Solar panel on the bonnet

[trevskoda]

As others have said solar harvest in winter is very low. Engine wouldn't be running very long to match the solar harvest especially with B2B bumping the voltage up.
I don't think a bit of idling will do a modern engine much harm - just think of all the idling city commuters do.

@Derekoak - As a matter of interest what is your daily electric consumption?

Any city cars i worked on or traded were knackered at 35000 miles, taxi or high speed motorway engines went round the clock many times, the sump when removed or rocker cover tells the story.

 

[trevskoda]

I asked a friend who is a motor mechanic about this. After telling him my van was based on a T1N he advised me against idling the engine to generate power. I dont have an ear valve fitted so thought it would be okay. The answer was if I needed to run the engine it should be kept above 1200rpm, this meant sitting in the drivers seat with foot on the pedal.
I did have to do this year before last when i go snowed in for 8 days and before i bought my genny. I mainly kept the revs above 1200 as advised but when I came to move from where i was parked you should have seen the smoke from the exhaust. Took it for a run for 10 - 15 minutes and smoke cleared. I assume that it was unburnt fuel so what will that do to the cat?
It costs me around a fiver a week running my generator or £1 a day if I dont move and no solar. Much better option to my mind but you do need space to store genny and a can of fuel.

Even doing as he said is incorrect, why, well the rings do not get forced out onto the bore as they would when under a load, hence the oil which bypassed and burned of when you moved, doing this all the time leads to an oil burning engine with a low compression, this is a problem with city cars or ones driven on school runs by the ladies, sorry girls it a fact.

 

[mfw]

Trouble at the moment is you cant really go anywhere to get engine warm enough to remove/burn the crud which builds up which is why commercial vehicles get high mileages and dont wear too much - 50 mile trip has only just started to warm engine up in my view - and i've not been further than 10 mls from home since mid april

 

[Nabsim]

Even doing as he said is incorrect, why, well the rings do not get forced out onto the bore as they would when under a load, hence the oil which bypassed and burned of when you moved, doing this all the time leads to an oil burning engine with a low compression, this is a problem with city cars or ones driven on school runs by the ladies, sorry girls it a fact.

His answer was advised me not to do it Trev, he said if I needed to then keep revs up

I know lots of folks do run engine for power and if they are happy that’s fine, not for me though

 

[alwaysared]

I connect the genny to the 240v input on my van then use the two mains charger that are built in, I dont use the 12v charging function of the genny. I have a Hyundai 1Kw suitcase type genny, although a higher output would mean I can run bigger chargers this one means I can lift and carry it (and store it) easily, that may not be important for a lot of others.

How long I run it depends on how low my bank has gone but in worst conditions it may average at 2 hours a day although I normally run it every other day. It automatically adjusts the revs on the genny depending on how much power you are drawing, it usually runs the chargers and charges the dyson on eco at lowest sped.

I would like the Hyundai 2Kw model but as said previously I would struggle lifting and carrying it. The 1Kw weighs 14kg dry and only another couple of kgs or so toped up with oil and fuel. Everyone who has heard it has said it is quiet but as we know noise works differently to different people. I only run it during the day, usually when nobody is around

Edit: I have 200Ah lifepo4 battery bank and use approx 65amps every 24 hours

Thank you for the information, the problem with doing it like that for me is I have a a Victron Inverter/Charger and the charger is 120amps and would need a larger genny?

Regards,
Del

 

[trevskoda]

His answer was advised me not to do it Trev, he said if I needed to then keep revs up

I know lots of folks do run engine for power and if they are happy that’s fine, not for me though

Yep but its the load more than reves, you are correct not to do it, problem is city cars have to, hence gummed up knackered donkeys at low milages.