harbor freight tailgator for battery charging

[BulldogPI]

Yes, yes I know.  the fulltime RV and van residers prefer solar power especially in places like Arizona. 

I'm not in Arizona, I'm along the VA/WV border and winter is approaching.  I'm also not living out my new to me 2003 Ford E450 shuttlebus I bought recently.

There is an auxiliary battery compartment that appears to get charging from the alternator, and I plan on making use of that battery compartment with a new AGM and a throw switch, to make sure that when I'm using the auxiliary battery I'm not draining the starting battery under the hood.  
This one, will be charged by the alternator while the vehicle is driven around.

In addition to that, I'd like to purchase another AGM battery and make use of this little tailgator generator I have, and use as basic 6amp 12v battery charger  to charge the AGM ad keep it topped off.  

I'm interested to hear peoples thoughts and feeings on that and whether the little 2 cycle genny is up to the task of powering a 12b 6amp battery charger?

 

[user 423]

My Ryobi 900/700 watt generator runs a 15A charger with no problem. In fact, I've been told that it 'should' be able to run a 25A charger.

You would probably want to get a charger bigger than 6A to cut charge times. A 'smart' charger is also recommended to keep batteries properly charged.

 

[hugemoth]

I used one of those HF 2stroke Tailgated generators to run a 40 amp Black &Decker charger for a couple years. Worked great. A 6 amp charger will barely load it at all.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Your HF tailgator genset is noisy, so minimizing run time by using a higher amperage charger might be a good idea.

I use and recommend Marinco On-Board marine battery chargers. They are sealed against weather and can be left hooked up to the batteries permanently. Plug and play simplicity.

 

[MGfromBC]

I'm just guessing.

The bus may or may not have had a wheelchair ramp but I wonder it the rear battery mount might have been for that and I wonder if, with a bit of searching, you might even find a solenoid or isolator that already protects the engine battery. If a lift was not installed or was removed I would start by looking for an alternator wire that has been terminated or covered to protect it from shorting or, it may have been disconnected under the hood. If there is a wire in the rear battery compartment, probably a large gauge one, see if you can find the other end.

MG

 

[user 423]

Your HF tailgator genset is noisy, so minimizing run time by using a higher amperage charger might be a good idea.

Yes,good advice. To charge my single 100ah AGM up from 60% SOC, it would take about 4 hours of run time with the 15A charger.