My normal generator is 1800 watts output and my battery charger is 20 Amps@ 24 volts and when batteries are low it shows the full 20 amp charge . Yesterday i bought a Goodyear 1100 watt ( 1000 nominal ) generator which i was very pleased with , started 1st pull and runs like clockwork at a steady RPM . This morning i decided to try it with the battery charger but the charger was only showing 9 Amps . To make sure there's was nothing else that could explain the discrepancy i had both generators running and kept swapping the plug between them , made no difference , 20 Amps on the larger one and 9 Amps on the new smaller one . Considered it might be faulty and not supplying the 1000 watts i plugged in a 600 watt electric drill while it was also powering the charger , i didn't notice any difference in sound or RPM , it certainly didn't feel like it was struggling . Voltages on both gensets is 230 volts and within a tenth of a volt . Two years ago we ran the same battery charger from an inexpensive 800 watt inverter suitcase generator , again if gave a full 20 amp charge to the batteries . Has anyone an explanation why the new generator when connected to the charger wont provide a 20 amp charge as out others do as i really didn't want to return the new Generator because in every other respect its a nice piece of kit .
A Generator anomaly that's really got me puzzled.
- Thread starter aKO
- Start date
FilterGuy
Solar Engineering Consultant - EG4 and Consumers
My guess is that the sign wave from the generator has a lot of noise in it that the charger is not handling very well.
The power quality varies dramatically from one generator to the next so it would not be a surprise to see differences between them.
BTW: what kind of generator is the 1800W generator? Is it an inverter/generator? Inverter generators typically produce much cleaner power.
The power quality varies dramatically from one generator to the next so it would not be a surprise to see differences between them.
BTW: what kind of generator is the 1800W generator? Is it an inverter/generator? Inverter generators typically produce much cleaner power.
Thanks Filter Guy , our 1800 is a Honda EU22i ( EU 2200I ) inverter Generator but i used to have a cheap 800 watt suitcase Inverter Geny and the same battery Charger produced the full 20 amps even with that . The new one i just bought is a normal generator with AVR , i only bought as a back up to my Honda which itself is a backup for our solar system should we get a day with bad weather in bad weather , were also now in the process of having its output doubled to help when we have a bad day , normal days our system manages fine on its own so were hoping by doubling the panel wattage we wont need a back up to it . Attached is the generator we just bought and our Battery Charger which cost around the same as the generator and is known here to be of good quality .
Attachments
svetz
Works in theory! Practice? That's something else
Might not be a good test... the drill doesn't consume the full 600 watts under no-load conditions, try plugging in a heat gun or hair drier that has a constant rated load.
FIlterGuy probably has the right of it. I'd call tech support and ask them, they might even RMA it. Please be sure to let us know what you learn.
You might also call the charger company tech support, sounds like their detection system is getting spoofed by harmonics. Switching between automatic and manual might make a difference (but probably not).
Will see what the generator manufacturer has to say after the holidays and post back here . Checked the htz and its between 48 and 51 but the voltage is stable within 1/10 of a volt AC . Although my batteries are almost full and in absorption I did just try selecting Automatic but the LED readout went blank , it did the same when i selected Automatic once before when the batteries were full but when i selected it when batteries were down it lit up the LEDs ok , not sure why LEDs go off when batteries are high .
Yessterday when i selected my Victron Multiplus Inverter/Charger it would not sync , charging light came on then off within a second or two but i tried changing the settings to accept Weak power after reading its set up manual , they seem to recommend AVR generators to Inverter ones , now the charger light came on and after a few seconds flashed to show it was in Float mode ....
Some generators have a waveform which makes it difficult to charge with the normal charge mechanism. Through activating the “Weak AC input” function, another mechanism is used which will enable the MultiPlus to charge under practically any condition.
Disadvantage of using this option is that the input power factor, normally equal or close to 1, will be degraded. This function should be used only when the preceding ones are ineffective.
Effectively, when Weak AC is enabled, the total charge current possible will be less that the rated maximum charge current output of the charger (under normal conditions).
Yessterday when i selected my Victron Multiplus Inverter/Charger it would not sync , charging light came on then off within a second or two but i tried changing the settings to accept Weak power after reading its set up manual , they seem to recommend AVR generators to Inverter ones , now the charger light came on and after a few seconds flashed to show it was in Float mode ....
Some generators have a waveform which makes it difficult to charge with the normal charge mechanism. Through activating the “Weak AC input” function, another mechanism is used which will enable the MultiPlus to charge under practically any condition.
Disadvantage of using this option is that the input power factor, normally equal or close to 1, will be degraded. This function should be used only when the preceding ones are ineffective.
Effectively, when Weak AC is enabled, the total charge current possible will be less that the rated maximum charge current output of the charger (under normal conditions).
Last edited:
littleharbor2
Solar Addict
20 amps @ 14 vdc is just over 2 amps @ 115 vac and just over 1 amp @ 230 vdc. The draw on the generator is minimal and is why you can run other loads without straining the generator.
FilterGuy
Solar Engineering Consultant - EG4 and Consumers
Every generator has different characteristics. It is entirely possible that the 'cheap 800W' generator had output characteristics that better matched the charger's needs. Generally speaking, the more expensive brand names will do better, but it is pretty much impossible to tell what any particular generator will do without firing it up and trying it.
