Battery power

Thanks for the tip. I think if I was in the market for a generator though, I'd be trying to find a diesel because you can use cheap "red" diesel in them.

For those across the pond who may not be acquainted with the term, in the UK, diesel for agricultural or industrial use such as power generation, isn't subject to the high duty you have to pay on "road" diesel, and is much cheaper. It is treated with a red dye which provides a "tell tale" if you do try using it your car or truck.

That would be nice, but I've never seen a compact portable diesel generator over here. The generators I'm referring to are 2KW units about the size of a small beer cooler, you can carry them with one hand.

I wonder how they prevent people from using red diesel in vehicles? I think we have something similar here, I've heard it called off road diesel, I can't imagine they'd be randomly stopping people to inspect the color of their fuel.

I have heard of checks happening at things like stock (as in animal) markets and other agricultural gatherings to catch farmers who might be illegally using it.

The police also set up roadblocks to do random checks on heavy goods vehicles and although these are primarily aimed at safety and weight I guess checking the fuel wouldn't be difficult. The checks are mainly aimed at vehicles coming across from the continent, especially eastern europe where safety and maintenance standards usually fall far short of our own.

There are two places I know of, about 20 miles from here in opposite directions, where they have roadside weighbridges to check for overloaded trucks.

Yes there is a 12V output. But shouldn't the battery need a little higher for charging? Also negative to negative and positive to positive right? I dont want to screw my battery ;)

The "12V" is actually a bit higher, charging 12V batteries is exactly what it's designed for. Yes, + to + and - to -, get that backwards and you get fireworks.

That's exactly what's done. People who do this do seem to draw attention to themselves, e.g. also driving with lights not working, without insurance and/or car tax, etc, and that's normally the initial reason they get stopped, where upon a further search often reveals a series of other offences, such as using red diesel.

Here, we have 3 kinds of diesel:black, for maritime;red for heating;and colourless for all other uses, including vehicles and ICE engines in general. Note, though, all small generators are usually gasoline.

Looking round quickly at one of the "high street" suppliers it seems you're looking at about 4kVA for the smallest diesel and I confess it doesn't look like you could carry it with one hand :-(

The "12 volt DC" output on my Honda 2000 is intended for charging batteries. However, you can get a larger charging current by using the AC output to power a conventional charger.