Any advice per buying/using a gasoline inversion generator (1000-2000w) for charging P3s/P4 lipo's in the wild?
Using gasoline inversion generator
- Thread starter Bill Golson
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Honda makes the absolute undisputed best small gasoline generator. Their 2000. Pure sine wave power.
The charger is 100W - Your cars cig lighter can easiler handle that.
You only need a 1000Watt Honda EU10i is what you want!
You only need a 1000Watt Honda EU10i is what you want!
alokbhargava
Premium Pilot
These types of inverter generators are expected to generate good quality output power and are suitable for any applications such as charging LiPo s. They usually are made for high ratings and if you already have one for other purposes, you can definitely use it for charging. Buying one for just charging batteries may not be economically justified.
Give me more details of your inverter generator, I can get you more specific information.
Give me more details of your inverter generator, I can get you more specific information.
Thanks for the replies. Right now just looking for tips/buying advice. Honda seems to be the top rated ($yikes) 4-stroke nice. Don't want to involve the cars electrical. So, I'm in the wild and need to do more video with three dead lipo's -- any other options. Buy more lipo's is one.
I would go with the 2000W unless cost is a real issue. The Honda EU2000i and the equivalent Yamaha EF2000iS are essentially identical - either will do the job. I use both, and both are excellent.
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Ditto on the Honda. The 2000's aren't terribly more expensive than the 1000 (at least when I looked at them) and you get some extra capacity for other things. I've used one for several years on the boat for camping and as a house backup. Fantastic little machines.
Wish Honda made UAVs.....
Wish Honda made UAVs.....
I have a Powerhouse 3100RI, use it to charge my RC lipos and my Phantom when at track. And I have been told it is quieter than the Hondas. Has two speeds and will automatically ramp up when needed. I run a Hyperion two channel charger off of a 1200w power supply. In addition to fans, soldering equipment and lights. Has a remote control (a gadget). Runs all day on tank of gas. Very happy with it. Only time it ramps up is when my compressor kicks. From Camping World and they are always running sales.
Inverter generators will be fine for charging your Li-pos or running other electronics. I have both the Honda EU1000i & EU2000i Inverter generators & they are the bomb. Filled them with Mobil 1 since day one & they are still kicking butt 15 years later (purchased both in 2001). They are still about the same price as back then. If you want to save some money Ryobi has a new 1000 watt inverter generator for only $459 at Home Depot. Like the Honda's it is super quiet. Has a 3-year warranty and looks very similar to the Honda EU1000 at almost half the price. Ryobi has a larger 2000 watt inverter generator for $599 if you want more power. Both are 4-stroke gasoline models. My friend has the 2000 watt model & it works well.
Ryobi 1,000-Watt Gasoline Powered Digital Inverter Generator-RYi1000 - The Home Depot
Ryobi 2,200-Watt Green Gasoline Powered Digital Inverter Generator-RYI2200 - The Home Depot
Ryobi 1,000-Watt Gasoline Powered Digital Inverter Generator-RYi1000 - The Home Depot
Ryobi 2,200-Watt Green Gasoline Powered Digital Inverter Generator-RYI2200 - The Home Depot
Guess I'd rather be green -- a peaceable sort of UAV pilot -- will look into your suggestion NotARubicon. Maybe an opportunity for our more electrically abled members to look into. Thanks again.
This is the one I got, but there are many other similar ones to choose from:
NPower PowerPack System
NPower PowerPack System
Hi alokbhargava -- based on your qualifications how bout using an Energizer power converter with a stand alone 12v marine battery? Would the power be clean enough for charging? Seen some negative comments regarding this kind of setup. Believe it would be cheaper and greener.
I recently bought a Smarter Tools 2000W inverter generator at Costco. It's similar to the ones from Honda and Yamaha, but much less expensive. The engine is actually made by Yamaha. So, far I'm very pleased with it.
Can someone explain to me why people on this forum regard true sine waves as necessary for charging their lipo's? Ive used a 400W car inverter for years to charge tons of various lipo battery gadgets with no issues (phones,tablets, laptops ect). I know my inverter likely provides squared waves, but i haven't seen any evidence of it being an issue with any of my gear.
I also see that DJI is selling a car charger now and im sure thats not providing an ideal sine wave.
I also see that DJI is selling a car charger now and im sure thats not providing an ideal sine wave.
I too would like to see some actual, real-world data about this, not just some self-proclaimed interweb expert's opinion.
It's my self-proclaimed interweb expert opinion that the charging brick/transformer will smooth-out the waves and make the perfect amount of Juju to charge the batteries just fine.
It's not necessary, but tests have proven a true sine wave inverter is "easier" on sensitive electronics than a modified sine wave inverter. Electronics, particularly battery chargers, tend to run hotter when run from a modified sine wave inverter. Now, how much will this actually affect the DJI charger, probably not much if at all. Also, keep in mind an inverter generator does not necessarily create a true sine wave... most do, but some cheaper models may create a modified sign wave.
I think your a bit confused, sine wave is only for AC power. The DJI car charger doesn't need to convert from AC, because the incoming electricity is DC.
All the car charger does it increase the voltage from 12 volts to the correct 17 volts the battery needs to charge.
In relation to pure sine wave or modified sine wave, it depends on the transformer your powering. If your powering one of those small wall adapter chargers, then they will run hotter with modified sine wave. If you have the big power pack like the AC charger, then it will be fine - there is more components in there to convert the AC voltage into DC.
It's not a question of opinion. The problem is the combination of a non-sine wave power AC supply with switched-mode AC-to-DC converters, which were designed to work with sine-wave inputs.
Those converters work by charging capacitative storage via a transistor-switched circuit that expects a smoothly varying input voltage. It does not necessarily need to be a sine wave input, but the further that the input voltage departs from a smooth function of time, the poorer the voltage regulation, which, in turn, may adversely affect the charging circuit.
In other words, the result is unpredictable in the absence of a reasonable representation of a sine wave input.
The car charger isn't providing a sine wave at all - it is a DC - DC converter.
