Charging battery with Honda Generator

[ctcamper]

Edit to add I found that the specs on the honda say it's 8 amps for the 12v output which would not be enough to give a good boost to the batteries quickly.
So NVM lol I will probably be better off running the onboard MH charger and power that with the honda ac outlet.

or buying a seperate charger that pushes out more amps.

[Campingman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ctcamper Edit to add I found that the specs on the honda say it's 8 amps for the 12v output which would not be enough to give a good boost to the batteries quickly. So NVM lol I will probably be better off running the onboard MH charger and power that with the honda ac outlet. or buying a seperate charger that pushes out more amps.

That's what I'd do.

[BryanL]

The 12v output on gensets is best seen as just a trickle charger. They don't run a high enough voltage to push much current into a battery.

A typical independent battery charger can work, especially if you want to push a lot of charge in a short time, but that is not always the best thing for the appliances and gadgets in your RV.

A good RV converter that has an intelligent 3 stage charger plus a storage maintenance mode will usually do just about as well as the battery charger, be much easier to use, and provide better power conditioning for the stuff in you RV.

Note also that a battery needs 8 to 12 hours to complete a charge. With a genset, most folks only run it for 3 or 4 hours at a time at most. That means that you need a charger with some smarts in order to get most of the bulk charge in during that time. That will generally get the battery back up to 80% to 90% of a full charge.

[Dagwood]

ctcamper I turn off all electrics in the camper and use adapters to my honda gen with the power cord and let my 3 stage charger do what it can in the alloted time ( most campgrounds limit the amount of time to run gens ). Even with the quiet honda campers in a tent next door will not like it.

[wa8yxm]

I would not use the 12 volt output on any portable generator save perhaps in either as an additional source in a jump start situtation or to run a 12 volt drop light.

Use the 120 volt out and the RV's converter, at the worst it is faster, and at the best, it's much much better.

[HandyBob]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ctcamper Edit to add I found that the specs on the honda say it's 8 amps for the 12v output which would not be enough to give a good boost to the batteries quickly.

The truth is that in order to charge batteries, you need volts. The Honda will work because it will actually get up to 14.8V, but slowly because it only puts out 8 amps. Most built in chargers don't work to actually put a full charge into batteries when powered by generators because they don't supply the volts needed for long enough to actually work. Inverter chargers do work, but need to be run for hours to really work. Read my RV Battery Charging Puzzle if you want some education on battery systems.

[BryanL]

The DC output on a genset will rarely get above a high float voltage, especially with any current draw. They are not intended to charge batteries but rather to supply minor DC loads.

Volts are indeed needed to push current but it is current that does the charging. Most modern battery chargers will use current to assess battery stage and then apply the voltage needed for the proper charging current at that state.

Inverters that have chargers usually have very good chargers that do battery state sensing and provide multiple stage charging.

The usual OEM converter in many RV's does little more than the genset 12v DC output does. That is one reason why an upgrade is often one of the best things you can do for your batteries. A good converter, such as the WFCO or PD will provide staged charging plus a good storage maintenance mode to keep a full charge and inhibit sulfation.

You also generally don't want to use a high current automotive charger because they often go to rather high voltages to get a lot of charging current. A good RV converter will take the voltage up sufficient for a good bulk charge but not so high as to risk damaging your RV appliances or other devices that may be connected to the DC power.

It always takes hours to fully charge a battery. Plan on 8 to 12 hours to fully and completely charge a battery. The time is needed to get the chemistry settled.

[ctcamper]

Thank you all,

I am familiar enough with charging batteries I was just not sure what the honda actually did. Reading the specs it is lacking. I still wonder why they have a charging cord with the 12 v outlet and it's not really up to speed on charging. You would think they would have a better charging circuit in it if they offered a charge cord accessory.
I boondock alot and I need somthing quiet to bring me up to charge. Running the genset on the old coach for just a couple of hours was not enough to bring my golf cart batteries up enough and the reason I could never run it enough was I didn't feel right disturbing the peace for that long. I hope, that the honda will be much better for this. There is usually a few hundred feet worth of trees inbetween the campsites so the honda should ( cross fingers) not even be noticeable.
I am not sure what the new rv will have for a converter/charger in it and I may have to swap it out. Tiffin doesn't give much information about what systems are used and since I am switching brands from Winnebago to Tiffin I am in the dark, at least until I get the coach. It won't be ready for a couple more months. The last coach had a step charger in it so it did very well and I monitor the batteries with my trimetric so I know where the are for charge at all times. Batteries are important in the woods

[woody!]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wa8yxm I would not use the 12 volt output on any portable generator save perhaps in either as an additional source in a jump start situtation or to run a 12 volt drop light. Use the 120 volt out and the RV's converter, at the worst it is faster, and at the best, it's much much better.

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