Best generator

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by prroots

Thanks. Did you see my post above that my Xantrex is designed to be paralleled? Why wouldn't that be a good solution with the advantages I mentioned?
Pete

It is an excellent option if your generator can handle it....

On the surface that sounds like a good plan but you need to look at the specs of both the generator and the two 40A chargers. Each of those chargers has the ability to pull 7.7A of AC current so two can potentially pull 15.4A. Will they do that? Probably not, but it can still be close to at least 7A each if both were in bulk mode. The Honda 2k is rated at 1600W / 13.6A continuous, mine WON'T do that however and shuts down at around 13A continuous, so you are really pushing the limits of the EU2000 with two 40A chargers.

I would get your current 40A in bulk mode, producing max output, and measure the actual AC consumption. If it does not exceed 6.5A then you're likely fine with two TC240A units..

What is your bank and how big?

[prroots]

Originally Posted by Maine Sail

It is an excellent option if your generator can handle it....

On the surface that sounds like a good plan but you need to look at the specs of both the generator and the two 40A chargers. Each of those chargers has the ability to pull 7.7A of AC current so two can potentially pull 15.4A. Will they do that? Probably not, but it can still be close to at least 7A each if both were in bulk mode. The Honda 2k is rated at 1600W / 13.6A continuous, mine WON'T do that however and shuts down at around 13A continuous, so you are really pushing the limits of the EU2000 with two 40A chargers.

I would get your current 40A in bulk mode, producing max output, and measure the actual AC consumption. If it does not exceed 6.5A then you're likely fine with two TC240A units..

What is your bank and how big?

Thanks a lot. I was going to do that research, but you beat me to the punch! You're right it's too close to assume things will be OK. I have a battery monitor for the DC side, but I'm not sure how best to measure AC consumption. I do have a digital Volt-ohm-ammeter. I wonder if I need a precision resistor in series? How about a 0.1 Ohm resistor rated at say 5 Watts? My calculations suggest that at 6 Amps I will see a Voltage drop of 0.6 Volts with a power dissipation across resistor of 3.6 Watts.

My house bank consists of 4 golf cart batteries equaling about 440 Ahr
Pete

[prroots]

Thanks for all the feedback. I've decided to go with two 200 watt solar panels plus charge controller in lieu of the generator. The cost, not counting the solar mount, was essentially the same either way.
Pete