# Anyone tried a supercharger yet.



## ovalball (Sep 10, 2008)

Just wondered if anyone on here had splashed out on a supercharger yet,and if so what is the verdict please?

http://www.thesupercharger.co.uk/home/4557388158


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Just about every motorhome for many many years has been fitted with a turbo chraged diesel engine so adding a supercharger would offer no worthwhile benefits,

If fitting to an older (non turbo) engine then are a lot of things to consider first, primarily cost and what effect it would have on the rest of the mechanicals !! leaving out the engine the gerabox and final drive may not be up to coping with the increased power/torque. If you are thinking of going down that route make sure you do your homework thoroughly !!


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## wakk44 (Jun 15, 2006)

It's basically a high output generator Mr Plodd,nothing to do with the engine.
http://www.thesupercharger.co.uk/#/about/4557388160

On paper these look very good,smaller and lighter than a typical generator but with a huge output of 50 or 90A/H,which means they wouldn't have to be on for as long.

Looks interesting,I would like to see some reviews as well with regard to noise and reliability


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

I love the way people just assume they understand a post a and answer without actually bothering to be sure what it is about.

As to the question. I have no knowledge of that product but it was discussed on here some time ago, Alan.


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## crumblyned (Jun 27, 2011)

*I love the way people just assume they understand a post a a*

Yes I have one. On the + side it is light, easy to start, easy to lift, fits in the locker with ease. 
On the down side for a thing of that size it is NOISY.
How often do I use it, 2-4 times a year is all I need it.
So it suits us fine even if it is a bit noisy.

Ned.


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## crumblyned (Jun 27, 2011)

*I love the way people just assume they understand a post a a*

Yes I have one. On the + side it is light, easy to start, easy to lift, fits in the locker with ease. 
On the down side for a thing of that size it is NOISY.
How often do I use it, 2-4 times a year is all I need it.
So it suits us fine even if it is a bit noisy.

Ned.


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## wakk44 (Jun 15, 2006)

I did wonder about the noise level,the engine on the supercharger must be working hard to produce that sort of output.The advantage is that it is not necessary to run it for hours like some people do with a standard suitcase generator which has a much smaller output.

If you need this type of charging output when off hook up would it not be better to fit a Sterling charger and run the van engine for a short while.No messing about with crocodile clips,smelly petrol cans and no need to find storage space for it.


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## Ian_n_Suzy (Feb 15, 2009)

wakk44 said:


> If you need this type of charging output when off hook up would it not be better to fit a Sterling charger and run the van engine for a short while.No messing about with crocodile clips,smelly petrol cans and no need to find storage space for it.


Hi,

Isn't it considered bad for modern diesel engines to be left running on an idle / tickover for long periods? (I might have dreamt that).

Out of interest, does anyone know the likely amount of fuel consumed if left on tickover for an hour?


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## WildThingsKev (Dec 29, 2009)

Ian_n_Suzy said:


> Isn't it considered bad for modern diesel engines to be left running on an idle / tickover for long periods? (I might have dreamt that).
> 
> Out of interest, does anyone know the likely amount of fuel consumed if left on tickover for an hour?


I think it is worse for old diesels, for modern diesels the bigger problem is clogging up the EGR valve with soot. With a bit of a workout either side of a stay it should be ok; I do it.

I reckon that if you drove in 1st gear on tickover at, say, 5mph you would probably get around 10mpg. Therefore one hour on tickover whilst stationary would use a maximum of 1/2 gallon (say 1.5 - 2 litres). 
With a b2b charger that could pump 45Ah into the leisure batteries.

A genny with through a standard 15A 240v charger would need to run 3 hours, I've no idea how much fuel they consume. (edit: just looked it up, would be about 1 litre).

A 90A "Supercharger" would only need 30 minutes (if your batteries can take it) but almost certainly use more fuel than the genny

Kev


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

If you read through the many pages of partial information about that object it admits that it makes the same noise as a modern suitcase generator but that you have to manually adjust the throttle to the correct the level....

it also goes on to describe that it is best linked to an inverter to supply 240v.........

the idea looks sound, but the design appears to have some lapses which will possibly be sorted over time, but I would not buy one at the present time.......

Dave


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## olley (May 1, 2005)

You cannot just push 50amps into 100ah battery without raising the voltage to a silly level, just because you can supply 50amps to your batteries doesn't mean they will take it.

I would guess that unless you have over 200ah of batteries your on board mains charger will do just a good job.

Ian


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

The sterling is quoted as over £300. it would be cheaper to upgrade the original engine alternator, unless this is more than capable already.

cabby


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## steco1958 (Mar 5, 2009)

Ian_n_Suzy said:


> Isn't it considered bad for modern diesel engines to be left running on an idle / tickover for long periods? (I might have dreamt that).


