Battery charger...

[mrcaptainbob]

It's a stretch, but it is sorta home related. I want to add a solar battery charger to maintain the house generator. (house generator is the 'home' part...). I see units from 1.5 watts upwards of 25 watts. It's just a dinko little battery, similar to a small garden tractor battery. The engine is only 10 HP. What 'strength' (wattage?) solar charger should I use so as to keep it charged, but won't burn it up?

[HayZee518]

The solar array puts out raw power but I would think there was a regulator item to regulate the charge going into the battery. Doesn't the generator have a dc output for the battery? Would seem so, charge the battery while providing power to the house.

[mrcaptainbob]

It does not have a 12v outlet. But, the issue is to keep the battery in fully charged state while not in use. Which could be many months at a time. And I'd rather not leave it out near an outlet.

[HayZee518]

It wouldn't have a dc line out but a direct connection from the generator to the battery via a regulator circuit. You can have multiple windings on the stator besides the 120/240 for house power.

[akaothermick]

HF has a dashboard 12Volt solar charger for cars that works reasonably well to keep the battery topped off, would work for your case as long as the battery is charged it will keep it up, but dont worry about overcharging, it is not capable of that.