External generator connection??

[EEdawg]

I want to determine the right way to connect my Honda EU2000i to my Bighorn rv in case of a power failure.
I have a residential fridge and two 12 volt batteries in parallel in my rig.
At home, I keep most things turned off in the rv and keep the rv working and plugged in by using a 50 amp to 30 amp adapter and then a 30 amp to 110V house power adapter. This keeps the batteries charged and the lights will work.
I think I could do something similar when camping if no external power is available using my generator. I am aware this would not provide enough power for my air conditioners to run.
My Generator has a dc output capability also. Would it be better to just connect the dc output to the batteries and charge them directly???
Or would this need a charge controller???
Any suggestions on how to hook up a Honda EU2000i would be appreciated.

 

[Garypowell]

Don't know your specific generator but mine is a Sam's Club Special. I just use it when the RV is in storage and simply plug the 30 Amp adapter into the generator and then the 50 Amp cord into that.

Couple of things to note:

1. You should check and insure the 30 Amp adapter puts the available single phase down both legs. This way everything can work since both sides of the breaker panel will be energized. Note I used the word "can" work.....you won't have enough power for everything.

2. With the above arrangement just let your on board charging system do its thing. My guess is you can shoot 12 volts into your battery.....but that's not really the charging voltage needed.

3. If you have something like a Progressive Industries protection system it will probably give you an error since your generator is not grounded properly. If you call Progressive they can instruct you on a plug you can make to have this error go away.

 

[sjandbj]

If it was me I would get a adapter pigtail that would allow the power cord from the rig to plug into the generator. This way you can use the output directly for the generator for all things in you RV to the limit of the generator. Using it to charge the batteries and then running that through an inverter is just one more step the use small amounts of power. I an setting mine up through a transfer switch with a separate 50 amp plug in the front of my rig. This is only because I have the generator prep already installed and I am not using it for anything

 

[LBR]

I think I have you covered in our few days of dry camping with our new CY ...

We have a Yamaha 2K with a 50 to 30 and 30 to 15 dog bones that works fine ....we also have the residential frig with 2- 12V batteries.

After full charge at night, in the morning rhe CY has been pulling 14 A at first startup and I run it until the coach drops to 4A in about 90 minutes....hope this helps....Lance

 

[EEdawg]

Thanks folks! I think that tells me what I need to know.