And it rained nonstop from 5 this morning till about 3:30. Indicated voltage never got above 12.2, and although I’m very pleased with the way the system is handling all this I’m still getting off the ‘pooter right now.
Other than that, and that Ghost is extremely displeased with my weather mismanagement, all is perfectly well. At least it’s quite warm for December – so far. That might be changing too, since it’s cooler now than it was before dawn.
Anyway, just wanted to check in and say hi. Spells like this are why I rarely throw a paperback away, ’cause I’m just sittin’ and readin’.
Harbor frieght has a cheap 800-1000 watt generator that is sometimes on sale for $89. Provides AC and 8 watts of 12VDC for charging batteries. I don’t care much for generators especially if the plan is to depend n them because then you are forced to store gas which is problematic. But a very small generator like this sips gas and you can siphon off a quart from your jeep and recharge batteries AND if you plan ahead use the AC output at the same time to do something else useful.
GWTW: pretty sure you mean 8 amps, not watts, for charging batteries. For a brief time I ran a clone of what you describe and while it was neato-keen having 120vac, the noise was mind-wrecking. Definitely for short-term use without a really loooong extension cord. Mine was a 2-cycle; Joel will know the ramifications of that.
Yes 8 amps. I don’t disagree, generators are noisy and good ones are expensive. My motor home has a nice 2400 watt generator with remote start using the gas from my motor home gas tank but I choose not to use it. I depend on a very small (45 watt) PV system to charge the two deep cycle batteries that are part of the motor home electric system. The only time I run the generator is one a month or so for a few minutes to keep it in running condition. I prefer to use led lights, and limit my use of power to match what my solar panels give me each day. But, it’s good to know I have a backup. My son lives on a boat and I gave him one of these cheapo Harbor Frieght generators a few years back and it made his life much simpler. The mixing of gas with oil or the hour or tow of noise is nothing compared with the benefit of having a fully charged battery.
I also have one of those cheap 2-stroke Harbor Freight generators. Much like Joel’s store of dry food, I keep it sincerely hoping the day never comes that I need it. Still, it’s a cheap “plan C”.
But little generators need not be loud, or even particularly fuel thirsty. Inverter generators, made mostly by Honda and Yamaha, are truly marvels. They are the Toyota Prius of the portable generator world. The problem is, you can buy several of those little Harbor Freight generators for the price of even the smallest inverter generator. That said, over a lifetime of usage the inverter generator might easily pay for itself in fuel savings.
And reliability. My big problem with those cheap generators isn’t that they’re loud and thirsty, though they are, but that they’re unreliable crap. Plan C should be reliable.
That Cheapo Harbor Frieght generator is on sale if you order online $89. It is a cheapo and may only last few years running it every other day for an hour or so. I have looked at the much nicer invertor generators at a mere 1100% more and I’m envious of them. However not so envious that I would buy one of those expensive anchors. To put it simply they are twice as good and 11 times more expensive so you put down your money and you make your choices. I already have a generator in my motor home and I choose not to use it. It is a quality generator built to last and is easy to use I simply don’t like generators. For me it isn’t the amount of fuel used, my motor home gas tank is 55 gallons and it takes two full tanks to get to Zion (my favorite camping location). I suspect that my generator would run for months on 55 gallons. When I took it to Alaska last year I spent $1400 on gas just to get there then another $1400 or so to get back. So the gas for the generator isn’t the issue for me.