Camping, charging, and generators

blackwood

blackwood

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Oregon, USA
Hi all,
I am new to ebiking, long time mountain biker though. I have Specialized Kenevo on order, can't wait. But I have a question about how to charge this while camping. We routinely go on 2 to 3 day camping/riding trips in the summer. I image a charged battery will only last for one day's worth of riding. So am thinking about buying a generator to charge my bike in the evenings. Has anyone done this? What generator are you using? How can I calculate this size of the generator I need? Alternatively (or maybe in combination with) I was thinking about adding some golf cart batteries to my camp trailer. I could charge them up at home and then use those to charge the ebike while on the road. Any thoughts on that?
 
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I have the 1kw Honda suitcase generator – bought because it was the smallest and quietest generator I could find to carry on my boat. It is an excellent bit of kit but still weighs 13kg (without fuel) and it is not quiet when delivering any power!
Fuel cells delivering the power you need make emtbs look cheap!
I would buy a second/third battery.
 
Other alternative is leisure battery bank and pure sine wave inverter.
I'm converting my van and went this route mainly to charge my bike and run a 240v fridge instead of a £700 12v one
 
I use a 2000 Watt Wen generator when tent camping and a 190 Watt solar panel charging 2 interstate 6 volt batteries and a 1000 Watt inverter when trailer camping to charge my Kenevo and my wife's Levo.
 
I use a Honda 1000w generator when on tour in our camper.
Can charge several bikes at the same time and is quite silent.
 
thebarber said:
Is that pure sine wave
Click to expand...
My Honda 1000w is, and I have not found anything (within load) that is not happy being powered by it. Iphones, bike battery and even an old laptop that will not work with an earlier cheap generator.
 
Yeah I think everything runs on pure sine wave but some stuff can't be used with modified sine wave, particularly computers etc
 
Don't whack the bike on charge straight after riding. Leave it an hour or so. I think toasted a battery doing this in France after a huge climb on Turbo.

Also got the Honda Suitcase generator good up to 2kw. The draw from the charger is around 250w.
 
I do 2/3 day mtb camping trips in the summer...……..I just book a campsite pitch with electric hook up! Simples!
 
A lot of campsites only have 6A hookups as standard, your charger is 4A whilst on charge so you can’t use a bucketload of other gadgets when hooked up and charging.

Just something to bear in mind :)
 
TheBikePilot said:
A lot of campsites only have 6A hookups as standard, your charger is 4A whilst on charge so you can’t use a bucketload of other gadgets when hooked up and charging.

Just something to bear in mind :)
Click to expand...
All the ones I have booked so far have 12amp.....I did notice on one site you had a choice of 6 or 12 amp with a small price difference. Something to note though. In terms of other stuff during the day the only other thing hooked up is a coolbox so probably not a problem either way.
 
Mikerb said:
All the ones I have booked so far have 12amp.....I did notice on one site you had a choice of 6 or 12 amp with a small price difference. Something to note though. In terms of other stuff during the day the only other thing hooked up is a coolbox so probably not a problem either way.
Click to expand...

Gotta keep those beers cold ? ?
 
A generator is one option. Also a deep cycle RV battery , an invertor and a solar panel with a controller to recharge the battery also works. I dry camp in northern CA and am experimenting with that combo. I have one 100 w panel on top of my four wheel pop up and am going to buy a separate panel to recharge that battery. Something that can be moved to get the best sun.
 
blackwood said:
Hi all,
I am new to ebiking, long time mountain biker though. I have Specialized Kenevo on order, can't wait. But I have a question about how to charge this while camping. We routinely go on 2 to 3 day camping/riding trips in the summer. I image a charged battery will only last for one day's worth of riding. So am thinking about buying a generator to charge my bike in the evenings. Has anyone done this? What generator are you using? How can I calculate this size of the generator I need? Alternatively (or maybe in combination with) I was thinking about adding some golf cart batteries to my camp trailer. I could charge them up at home and then use those to charge the ebike while on the road. Any thoughts on that?
Click to expand...
Long time camper and erider. Not a fan of generators. Nothing worse then someone near my camp leaving for a hike or ride and run their generator to charge batteries. If you are thinking of buying camper batteries anyway, like you thought, charge them before your trip, or while driving with your alternator, or for extended camping get a solar panel to recharge while out on the trail! Many inexpensive solar kits out there. Good luck!
 
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