On Thu, 27 May 2004 20:53:57 +0000, Wayne. wrote:

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.

This was my experience.

I got a used Honda 1000W generator to run my Statpower 40A smart charger. 40A at
even 14V is under 600W - should be plenty,right? WRONG! power factor around 0.6
and about 90% efficiency means the Statpower was pulling closer to 1200W. The
poor little Honda did it's best, but ran at maybe 90V and the charger kept
kicking out.

BTW: I also tried a 1700W Coleman: WAY too loud!

Now I'm in the market for a eu2000...

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36