# Which generator?



## Clunegapyears (Feb 21, 2018)

Greece may be cheaper.  Which generator should we be looking at? 
We only need it to add a bit of charge to the leisure batteries. As we do not run hairdryers et cetera. Or TV! So we don’t want a really expensive one. But we do want one that will do the job. I know Honda are  supposed to be quiet but usually we are not near anybody and we would be considerate when using it!!

Also knowing nothing about them … How do we fix the generator to the leisure batteries to charge them?


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## Caz (Feb 21, 2018)

For that level of power use I would suggest a solar panel but would be a much better option.


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## Clunegapyears (Feb 21, 2018)

Caz said:


> For that level of power use I would suggest a solar panel but would be a much better option.



Have a big one of those but need a good supply of sun!


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## Clunegapyears (Feb 21, 2018)

Chainsaw Charlie said:


> I would go Honda but no they aren't quiet but good quality kit , the other important thing is to look at your onboard charger as most motorhomes come with more of a power supply unit than a dedicated battery charger.
> We ran the generator but that was to power a 50 amp smart batery charger which was far more efficient and higher charge amps and voltage than the onboard charger.



Thanks. Why is it always more complicated than you think?  At the adria dealer in Athens so will ask them... if in doubt we will wait till back in the UK to get the right onboard charger. 

What size generator should we be looking at?  Can get some comparable quotes from here.


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## Robmac (Feb 21, 2018)

Might be worth investing in some better batteries?

My 2xTrojan T125's run my electrics, (including compressor fridge) for several days, I can then simply take the van for a drive to top them up as well as the solar topping up.


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## runnach (Feb 21, 2018)

Over the years I think it would be fair to say Honda EU10 I or 20 pretty much will cover needs, At one point one or two liked Kippor generators ( Honda copies)
mixed reviews as I recall especially noise 

Channa


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## jagmanx (Feb 21, 2018)

*Kipor ?*

Can also get one which only uses LPG so no need to have a 3rd fuel.
If I had space to transport one that would be my choice.

Simply connect to MoHo using your EHU lead (suitably uncoiled) maybe leave fridge on gas


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## trevskoda (Feb 21, 2018)

In truth i would go for s/panels and bigger batterys rather than a gen,if only for charging and you want one then the little two stroke 650/850 w gens are fine,not to noisey either,cost about £75,and very light to lift and small to store.


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## trevskoda (Feb 21, 2018)

Chainsaw Charlie said:


> We had one of those it cost me £50 and it always started , kept it for 10 years and gave it away but was still working as we only used it on the odd occasions mainly in winter. Once we were without a base (Mums) we bought the Honda as reliable power becomes more important when you are off grid most of the time.



Yep the 850 wolf was sold in b&q for around £80 ish ,i was buying them trade at £50 and selling at boat jumbles adding a tenner to price,kept two for myself,never any trouble with the one i use,think mine is labled as cosmo tuning out 650w with a 12v 5ah charge port as extra,though as you say just plug in a 40/50 ah charger for best/fast result.
Chargers are on fleebay for under £90.


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## Clunegapyears (Feb 21, 2018)

Thanks for all the replies.  

We already have a large solar panel. AGM gel batteries less than 2 years old. Just had them tested 12.7 volts. 

We are full timing and don’t want to have to move every day. Short journeys only partially charge the batteries. 

So a small Honda seems to be the way to go.  We would not need to use it every day, certainly until the batteries start to fail. 

Question ... if we connect the generator using the EHU cable, why do we need to switch off the onboard charger?  Doesn’t the generator just work like being on EHU?  Sorry a complete tech numpty.


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## trevskoda (Feb 21, 2018)

Clunegapyears said:


> Thanks for all the replies.
> 
> We already have a large solar panel. AGM gel batteries less than 2 years old. Just had them tested 12.7 volts.
> 
> ...



No leave it on,what folk are telling you is that the units in vans are part charger and part power supply,in all most are not very good where as a dedicated high power smart charger is much better.
You charger will take a long time to recharge the battery bank so the gen will be on for almost all day,where as a 40ah charger will pull up batts in a shorter time.


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## molly 2 (Feb 21, 2018)

700 w pure sinewave 4 stroke lightweight generator £185 from screwfix .


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## molly 2 (Feb 21, 2018)

the best way is a Honda running on LPG .


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## jagmanx (Feb 21, 2018)

*This one*

Great for occasional use or emergency use.
I might even get one !
Impax IM800I 700W Inverter Generator 230V | Generators | Screwfix.com


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## Tonybvi (Feb 21, 2018)

Reluctant to recommend a gennie as I hate them but we do carry one for winter use only in N Scotland.  I am surprised nobody has mentioned Champion.  I cart a 2kw Champion 7200 around with me in winter.  I reckon that not only is it considerably cheaper than Honda but significantly quieter as well, although it is slightly larger.  It has never let me down in more than 3 years - most use has been at home as we quite often have power cuts when the weather is really bad.
Tony


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## Wully (Feb 21, 2018)

For a small neat genny for a motorhome it’s got to be Honda iu10 or iu20 the rest are crap don’t care I know through experience had all the cheap ones they are now in bin. Buy a Honda it’ll last for ever and still be worth half what you paid for it in 10 years if looked after.


