generators

Stephen & Deborah,
We like a large number of other BT owners also have a Honda 2.0Kva generator and find them excellent. It runs the air conditioner without any problems and will also run a 2400watt electric jug, but that makes it work a bit.
A tank of fuel will last several hours, but I have never timed it so cannot specify.
We usually run ours on a 10 metre lead. They come with two 10 volt power outlets so you will require an adaptor lead with 10amp male plug and 15amp female plug to go into van. I understand that these are technically illegal leads but you are unlikely to have anyone speak to you about using it.

You mentioned the Chinese copy generators being much cheaper. What I found with a cheaper generator was that they DO NOT give pure sine wave power like the Inverter HONDA 2.0i does, and the one we had would NOT run the BTi battery charger, which is one of the main reasons that you would want a generator for in the first place. The BTi battery chargers are sensitive electronic devices that require pure sine wave power, or they detect spikes in the power, and a safety device in them shuts the charger down.

You are spending so much money buying the best caravan around, please don't skimp by buying a non sine wave generator.

Brian

Hello Stephen & Deborah,
I probably have used the generator for around 200 hours now mainly for the AC which it runs no problems. The only thing is it will not supply enough starting current when the compressor has not had time to equalise the gas pressures. It will run happily with the thermostat cutting in and out. It runs the AC and the 45 amp charger together no probs. Where possible I use my 40 metre heavy lead just to reduce the engine noise but even close to van it is not much of a problem. The inverter technology is excellent and I would urge anyone to go this way. It will run the AC for about four hours on a full tank. I don't think Yamaha make an inveter 2kVA just a 3kVA. I looked at one of these recently for a friend and they are a nice unit and quiet but much heavier and is a two man job to lift. Don't use a cheep generator as they are likely to destroy or intefere with the operation of sensitive electronic gadgetry. Their output waveform is full of noisy harmonics. The Honda EU20i has been around now long enough to have proven itself as a reliable unit and I would reccommend it. A note of caution though. When new it must be run in correctly and the AC is ideal for this as it will load it to around 75%. About 20 hours will do the trick. I was told a warranty claim was rejected because of a failure to do this.
You should pay about $1800/1900 street price for one. Google EU2i for Australia and see what comes up.

cheers
Ernie