Inverter generator

[zcsccg1]

This is the one I have, use it for festivals, for the California plus my Caravan when that get's a trip out. Fantastic bit of kit, not much louder than the Honda which is more than twice the price. Really is a good bit of kit, have a look at the youtube reviews, but never had an issue with it ... only 1kw but it's more than up to the job.

Hyundai 1000W Portable Petrol Inverter Generator HY1000Si

The Hyundai HY1000Si is the smallest model of petrol inverter generator in the Hyundai leisure range. The ideal petrol generator to take on your camping, caravanning or boat trips, at only 14kg, it has a lightweight and portable frame that makes this the easiest and most stylish portable...

www.towsure.com

 

[campandfly]

This is the one I have, use it for festivals, for the California plus my Caravan when that get's a trip out. Fantastic bit of kit, not much louder than the Honda which is more than twice the price. Really is a good bit of kit, have a look at the youtube reviews, but never had an issue with it ... only 1kw but it's more than up to the job.

Hyundai 1000W Portable Petrol Inverter Generator HY1000Si

The Hyundai HY1000Si is the smallest model of petrol inverter generator in the Hyundai leisure range. The ideal petrol generator to take on your camping, caravanning or boat trips, at only 14kg, it has a lightweight and portable frame that makes this the easiest and most stylish portable...

www.towsure.com

Thanks. I will check it out.
I hope to be able to top up the 3 Cali batteries occasionally. It would be great if I could fire it up automatically somehow and run it to top up. Not sure if that's a pipedream as it would potentially be unattended.

 

[v-tec]

I have a Honda only because I worked for them,
Hyundai would be my choice if it was my own money,

 

[GSX1300R]

I have to put our Cali in a garage with no electric. So cannot leave the vehicle on hook up while we are away sometimes 3 months at a time.
Cannot use solar as an option as not permitted.
Was thinking to use a small petrol generator obviously with ventilation to outside.
Normally our batteries are more or less charged when we park in the garage so its just a case of keeping them topped up.
I wondered if it would be possible to run a small generator somehow automatically when needed by the Cali or at least have it run for so many hours each month.

Just thinking outside the box. Need someway of topping up while away.

You say you can’t use solar as it’s not permitted. how is the garage constructed? Flat roof or pitched? A generator would only run for a few hours on a full tank...And you wouldn’t want to advertise the fact you have a nice easily accessible portable generator in garage that you are away from for 3 months at a time....

 

[campandfly]

You say you can’t use solar as it’s not permitted. how is the garage constructed? Flat roof or pitched? A generator would only run for a few hours on a full tank...And you wouldn’t want to advertise the fact you have a nice easily accessible portable generator in garage that you are away from for 3 months at a time....

Thanks Peter.
I am leaning away from the portable petrol generator now as no use if I am away as it would need an ATS switch and that gets too complicated and expensive.

The next avenue to explore is a portable power pack that can provide 240v. This would be charged either at home or by the van when I was out and about. Then I would hope to leave it connected by hook up to maintain the batteries.
If the Cali batteries are 100% when connected to the power pack I am hoping that would be enough to keep them topped up for quite some time if everything in the Cali is turned off.
I know I can get a 240v power pack but not sure how much the Cali would need to draw when it was topping up.
More research required. Solar is not an option at the moment.

 

[Loz]

Why waste power by going from a battery to an inverter to a battery charger to a battery?

Just buy a whopper of a 12v leisure battery and connect it in parallel to the starter battery with a lead and Anderson connectors. It would add a couple of months to the capacity of the main battery.
if you turn off the control panel off, the leisure batteries will just sit there charged with nothing drawing from them.

 

[campandfly]

Why waste power by going from a battery to an inverter to a battery charger to a battery?

Just buy a whopper of a 12v leisure battery and connect it in parallel to the starter battery with a lead and Anderson connectors. It would add a couple of months to the capacity of the main battery.
if you turn off the control panel off, the leisure batteries will just sit there charged with nothing drawing from them.

Yes that's a good idea I still have the 3 batteries connected in parallel that I recently took out of the Cali in the garage so I guess that would take care of the Starter battery. Then I have the Leisure batteries to maintain as well.

 

[Loz]

Yes that's a good idea I still have the 3 batteries connected in parallel that I recently took out of the Cali in the garage so I guess that would take care of the Starter battery. Then I have the Leisure batteries to maintain as well.

If the leisure batteries are charged when you leave them and you properly turn off the control panel, then there is nothing to drain them and they should hold a charge for months.

 

[GSX1300R]

Thanks Peter.
I am leaning away from the portable petrol generator now as no use if I am away as it would need an ATS switch and that gets too complicated and expensive.

The next avenue to explore is a portable power pack that can provide 240v. This would be charged either at home or by the van when I was out and about. Then I would hope to leave it connected by hook up to maintain the batteries.
If the Cali batteries are 100% when connected to the power pack I am hoping that would be enough to keep them topped up for quite some time if everything in the Cali is turned off.
I know I can get a 240v power pack but not sure how much the Cali would need to draw when it was topping up.
More research required. Solar is not an option at the moment.

I can’t image you are going to need a lot of power to keep the leisure batteries “topped up”.. If everything is turned off as in the central control panel there is no battery drain at all..They do advise you to top them up every month but if everything is turned off then maybe 6 weeks would do it..But even the smallest thing can run the batteries down really quick.

 

[campandfly]

I can’t image you are going to need a lot of power to keep the leisure batteries “topped up”.. If everything is turned off as in the central control panel there is no battery drain at all..They do advise you to top them up every month but if everything is turned off then maybe 6 weeks would do it..But even the smallest thing can run the batteries down really quick.

Yes this is my problem. Potentially 3 months.

 

[B J G]

I have a large Hyundai 4.4KW standby generator which is very quiet. Told by Gas Conversion Supplier that it was the same design as Honda and their Honda kit fitted with no issues. Kept in French holiday home.
I also have a Portable Honda 2.0i here, quite bulky for the Cali.
From my experience I'd happily buy a Hyundai very price competitive. Good range.

Generator Petrol Inverter Portable Suitcase Silent from 1kw upto 4kw HYUNDAI P1 | eBay

Hyundai HY4500SEI 230V Petrol Driven 4300W/4.0kW Portable ‘Silenced’ Generator. Weighing 89kg combined with the front and rear molded grip handles and four wheels make transportation easy across a variety of surfaces.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Wondering Star]

EFOY fuel cell looks interesting?