Gen set humor ? because it's so stinking cold.

[155mm]

If you know its going to be cold and good chance of needing genny, find a good spot inside enclosure to set a candle, those cheap o yankee candles in the bargin bin burn like 2 nights for a buck. Your genny will start right up

 

[Coug]

Wanted to post this just in case someone else has this problem to. Our generator never did charge it’s own batteries. I think it’s the rectifier. But anyway you can use 12 volt battery chargers on it while running to keep them charged. I just have one charger on one battery and the other on the the other battery and it’s charging fine . Got them plugged into the outlet on the front. And so far the military grade batteries it came with have been doing great .


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That's pretty much how every home standby generator has been set up in the past 20 years (some have the charger built into the controller, others have a separate module). The newer ones even require their own 15 amp breaker from the house on the transferred side of the panel. Usually it's no more than a 2 amp trickle charger as there isn't actually a whole lot of DC power required to keep a generator running, and a battery in good condition should be good for a half a dozen or more crank attempts in a short period of time, but then the gen either runs for a while or sits turned off for a while, giving the batteries a chance to recharge.

I've even got a few customers that their generators weren't wired properly at installation by electricians that didn't know any better using the cheapest of the cheap Harbor Freight battery maintainers inside their generators to keep enough 12V power to the battery/controller when utility power is unavailable.

As long as your battery chargers are rated for higher output than the DC loads in the generator (relays, contactors, fuel pumps, that sort of stuff) then I see no reason why your solution can't be the permanent fix. 12V battery chargers are cheap, plentiful, and readily available while the specific alternators for these generators are the complete opposite.

 

[Sazabizc]

That's pretty much how every home standby generator has been set up in the past 20 years (some have the charger built into the controller, others have a separate module). The newer ones even require their own 15 amp breaker from the house on the transferred side of the panel. Usually it's no more than a 2 amp trickle charger as there isn't actually a whole lot of DC power required to keep a generator running, and a battery in good condition should be good for a half a dozen or more crank attempts in a short period of time, but then the gen either runs for a while or sits turned off for a while, giving the batteries a chance to recharge.

I've even got a few customers that their generators weren't wired properly at installation by electricians that didn't know any better using the cheapest of the cheap Harbor Freight battery maintainers inside their generators to keep enough 12V power to the battery/controller when utility power is unavailable.

As long as your battery chargers are rated for higher output than the DC loads in the generator (relays, contactors, fuel pumps, that sort of stuff) then I see no reason why your solution can't be the permanent fix. 12V battery chargers are cheap, plentiful, and readily available while the specific alternators for these generators are the complete opposite.

That’s true . I’d prefer them generator to charge it’s own batteries. But the battery chargers did great . The generator ran a total of 120 hours . As far as I know the only thing that pulls power from the batteries while it’s running is the fuel pumps and control panel. Probably not much of a load .

But my biggest fear was the batteries would go flat it would shut off in the freezing rain and I wouldn’t be able to get it to run again. Thankfully that didn’t happen .


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[Coug]

That’s true . I’d prefer them generator to charge it’s own batteries. But the battery chargers did great . The generator ran a total of 120 hours . As far as I know the only thing that pulls power from the batteries while it’s running is the fuel pumps and control panel. Probably not much of a load .

But my biggest fear was the batteries would go flat it would shut off in the freezing rain and I wouldn’t be able to get it to run again. Thankfully that didn’t happen .


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technology has come a very long way since these units were built. The alternator setup makes a lot more sense back then because that's where the technology was.
I've worked on 30-40 year old generators with battery chargers that involve heavy transformer coils and electronic control boards that weigh 10 lbs or more and take up half a cubic foot of space inside the enclosure, where today the same level of charging can fit in the palm of your hand and weighs a couple ounces. No moving parts or wear components make the newer chargers much more reliable (if it's a decent unit and not a chinesium cheapie) with nothing to wear out or service.

 

[Guyfang]

Back in the early 70's we had gen sets that had big honking Generators on them. 100 amp. They used a selenium rectifier, to change the voltage to DC, and charge the battery's. The rectifiers were huge metal things. When they went bad, you knew it. The first time I spent a night on the missile site, everyone told me, "If you smell rotten eggs, RUN out side" That's what they smell like, and they were poisonous. The generators were a both hands needed thing to carry. The volt regulator was a separate unit also. What a PITA.