I've been thinking about one of the Harbor Freight units. I was at camp early
in July and it was real hot so we ran the ceiling fan right up until the charge
controller for the solar system said "Enough of that" (10.9v). It the (of
course) got real cloudy the next day (but stayed hot) so I pulled out the 3k
generattle and pumped 10a/hr into the batteries for about 4 hours a day.
Actually it was the next day that I realized that the default float level on
our charge controller is 13.6v. I think that means our batteries have been
chronically under-charged. I bumped it to 14.4 but of course now I read that it
should probably be 14.2. By the time I left a few days later we'd had some sun
and were back up to 12.6 or so. It'll be interesting to see how it fares the
next time I go. We doubled the capacity of the battery bank in the spring but
my mother has no concept of "conserve". She doesn't seem to understand there is
a finite amount of power and running a 4a draw 24 hours a day could use it all
up.
We've got lousy solar exposure so our panels make way under rated wattage. Next
time I'm up there I'm going to spend some time making sure that the expose is
our issue and not bad wiring...
-Curt
On Saturday, August 1, 2020, 9:06:29 PM EDT, Scott Ritchey via Mercedes
<mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote:
I'd advise the 2KW inverter style; quiet, fuel-efficient, and 4-cycle
(straight gasoline, no oil mix). The $450 unit from Harbor Freight is quite
good although routine servicing requires tools. HF requires adding a fuel
stabilizer, a good idea if you want it to work when you need it.
> Mitch Haley said
>
> On Sat, August 1, 2020 1:50 am, Scott Ritchey via Mercedes wrote:
> > A small generator that can run
> > the refrigerator, a fan, and a couple light bulbs can make things
> > infinitely more tolerable while camping in the house.
>
> When gasoline supplies are limited, a 850-1200W micro, or a 2000W variable
> speed inverter generator, can be far superior to a 5-7kW generator when it
> comes to keeping your food cold and lighting a room.
>
> My well is 240v, so if I want water I need at least a 3.5kW with 240V. My
> usual
> method is to run it about 3 hours on, 3 hours off, and it's off about 6 hours
> straight while I sleep. In a five day power failure, the stuff in my chest
> freezer
> gets freezer burn, probably from the overnight off cycles.
>
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