vcorkett
North Vancouver
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So, after the helpful advice from this site, we bought a Honda 1000watt generator.
We are now learning that this on its own won't actually charge the battery on our trailer tent. We have been told we need to get a battery charger too.
My question is this:
Our generator has a max output of about 6 amps I think. We were told to go for a minimum 10amp battery charger. However, will this work on our generator. I'm guessing that if it charges at 10amps, it must draw at 10amps as well and so would not work on the Honda 1000 as it only has a max amp output of 6 amps?
I've also got a couple of dumb questions. 
When we are plugged into a 15 or 30amp hookup and we are not using the electricity in the trailer, will our battery be charging?
When we have the generator running and the trailer tent plugged in to the generator, will our battery be charging then?
Man, I never knew this would be so confusing. 
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Golden_HVAC
Fulltime, CA, USA
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Hi,
Usually a tent trailer will have a battery charger in it.
What year is the trailer, and what brand? If it is older than 1990, then it might not have a good battery charger.
The 6 or 7 amp output is at 120 volts, while the 10 - 15 amp charger is at only 12 VDC, so there is a lot of wattage at 120 volts and not so many at 12 VDC.
So a 15 amp charger at 15 DC might use 200 watts or 1.8 amps at 120 volts to recharge your battery.
The generator also has a DC output - but is limited to around 6-8 amps at 12 VDC. (well 12 VDC is actually around 13.5 VDC when measured with a digital voltmeter.)
Yes you can use the same 30 to 15 amp adapter that you use to plug in the RV at home to plug the RV into the generator. Your built in battery charger or converter will energize when the RV is plugged in. Normally the built in charger on a 2000 and newer RV is rated at 30 amps or more, and will quickly recharge the battery. Even a 60 amp charger will work on your generator, as it will use just under 1,000 watts that the Honda is rated at, and will quickly taper off the input and output amperage as the battery fills.
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~DJ~
Boise, Idaho
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My Honda 1000 has no problems running my camper charger along with the coffee pot at the same time.
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vcorkett
North Vancouver
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Hi,
The tent trailer is a new (2008) Starcraft trailer so, bearing in mind what you said, do we need to buy a battery charger or can we just plug the tent trailer in to our generator and leave that to charge the battery ?
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Kajtek1
CA
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The 12V circuits on generators usually supply above 15V, meaning they will charge the battery, but might kill it if left for too long.
If the trailer is not equipped with sophisticated charger, it would be wise to add one for longer battery life and less worry.
Saying that the charger in my inverter takes 2600W at the highest stage.
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smkettner
Southern CA
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Your RV should have a converter that supplies 12 volts and has a provision to charge the battery. A 1000 generator will power most chargers or converters up to 45 amps output. Not all converters are very fast at charging batteries. Some have amp limits of 3 to 6 amps and others operate at a steady voltage that will take 24 to 36 hours to recharge. Other converters boost the voltage up for a few hours and put full rated amps into the battery for a fast charge in two to four hours.
Post the make and model of your converter so you can get better advice on what you actually are working with.
If you decide on getting a battery charger get something like Black & Decker VEC1093DBD
For more battery general knowledge: 12 volt side of life
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vcorkett
North Vancouver
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How can I find out the make/model of my converter ? Don't even know where it is !!
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strollin
San Martin, CA
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You don't say what model Starcraft trailer you have but according to info on their website (Starcraftrv.com) all of their tent trailers come with "Power Center w/Battery Charger". The specs list the capacity as either 25 or 30 amps depending on the model.
Your dealer should be able to show you where the converter is but in most cases it is where the breaker panel is.
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smkettner
Southern CA
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Yes find the breaker panel or fuse panel inside and look for some names and model numbers. Post what you find and something should make sense. It does look like 25 or 30 amps and it should charge well when the battery is real low but I doubt it is a fast charger. To really speed things up you are probably looking at replacing it (better) or getting the external battery charger (easier).
Your dealer might be some help or call Randy @ www.bestconverter.com
On edit:
According to some other posts you may have a fixed voltage Elixir RV Power Converter This converter is going to be slow after you reach 70% charged because of the fixed voltage. Look for ELX30 for example as the model number. This info is from a little older starcraft so yours still could be different.
* This post was
edited 04/18/08 11:50pm by smkettner *
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Pete D
Washington
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You CAN use the 12V (8A) connection to charge your battery, but unless you are prepared to stand around while it's charging to monitor that it charges enough and doesn't overcharge, then I would suggest you get a real battery charger to do a good job.
Also, it's likely that the charge circuitry in your converter is not much better, unless it is a top of the line converter.
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