Hello All,
I borrowed a Honda "suitcase" style generator from another sailboater this afternoon to charge up my batteries. It was a 2000watt unit, pretty light, compact and extremely quiet. I was very impressed. I plugged it into my shore power hookup and ran the battery charger (Xantrex Truecharge 20amp) and the charger indicated it was putting 10 amps into the batteries initially. I also switched on some of the house lights and the refrigeration for a while to see if the Honda could take it. I had it set on "Eco throttle" which basically automatically adjusts the output based on load. I was pleasantly suprised that the Honda only ran a bit above idle to keep up. I am thinking that a 1000watt Honda would be an even better choice? All I am looking for is to charge batteries/augment while on the hook to keep from running the engine.
So the question is: How do I figure how much juice I am drawing and do the conversion backwards from DC usage to AC needed? AFAIK, the Truecharge will keep up with the DC loads from the refigeration, lights, music, etc. when plugged in at the dock. I guess what I am asking is how much AC power will the Truecharge 20 consume at max output of 20 amps DC? I have checked the Xantrex website and I see plenty of specs listed but not that one....
Thanks, RT
I borrowed a Honda "suitcase" style generator from another sailboater this afternoon to charge up my batteries. It was a 2000watt unit, pretty light, compact and extremely quiet. I was very impressed. I plugged it into my shore power hookup and ran the battery charger (Xantrex Truecharge 20amp) and the charger indicated it was putting 10 amps into the batteries initially. I also switched on some of the house lights and the refrigeration for a while to see if the Honda could take it. I had it set on "Eco throttle" which basically automatically adjusts the output based on load. I was pleasantly suprised that the Honda only ran a bit above idle to keep up. I am thinking that a 1000watt Honda would be an even better choice? All I am looking for is to charge batteries/augment while on the hook to keep from running the engine.
So the question is: How do I figure how much juice I am drawing and do the conversion backwards from DC usage to AC needed? AFAIK, the Truecharge will keep up with the DC loads from the refigeration, lights, music, etc. when plugged in at the dock. I guess what I am asking is how much AC power will the Truecharge 20 consume at max output of 20 amps DC? I have checked the Xantrex website and I see plenty of specs listed but not that one....
Thanks, RT