Charging house batteries with Honda 1KW

[BeeSea]

I am have no luck getting much charge into my 2 X 100AH house batteries with a 1KW Honda generator plugged into the EH socket. (I'm up in the French Alps!).

It only indicates a pulsing barely 1 amp charge on the Hymer amp meter. The house 240 volt works fine on the Honda and the batteries charge well on EHU/alternator/solar.

Q1. Does the Elektroblock charger need more that 1KW to excite?

Q2. Should I be connecting the Honda directly to the batteries?

I appreciate your consideration..thanks

 

[JeanLuc]

I don’t understand why it is not working. I have charged batteries via my EBL 99 using a Honda Eu 10i connected to the mains inlet socket.
The current required by the EBL is well within the capacity of the generator.

 

[BeeSea]

Thanks @Jean-luc ....it does get a voltage rise (12.0 to 12.3) over a 3 hour run and as I say, barely moves the amp meter...maybee that's all I should expect with an EU10i. How does this performance compare??

 

[andy63]

Likewise can' think why it wouldn' be charging assuming the mains charger is on and working and your batteries art full...
Do you have solar connected keeping your leisure battery voltage well elevated? ??
The dedicated 12v charging outlet on my Honda ,I just use occasionally to charge a battery...
Andy.

 

[Richard n Ann]

The charger might be faulty. 1000w can supply over 80 amps at 12v so the generator is plenty big enough.
Can you check the generator output with a multimeter?

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[Vanman]

If it's running the Hab power, but not charging the batteries then I would disconnect the batteries one at a time and test them too.

 

[Lenny HB]

If it's running the Hab power, but not charging the batteries then I would disconnect the batteries one at a time and test them too.

Agree sounds like a one or both batteries have died, if that is the case don't keep trying to charge them via the EBL. Most common cause of failure of EBL's is trying to charge duff batteries.

 

[Fletton]

I full time and use a honda 10i when it’s dull for a day or so in winter months...
IMO it does a better job than when on EHU... for some strange reason...

BTW - I have two LFD90 s for Hab area.

 

[Gromett]

Not clear how you are doing this? Are you using the 12v output on the generator? If so these do tend to be crap.
I plug my generator into my EHU hookup and use the built in charger and there is no difference then between a mains hookup and generator with respect to charging the batteries.

I did however upgrade to a 60Amp Sterling charger to make the most of the generator run time. My original charger was 20Amp so for each hour of run time I now get 3 times the charge into the battery.

 

[Wildbill]

use your EHU straight in or alternatively direct to battery with you 12v out let and clamp's on to battery
bill

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[tonyidle]

I can't understand why anyone would use mains from a generator to charge via EHU. The output from the genny 12v terminals is designed for rapid battery charging and outputs around 18v - 20v. This should drive a continuous 8A or so into a 12v lead acid battery. The EHU will at best manage 10A or more for maybe 15 minutes after which it will start to taper off and will take many hours to put anything worthwhile back into the battery. Connecting the genny 12v terminals directly to the leisure battery will but back 8Ah per hour.

 

[hilldweller]

Q1. Does the Elektroblock charger need more that 1KW to excite?

The electroblocks do have a reputation for dying at the drop of a hat if hit with a mains spike.

Ours self destructed.

Fortunately a reasonable easy repair - under £200 when returned to Schaudt.

 

[SuperMike]

I always plug my Honda 10i directly into the ehh point. This uses the motorhome power supply, which on a depleated battery, can poke 50A in when it gets going.

 

[Gromett]

I can't understand why anyone would use mains from a generator to charge via EHU. The output from the genny 12v terminals is designed for rapid battery charging and outputs around 18v - 20v. This should drive a continuous 8A or so into a 12v lead acid battery. The EHU will at best manage 10A or more for maybe 15 minutes after which it will start to taper off and will take many hours to put anything worthwhile back into the battery. Connecting the genny 12v terminals directly to the leisure battery will but back 8Ah per hour.

My Generator is a 1Kw one and when connected to EHU puts 60Amps into the battery. The 12v connector on my generator puts in 6amps at best. Not sure why you think a genny would only manage 10A for 15 minutes?

 

[tonyidle]

My Generator is a 1Kw one and when connected to EHU puts 60Amps into the battery. The 12v connector on my generator puts in 6amps at best. Not sure why you think a genny would only manage 10A for 15 minutes?

Not the genny - the on-board charger. It won't put 60A in for long - I'm astounded that it does it at all. Most are rated at less than 20A and the battery limits the current as the voltage rises. You don't mean 6A do you?

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[Gromett]

Not the genny - the on-board charger. It won't put 60A in for long - I'm astounded that it does it at all. Most are rated at less than 20A and the battery limits the current as the voltage rises. You don't mean 6A do you?

No, I mean 60A
As stated previously I bought a 60Amp Sterling charger, this was connected to a 500AH battery bank and I used to use the genny for 2 hours and depending on how depleted the battery bank I could get 60amps for all of that 2 hours. I only ran it for 2 hours because 120AH was enough for me to get through 2 days if no solar input.

 

[Reallyretired]

Using a genny to charge the house batteries is only worthwhile in an emergency or if you have a high output charger. The built in chargers in many cases have only a maximum output of 18-20A and this will drop quite rapidly as the battery voltage comes up to as little as 3A. If you expect to use a genny often for this purpose you should buy a separate charger like Grommets 60A one. The built in chargers are fine on EHU when the supply is there 24/7 but not for a genny burning expensive fuel for little benefit.

 

[tonyidle]

@Gromett: I was assuming use of a standard built-in charger. As a separate issue that level of charge will be well in excess of the battery manufacturers recommendation (I guess - haven't checked).

@Reallyretired: Agreed. But if you don't buy a separate charger then the generator 12v output is the best at your disposal.

 

[Shrimp]

The same as others above we plug our Honda 10i into the EHU socket on van and it charges 2x110 batts well.