Needed, small generator.

[Wind dog]

Happy Friday Folks!

I'm looking for a small gas powered generator to charge my batteries on extended fishing trips. I have 2 batteries in my boat & a Cabela?s two bank on-board charger (12amp). Twice now I've been faced with low voltage on the second day of fishing. Oh & there never seems to be an outlet available were I camp. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[calvinator]

Re: Needed, small generator.

My other hobby is RV'ing and I've experimented with a lot of gensets.

For your needs, I would just stick with a Honda, Yamaha, or Champion inverter generator, 1000 watt. Lightweight, quiet, and will do the job.

You'll be tempted with some knock off brands, often chinese copycats of the above generators, but resist the urge. The copycats often have cheap plastic parts, potmetal internals, and computer controller boards that are not serviceable. They will just fail you and waste your money.

Man up and spend the extra few hundred for the good stuff. Just sayin !

 

[Wind dog]

Re: Needed, small generator.

My other hobby is RV'ing and I've experimented with a lot of gensets.

For your needs, I would just stick with a Honda, Yamaha, or Champion inverter generator, 1000 watt. Lightweight, quiet, and will do the job.

You'll be tempted with some knock off brands, often chinese copycats of the above generators, but resist the urge. The copycats often have cheap plastic parts, potmetal internals, and computer controller boards that are not serviceable. They will just fail you and waste your money.

Man up and spend the extra few hundred for the good stuff. Just sayin !

Thanks for the reply, I was reading some of the reviews for Generac and another cheaper brand ( Can't remember at the moment) but all the cheaper ones had crappy reviews.

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: Needed, small generator.

It sounds like you plan on using the generator from on shore and not on the boat at sea.
A generator in camp can be handy for other uses.

A second option is to run a long jumper cable (100ft?) from the Truck Battery (12v) out to the Boat Batteries.
14-16 gauge wire would be sufficient, you are Charging NOT Starting the boat.

The few hundred dollars saved on the generator will buy a lot of gas, even at today's prices.
The truck will burn about a gallon an hour idling. About the same amount used by the generator.
You already own a 12 volt generator in the form of the Truck.

 

[ronaldj]

Re: Needed, small generator.

When it comes to generators , they are alot like boats. Think of the service you will need and buy accordingly. A chinese knockoff is not a deal if you cant get it serviced or repaired. Also keep in mind that if you buy one of the major inverter generators then you can pair it with another one at home for house backup

 

[Pez Vela]

Re: Needed, small generator.

This one works.

 

[IraRat]

Re: Needed, small generator.

Harbor Freight has a tiny 800w generator for 89 to 99 bucks with coupon.

89 BUCKS!!!

How the heck can you go wrong with that?

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: Needed, small generator.

Harbor Freight has a tiny 800w generator for 89 to 99 bucks with coupon.
89 BUCKS!!! How the heck can you go wrong with that?

There is an assumption that the 800 Watt $90 Generator will still be running after the second tank of gas.
Maybe, Maybe Not????

 

[matt167]

Re: Needed, small generator.

From what I have read, the small generator from HF is extremely hard to start but works well once it's going. It is a 2 stroke tho, and as such quite noisy and inefficient.

The other generators they sell are not bad. Pretty much all generators except for a few brands all run Honda clone engines and pretty generic powerheads. You can get an HF or a DeWalt and the quality will be the same

 

[Wind dog]

Re: Needed, small generator.

Harbor Freight has a tiny 800w generator for 89 to 99 bucks with coupon.

89 BUCKS!!!

How the heck can you go wrong with that?

Man I know alot of folks here like HF, I'm not one of them.

I'm going to need the quietest one I can find sense it will be running in camp grounds mostely.

The one that Pez Vela posted looks good, but going to have to do some saving.

 

[IraRat]

Re: Needed, small generator.

If you're going to use it at campgrounds, you need an inverter type like the Honda EU or Yamaha--but they're off the chart expensive. And you basically never find used deals on these--people don't give them up,

HF gets a bad rap, but as written above and confirmed to my by a friend who knows his stuff, their Chicago Electric brand power tools are USUALLY as good as the brand-names out there. The 800-watter is of course going to be noisy compared to an inverter type, but at 800 watts, I don't think it will be ear-splitting.

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: Needed, small generator.

Yeah, the little HF 2 stroke doesn't exactly sound whisper quiet;

I've had the temptation to pick up a HF generator my self. But have read that you are SOL as far as getting repair parts from HF, because they don't consider their gens to be end user serviceable. So if you have a problem with them, you need to either box em up, and send em off to a HF service center, or try to scrounge up the parts your self. I'd rather pay a few hundred more for a name brand genset I could get parts for, even if it would be a carefully used on off of CL.

 

[low277]

Re: Needed, small generator.

I have a Yamaha 2000 watt like the one in post #6. It is a very nice unit, uses very little fuel and starts easily. It is worth the extra money.

Honda also makes one that is very similar and just as good.

 

[ktbarrentine]

Re: Needed, small generator.

Go green....go solar

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Needed, small generator.

I've got a generac 2000ix, more or less identical to the Honda suitcase generators, without the huge price. (and generac is far from a knockoff brand, I'd consider Honda a knockoff brand compared to generac when it comes to generators! ) The 800 watt is $300 bucks, not too bad!

Also, avoid those little 2 stroke generators. The engines are absolute crap, impossible to start, and the voltage they put out is horrendously bad. I owned one for a while, and used it for nothing but work lights. (voltage would swing from 90 volts to 150 volts!)

Amazon.com: Generac 5791 iX800 800 Watt 38cc 4-Stroke OHV Gas Powered Portable Inverter Generator: Patio, Lawn & Garden

 

[agallant80]

Re: Needed, small generator.

I have this. It has been great so far. No complaints

Ryobi 2,200-Watt Gasoline Powered Digital Inverter Generator-RYI2200 at The Home Depot

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: Needed, small generator.

Go green....go solar

You offering to pay for, and help him lug around the amount of solar pannels it would take to charge 2 batteries in a reasonable amount of time?

 

[Wind dog]

Re: Needed, small generator.

You offering to pay for, and help him lug around the amount of solar pannels it would take to charge 2 batteries in a reasonable amount of time?

+ I'm picturing this running mostley at night or late afternoon, to recharge after a day of fishing and to be ready for the next day.
Do they make Lunar panels?

 

[Wind dog]

Re: Needed, small generator.

I've got a generac 2000ix, more or less identical to the Honda suitcase generators, without the huge price. (and generac is far from a knockoff brand, I'd consider Honda a knockoff brand compared to generac when it comes to generators! ) The 800 watt is $300 bucks, not too bad!

Also, avoid those little 2 stroke generators. The engines are absolute crap, impossible to start, and the voltage they put out is horrendously bad. I owned one for a while, and used it for nothing but work lights. (voltage would swing from 90 volts to 150 volts!)

Amazon.com: Generac 5791 iX800 800 Watt 38cc 4-Stroke OHV Gas Powered Portable Inverter Generator: Patio, Lawn & Garden

Looked great, until I noticed that this is not sold in my State. Good I hate California. Correction, hate what the lib's have done to California.

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: Needed, small generator.

Looked great, until I noticed that this is not sold in my State.

Don't know if the smog police go looking for non-cali certified power equipment, but I believe there are other states surrounding Cali that are accessible by road. Wink Wink, Nod Nod...