European/Australian generators

[snydes]

I keep thinking these would be the ticket for Alta owners, so I’m thinking out load here for the sake of discussion. Since our 240v generators here in the states are mostly all the large home backup power type, and since as Ray had mentioned the new fast charger only requires 16 amp draw on 240, then one of these smaller European inverter generators would seem to be the perfect choice for the sake of portability. The only things I’m unsure of, which I’m sure Alta would be able to answer, is if the 50hz is a problem, and also this;

As I understand it, European 240V power is:
Hot: 240 V
Neutral: 0V
Ground :0V

And USA 240V power is:
Hot: 120V
Hot: 120V
Neutral/Ground: 0V

So if having 240v on a single leg is a problem, then the whole idea is shot down.

Oded might be able to shed some light on this also, as I understand his standard voltage is 220v...

Oded do you know what hz your power is over there and is there anything different about your charger? I’d take an educated guess that your power is 220v on one wire of a three wire plug then also.

Of course there is the cost issue of importing a European generator if it would even work.

Any thoughts?

 

[snydes]

@rayivers @Oded

 

[rayivers]

The only thing I'd change in your post would be to substitute 'Neutral/Ground' for the USA 0V connection. If only 240VAC is being used in a USA 240V device there's no AC current flow through the Neutral/Ground wire, but if there's also 120V usage (like a clothes dryer's blower & drum motors), those AC currents will flow through the N/G conductor. If a separate earth-only safety ground is required, a 4-conductor cable/plug is used.

If all you'll be powering is a 240VAC load this isn't that important, but bear in mind that the Euro hot & (floating) neutral wires will need to connect to the USA hot/hot connections, not hot & N/G.

In electronic terms... the USA supplies 3-wire center-tapped 240VAC to homes; the Euro standard is 2-wire 240VAC.

At the EMF forum, Scott at Elite Motorsports mentioned the Lifan 4250 generator as being a good choice for an Alta charger. The Lifan 4250E is around $600 at Home Depot.

Ray

 

[snydes]

Thanks Ray, I appreciate your input. I edited my first post to reflect your suggestion.

I currently have a typical Lowes/Home Depot backup generator that I used when I was away with the Alta. There are some out there, like the one you referenced, that are a little smaller, a little lighter, and a little quieter, but it's not enough for me to justify the upgrade. The UK/Australian units would have more options for portable units that would be far easier to deal with when traveling... https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_nkw=inverter generator&ssPageName=GSTL

First thing is to know for sure that one would actually work for the purpose, then I'd have to do some research, probably find some UK or Australian RV/camping forums and find out what people consider a good unit, and then lastly see exactly how much it would cost to import one. It might all be for nothing, the cost will probably be too high for something that I would only be able to use for charging the Alta, but it's something I'm interested in exploring further.

 

[rayivers]

Some of those generators look very compact! A generator that only produces one high voltage will nearly always be smaller than one that also needs to produce a lower voltage at the same power level, but yeah, this country is not the place to look for them. For driving an Alta charger, the 50/60Hz thing should only be an issue if you're running the generator right on the edge of max power output; you could derate by .80 just to be safe. If you find one you like overseas, maybe they have a US or Canadian distributor to cut down on shipping cost - and some might have free shipping from China, which could be free to the US as well.

Ray

 

[snydes]

I’ll do some research and report back. Thanks for your input!

 

[Philip]

Shipping from Australia could be a killer. But Europe's prices could be a killer as well.

I connected to a VPN and pretended I were in the UK. This is what Google found me:

https://www.justgenerators.co.uk/pramac-p4500i-inverter-generator.html

https://www.justgenerators.co.uk/hyundai-hy3200sei-remote-start-inverter-petrol-generator.html

https://www.justgenerators.co.uk/honda-eu30is-generator.html

Not a huge selection, but they are quiet and expensive.

 

[Philip]

Scott at Elite Motorsports mentioned the Lifan 4250 generator as being a good choice for an Alta charger. The Lifan 4250E is around $600 at Home Depot.

I wonder if I should exchange my DuroMax XP4400E for this Lifan... It is 20 lbs lighter and 4 dBa quieter... hmm...

 

[snydes]

Thanks for the links. I think the overall price will be too prohibitive in the end but I’ll look into it some more.

20 pounds could be a big difference if you are having to load it yourself!

 

[rayivers]

I'm sure you already know this, but electric start adds significantly to the weight - nice to have, though - and an inverter to the price (and really isn't needed for powering a battery charger). I wish Tesla made a reasonably-priced small Powerwall... $6K is a bit steep.

Ray

 

[snydes]

You’ll have to excuse my ignorance but what is a Powerwall?

 

[rayivers]

You’ll have to excuse my ignorance but what is a Powerwall?

The Powerwall is the very quietest of AC power generators (this one is @ 7kW/h, 44 x 29 x 5"). What a cool thing to have on the wall of a bike van.


Ray

 

[snydes]

Wow, how does it generate?

 

[Philip]

Looks like it is just a big battery. You charge it from your house power and then use it at the track. It should be able to charge the Redshift twice.

But that thing is huge and HEAVY at 276 lbs, even if one wants to spend $6K to buy it.

It can be laid on the floor though between the bikes. And it generates 240V. Yes, I can now see its attractiveness.

 

[snydes]

I was wondering if there was a way to transfer power from another type of battery. Maybe in the future we will see this type of thing.

 

[Philip]

Here is the Australian eBay.

https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_nkw=inverter generator&ssPageName=GSTL

Good stuff! But shipping will cost more than the product.