Ever been on the M25 on a Friday Morning or Evening, and sat there for hours just ticking over moving up the line.


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## crumblyned (Jun 27, 2011)

wakk44 said:


> I did wonder about the noise level,the engine on the supercharger must be working hard to produce that sort of output.The advantage is that it is not necessary to run it for hours like some people do with a standard suitcase generator which has a much smaller output.
> 
> If you need this type of charging output when off hook up would it not be better to fit a Sterling charger and run the van engine for a short while.No messing about with crocodile clips,smelly petrol cans and no need to find storage space for it.


*

(Not necessary to run it for hours)

I run mine for about 20-30 mins and that will fully charge a bank of battery's totalling 400 amps. Combined with solar panels x2 100w, and the fact we don't watch a great deal of TV its all we need.
We've just done 4weeks in France with no huck-up and used it once for 20mins on the one rainy day. Not bad me thinks. Ned*


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## Wizzo (Dec 3, 2007)

cabby said:


> The sterling is quoted as over £300. it would be cheaper to upgrade the original engine alternator, unless this is more than capable already.


The problem as I understand it with relying on the vehicle alternator is that once the vehicle battery is 'charged' then the output drops to a trickle for both vehicle and leisure battery. The thing that the Sterling does is to fool the alternator into supplying a higher charge and diverting it to the habitation side. This I assume comes at some small cost to mpg figures.

JohnW


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## PaulW2 (May 30, 2010)

On balance I think the Sterling charger is the best overall compromise for me. Idling your engine makes no more noise than a 'silent' generator and the B to B charger also charges batteries pretty quickly. You can do it everywhere you can run a generator and also in some places where you can't use a genny.

In practice I find (with a 500 ah battery bank) that the first hour puts back a lot - say almost 50 ah. Then it tails off. 

In practice, therefore, if you don't have long drives between stops you probably work in a range of (say) 60% charged to about 90% charged. 

Solar panels can be a very useful addition. I only have one (100 w) but two would have been better. I may still add another.


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## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

olley said:


> You cannot just push 50amps into 100ah battery without raising the voltage to a silly level, just because you can supply 50amps to your batteries doesn't mean they will take it.
> 
> I would guess that unless you have over 200ah of batteries your on board mains charger will do just a good job.
> 
> Ian


You can, Ian, as long as the voltage is closely controlled.

We produce chargers for the rail industry, and many, like the Class 66 locomotives have relatively small capacity batteries, but we put 50+ amps into them.

Another application is AGV's, where they run around warehouses and come back to a charging point to get a top up, we had 150A chargers on those into 80AH batteries, albeit Nicads.

It's the voltage control that is important, get that right and at the right voltage and you'll be fine.

Our Discovery has a 130A alternator fitted, most diesel van chassis have similar sizes fitted, so not that exceptional.

In the case of the Supercharger, I think it is expensive for what it is, many small generators have 12V outputs these days and for most needs they would do as a backup.

Peter


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## 747 (Oct 2, 2009)

If I was spending most of my time living in my van, I would have one of these. There are other charging alternatives but all are more expensive to buy.

A good quality generator can provide 240 volts but not in any real capacity and they are heavy. I think an alternative supply of 12 volts which is lightweight and compact is a useful tool.

It might sound expensive but if I decided to drive elsewhere mainly to charge up my batteries, it costs me 1 gallon of diesel for every 22 miles I travel and it takes a lot of driving to fully charge leisure batteries.


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

HI.

I just had the Honda genny converted to run on LPG off my big underslung tank, no messing about with petrol.

Works for me.

Ray.


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## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

As previously mentioned in another thread, 26A 13.80V power supplies as chargers are less than £30 on ebay, we've got two, so as long as we have a little Chinese genny we can chuck back in 52A total in fairly short order.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140624617445

15V 26A, adjustable voltage to suit your battery type.

Or the 13.5V 26A version is cheaper and has the same possible voltage adjustment range:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140574040105

Peter


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## blondy (Aug 23, 2007)

I think this thread is wrongly named, why?.
A supercharger is a bit of equipment that is normaly belt driven from the engine which boosts the engine power to levels way above a turbo charger, plus it boosts from a much lower rev range.
I think the product the op is referring to is mis named product for charging batteries which is just a Cheepo engine driving an alternator
And is definately not a supercharger as has been recognised for over 50 years.


