Deep Cycle Battery Charge

[Nodak7]

Here is a question... I have a Honda EU1000 Generator on my boat. It has a battery charging outlet built in that is rated at 12v, 96w (8A). I was thinking of using that to charge my house batteries when they get low rather than using the motor. However, I don't think it would do well with deep cycle batteries. Am I correct or would it work?

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Not going to work. You need a charger with at least 14V, preferably 14.5 V, to charge a 12V battery.

 

[Nodak7]

Kind of thought I would get a reply like this. Thanks Don

 

[Benny17441]

It does make sense in most cases to run a portable generator rather than the main boat engine just to recharge batteries. We use our inboard charger which is hard wired to the ac circuitry of the boat. We connect the generator to the boat's shorepower inlet via a 15A to 30A adapter and turn on the appropiate switch in the ac panel.

 

[Maine Sail]

A more efficient way to use the EU1000 is to run a 110v battery charger off of it and charge the bats via the battery charger.

 

[geehaw]

I did try this with my boat as the batteries were dead almost completely. I have to check my outboard either it is not putting out at all or not putting out enough which I find hard to believe as when I use it navigation instruments are all that is drawing power( Garmin hand held, st1000 auto tiller, sometimes fishfinder). It took a good 6 hours to charge them. I use it for my camper too. But I use a charger that I put in. But it is a 10 amp charger and the Generator has a hard time powering it. The charger cycles on and off till the battery is close to full charge. And it says it's 12 vote but I am sure since it is a charger it puts out more volts then that. So yes you can use it but plan on listening to it for a long time. Lucky they are fairly quiet!!!! Will I use it again? Yes!!!!

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

I guess you didn't get the answer you wanted Nodak (multiple times) but I wanted to comment on the response below.

Even a 1000w generator should have no problem powering a 10 amp charger. This size charger only requires 150 - 200 watts maximum, even with the inherent loss. Obviously, a generator 5 times that capacity should have no problem. Are you simultaneously running other stuff off it ?

I did try this with my boat as the batteries were dead almost completely. I have to check my outboard either it is not putting out at all or not putting out enough which I find hard to believe as when I use it navigation instruments are all that is drawing power( Garmin hand held, st1000 auto tiller, sometimes fishfinder). It took a good 6 hours to charge them. I use it for my camper too. But I use a charger that I put in. But it is a 10 amp charger and the Generator has a hard time powering it. The charger cycles on and off till the battery is close to full charge. And it says it's 12 vote but I am sure since it is a charger it puts out more volts then that. So yes you can use it but plan on listening to it for a long time. Lucky they are fairly quiet!!!! Will I use it again? Yes!!!!

 

[Scott B]

I guess you didn't get the answer you wanted Nodak (multiple times)

But he did, did he not?

It does make sense in most cases to run a portable generator rather than the main boat engine just to recharge batteries. We use our inboard charger which is hard wired to the ac circuitry of the boat. We connect the generator to the boat's shorepower inlet via a 15A to 30A adapter and turn on the appropiate switch in the ac panel

A more efficient way to use the EU1000 is to run a 110v battery charger off of it and charge the bats via the battery charger

Why not plug in the shorepower with an adapter and run the 110v battery charger on the boat? Our boat came with the 15A - 30A adapter, Nodak you should have one on board. Just don't run anything else at the same time off the 110v side of the panel.

 

[Maine Sail]

I guess you didn't get the answer you wanted Nodak (multiple times) but I wanted to comment on the response below.

Don you gave the answer in the first post. Should we all have re-stated what you had already said?

The rest of us gave advice on how best to utilize his EU1000 to charge a battery bank cause you already answered the question. The EU1000 can do 900 watts continuous / 7.5 amps continuous output. Therefore any battery charger drawing less than about 7 amps AC will be fine for use on the EU1000.

A 30 amp battery charger, such as the Iota 30A, does not use 30 amps from a generator it will use roughly 7 amps from the AC side, and output up to 30 amps of DC charge current on the DC side. An AC charger using less than 7 amps AC should be fine on the EU1000.

I would look for one in the 20-25 amp category for use with the your generator and this will charge your bank just fine..

One word of caution on many "multi-bank" chargers is that you do NOT always get the face value output ratings.

For example a 20 amp 2 bank charger from Guest may actually be two outputs of just 10 amps each. This means if you have a house battery that needs 20A it will not get it and will only see 10 amps max and you have not really bought a true 20A charger.

Often times the starting battery is at or near 100% state of chage and can't even take .5A so you would have 9.5A wasted in the above scenario. Read the manuals before you buy. You ideally want a good multi-stage charger with a float voltage setting, if you also plan to use this dock side. If using just off the generator no real worries as you'll likely never run it long enough to get back to 100% state of charge anyway which is when the float mode would kick in.

 

[rbietry]

I own an EU2000i and it also has a 12 volt output, but it is not regulated. It is only for charging 12 volt batteries. I looked up the EU1000 manual and it specifically states:
"DC RECEPTACLE
The DC receptacle should ONLY be used for charging 12-volt automotive type batteries. The DC charging output is not regulated."

 

[Nodak7]

We have a EU1000i and I have been hooking it up to the shore power connection and charging the battery that way. I tried to run a deep cycle charger off of it but it did not seem to work very well. I have been looking for a smaller deep cycle charger that would work better on the boat but no success right now. I like the 1000 because it fits so well in the Lazarette.