Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 09-20-2017, 08:48 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
GLBCamper's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Bend, OR
Posts: 149
Generator Newbie-How long to charge?

OK, so I get that there are a lot of factors involved, but how long do YOU run your generator during the day to recharge?

I have a Ryobi 2300/1800w generator charging two 6v GC batteries via the onboard converter. Let's say I wake up to my batteries showing 12.2 (60% charge state.) I have no clue what to expect. 2 hours? All day??

Is there a way to know if I've achieved float mode?
GLBCamper is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-21-2017, 10:16 AM   #2
Senior Member
 
SeaDog's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: x
Posts: 12,423
you must have a multimeter if you are able to talk about 12.2 volts, so take one day and first thing in the morning measure your batteries (without converter charging) start your generator noting the equipment running and when they reach 100% not the time required. You have answered your question and learned something about your rig under a specific condition. let the forum know what you come up with
__________________
Retired Navy
Jake my sidekick (yellow Lab) 10/04 - 05/20
2017 RAM 2500 CC 4X4 Cummins Diesel
2016 Flagstaff 26 FKWS
AF&AM & El Korah Shrine of Idaho
SeaDog is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-21-2017, 11:45 AM   #3
Senior Member
 
GLBCamper's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Bend, OR
Posts: 149
So...if I run my generator until my batteries read at least 12.6 then I'm "fully charged"?

I thought I had to charge until it's achieved float mode or it will drain down much quicker.

Sorry if this isn't making sense. Like I said, newbie here.
GLBCamper is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-21-2017, 01:10 PM   #4
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 417
If you have a wfco converter, do yourself a favor and get a decent automatic battery charger that you can hook directly to the batteries. You'll be able to maintain the batteries with less generator run-time.
latner is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-21-2017, 02:27 PM   #5
Site Team
 
bikendan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Goodyear, Arizona
Posts: 33,607
I never had any issues recharging my batteries, with the trailer's WFCO and my Honda 2000i, for the 10 years I camped with it.
__________________
Dan-Retired California Firefighter/EMT
Shawn-Musician/Entrepreneur/Wine Expert
and Zoe the Wonder Dog(R.I.P.)
2016 PrimeTime TracerAIR 255, pushing a 2014 Ford F150 SCREW XTR 4x4 3.5 Ecoboost w/Max Tow Package
4pt Equal-i-zer WDH and 1828lbs of payload capacity
bikendan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-21-2017, 02:37 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 321
Quick and dirty: find the "battery state of charge by voltage" chart.
Say it reads 12.10 resting, or about 50%. If you have a 100ah battery you need to put 50amps back into the battery. If your converter/charger outputs 25amps, figure two hours. Just adjust the variables to your battery. Easy peasy.
carlsbad is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-21-2017, 03:25 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Warsaw,NC
Posts: 7,184
I think y'all need to read the 12 volt side of life part 1. There is no way you can charge a battery that is at 50% to 100% in two hours
spock123 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-21-2017, 03:42 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 103
I put an amp probe on my 120v connection to the generator. I then shut off the battery disconnect. If the amp probe reading stays the same then the battery is charge. If the reading decrease your converter is still charging the battery.
__________________
2016 Coachmen Apex 288BHS

2015 F150 Sport 4x4 3.5 Eco Boost
4B11T is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-21-2017, 03:51 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: California
Posts: 7,616
Quote:
Originally Posted by latner View Post
If you have a wfco converter, do yourself a favor and get a decent automatic battery charger that you can hook directly to the batteries. You'll be able to maintain the batteries with less generator run-time.
Better yet, dump the WFCO converter and replace it with a better converter and skip buying a battery charger that won't have near the charging capacity of a good converter.
babock is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-21-2017, 03:52 PM   #10
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2017
Posts: 321
Quote:
Originally Posted by spock123 View Post
I think y'all need to read the 12 volt side of life part 1. There is no way you can charge a battery that is at 50% to 100% in two hours


Sure you can, with the right charger. The charge time is solely dependent on the charger and the type of battery. There is some internal resistance but the math is simple. In my example above, a 10amp charger will take 2.5 times as long. I have a pretty good 40amp bulk charger that can mostly charge batteries in two hours.
carlsbad is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-21-2017, 03:57 PM   #11
Senior Member
 
SeaDog's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: x
Posts: 12,423
The OP is not looking to change out his charing system just to figure about how long it will take to charge his batteries. there have been some good examples given.
__________________
Retired Navy
Jake my sidekick (yellow Lab) 10/04 - 05/20
2017 RAM 2500 CC 4X4 Cummins Diesel
2016 Flagstaff 26 FKWS
AF&AM & El Korah Shrine of Idaho
SeaDog is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-21-2017, 04:09 PM   #12
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Englewood FL
Posts: 2,797
Lets say that 2 GC 6 volt batteries will give you 200 AH total capacity. Unfortunately you cannot see what your charge current is, nor the actual SOC of the batteries. You are kind of blind and, in addition, we don't know what kind of converter you have so we don't know what the charge amperage is.