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## bubble63 (Sep 30, 2009)

listerdiesel said:


> As previously mentioned in another thread, 26A 13.80V power supplies as chargers are less than £30 on ebay, we've got two, so as long as we have a little Chinese genny we can chuck back in 52A total in fairly short order.
> 
> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140624617445
> 
> ...


good post peter

when the power supply gets the battery to 13.8 volts , am I right in thinking the volt ceiling then reduces the charge amps by default ( ohms law) hence its regulated for charging ?

or can your over charge/ damage with this set up?

Neill
8O


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## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

bubble63 said:


> good post peter
> 
> when the power supply gets the battery to 13.8 volts , am I right in thinking the volt ceiling then reduces the charge amps by default ( ohms law) hence its regulated for charging ?
> 
> ...


It is a tightly regulated switch-mode power supply, regulation is better than 1%, so no trouble with overcharge.

They are 'only' single-rate chargers, but quite honestly they do the job as well or better than some of the stuff sold as multi-stage leisure chargers.

The two we have are on 24/7 at home when the trailer is parked up, and have achieved over 12 months continuous running without problem.

Peter


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## ovalball (Sep 10, 2008)

blondy said:


> I think this thread is wrongly named, why?.
> A supercharger is a bit of equipment that is normaly belt driven from the engine which boosts the engine power to levels way above a turbo charger, plus it boosts from a much lower rev range.
> I think the product the op is referring to is mis named product for charging batteries which is just a Cheepo engine driving an alternator
> And is definately not a supercharger as has been recognised for over 50 years.


The reason I named this thread as I did is because this is the actual name of the product I am interested in.What would you suggest?


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## bubble63 (Sep 30, 2009)

ovalball said:


> blondy said:
> 
> 
> > I think this thread is wrongly named, why?.
> ...


agree, it's correctly named

but why not buy a cheap Chinese genny as peter suggested and attach a 240/12v power supply, as suggested above also by peter

cost ....... £ 120???

Neill


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## ovalball (Sep 10, 2008)

Certainly looking at that option Neill.Great to get the feedback I was hoping for.


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## bubble63 (Sep 30, 2009)

there was a 'super charger' on eBay 6 months ago

it didn't fetch much

so it would seem they don't hold value

another reason to do the above

Neill


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## Ian_n_Suzy (Feb 15, 2009)

I recall a link (it may have been to an external link) on here in which it showed the details of somebody who had made their own version.

I currently can't find the link, anybody else remember it, or bookmarked it?


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## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

Ian_n_Suzy said:


> I recall a link (it may have been to an external link) on here in which it showed the details of somebody who had made their own version.
> 
> I currently can't find the link, anybody else remember it, or bookmarked it?


It's easy enough to do if you have the facilities, new small engines are around £120 on ebay, get a 100A alternator and a frame and off you go.

Trouble is, you've got to lug it around with you.

Easier in my view to get an 800W Chinese 240V genny which can be used for other jobs as well as battery charging and fit a decent on-board charger, which can be used on EHU as well.

You get the best of both worlds, plus you haven't got to mess around with bl**dy great crocodile clips on batteries that are tucked away.

If I had a transport company with a fleet of vans, it might be a useful thing to have to cover flattened batteries, but not for a single vehicle.

Peter


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## Ian_n_Suzy (Feb 15, 2009)

Hi,

I was more interested in just re-reading the article. I don't particularly want one, I already have a generator that I neither use nor even carry with us any more (thanks to Solar).


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## 747 (Oct 2, 2009)

listerdiesel said:


> Ian_n_Suzy said:
> 
> 
> > I recall a link (it may have been to an external link) on here in which it showed the details of somebody who had made their own version.
> ...


You use your generator under different circumstances though Peter.

Like you, I attend a number of Steam Rallies etc. now and again. A lot of exhibitors have the cheaper, noisy generators but nobody seems to mind. It seems very different amongst motorhome users. In fact, at the moment a spat has broken out on the MMM forum about gennies. The OP only commented that his was stolen at the Lincoln Show. I bet he wished he had kept his mouth shut now. :lol:

Just think what MHF members would make of someone topping his batteries up with a Steam Traction Engine. :lol:


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## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

747 said:


> You use your generator under different circumstances though Peter.
> 
> Just think what MHF members would make of someone topping his batteries up with a Steam Traction Engine. :lol:


Actually we haven't used it at all yet, and there are two, not one gennies, 800W and 2200W. The little one has been run and tested, the 2200W one is new and unused, sitting in the workshop at the factory.

Since we fitted the second pair of solar panels we have not had to worry about having EHU at all, we are almost completely independent of mains electricity when away.

We did have the trailer hooked up to the Ruston & Hornsby engine at Little Casterton, it has 230V 2.5kVA available so we ran the water heater off it during the afternoons.

We may be at the Lincoln Steam Rally next year.

