Quote:
Originally Posted by Steffen
I find those generators attractive, too, but don't they cost twice as much? And a lot more to run as well (fuel, oil, maintenance)?
Cheers
Steffen.
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Steffen I got mine for $1300.00 so yes it was 2 x as much as the deep cycle battery but came with a 5 year warranty (not so with the batteries). The cost to run (fuel) is $2.00 for 8 hours. How much does it cost to charge a deep cycle battery 4X (would only get 2 Hr's by my power requirements). So for fuel the grand cost is 25c per hour. From the manual the engine oil gets changed every 100 hours of use (250mL), the spark plug, and air filter is replaced every 300 hrs. Valve clearances and fuel filter every 2 years. In short 2 halves of bugger all to run. Advantages over the battery setup are
1. It doesn't go flat.
2. Runs all night providing lots 240V power (boil the kettle, run the microwave, mount, camera's laptop etc).
3. Takes 10 seconds to refuel and you are away again.
4. Is very light and small so easy to handle.
5. Can be used for dozens of other applications (power tools etc).
6. Can be linked with another genset of same type to boost output to 2kV.
6. Can be used to charge flat 12V batteries of other astro folk
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7. Makes less noise then my LX200 in a slew (Okay so the battery is quieter)
.
8. It's a honda so it is reliable and does exactly what it is supposed to do with no hassle.
For me points 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and especially 8 were the major selling points. I have used Honda gear in many hard industrial applications and they are virtually bullet proof (nb: I also drive honda cars but do ride Ducati's). Sure there are other cheaper options for genies but be careful about quality and make sure it is rated to power computers etc or you will end up in trouble. For me it was a no brainer in the end, the battery option was not even in the hunt as I would need 4 of them to do the job of 1 generator.
Mark