Using Generator to Charge Batteries

[clyon51]

Originally Posted by texnet

Why is it that some folks just have to jab someone else... no place was it stated that he had NO AC power at his storage location...

Sorry, didn't mean to jab anyone. It was just clear in the original post there was no AC available. If there were, he wouldn't have had any problem to begin with. Inferring there was just confused the OP, as was seen in his reply. Doesn't matter now anyway, he's probably going down the road by now with a grin above his chin

[mel s]

Originally Posted by texnet

Why is it that some folks just have to jab someone else... no place was it stated that he had NO AC power at his storage location...

texnet
Since TandCplusRV, (the poster of the original question), stated: "I'm sitting here in storage trying to run the generator enough to bring the charge up".... common sense dictates that he has NO AC power at his storage location.
(Sometimes you simply have to "read between the lines").

Mel
'96 Safari

[Dr4Film]

Originally Posted by mel stuplich

Common sense dictates that he has NO AC power at his storage location.
(Sometimes you simply have to "read between the lines").

Mel
'96 Safari

But Mel, he DOES have AC power while at his storage simply by starting his generator. (It's just that there's no FREE power available from the storage facility)

The biggest problem is he doesn't have a high amp charger to run off of the 120 VAC.

By plugging one into a generator powered outlet he'd be good to go in about one hour or less.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[mel s]

Originally Posted by Dr4Film

The biggest problem is he doesn't have a high amp charger to run off of the 120 VAC.
By plugging one into a generator powered outlet he'd be good to go in about one hour or less.
Dr4Film ----- Richard

Richard
Apparently that is his problem.

BTW, I am not a big fan of recharging discharged house batteries with the engine powered alternator.......
I may be wrong but I believe that the cause of both of my 100amp alternator failures was that far to often I drove after a few days of boondocking..... (without first running my genset to recharge my house batteries via my inverter's 100 amp built in 3 stage charger).

Mel
'96 Safari, 132k miles
100 amp Delco 21SI alternator, (now converted to 130amp)

[gemini5362]

Originally Posted by mel stuplich

Richard
Apparently that is his problem.

BTW, I am not a big fan of recharging discharged house batteries with the engine powered alternator.......
I may be wrong but I believe that the cause of both of my 100amp alternator failures was that far to often I drove after a few days of boondocking..... (without first running my genset to recharge my house batteries via my inverter's 100 amp built in 3 stage charger).

Mel
'96 Safari, 132k miles
100 amp Delco 21SI alternator, (now converted to 130amp)

I honestly do not know of any reason why using the engine alternator to charge house batteries would cause premature failure of the alternator unless you had a bad batter with a shorted condition or something like that. Having said that if my house batteries are low when I am starting the engine I turn on the generator to let them charge while running down the road. I do not have a good reason behind doing that it just makes me feel more comfortable doing it that way.

[TandCplusRV]

All snark aside, thanks to all for the replies and peace of mind. Ran the gen for about 2.5 hours and disconnected the batteries. Came back and re-connected the house around 6pm to turn the fridge on. Hit the road Friday morning at 6:30 and the batteries were a bit iffy (12.0v on the house) but the chassis was a bit higher and she started right up. Sadly it rained heavily all Thursday late afternoon and evening and, in addition to starting right up, I also got wet feet - seems I have a leak somewhere up front that is letting moisture into the floor in the cockpit on both the driver's and passenger's sides. If it's not one thing it's another.

Had a great weekend with friends at Disney's Fort Wilderness anyhow!

Hopefully with a little fiddling the battery issue is beat. Now on to the leak(s).