Gasoline Generator Recommendations

[billyehh]

Would you say the extra you paid for all that power offsets (close enough) the need to not buy or run a genny?

Absolutely. I belive that the solar array has been the best investment that I have installed on my boat. It was around $3500.00 for the 4 panels, a Blue Sky controller, the stainless steel rig spanning a 12ft bimini and some partime help from a good electrician who had lots of good ideas on the installation.

As I said its been over 2 years since I have been in a marina, hence no using of a charger which means no use for a generator. If it is cloudy, I need to run one of the engines for an hour to 90 minutes every 2 or 3 days. I think this is a reasonable tradeoff. Most of the time I am on the hook and maybe 20% on a mooring.

I can leave the boat for an extended period of time with refridgeration going and know that it will be fine in my absence. On a good sunny day between 10 am and 2 pm I will get an output of 30 amps.

[ADMPRTR]

Originally Posted by billyehh

I belive that the solar array has been the best investment that I have installed on my boat.

So now I have a range of options to consider in order of increasing cost: High Output alternator, generator or solar array with the gold standard being solar. Much to think about.

Thank you for the information.

[tiquelover]

Wise Sales maybe the cheapest out there but watch that you get the price as advertised on their website as I didn't get the as advertised price and they are unwilling to make an adjustment.

[mjwarner]

I'm sorry you had that experience with Wise. The price they gave me and that I paid in the end was actually $23.00 ( and a few cents) cheaper than the price they had online. I hope you can straighten things out with them. The folks I dealt with were very accommodating. Good Luck with sorting it out.

[raphaella]

Has anybody ever heard of a honda motor attached with a seperate alternator, meaning that you can charge your batteries faster thus less noise time and less gas

[atoll]

Originally Posted by raphaella

Has anybody ever heard of a honda motor attached with a seperate alternator, meaning that you can charge your batteries faster thus less noise time and less gas

you can build one yourself,as i did,down side is they are heavy,noisy,and unless you have a battery sensed alternator a normal machine sensed alternator will soon revert to trickle charging.

much better are the honda 240/110 with 12v 10amp outlet units
or used with a 110/240 v high output smart charger.

also for a 60amp alternator you will need a 3-5 hp motor,otherwise low batteries will stall the motor,untill the voltage rises.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by raphaella

Has anybody ever heard of a honda motor attached with a seperate alternator, meaning that you can charge your batteries faster thus less noise time and less gas

The Honda 2000s is a dc generator that uses an invertor to make it 120 volt. Not sure what the actual watts output out of the DC receptacle is though. You could certainly mount an alternator to a Honda engine... or to a small yanmar or kubota diesel!

"also for a 60amp alternator you will need a 3-5 hp motor,otherwise low batteries will stall the motor,untill the voltage rises. " I've mounted 100 amp alternators, with HO regulators on 6 hp Kubota diesels on two different builds with no issues whatsoever.... 100 amp alternators will only put out about 85+ amps at startup though..... I did test one with no regulator and just a huge rheostat. Got it near 100 amps for a few seconds , but the single v belt started to slip badly....

[GeoPowers]

Originally Posted by tiquelover

Wise Sales maybe the cheapest out there but watch that you get the price as advertised on their website as I didn't get the as advertised price and they are unwilling to make an adjustment.

+1 Be Very Careful ordering with Wise Sales! To make a long story short I was flat out lied to twice, never got my order, and ultimately had to file a dispute with my credit card company for resolution. I wish I had looked at their "F" rating on the BBB website first:

Wise Equipment & Rentals Inc Business Review in Schaumburg, IL - Chicago and Northern Illinois BBB


Frank

[zeta]

Bought my EF2000iS Yamaha Generator

from Wise about a year ago for approx $950. It has been a great unit so far.