Portable Inverter Generator or Reg. Generator?

[S/V Alchemy]

Why not shrink wrap a spare circuit board with a bit of dessicant as a form of insurance? The wiring isn't that difficult.

[colemj]

If you are running an open frame generator on deck, I hope you never share an anchorage with us.

Mark

[S/V Alchemy]

Good point. I would imagine they attract flares.

[simonmd]

I'd recommend a good set of house batteries and a properly built in inverter. Then you only need run genny to top them up.

[S/V Alchemy]

That in fact is how I use mine: as an emergency, tertiary charge source on a cloudy (no solar), windless (no wind generator) day when I need to work on the engine or have no real need to run it for just the alternator output.

I have a 2000 W inverter aboard, but if I need to run a power tool for 10 minutes, it's actually more efficient to run the Honda and burn three tablespoons of gasoline instead of all that lossy conversion.

When it's sunny, windy and I'm running under power at five knots to pump the holding tank three point one NM out? Fire up the ShopVac, dear, it's spring cleaning day.

But for short term use of 10 amps or less AC...the Honda or equivalent units are the right choice for me. The inverter is my choice, by contrast, for running computers or the microwave, assuming I'm OK with my battery bank state of charge.

[Hatch]

Don't worry Mark - at 67 decibels we wouldn't be a bother to you with our open frame.

As for the other replies - we do have a solar panel and wind gen. we only use the gen. for small things that take up energy quickly - like the microwave. so the generator is only used for short periods.

For those of you that actually read the original meaning of this thread - thank you !!
We are looking for an inverter generator and will learn to coat the circuits for protection from salt.

Each generator has a specific use, we are just trying to determine what is best for us.

[capngeo]

[simonmd]

[simonmd]

While we're on the subject, check out this latest model I came accross while looking for the above logo,

Hyundai HY3000SEi Petrol Leisure Generator with Remote Start - YouTube

REMOTE electric start! Pretty cool to have that on the boat, no need to go up top if you just want to run the microwave for a few mins.

[Hatch]

OK - that is too cool !!!!
Thanks Simonmd !!

I'll start looking around for that !!

[youmeandthed]

i bought a used honda ex for a few hundred,.and even a monkey like myself can fix it when it breaks down. If you get salt water on the electrical parts of a inverter model, you might as well buy a new one. But if you are dilligent and keep it safe away from corrosive areas they will last forever. I vote honda, then yamaha, 2000 watts is nicer, but if it is between a 1000 watt used honda or 2000 watt anything else, go with the honda

[Hatch]

I appreciate what your saying.
But I need a min. of 2000 watts for a microwave that has a starting watt usage of 1500 and it's rated as a 700 watt unit.

The hyundi hy3000sei sounds great !!
But after thinking about it - I would still need to up-top and uncover the unit just to turn it on - so the remote seems useless for us.

The decibels on the "SEi" are 58 with no load.
But the amps and price are appealing. ($1,200 plus shipping)

But if we found a quieter 2000watt inverter (used) - we can still use a 30amp cord with a 110v adaptor and be careful not to exceed 13amps.

[Hatch]

Oh - as far as keeping the unit "safe" we'll keep it strapped down on top of the Pilothouse, and covered with a small canvas tarp.

That's the best we can do.
Hopefully, with a good electical corrosive prevention spray - it's enough to
to keep it going for many years !!

[engele]

Yamahas are great. We love ours, though we rarely use it. Under $1000 for the 2000 watt model.

[Nostrodamus]

I too am looking for a portable generator.
A lot of people suggest the Kipor IG 2000 which is basically a copy of the Honda at less than half the price.
Anyone tried one of these?