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## barge1914 (Feb 21, 2018)

*Generator*

Hi
We too have solar panels and 2 batteries. Normally these suffice well enough but beyond mid October and before April they struggle if we don’t keep moving. Bought a Honda 10i for use in winter, now that our son lives up there it’s going to become a regular winter destination. Still despite it being b....y freezing and heat on all the time we rarely needed to use it, only when stopping more than one day and then only for a couple of hours. Our main power issue is the ruddy tank heaters. If your tanks are inboard, lights all led, and low power tele then not such a problem. We found it quiet enough with the gene close by the van, although not so quiet it wouldn’t upset the genephobes! I agree with others though, if we were using it a lot then we’d invest in a bigger charger.


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## Fazerloz (Feb 21, 2018)

hairydog said:


> The snags with 2-stroke generators are the heavy fuel consumption and the smell of the exhaust fumes. Apart from that...



Run it on Castrol R and it will smell lovely.:have fun:


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## trevskoda (Feb 21, 2018)

hairydog said:


> The snags with 2-stroke generators are the heavy fuel consumption and the smell of the exhaust fumes. Apart from that...



Not much at so small a CC ,mine holds 4 ltr and runs for 4 hrs plus not much smell if down wind.:lol-053:


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## trevskoda (Feb 21, 2018)

molly 2 said:


> the best way is a Honda running on LPG .



Extra fuel to carry,just another burdon.


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## Deleted member 56601 (Feb 21, 2018)

If you're going down the genny route, do it properly:-


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## Lee (Feb 21, 2018)

Edina said:


> If you're going down the genny route, do it properly:-



It is that one of the silent running ones I hope!


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## Les Haro (Feb 21, 2018)

Lee said:


> It is that one of the silent running ones I hope!



Was next to one of these at an event and it only hummed a little not intrusive either.


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## Lee (Feb 21, 2018)

When you say hummed a little, was that a noise or a smell?


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## Les Haro (Feb 21, 2018)

Lee said:


> When you say hummed a little, was that a noise or a smell?



It was so quiet if you couldn't see what it was you would not have guessed either, and the exhaust vented straight up. These machines are designed for purpose unlike MH's which are a collection of bits stuck together in a pleasant order.


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## blights (Feb 21, 2018)

Clunegapyears said:


> Have a big one of those but need a good supply of sun!



Solar panels use the energy from daylight, as opposed to sunlight, to produce electricity so panels do not need direct sunlight to work. It is photons in natural daylight which is converted by solar panels cells to produce electricity, Just saying as they are lots more neighbour friendly too lol


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## Tonybvi (Feb 21, 2018)

blights said:


> Solar panels use the energy from daylight, as opposed to sunlight, to produce electricity so panels do not need direct sunlight to work. It is photons in natural daylight which is converted by solar panels cells to produce electricity, Just saying as they are lots more neighbour friendly too lol



That’s fine in theory.  However we have a 3kw PV array on our house roof in NE Scotland.  Today with almost wall to wall sunshine the array generated just under 14kw.  Yesterday which was fair but no sunshine the array generated 4kw.  Downsize that to a typical 120w motorhome photovoltaic panel and it won’t do much on a dull day in winter.


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## trevskoda (Feb 21, 2018)

***** said:


> Having owned both a Honda EU20i and the EU10i it depends on what you want to use it for.
> If it is just to charge the batteries and light use, go for the EU10i.
> If you want to use a Microwave or similar, go for the EU20i
> Certainly buy a Honda, they do what they are supposed to do!



I have a honda from almost new as the first owner could not get it started,now i have worked on it for hours and the sh--ter starts and runs for about 5 sec then cuts out.
The arb is clean the spark is fantastic & i have changed plug used easy start but still no goey.next will be to replace oil low p switch,after that its the bin cart,total sh one t same as there outboard engines.


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## Robmac (Feb 21, 2018)

trevskoda said:


> I have a honda from almost new as the first owner could not get it started,now i have worked on it for hours and the sh--ter starts and runs for about 5 sec then cuts out.
> The arb is clean the spark is fantastic & i have changed plug used easy start but still no goey.next will be to replace oil low p switch,after that its the bin cart,total sh one t same as there outboard engines.



I've had some brilliant Honda outboards Trev. Still got one in the garage from the 80's which runs just fine.