Let's take a flyer and assume that you can get 20 amps from the converter at a 50% SOC. That means that you have used 100 AH and, simplistically, it would take 5 hours (actually it would take much longer since it tapers down as the SOC goes up.)

I would never go to the trouble of starting a generator and not let it run at least 2 hours, in the case above maybe 3. You can't get to 100 SOC with a generator because it will take days...not hours.
__________________

2015 335DS
ScottBrownstein is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-21-2017, 09:00 PM   #13
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Mountain Foothills of Southern Alberta
Posts: 1,980
Quote:
Originally Posted by spock123 View Post
I think y'all need to read the 12 volt side of life part 1. There is no way you can charge a battery that is at 50% to 100% in two hours
Exactly right. You may get to about 70% SOC in two hours, but the last 30% will take many more hours.
__________________

2007 Surveyor SV230
- 200 Watts Solar/MPPT Controller - 220 AH Battery Bank (Two-GC2) - 600 watt PSW Inverter - (2) 2000 watt Inverter Generators - LED Lighting
2009 F150 - 5.4 Litre with Tow Package

Boon Docking 99% of the time.
boondocking is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2017, 01:22 AM   #14
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 1,502
Question can't be answered. Its like asking how much food should I eat so I can feel full?

Too many variables. One of the most important variables is the location of the converter with respect to the battery bank(s). If not within 3 feet and run with thin wire, it is possible that it make take up to a week to fully recharge a battery. If you have a decent converter (Progressive Dyanamics) mounted within several feet of battery and wired for <3% voltage loss, then most folks can get a battery up to 90% within 2-3 hours. The remaining 10% can take much longer.
Skyliner is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2017, 07:30 AM   #15
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Warsaw,NC
Posts: 7,184
Google the 12 volt side of life, part 1 & 2. It's good stuff to know. The new batteries that are on the market now takes a faster charge plus they can be run down to 0% but I can buy 8 Trojans for what one cost. If money is not a problem buy the new batteries, from what I hear they can take a faster charge
spock123 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2017, 09:56 AM   #16
Senior Member
 
GLBCamper's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Bend, OR
Posts: 149
can someone suggest which "good quality charger" to buy rather than going through my wfco converter, which is at least 20ft. From the batteries?
GLBCamper is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2017, 10:39 AM   #17
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Warsaw,NC
Posts: 7,184
I have a PD in my Camper 70amp. I would think you should move your charger closer to the batteries or if you can't do that then a heavier gauge wire or cable to the batteries
spock123 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2017, 10:53 AM   #18
Senior Member
 
510Rick's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Posts: 439
Sounds like you should get solar .lol.
I have no idea how long two GC batteries should take but my single battery doesnt take more then 2 hours .
__________________

TV:GMC 2500HD Duramax
TT: 2015 Wildwood 21rbs
510Rick is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2017, 11:39 AM   #19
Senior Member
 
GLBCamper's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Bend, OR
Posts: 149
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skyliner View Post
Question can't be answered. Its like asking how much food should I eat so I can feel full

I agree there are a lot of variables in both scenarios. A low charge state (a really hungry person), how many and what size batteries (adult or child), how big are the pizza slices (small wiring, distance from converter). But if you asked 100 people how much pizza they can eat I'm guessing MOST people would say 2 or 3 slices.

That's what I had no idea what to expect. In general, can I expect once slice or the whole pie?

Of course I will try out my system, but I don't want to be the guy who runs a generator eight hours a day and lugs along five gallons of gas when two hours/gallons would have been plenty.
GLBCamper is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-22-2017, 12:03 PM   #20
Senior Member
 
dwhit's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Chicago, Rochester now GA/SC at Lake Hartwell
Posts: 197
A welder could prob'ly charge your bank in 30 mins...
__________________
2019 Sandpiper 379FLOK, F350 Lariat 6.7 DRW, KN4YBP APRS, NRA Benefactors.
dwhit is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
generator, newbie

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Forest River, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:15 AM.