power options for our camping setup.

[Autism Family Travels]

I am getting ready to install some 12v power for our sylvansport. I am wondering can I charge my battery with our Honda 1000w generator? I am looking at a 400ah LiPo battery, an inverter and some direct 12v as well, as the direct 12v is way more efficient. We will be charging some communication devices like the laptop, ipad and our phones, running some camp lights, and keeping our fridge running off it. If the generator would charge the house battery in a couple of hours we could get a few days from it being careful with our usage.

thanks for the information.

 

[grubworm]

i have a 280ah lifepo4 battery and i use a smart charger made for the lifepo batteries and it is rated as 7 amps max input...so 7 amps and 120v from your generator is 840w, so i would say that yes, 1000w generator should handle your situation.

look at your charger rating and see if the max amp draw will put you over the 1000w of the generator.

you might could use the 12v output of the generator to charge the battery via a charge controller. not sure if a MPPT controller will operate off of a generator. i dont think the dc output of a generator will be high enough voltage for the MPPT controller to work properly, but might be worth looking into.

the smart charger i use is 14.6v and up to 20 amp output, so on a huge battery like the 400ah, i would definitely go with a good charger that will jam those electrons into the battery.

 

[Flipper]

I am getting ready to install some 12v power for our sylvansport. I am wondering can I charge my battery with our Honda 1000w generator? I am looking at a 400ah LiPo battery, an inverter and some direct 12v as well, as the direct 12v is way more efficient. We will be charging some communication devices like the laptop, ipad and our phones, running some camp lights, and keeping our fridge running off it. If the generator would charge the house battery in a couple of hours we could get a few days from it being careful with our usage.

thanks for the information.

If you are using a stand alone LiPo charger not over 5-6Amps.should be no problem. I’m not sure if the Honda has a 12v DC port for charging but its probably unregulated.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

No, it's only 120v outputs on my generator and its inverter/buffered so I can plug in my computers etc. Have any idea how long it would take to charge the battery? THanks for the information. I could not find any around on the net giving a yes or no. Just a "this is a generator, and this is a battery" articles.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

Next up, again since I cannot find any information...How many days will my 48qt arb style 12v chest fridge run on 400ah battery? give or take.

 

[Dave in AZ]

Next up, again since I cannot find any information...How many days will my 48qt arb style 12v chest fridge run on 400ah battery? give or take.

In general, plan on 30-65W usage for a fridge. Depending on size, insulation, ambient temp, etc. The compressor won't run full time, or as often in cold weather as hot, or if insulated, or if all items inside are loaded up cold/frozen, etc. Also the temp you cool to, 34F vs 38F fridge, 0F freezer, etc.

So it is VERY VERY HARD to give an exact answer!
My 30L BougeRV uses 35W when it's running, set 34F and Eco mode, in my 76F house. So in 24hrs it calcs to 840 Watt-hrs... but it really only uses 400 or less due to compressor mostly sitting off. HOWEVER, in only 12 hrs in my truckbed when it was 115F, it used 500 Watt-hrs. Overnight, temps dropped to 55F, used 100 Wh only. Next day in truck cab, 75F, used much less, but I was plugged into car charger while driving so 120W charge, who knows.

So, PLAN on 1000-1200 Watt-hrs use per 24hrs for a 48qt ARB, then get better use by insulation, keeping it inside cooler part of car vs bed, loading up frozen items like water, running in fridge mode at 34F.

 

[LostWoods]

Next up, again since I cannot find any information...How many days will my 48qt arb style 12v chest fridge run on 400ah battery? give or take.

2-3 weeks without any additional charging depending on conditions. I can get 3-4 days on 100Ah in AZ heat pre-cooled and full.

Be aware that LiFePo does not have voltage falloff and will drink as much power as you can feed it so you need a dedicated charger to ensure you aren't overdoing it. It's easy to overcharge and damage them and it's just as easy to damage your power source because on something that large, it will likely take north of 1kW if you can give it.