If you are remote & you feel you can't charge up by running the car engine for 1/2 an hour & you don't want to buy more solar, which 130w for 2 batteries (assuming 100Ah each) is way too small (200w per 100Ah would be good).

Get a generator but buy a quality high capacity battery charger (something like a Victron Phoenix 12v 50amp charger). Don't use the modified sine wave output of the generator.

It really depends what you need to run when things get desperate after a few days. If it's fridge & one light just add some solar.

But going back to the beginning there is no need to panic if you know what all your loads are. It's simply a matter of calculating how many days you can go for, then put plan B into action, like running the car engine.

If you don't know the loads look up the specs for each product. They give a pretty good idea of power consumption.

You can buy a generator & plug it in but it is a poor solution & it will shorten the life of the batteries costing a lot more in the long run.

My fridge 12-15Ah per 24hours, cold weather 9.6Ah. So about 3 to 4 days to 50% discharge without solar or running the car engine.

Davianni wrote:

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gday, possibly plenty of permutations to this scenario but I have 2 house batteries, 130w solar panel and a spare Anderson plug for anything else. Question is if I want to stay off grid for a couple of days without panicking, can I get a small gennie and charge through the Anderson or do I get an inverter installed? Both costly so I want to make sure I make the right decisio.

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Hi Davianni 

Your question does not make sense or I do not understand it  You ask should you buy a gennie to add more power or an inverter which will use more power ?? Sorry this does not compute 

What you probably need is more solar really, or a gennie and a good charger, or a connection to the engine alternator to charge the batteries. Or possibly a combination of them. Read some of the other threads and search up above for ideas. All been discussed before.

Jaahn  

Whenarewethere wrote:

Get a generator but buy a quality high capacity battery charger (something like a Victron Phoenix 12v 50amp charger). Don't use the modified sine wave output of the generator.

You can buy a generator & plug it in but it is a poor solution & it will shorten the life of the batteries costig a lot more in the long run.

 Hey Jonathan,

You've stirred up some grey matter. You said generators have a modified since wave output - I thought they would have been full sine wave & I assume Possum thought the same too(?)

During the floods last February, the power in our suburb was turned off as a safety measure. Friends moved into our place as it was thought their's was going to have water in it (didn't). While they were in our house, they ran our generator to boil a jug, & ran our freezer (it was full - I knew it could go for 40 hrs without defrosting). However long story cut short, we found when we got home the freezer wasn't cutting out - a shot thermocouple was found. Had various "leccies" say why it happened - I think you have nailed it. Will check the output when we get home.

Sorry Davianni for a hijack.

Years ago a friend build some variable voltage output transformers for model trains. They had chopped sine wave. The transformer was brilliant for very slow speed train movement. 

But I didn't use them long as the the sound out of the engines was simply horrible & I was pretty sure if keep using the transformers it would kill the motors.

You are just going to have to do your research thoroughly. But as other have said, what are you running. No point throwing good money in the wrong direction.

stoney123 wrote:

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You need to upgrade your solar, i have 2 x 200 watt and next year will swap that for 2x500 watt. Upgrade your batteries i have 2x160amp, i have a 1500 watt sine wave inverter i run engle, toaster,induction cooktop in firebans, sandwich toaster, lights charge phones, tablets and laptops. Do not get a generator, you will be forever driving to get fuel. I run engel as a freezer and freeze coke bottle which i put in evakool. Esky as my fridge i can find a top camp spot and not have to go shopping for 2 weeks. Generators are a bit like coal.

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Depends when and where you camp.

Join me in the forest on the bank of the Murray River for the next few weeks and your solar panels will not be worth a jot: sun too low for too little time and tree cover combined prevent solar panels working at more than about 20% of how they would fare on a Queensland beach. Generators, most certainly, have their place - horses for courses.

Peter_n_Margaret wrote:

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All this advice is a total waste of space when we still don't know what the bloke is trying to do.
Cheers,
Peter

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Hey we like giving the good answers on here no matter what the question is !!

Jaahn 

Since you are only running a TV, pump & a bit of lighting you have a problem.

You should be able to go about a week on two batteries to 50% depletion.

Spend the same dollars a generator would cost on a solar set up and it will weigh less, cost nothing to run, won't upset any one, be able to be used EVERY where and every day and last 25 years. And you won't need any dangerous fuel to refill it with.

EDIT: And your batteries will last much longer because they will get topped up properly on most days.

EDIT 2: A "portable power centre" is just an expensive battery with some plugs and gauges. It still needs a power source to charge it properly and regularly.

Cheers,
Peter

What is the consumption of the TV?

What LED lighting are you running?

What AH are each of the 2 batteries?

A bit more solar would fix the problem, but you do have a problem currently with the little you are running which needs to solved otherwise it will be expensive & pointless bandaids you will be adding.

Peter_n_Margaret wrote:

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be able to be used EVERY where and every day

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 No it won't.

Peter_n_Margaret wrote:

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Even when it is raining, some solar power will be collected.

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 My little setup with panels in series, the MPPT squeezes something out of inclement weather.

Even if your solar is not producing much at least you will be going backwards slower & on the odd occasion you get 3 days of continuous rain, turn the car engine on & charge up the batteries a bit.

Davianni wrote:

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Thanks Jeepnudger. Youre Right, I was looking at gennie/inverter to run 240v as I only lasted 2 days on 12v running TV, water pump, and bit of lighting, and my gauge went down to 12.2. I am also concerned about the noise from the gennie(and expense) if I find it really isnt any better than buying a portable power centre. What do you think?

-- Edited by Davianni on Monday 13th of July 2020 10:01:55 AM

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 i David 

We can last forever using a 12V fridge and all the others you have, with 190W if the sun is shining. So my suggestion would be to check that your solar is actually working well. Most people get a multi meter to check the voltages for a check. Would you be able to handle that, or have a friend that can. 

There are obvious things you should do in a small system. EG charge your phones and stuff when the sun is shining. Do not park under trees, be aware that some shadow on the solar panel will reduce the output to almost nothing even if it looks small. Check the battery connections are clean and shiny etc. What is the solar regulator and where is it located in relation to the battery. The size of the solar wiring. 

A portable power center is just an expensive battery pack as Peter said. It does not make any more power. More solar will make power. 

Jaahn