Peter


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## LittleGreyCat (Jun 22, 2008)

Just to pick up on this old thread because we looked at the Supercharge at the 2015 Peterborough Show.

Alternatives suggested seem to be:
(1) Just run the engine.
(2) Buy a charger to use on EHU
(3) Buy a cheap "suitcase" generator.

In reply to these :
(1) With the awning up the exhaust pipe points directly into the awning - so not a good idea to run the engine.
(2) Our Hymer already has a built in charging system for both engine and habitation battery, so EHU is not a problem. Use would be for non-EHU sites and week long stays.
(3) It's the size of a bl**dy suitcase!!! Seriously, there isn't any storage in our Hymer B544 A Class which would take a suitcase generator. We don't have a fixed bed so there is no garage. We have no particular desire to carry it in the body of the van and have to take it out (then chain it to something) when we stop.

So the attraction for us would be the reduced size and low profile - it should easily fit under one of the squabs, or potentially in one of the under floor lockers.

A concern would be the charge regulation because AFAIK leisure batteries are not designed to take as aggressive a charge as engine batteries.

A couple of plus points:

(a) We were stranded on Jura for four days last year when a wire in the wiring loom abraded and caused the ECU to shut down the engine - which ruled out solution (1)
(b) The starter battery "fell off a cliff" last weekend (warranty replacement, thankfully) but we required a jump start to get to KwikFit. The jump leads reach the habitation batteries (just, with un-clamping one battery and moving it nearer to the window) but again using leisure batteries to jump start an engine is not ideal. As far as I can see this generator should have been able to put a surface charge into the engine battery to allow us to get started.

So I am tempted as long as it is safe to directly charge leisure batteries at a high rate - although I think this is exactly what a Stirling charger does.

I saw mention of cheap Chinese generators at around £120 - any with properly regulated 240V output suitable to feed into a 240V hookup socket on a motor home? Or is the only use to run poorly regulated 240V into a battery charger?


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## LittleGreyCat (Jun 22, 2008)

Just to add (can't see an Edit option at the moment) that it has been suggested elsewhere that the figures given may be a little optimistic.

That is if you have two leisure batteries each of 100 Ah which discharge to 50% then they require 100 Ah between them to reach full charge.
A simple sum might suggest that running a 50 Amp generator for an hour provides 50 Ah, so these two batteries could be fully recharged in two hours.
However I don't think that car alternator charge controllers work like that - I have been told that they provide an initial high charge rate but then as the voltage comes up to near normal then the charging level backs right off and the final charge can be at almost a trickle - thus taking a lot longer than 2 hours to reach full charge.

I also have the Supercharger brochure which gives the 12v output of the Honda Eu20i as 8.3 amps.
If (volts * amps = watts) then (amps = watts/volts )
Given that the generator is nominally 2,000 amps then (2000/12) is 166.67 amps - significantly higher than the alternator in the Supercharger.
So perhaps the direct 12v output on the generator is only a trickle, but if you were to plug a 240V battery charger into the generator you should get a significantly higher charge rate depending on the capability of the charger.
However high charge rate 240v chargers are very large and very expensive!

All very confusing.

At the moment the big unanswered questions are:

(1) What is the charging profile of the Supercharge? Vehicle alternators tend to fast charge a battery for a relatively short while then tail back to a long term trickle charge as maximum voltage (and thus maximum resistance to charging) approaches. How long does it really take to achieve a full charge?

(2) How well do leisure batteries cope with (repeated) aggressive charging? Noting that consumer 240V battery chargers tend to fast charge at around 8 amps and trickle charge at around 3 amps . Noting also that 240v mains gives a LOT more potential power for a charger to use. 8 amps at 12 volts equates to 96 watts - less than an old style light bulb.

Interesting technology.
Hidden flaws?


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## WildThingsKev (Dec 29, 2009)

I decided to go the b2b charger route because I didn't want to carry petrol around in the van (smell more than anything else). But here are a few of my thoughts.

The two most sophisticated chargers in a van would be a b2b charger and/or a decent mains charger. Both of these have a full IUoU 3 or 4 stage charging profile with very tightly controlled voltage and very little ripple current etc (ie better for battery life).

Use a generator if you also need 240v. Upgrading the mains charger to get the most out of an inverter generator (ie buying a 40A or 50A charger) will probably cost as much as the genny and you might need to upgrade the internal wiring & fusing to the new charger.

A Supercharger would be best used charging from 50% depth of discharge (or less if you have proper deep cycle batteries) up to 80% charged where it would be very quick, after that the rate of charge is probably no better than anything else. I may be wrong but it may not be so good with/for gel or agm batteries.

Kev


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