Charging batteries with generator.
 

I'm going to be using my small champion 1600/2000 generator this weekend for the first time to charge. House batteries. Anyone have a good guess how many amp hours I can put back in per hour of running the generator?

Rick

Best bet would be to use an automotive battery charger hooked up to your generator and to the battery to charge it. This would get the job done faster and more efficiently. Just a thought................

Bob

So- that would charge faster than the converter/charger in the camper?? Why is that? More amps from the charger?
I guess I never really checked the specs on what is in the Hi-Lo. But, thanks for that tip.

Rick

hilltool,

like retiredcamper47 said, depends on what size converter you have and what size automotive battery charger you have. I installed a 35 amp converter in the Hi-Lo and my automotive battery charger is 10 amps, so I go with the converter, plus I can use the 120 volt receptacles in the camper while charging the battery.

I do think my HI-LO charger/converter is thirty amp and my little auto charger is only 70/12/2 with "12" being the important number, I would think. So I think GAry may be right that plugging in my shore power cord should do better than the auto charger. I would agree with retiredcamper, though, that an automotive charger would work better than just charging straight off the generator.

I got a CPAP machine this summer and I'm guessing it draws 40 to 50 amp hours in an eight hour night. I've got two group 27 batteries than give me about 100 amp/hours a piece in optimal conditions but its starting to get chilly here in Wisconsin during the night. So- I'm going to e wanting to charge them up after two nights I figure especially if we run the furnace to take the chill off in the mornings. We will be boondocking in a State park. What I am unsure of is how many amps I can get back into the battery ---I doubt the charger is putting out 30 amps an hour.

Rick

You may want to read this article: The 12volt Side of Life (Part 1)

Charging is a somewhat complex operation, so using the proper type of charger and the proper charge rate goes a long way toward having long lasting batteries.

The answer to your question: It all depends.