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groingo
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# Posted: 13 Jun 2014 00:48 - Edited by: groingo
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Well this past week has been a real eye opener with the batteries setting a new record between charges of an easy seven days....charge level began at 12.97 and I recharged when they hit 11.99 but according to the hydrometer and the charger (which required only 8 amps instead of the normal 12) they were fully charged so I then charged to 12.77 in only five hours, I am feeling much more comfortable with these batteries, the lesson learned is "don't panic", they really do seem to require some time and recharges to get settled in plus once a month I am doing what I call a deep charge of 9 hours rather than the five hours every 4 to 7 days depending on usage....bottom line even with gas prices rising here, I am still coming in much less than grid power was costing me, it has been working so well I told the power company they can remove their meter, now that was the day of days!
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creeky
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# Posted: 13 Jun 2014 07:39
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Freedom!
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cbright
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# Posted: 13 Jun 2014 10:50
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What exactly is your setup?
Are you just charging with a generator? If so, what size/type of charger?
No solar?
Asking because I'm thinking of a hybrid setup with just some small panels (100w total) to top batteries off/keep charged and use my generator to charge when needed / or to power the place when I need lots of power (Honda EU3000i). I don't envision needed more than 400w at any one time and often much less ~100w.
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groingo
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# Posted: 13 Jun 2014 11:09
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I am using a small Powerhouse 500 watt generator, an old Sears 10 amp charger
with a manual mode but they key to making it work is my low power demand which is under 1/2 kwh a day.
Also, to get the best fuel mileage from the generator you need an efficient charger and generator, which in this case uses 1 quart of fuel every five hours at 50 capacity which gives me from 4 to 7 days between charges but that will be changing to one 10 hour charge once every 8 days to cut down on battery cycling and decrease fuel use while deep charging every time.
I am planning to move to solar eventually but till then this is doing far better than expected and is for me more cost effective than grid power which for the third time this year increased their rates just before I pulled the plug on them.
The key is good advice and support from people that know here on this forum and doing your homework and when you figure you have it....double it and you're good to go!
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groingo
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# Posted: 13 Jun 2014 13:16 - Edited by: groingo
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If you can keep your max power need below 400 watts you may want to look at a smaller Honda 2000 series because at 25% load (based on typical load based on rated specs of 1600 watts) that puts you in the 2000's sweet spot for maximum fuel mileage which would be 1 gallon fuel over 12 to 13 hours....from personal experience.
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