Questions about Generators

[stiggs]

A friend of mine hooked me up with a great deal on a 2000 watt generator (warranty return - bad carb). I bought it for two reasons:

A. Back up power for home use (earthquakes)
B. possilbe use for camping where its use will not offend

Being a bit dim on the subject I have a couple of questions for those w/o solar.

I am assuming that I can run it into the AC power in the van and charge the house batteries as if I was hooked up to shore power, but will it be enough power to use my microwave? Also while using the generator should I keep my refrigerator on 12 volt power?

Cheers

Johnny

[EMrider]

Originally Posted by stiggs

A friend of mine hooked me up with a great deal on a 2000 watt generator (warranty return - bad carb). I bought it for two reasons:

A. Back up power for home use (earthquakes)
B. possilbe use for camping where its use will not offend

Being a bit dim on the subject I have a couple of questions for those w/o solar.

I am assuming that I can run it into the AC power in the van and charge the house batteries as if I was hooked up to shore power, but will it be enough power to use my microwave? Also while using the generator should I keep my refrigerator on 12 volt power?

Cheers

Johnny

A 2000 watt generator should be enough to run the microwave, which I think pulls something like 1500-1700w. That means you won't have much capacity for other uses if the microwave is running. My 2000w generator kicks into full power when I start the microwave. I'm not sure about whether or not to run the fridge on 12v.
Rob

[Ford_6L_E350]

Originally Posted by "EMrider

2000 watt generator should be enough to run the microwave, which I think pulls something like 1500-1700w. That means you won't have much capacity for other uses if the microwave is running. My 2000w generator kicks into full power when I start the microwave. I'm not sure about whether or not to run the fridge on 12v.
Rob

I think the fridge will automatically switch to AC when it is available. It only runs on DC when the AC is absent. In an SMB with an inverter, that is stupid! Take your battery DC, convert it to AC with the inverter and run the fridge - which will convert it back to DC to run the motor. It might be wiser to just unplug the fridge and only run it on DC. If you are plugged in, the losses in the battery charging system are minor, and you have a surplus of power. You really don't want or need the losses of the inverter when you are running off the batteries.

Mike

[stiggs]

I'll have to double check but I think that I have a separate breaker for the refrigerator.