# Generator????



## cole (Aug 5, 2007)

Hi,
We are thinking of buying a generator and have heard that the Honda EU10i is the quietest. We have a few questions though that we need answering if there is anyone on the forum that has one?
1. When they say quiet, are we talking almost silent or would the noise be annoying to people on the next pitch and even to ourselves!!?
2. How do you stop it being stolen? Do you recommend chaining it to the van?
3. How much do they cost to run if you get a petrol one?
4. Do they stink of petrol, therefore would have to store it outside of the motorhome?
5. Is the Honda EU10i the best one for us? We would be running a tv with sky plus, a fridge, george foreman grill and an oil filled radiator?
Sorry for all the questions but they seem to cost around £500 so i want to be sure before i buy one.

Thanks in advance!

Nicole


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## TJ101 (Oct 12, 2008)

I have the Honda EU20, and very please with it,, needed the larger unit, for tools, work lamps whilst on motor rally events etc

There is a issue with people using generator sets !! We tend only to use our when wildcamp



cole said:


> Hi,
> 1. When they say quiet, are we talking almost silent or would the noise be annoying to people on the next pitch and even to ourselves!!?


Nothing with a engine is silent, The Honda is fairly quite and certainly less then most, mine has a offload system, whereby when load is not needed, will run at tick over, until demand is put one it, runs faster, therefor louder !! You will more that likely get complaints for the next pitch if close !!




cole said:


> 2. How do you stop it being stolen? Do you recommend chaining it to the van?


Never felt we have been in a place, for it to concern us, but would chain it, if i was you !



cole said:


> 3. How much do they cost to run if you get a petrol one?


As its the same fuel, that goes in the rally car, can not say, i have keep a note of the amout used, !!



cole said:


> 4. Do they stink of petrol, therefore would have to store it outside of the motorhome?


Ours lives in the garage, and have never smell it inside 


cole said:


> 5. Is the Honda EU10i the best one for us? We would be running a tv with sky plus, a fridge, george foreman grill and an oil filled radiator?


You need to total up the mount of power you need, IIRC the EU10, will run at about 800W, our 20 is rated at 1600W continuous !!

Hope that helps !!


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## brillopad (Mar 4, 2008)

we have a eu20i, chain it up,ours runs on gas (lpg) so no smell,no idea cost of running,noise a loud humm,not sure about running all that stuff, but some one will be along to tell you.dennis


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## cole (Aug 5, 2007)

Thanks for the speedy response!

We would mainly use it whilst wild camping anyway but was wondering if the noise is loud enough to disturb the peacefullness of wild camping? Is there an equivalent you could say the sound was as loud as?


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## brillopad (Mar 4, 2008)

three hairdryers


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## cole (Aug 5, 2007)

3 hairdryers!!?? Thats loud!! Didn't realise it would make that ammount of noise. If you would have said one hairdryer i would of thought it was bad. Oh dear...think that is the end of that idea then  

Thank you for your help.


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## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

Nicole,

A genny should be a last resort because of their noise and generally should be used for recharging leisure batteries at the highest rate of charge they can take, unless you need it for aircon off hookup. Your question 5 is therefore the most important one:

a) a tv with sky plus - doesn't need a genny unless you are stuck without mains for days without sun.
b) a fridge - run off gas.
c) a george foreman grill - cook off gas.
d) an oil filled radiator - heat off gas unless you are on mains hookup.

Dave


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## TJ101 (Oct 12, 2008)

You need to hear one running under load,,

You can hold a normal conversation stood next to our, while offload, 

I would compare it to a electric drill,,, maybe ?? certainly would not be without it !!!


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## gaspode (May 9, 2005)

The noise from generators can vary enormously, the Honda is among the best. You must accept though that the noise will still annoy you - and more importantly everyone else. It's best likened to the noise of someone mowing the lawn a couple of doors away, no problem to talk over but intensely annoying if it goes on half the day when you're relaxing on your sun bed reading a book.

The main thing is that 99% of the time you don't need one. Think Gas. Unless on hook-up, all heating, cooling and cooking should be done by gas, not electricity. Throw away the Foreman, electric kettle, electric heater and microwave, your motorhome has built-in facilities to carry out most of these functions from bottled gas. This only leaves lighting, TV and PC to run from the battery and the amount of energy that these will use can be easily replaced by a modest solar panel under most weather conditions. Fitting some LED light bulbs will greatly reduce your energy use and as long as you don't want to watch a large TV all day and night you shouldn't ever need a generator. I certainly wish I'd invested the money I spent on a generator on a solar panel, since we've fitted one the gennie hasn't come out of the garage.


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## hogan (Oct 31, 2006)

I have dragged my genny around Europe 9000 miles plus.Into Poland minus 6c, Germany 7 days below freezing, France ,Pyrenees all in winter and only used it twice,once so the misses could use a hair dryer she now holds her head by the blown heater outlet,and once just for fun to make sure it worked,
I would have been better off with a solar panel.
Hope this helps.


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## tinkering (Dec 8, 2007)

*genaraters*

Cole, The Honda EU20i Would be your best bet,if you intend to use a G Foreman type grill (no hot fat flying about Dave!}.

Noise, I have a EU20i 53dB at tick over 59db under full load, thats a tad more noisy than a washing machine.

Petrol smells, if you obey the instructions supplied ie turn the petrol off three miutes before switching the genny off, you will have then emptied the float chamber of fuel so there will not be any fuel in the chamber to evaporate.

Allways lock it up! some tow rag will be able to unplug it, switched it off and have legged it before you are able to put your glass down and get out the door!!

Take care Les :wink: :wink:


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## CliveMott (Mar 10, 2008)

Totally agree with the sentiments above.

