Safely hooking up inverter generator to battery

[Researchhound]

Hello all,
I have a 2017 Kodiak Ultra. A year after purchasing, I installed heavier internal wiring to handle a solar panel which goes through a battery controller and then to a BattleBorn Lithium Iron battery. My question is, if I purchase an inverter generator, like a Honda 2200 or similar, what else do I need to install (if anything) in order to safely, and relatively efficiently, charge the battery if solar isn’t cutting it?

Thanks,
Dan

[persistent]

Originally Posted by Researchhound

Hello all,
I have a 2017 Kodiak Ultra. A year after purchasing, I installed heavier internal wiring to handle a solar panel which goes through a battery controller and then to a BattleBorn Lithium Iron battery. My question is, if I purchase an inverter generator, like a Honda 2200 or similar, what else do I need to install (if anything) in order to safely, and relatively efficiently, charge the battery if solar isn’t cutting it?

Thanks,
Dan

Plug the shore power cord into the generator outlet. Generator will power the RV's built in battery charger. Presumably the built in battery charger is set to a lithium charge profile.

[Researchhound]

Originally Posted by persistent

Plug the shore power cord into the generator outlet. Generator will power the RV's built in battery charger. Presumably the built in battery charger is set to a lithium charge profile.

Thanks! Any idea where the charger is located in these units? Is it in the panel with the various control buttons, near the fuse panel, or somewhere else?Just want to get eyes on the actual device.

[persistent]

In my Kodiak Cub, the converter/charger is part of the main circuit breaker panel. The circuit breaker panel is behind a black plastic cover that opens by pressing on it. There is a ventilation fan below the cover that opens.

The converter/charger and main circuit breaker panel is usually close to where the shore power cord enters the RV.

[Researchhound]

Persistent-
Thanks for your feedback.
Found the charger ( underneath the fuse panel ) but obviously nothing was ever done to set it for a lithium battery. Can all of them adjusted to that or would mine likely not have the ability to be set for lithium? Again, mine is a 2017 unit. If they can be set for lithium, how is that done, or can you direct me to a site explaining it?

Thanks!

[persistent]

Battle Born were some of the best lithium built back then. Glad to hear it is still working fine. They were built with closely matched cells and may not have drifted out of balance much.

My 2018 Kodiak Cub has a WFCO 35 amp converter/charger. It does not have a lithium setting. It is not likely yours has such a setting either.

I expect a WFCO 35 amp charger would keep a 100 amp hour Li charged and balanced.
A 50 amp charger might keep a 200 amp hour Li charged and balanced.

Post make and model of solar controller. It may have a lithium setting. It may provide enough 14.4 volt charging to balance a Battle Born lithium battery. See instruction manual for the controller for possible lithium setting.

[dsol]

BTW, I believe your Honda generator/inverter also has 12 dc outlet connections that should work with a cable. If you get one of these cables for a few bucks you can then directly connect to your RV battery. However, if you have lithium batteries I am not sure the output voltage would work as the charging profile differs on lithium than it does for lead acid.

I would guess the built in inverter that is designed to charge your battery or batteries will do a better job using the AC power that the generator provides from the standard 110 AC outlet and it is probably far more efficient too.