Hi Mark, It will stall the generator and/or it will shutdown on overload and or trip a breaker.
However, many battery chargers have some adjustability so you may be able to adjust it down to the sweet spot. The way I like to do it is start with the charger very low, then slowly adjust the load up. At some point, the generator will sound like its working hard but not overloaded. Just know that you may need to adjust this for various operating conditions (temperature is the big one) or if you are moving it around, elevation. Be prepared to be disappointed by the generators performance, battery chargers can be difficult loads for low quality generators. Mac Lewis *"Yo solo sé que no sé nada." -Sócrates* On Wed, Feb 11, 2026, 6:01 AM Mark Frye via RE-wrenches < [email protected]> wrote: > Folks, > > > > If I have a larger AC powered battery charge, say 3kW and I have a battery > bank that may want to pull some current, want will happen if I try to run > the charger with a small, say 1.2 kW generator? > > > > Thanks, > > > > Mark > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org > > List Address: [email protected] > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the > other: > https://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List rules & etiquette: > http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > http://www.members.re-wrenches.org > >
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