Post: # 12975Post
Lost in the wilds
May 2nd, 2016, 9:42 pm
As we live in the back of beyond in darkest Wales we have always had a generator in case of prolonged power failure and to take away from the house to run a power tool.
Our old 2Kva petrol genny died last year and we sold it on Ebay for £50.
A friend of ours runs a generator business and offered us an ex-demo 1Kva set at a really good price – not Chinese – SDMO - Honda engine, made in France. Weighs 14kgs empty (having removed the truck tailgate we have plenty of capacity) and is not very noisy. Starts easily.
At home it runs my drill easily and will, if necessary, run our freezers, fridge, lights, etc. (but not all at the same time).
Maintenance is simple and my mate will sort it if there's a major problem.
Don't all rush at once – even though I may be on a commission!
We avoid camp sites on the whole but when we do visit one we hook up – we wouldn't annoy the neighbours by running the genny.
We store the genny (together with spare fuel) in the truck bed – fits like a glove, no smell. We don't have an issue with storage space or weight – I keep wondering what we've forgotten to pack.
We don't run a TV and can run a computer/DVD player off the 12 volt system.
The genny will charge the battery when we frequently get lost in the wilds (or, rarely, spend more than one day without running the Amarok), charge the batteries for the portable drill (for jacking up and down) and, most importantly, run her ladyship's hair drier (keeps the peace!).
We're planning some long trips – the genny will definitely be coming with us.
If anyone were to nick it where we go their need must be greater than ours.
Without wishing to tempt fate I've never had a problem with petrol – I treat it with the respect it deserves – ran a petrol genny on my boat without any issues. I had solar panels on the boat to keep the batteries charged during long absences with no hook up available. Worked well. Yet to be convinced that we need them for the Tischer.
Chris and Carol