For the average user, judging waveform quality is nearly impossible. Any low cost proposals?
Raw power gensets generally have a pretty crude regulator circuit. They work just well enough to deliver what comes close to a sine wave output so the voltage and frequency met nominal spec. Honda's claim to fame aside from the very quiet running was the ability to seperate the output demand from the need to run at a constant RPM. This permitted the regulator to throttle down or speed up the motor to match load. However all of these portable gensets have two details in common. They are air cooled gasoline motors. Air cooling means they are noisier than liquid cooled. And gasoline in most cases means having to mount it on deck outside. That contributes to the percieved noisiness. Nothing is more annoying than spendign several hours travelling to what you expect to be a quiet haven of rest at anchor only to find somebody arriving and firing up a noisy air cooled genset lashed on deck. GRRR!! Sounds carry a long way over open water. Depending on your own threshold for safety, having to deal with a more explosive fuel than diesel could also be an issue. Messing about with refuelling a genset is not exactly the same as dealing with a dinghy. For starters a dinghy is often done when Dinghy is in the water and is usually done when engine is cold. All too often a genset will run out of fuel in the middle of something. Now you are refuelling a hot engine. Something all the safety manuals advise not to do. Generally speaking the size of engine used to drive a 60Hz 120V AC output is able to deliver 50% more power if run at its optimum speed instead of being limited to 1800 RPM. This is also one of Honda's advantages. If battery charging is the primary reason for using the genset you would be better off to drive an alternator with a battery charging output. Compared to what you get from a shore power driven charger you would get faster recharging at a higher amp rate and this means a lower total fuel burn. Cheers Arild ----- Replied Message ----- From: "Ron Rogers" <[email protected]> > Another criterion for judging generators is the quality of the electrical > output. How closely is it regulated and how close to true sine wave does > it get. Is the Kipor of Chinese manufacture? COSTCO has a generator which > resembles a Honda, but is made in China. In Honda small engine products, > it pays to purchase those with a CX engine. These are made for commercial > use and can be recognized by their white gas tanks. > -----Original Message----- > From: Ben Okopnik > By way of contrast, I can get a Kipor 3000THi - similar shape and size, > about 10 lbs. heavier but puts out 1kW more than the Honda _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
