I'm seeking a small engine that can drive a generator. By small, I mean in the 12"^3 range.
It must be 4 cycle as it will need to run on propane. It will drive a 13.8V generator, or 120VAC, say 800 watts.
If H-F Item#63025 was 4 cycle, (and it was un-junk....) that would be ideal.
This to fit aboard a sailboat for stationary power/starter battery recharging.
Of course, if instead you have a Diesel in that size [Ha!], speak up.
Like a Honda EU1000i with a propane or tri-fuel conversion kit?
Will this work? How many horsies does that genset take?
Do you already have a nice solar panel for your yacht?
Would be nice, huh? I'd build a motorcycle with one since I don't have a boat. (Shut up, Gunner. I don't need one. ;)
A Zero DS or Hayes Kaw Diesel would make me happy.
If you meant 12" x 12" x 12" then possible
Depending on the size of the boat you might look into solar panels. I used them on a 40 ft. boat for a number of years and while they didn't supply all the power I used they did prolong the time between battery charges :-)
As an aside, all of the really small generators I've seen had a "hot exhaust" and shouldn't be used in closed quarters.
Briggs and Stratton 800 or 900 series engines. Northern Tool carries them. 8 ft lb torque, so 5.4HP at 3600 RPM.
$260 for the 800 series, $350 for the 900 series 6 HP (9 ft lb at
3600) The Honda GX200 is another option - $429 at Tractor Supply.Tose are 200-205cce engines - or 12 cu inches, which I believe was your specification.
The GX160 is the 4HP honda 163cc. The Briggs 550 series is 127cc
4hp.
The ROBIN motor is made by Subaru and sold as a Wisconsin,
Yanmar do the L40 which is a 4hp (12cuin) diesel and I have one on a mixer, works well. I think the Chinese do a knock off of them.
Parts to adapt and modify Honda GX160, GX200 and Harbor Freight Predator 212 engines are readily available:
My Predator 212 engine has split two cords of firewood and cut two oak beams on my sawmill satisfactorily. It's easier to start and vibrates less than a Tecumseh OHH55. My only complaint is that I have to remove the gas tank and unscrew its outlet fitting to fully drain the gasoline before long term storage.
There are lightweight sub-kilowatt generators out there, I have an old Kohler 500 Watt PowerPlay (loud 2-stroke) and Honda made an EM600.
I don't know how good the current production models are.
-jsw
I thought you might see that.
He said "charge the battery", not "battery bank". I was thinking a simple 80w for LED lights, radio, and laptop. One battery ought to handle that. BUT, if he had a larger boat, solar panels could be utilized to replace the sail while the batteries replaced a significant portion of the ballast. VBG.
Noisy buggers though!!! we were going to put one on a generator on little brothers semi to run heat and air etc on "overnights" instead of leaning the main engine run, but they were WAY too noisy and way too rough running to sleep through - - -
I'm guessing 12 inches to the power of 3 - or 12 cubic inches - - -
12 cubic inches. ^ signifies a superscript exponent.
Do you have one?
I bought the previous 2500W model #61169 and like it so far after about 11 hours of running and testing it every 3 months. The output voltage and frequency are very stable up to its 19A steady-state current limit.
If mine fails under warranty HF will replace it with the current #62523 model. I could have traded when the carb pilot jet clogged but that was an easy fix. Pay attention to how the stepper motor linkage connects to the throttle before you take one apart.
-jsw
Another one:
Lombardini used to make small diesels. Their site still exists, but the engines I found have a Kohler tag on them. They still seem to fit your spec, though.
That depends on how many watt hours he needs. with 8 hours od sunlight and a tracking panel sysyem he will get a MAXIMUM of 1160 watt hours of power from the panels - so 1150 watt hours out of the battery if he is very lucky. That is 800 watts for about an hour and
15 minutes. Yes, he can get more out of the battery, but the battery will not recover it's charge unless charged with more than the 145 watt panel, or charged for a few days with no load.
It has solar panels now, but with not enough sun, the battery soon succumbed. Given you can't push-start a sailboat, this caused a major issue. Especially since we had no car available.
An approximate size of what will fix into the locker....
There are several multifunction DC wattmeters available to monitor the system's condition and performance. Unfortunately I haven't found one that does everything necessary. The ones which are powered by the system battery measure current with a ground-referenced shunt and read only shunt voltage higher than ground, ie they display current of one polarity and ignore the other, so you'd need two to show both charge and discharge current. They can be different, one matched to the higher voltage and lower current from the panels and the other sized for the maximum load current out of the battery.
The type that measures current in both directions with differential inputs needs its negative supply to float below the system negative, meaning they require batteries or a separate isolated power supply, like a cheap obsolete miniUSB phone charger. I've suggested to DROK that they should offer an isolated 12VDC - 5VDC converter for meters that need it.
The low-cost analog panel ammeters aren't too bad.
I have only more accurate digital meters on the batteries.
-jsw
The 500Wi measures 12.6" x 14.1" x 8.2". It appears to be the very similar little brother of the discontinued HF 2500/2200W inverter generator.
I was wondering about that 12"^3 spec, as 12 cubic inches of engine displacement is enough to generate over 3000 Watts in a machine that needs wheels. I lifted a 3750W Coleman into the back of my car but I wouldn't want to step off the dock into a small boat with it.
I've never seen a Honda EM400 or EM600 for sale, and only that one
500W Kohler Powerplay that I carried up onto the roof to patch holes after a storm.A Honda EU1000i would be enough to keep my backup batteries charged, but not to repair structural storm damage, cook with the microwave, run an A/C or do laundry. The 3750W Coleman is barely enough to start the washing machine or 1/2HP air compressor.
-jsw
Ayup. Consider adding a wind turbine to your mast, too. And definitely consider the noise before purchase. While you're docked in a marina, a loud turbine could keep folks awake.
What size is the battery? If you simply drain the battery daily, it will die quite a bit more quickly than if you only drain it 20%.
What is your watt usage? Is it a set amount daily, or not much today and heaps tomorrow? Can you plan your usage around the battery?
What devices are you using on the system? Are they optimized for mobile use?
Have you converted to LED and/or CFL lighting to save watts?
What size panels do you have? Solar panels still put out energy without direct sun, through the overcast, but they don't put out nearly as much.
And how can you order up more sun?
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