For wild camping you need to consider :-

1) Reducing your electrical load as mush as possible. Things like changing internal quartz lighting to new LED alternatives etc. (bulb replacements)
2) For heating and cooking use GAS.
3) Increased the size of your leisure battery bank.
4) Fitting a substantial solar panel and regulator.

Take it easy - but take it!

Clive


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## kijana (May 1, 2005)

We also spend quite a lot of time wildcamping in Europe. 

Our van is fitted with a 130W solar panel running into two 110AH leisure batteries.

In conjunction with a 1kW invertor, this enables us to run anything electrical we wish: hairdryer; toaster; TV & laptop, etc - though gas is so cheap in Spain that we use that for most heating & cooking.

We bought a 1kW Kipor 4-stroke genny as a backup. It is very quiet (though loud enough to annoy). 

But - and here's the rub - we have NEVER used it in anger!

So I would suggest you spend the £500 on solar panel & big fat leisure batteries.


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## Patrick_Phillips (Aug 17, 2006)

Agree with all that has been said.
We have the EU10i and have only used it twice in 7 months. Once to recharge batteries when wildcamping and let the batteries get too low. The other was to prove that a neighbours fridge problems were due to low hook-up voltage on a Spanish campsite.
Having said that, I am very pleased to have it even though it cost a lot more than the 500 quoted - the number of times I have taken comfort from knowing it was available to me if I got my sums wrong are many and frequent!  :roll: 
Patrick


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## gromett (May 9, 2005)

I had the EU20i and couldn't stand the noise. I found it to be intrusive and distracting. However.... I built my power system to avoid genny use and only used it twice.

No generator is quiet, however the Hondas are amongst the best if not the best and you won't be disappointed with them.

If you are sensitive to noise then you may want to chain them to your van and move 1-200 meters away.

I go full timing on the 1st May. I have gone for a massive battery bank and a few solar panels and will be dropping into sites for a charge up every X number of days/weeks. If this turns out not to be enough I would happily go back to the honda as it is great bit of kit (noisy though it is)

Quiet and Generator do not go in the same sentence. Probably as good a definition of oxymoron as "microsoft works" and "military intelligence". 
Yup "quiet Generator" is my new example of an oxymoron.

Karl


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## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

Apparently not if you are a Gasperini owner!


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## EuropeanCampers (Mar 28, 2008)

Interesting one this, Ive been looking at similar and solar does appear a good option.

What size and power of solar panel would be needed to keep a 110Ah battery in good shape under average useage?


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## wilse (Aug 10, 2007)

We've the EU10i and it's quiet.

We used it on our skiing trip so we could keep the battery topped up, it can also run our remoska grand (650w), laptop, TV etc.

We looked at and EU20i but the size & weight put me off [not to mention the extra cost!]

You don't have to stand 100-200 metres away from it either.

If we keep the genny then we will go LPG conversion next, that said the smell isn't very strong anyway, interestingly as I never read manuals, I didn't realise you could cut the fuel 3 mins before switching off the gennie, so I now know where the occasional petrol whiff came from.

W


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## Vennwood (Feb 4, 2007)

Hi GEH007,

It's like saying how long a piece of string do I need.

As a general guide it depends on your style of camping, and more importantly do you use the MH in winter - if so where do you go.

Solar panels are great in summer, even when its cloudy. In winter they can be almost useless, especially in this country. Better if you go to say south of France or Spain.

My first observation would be to say double your battery power to at least 220Ah or more if you have the space.
Next, if you use the MH in winter then go for the largest panel your roof and pocket can take. In winter any panel less than 50W is pretty much only usefull for keeping the battery topped up when not in use

By example our 2 x 130W panels in December in UK will only produce maybe 5A or 6A per day, unless its really sunny weather. 5amps wouldn't do much good if you were parked in freezing weather or bucketing down with rain. More battery power helps in these situations or either a genny or if your pockets are deep something like the Efoy fuel cell

Pete


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## cole (Aug 5, 2007)

Hi,
The only real reason we would use a generator is for the tv/sky box, the george foreman to grill breakfast, and the oil filled heater (plug in), Its no massive problem...we can do without all 3 if necessary but it would have been nice thats all to park up by a lake and still be able to watch a bit of tv.... Are inverters any good or do you have to have a solar panel fitted?


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## Tinyk (Mar 18, 2009)

Whilst not really wishing to join the debate over genny and solar (as we dont have our van yet) I have just purchased a genny for the same reasons you have, though we will also use it when not camping.

Look on ebay for Kipor generators, you need to read the feedback for the dealers but if you find the right one you will get a good deal. Basically the kipor is a cheaper clone of the honda and i've had both the 1000 and now 2000 and they work very very well.

I looked at chelston and the honday was£949 for the 20, i picked up the equivilant kipor 2000 for £389 inclding delivery off ebay and i would say its almost every bit the same, in fact its so much the same i belive some time ago honda took them to court over copyright, hecne they change their colour from red to yellow but the rest is the same. Get the right model suitcase one and its also equipped with the correct inverter technology to power laptops and sensitive electrical equipment.

I'm not trying to push you into a genny just trying to save you a few quid if you do go down that line, besides £400 is a lot better than £1000 if you find yourslef not using it a lot.


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## Vennwood (Feb 4, 2007)

Inverters are good and you don't have to have a solar panel to use one - just a battery. Of course it depends on what size of inverter you need and that will also depend on available battery power (or the ability to recharge existing batteries)

There are dozens of inverters available from a few Watts for recharging phones etc. to large ones of over 1KW that will run a microwave etc.

The bigger the inverter (or perceived power need) the more quicker you will need to charge it - hence solar panel, gennerator etc.


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## ytank (Jan 9, 2008)

don't get one that is the best advice just fit some bigger gas bottles


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