Generator,batteries,12 volt dc lighting

daveyb20

Can it be done that you can charge batteries from a 2kva generator to power 12 volt dc lighting?????

Capt'n Midnight

yes

but how depends on the voltage from the generator

2KVA is a serious generator and you would need to match it with a large battery


better off in the life hacking forum

bushy...

Some little generators have a 12 volt socket for a power cable like this




You'd need to look up the manual to see if its intended to charge batteries or can it power things directly .

Don't go doing anything mad with it , even though its only a little genny it can still kill you

watty

Only for battery charging on most and subtracts from total wattage for AC.

unless it's a huge amount of 12v lights they can be connected to battery also. Esp if low power electronic _ florescent and not halogen.

A charger for batteries may be over 16V with no battery attached.

Old type "top up" batteries rise to 13.8V on trickle charge, no load and modern (calcium) maintenance free liquid, fibreglass mat and gel types all charge to 14.2V on trickle with no load.

Some charger circuits may go as high as 20V with no battery and a very light load. So I'd never power ANYTHING other than a battery from an outlet meant to charge a battery. "Smart Chargers" (and car alternator of course) automatically detect load and increase output avoiding all but a short discharge to enable full capacity from battery when power supply/generator fails. They generally should never be used without a battery (traditionally a way to trash your 2K of marine electronics and the alternator on a boat, where a mishap with the battery is slightly easier than a car, but I've seen it happen in cars too). The charger and load must both connect at the battery terminals.

oscarBravo

Moved from Open Source.

Capt'n Midnight

you could simply power a standard battery charger off the AC

12V lights designed to run from the mains may not be designed to take the same voltage range as car bulbs which could be expected to take up to 14.4V


very very rough guide to battery charging would be a 10 hour charge so charging current would be 1/10th of capacity

so the full capacity of the generator if converted to 14.4V would be
2KVA = 14.4V * 139A
so would be ideal for charging a 1390A battery
A car battery is about 30-50Ah so the generator would be fine if you had 40 batteries hanging off it :pac:

yeah it's over kill unless you have a large battery

bushy...

Use a 240v in 12 volt out supply thats compatible with the generator instead of a battery charger.

Basically battery chargers don't put out 12volts and aren't designed for powering things generally.

daveyb20

thanks every1

Mahatma coat

I have a slightly different problem, down at the farm I have some Solar pannels and a block of 12V & 2V batteries, these are connected to the house via an inverter which regulates the power to 12 volts for the lighting circuit and 240V for the Fridge and sockets.

I also have a 15KVA 2 Cyl Lister diesel which I use if we need any form of Real power, I can plug this directly into the inverter instead of the Solar.

my question is,
how do I get the Lister to charge the batteries?

is it something I can do with hte existing setup or do I need an extra bit of kit