On Fri, 28 May 2004 01:02:49 +0100, Chris Newport
wrote:

100 amps at 12 volts is 1200 watts, but add some ineffiency and the load
will probably be about 1400 watts. This type of overload is nasty - it is
too small to blow a fuse or trip a breaker.

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It turns out to be a lot worse. The Heart Interface inverter/chargers
are not corrected for power factor. As a result they present a highly
inductive load to the generator and the result is a waveform which
tends to change shape under load. They are VERY tough on even large
generators. My previous boat had a new 7.5 KW gen set which could
barely keep up with the KVA demand from a 150 Amp Heart Interface
charger. Heart recommends something like a 10 KW generator to supply
the 1800 watts to the charger.