will that count


Not green camo would be good then you might loose it when wilding


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## mlynnf50

*Help !!!*

I have just read all the replies on generators and am now totally confussed
We are in the throws of buy a generator as we are going to Greece for 6 weeks and would like to take a portable generator with us to run the mobile air conditioner off, and am now not sure, we were looking at a Honda Cassette 2000 kw, it says it is very quite,  HELP dont know now what to do.
it is very expensive 1300 euros this seems to be the only type we can buy here have looked around for different types but the dec seems very loud.


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## tresrikay

mlynnf50 said:


> I have just read all the replies on generators and am now totally confussed
> We are in the throws of buy a generator as we are going to Greece for 6 weeks and would like to take a portable generator with us to run the mobile air conditioner off, and am now not sure, we were looking at a Honda Cassette 2000 kw, it says it is very quite,  HELP dont know now what to do.
> it is very expensive 1300 euros this seems to be the only type we can buy here have looked around for different types but the dec seems very loud.



Look at this site www.moore-power.co.uk . They do a system with a solar panel, inverter, controller etc to power most needs from £899. If you are in Greece Solar will provide optimum QUITE reliable and FREE power. The Greeks are massive users of Solar power, so they must know what they are doing.


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## mlynnf50

*Generator/Solar Panels*

Hello All
Thanks for your help re. generators/solar,  I price the solar panels and invertor and the cost to run what we wanted would be £1500, the genny would be £800 and will be del. to France for us as well, this is a Kipor genny, so sorry to all the green people I think it will have to be a genny, I know you are all going to say I have to buy petrol but I dont think I will use £700 on fuel!! Just hope I am doing the right thing, any more advice would be appreciated, should I change the light bulbs to low wattage? and anything else anyone can suggest would be great.
Thanks again for all your advice.


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## Trevor

mlynnf50 said:


> Hello All
> Thanks for your help re. generators/solar,  I price the solar panels and invertor and the cost to run what we wanted would be £1500, the genny would be £800 and will be del. to France for us as well, this is a Kipor genny, so sorry to all the green people I think it will have to be a genny, I know you are all going to say I have to buy petrol but I dont think I will use £700 on fuel!! Just hope I am doing the right thing, any more advice would be appreciated,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> should I change the light bulbs to low wattage?
> 
> 
> 
> Why do that if you have a genny i dont see the point
Click to expand...


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## shortcircuit

I have carried a £60, 750W generator for some time now and used it on odd occassions.  We follow Karting and this weekend were down at Rowrah in Cumbria, where there are no hook-ups. A fault developed between the leisure batteries and the charger unit resulting in low voltage with heating not working.  As the generator fed straight into the charger unit we were able to have heating supported by the generator.  Solar power would not have been able to overcome this problem.

Hopefully I have resolved the connection problem, however I will not be without my generator in the future.

As previously stated, I let the generator settle down before connecting and have a surge protector at the generator.


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## tresrikay

shortcircuit said:


> I have carried a £60, 750W generator for some time now and used it on odd occassions.  We follow Karting and this weekend were down at Rowrah in Cumbria, where there are no hook-ups. A fault developed between the leisure batteries and the charger unit resulting in low voltage with heating not working.  As the generator fed straight into the charger unit we were able to have heating supported by the generator.  Solar power would not have been able to overcome this problem.
> 
> Hopefully I have resolved the connection problem, however I will not be without my generator in the future.
> 
> As previously stated, I let the generator settle down before connecting and have a surge protector at the generator.



You usually need heating when snug late at night, I would not be too happy if my nieghbour started using a 2 stroke genny next to me during evening hours. However Genny's are a boon to people like yourself at a meet of ( well lets face it after listening to karting all day , your ears will be a little on the numb side) like minded enthusiasts.


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## JOHN WEST

hi all/ i think u will need a good surge protector,my 800w genny,was going from 220vlt to 270 vlts, and the amps which do the damage were just as bad,it was a cheepy and never run that well,  there designed for power tools, not heating and micro waves and teles and electronics


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## Nosha

Has anyone actually suffered a flat leisure battery?? We've just got back from 3 day Bank hol' weekend - typical bank hol 1 day sun & 2 days wet!! So after 15hrs of TV, 10 hrs radio and about 5hrs of blown air heating the engine battery was 100% (radio) and the leisure battery was 70% (lights,TV,Heating) then we came home - no prob's.

I think Trotsky Rick is right, if after another couple of days you still don't need to drive to the shops/pub/garage/ etc then simply run the engine for a while and charge both batteries - simple!  And the £60+ you'll be paying for a genny will buy a lot of diesel even at todays rip-off prices!!

He's right, buy a genny and fall out with your neighbours... if you still have any!!!


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## borerider

OH,I'd hate to be parked nexed to tresrikay i bet he'd moan if my dog barked,I'v solar panels they work good WHEN the sun is out not so good in the rain, so thats why i carry a genorator to charge my bats up when it rains, as to running engin for 2or3 hours on tick over, you just soot it up and stink every  one close to you out , every one to there own  Bob


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## messenger 2.5td

*backup generator*

hi new member to the site,been following this thread for a while considered buying  a second lesuire battery all ready had a small 2 stroke generator a 650 watt model but not really up to the job so after reading some of the replies decided to buy a kipor digital model ig2000.used it for the first time this weekend been up to dumfries and galloway area for 3 days a very quiet generator compared to the 2 stroke and no mixing oil and petrol,generator ran on full tank for 7 hours before running out.tank capacity 3.5l so all in all very happy with it.cheers andy.


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## marrwyck

Hi everyone.
We have a Kipor 3000w genny & we only use it if required & if no ones around or if nobody else minds us running it for a few hours during the day. We always ask others parked near us if they mind us using it.

As we are going off on a tour & will mainly wild camp the genny seems the ideal way for us. Solar panels didn't seem to get too many votes & if someone was in trouble we could charge their van, get their engine battery charged & run our van at the same time, lol


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## wildman

messenger 2.5td said:


> hi new member to the site,been following this thread for a while considered buying a second lesuire battery all ready had a small 2 stroke generator a 650 watt model but not really up to the job so after reading some of the replies decided to buy a kipor digital model ig2000.used it for the first time this weekend been up to dumfries and galloway area for 3 days a very quiet generator compared to the 2 stroke and no mixing oil and petrol,generator ran on full tank for 7 hours before running out.tank capacity 3.5l so all in all very happy with it.cheers andy.


Welcome to the site, a genny is usefull if you get stuck, but then thats what recovery services are for, I guess I've been lucky with two 110amp/hr batts plus a seperate 85amp/hr all of which are kept topped up by solar panels. Not had a problem yet even running TV 5hrs a day . We do however move every day even is only a few miles. Now a solar still to keep the water topped up and we are all set. Winter project this year will be a wind generator so that I can use my 100W radio transmitter next year.


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## shortcircuit

Are recovery services going to attend due to a leisure battery being flat? 

As indicated in my previous posting, I had a problem between leisure battery and charger and in respect of solar power, the sun don't shine at night.

There is a place for a generator


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