I have a Mariner 25 on my boat at the moment which I also rate quite highly, but if I was to buy a new engine now, I would probably go for a Honda.


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## rockape (Feb 21, 2018)

trevskoda said:


> I have a honda from almost new as the first owner could not get it started,now i have worked on it for hours and the sh--ter starts and runs for about 5 sec then cuts out.
> The arb is clean the spark is fantastic & i have changed plug used easy start but still no goey.next will be to replace oil low p switch,after that its the bin cart,total sh one t same as there outboard engines.


Done all of that Trev with a Kipor that I had ,even it a new carb on it, bag of shite. It had run ,at a guess, 20 hrs max.
Sold it for spares on eBay.
Now using a 2000w gennie i got from Aldi, so far so good.


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## trevskoda (Feb 21, 2018)

Robmac said:


> I've had some brilliant Honda outboards Trev. Still got one in the garage from the 80's which runs just fine.
> 
> I have a Mariner 25 on my boat at the moment which I also rate quite highly, but if I was to buy a new engine now, I would probably go for a Honda.



Maybe you are in fresh water,put them in salt and within a year the h/gasket will blow or in one i had in the salt had eaten through the c/head beside the spark plug,remember i work at these as its my income.
If i were buying it would be toyhatsu as they make merc/mariner up to 30hp,yamaha would be my next pic of which the chinese engines i sell are copied from but at half the price,mind the paint comes of them in a couple of years but there elcheepo.


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## barge1914 (Feb 21, 2018)

*LPG generator*



trevskoda said:


> Extra fuel to carry,just another burdon.



Yes at first we were attracted to an lpg gennie, but... you can get petrol everywhere, even in fairly remote places where otherwise you would have to go a very long way to replenish your lpg supply, and invariably at the time of year when you are guzzling it also for heating. Also with the lpg gubbins the gennie is more bulky and wouldn’t at least for us fit in the available space.


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## Wully (Feb 21, 2018)

Trev my mate bought what he thought was a Honda iu20 off an Irish guy out the back of a van had it in a Honda box stickers on the side said Honda what a piece of Shiite that was I nearly pisshed ma self laughing when he showed me it think he gave him £500 I done my homework they wer buying them from Thailand for £30 each so no harm I don’t trust Irishmen when it comes to generators


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## Robmac (Feb 21, 2018)

trevskoda said:


> Maybe you are in fresh water,put them in salt and within a year the h/gasket will blow or in one i had in the salt had eaten through the c/head beside the spark plug,remember i work at these as its my income.
> If i were buying it would be toyhatsu as they make merc/mariner up to 30hp,yamaha would be my next pic of which the chinese engines i sell are copied from but at half the price,mind the paint comes of them in a couple of years but there elcheepo.



Yeah, freshwater Trev.


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## trevskoda (Feb 21, 2018)

Looser cruiser said:


> Trev my mate bought what he thought was a Honda iu20 off an Irish guy out the back of a van had it in a Honda box stickers on the side said Honda what a piece of Shiite that was I nearly pisshed ma self laughing when he showed me it think he gave him £500 I done my homework they wer buying them from Thailand for £30 each so no harm I don’t trust Irishmen when it comes to generators



Nor would i,had one here last year,i said two words to him and the last on was off.:hammer:


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## trevskoda (Feb 21, 2018)

Robmac said:


> Yeah, freshwater Trev.



Yep the ones on l/earn last for years.


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## Wully (Feb 21, 2018)

That wee piece of equipment that I bought at Christmas the one I darent mention works a treat been using it quite a lot batteries full to bursting was gonna phone the National grid to see if they wanted to buy my surplus power.


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## Canalsman (Feb 21, 2018)

I'm getting one when I return to the UK ...


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## Wully (Feb 21, 2018)

POI Admin said:


> I'm getting one when I return to the UK ...



Chris worth every penny it  dose what it says on the tin early days yet but I’m over the moon so far.


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## Fazerloz (Feb 21, 2018)

trevskoda said:


> I have a honda from almost new as the first owner could not get it started,now i have worked on it for hours and the sh--ter starts and runs for about 5 sec then cuts out.
> The arb is clean the spark is fantastic & i have changed plug used easy start but still no goey.next will be to replace oil low p switch,after that its the bin cart,total sh one t same as there outboard engines.



Blooming ek Trev you must have got the one that Kipor copied . How unlucky is that.


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## chrismilo (Feb 21, 2018)

I personally don’t like the new hondas eu1 eu2 cheap plastic looking aluminium pistons ect
I have and old Honda em300 which puts out 8 amps to charge a battery but is capable of running a 20amp battery charger nearly 3 hours on half a gallon 60 amps in battery ? gets me out of trouble if all else fails I paid 200 for it it was still boxed and nearly new runs still now like it ran nearly 55 years ago can’t see the modern ones being around in 55 or so years


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