Your honest opinion please

[Reel Nauti]

Thanks all for your help and replies. Went to work this morning and had a briefing with the CEO. I gave him the handover from the Specialist, and the CEO is 'retiring' me due to ill health, effective immediately. He's keeping me on the payroll for the next few weeks until I decide what I'm going to do about social security, possible TPD claim through Sunsuper etc. He was very good about it all, and has offered to write whatever is required to Centrelink and Sunsuper. It was a long walk back to the carpark this morning, and with a heavy heart.

Now the laptop issue is not so critical, though I would at least like to be able to communicate via email to friends and family at times, and log into Ausfish. I also would like to be able to access ABC online to keep in touch with the world around me. Lonliness is going to be an issue for me, as I've always been a social creature who enjoys company, but this illness has caused me to withdraw as I can't hear well and my head is full of thunderstorms.
Does the gennie with freezer sound like a good idea, whether it be a new gennie or whatever? Yes there's the fuel issue, but if it's only goig to be for say 4 hrs a day that should be manageable. Solar and batts I believe can be expensive? Noise from an older gennie won't bother me too much as I've heard it running and it's not that bad. I could put it 50mtrs or so away from my camp. Would an older gennie be up to 4hrs a day for several months? It wouldn't bother me as my hearing is going and there's noone else on the island. Will be just me and 'Wilson'

Dave

[PADDLES]

if your freezer is 12V/240V i'd take a couple of deep cycle batteries with you and use them to power your laptop and keep the freezer going when the generator's not. work out your loads correctly to size the batteries for charging whilst your genny is running. solar is a good option but not necessary if cash is tight. all the best mate.

[murf]

I hope it all sorts out for you Dave the best it can

the old gennie will go Great to run the freezer during the day and run a battery charger to a 12volt 4WD style batt (for cheapness) you can get cheap 150Watt 240volt inverters that will run 240 volt lights (the bayonets with energy saver lights in them) from the 12v batt

I use two of the 6lt ice cream containers frozen in the esky/ice box and swap every day with two more in the freezer, keeps them good as but I don't need to cool down too many beers a day either

sounds like you will have plenty of time to sit and think about your set up once there constantly improving the camp to suit you

cheers Murf

[Reel Nauti]

With an 'invertor' connected to a 12v battery, does that 'convert' the power to 240? If so, I could consider going that way, and once 1 or 2 batts are getting low fire up the gennie and recharge the batts? Does this make sense or am I way off beam? And a small chest freezer wouldn't need to run more than 4 or 5 hrs a day at this time of the year to keep it frozen would it? I know 1.5hrs morning and afternoon was mentioned.
I'm well geared for 12v camping ie: lights, shower etc, but we've always just used ice and the 12v batt has last 3 weeks without a problem. It's just that for a prolonged period of time (see possibly months) I'm a bit out of my depth.

Thanks

Dave

[murf]

the inverter does turn 12volts DC into 240 volts AC but it will not run the freezer but lots of other 240volt low power gadgets, TV and games come to mind with kids haha
not toasters and kettles though

the only reason I use 240v lights is the amount of light you can get very cheap to run from 12volts then I switch back to 12v fluoro after tea

cheers Murf

[FNQCairns]

Also consider taking along 3 or 4 extra blankets, when the freezer is not running wrap it up in these, seriously there is an extra 30% worth of time it will stay cold befre needing a run.

I think you do need an inverter, 300w sine wave if you can handle the extra price, will help with redundancy too.

cheers fnq

[Apollo]

Dave

I can't offer you anymore than the others here, but obviously you are going through some tough times at the moment. I just hope it all works out ok for you.

All the best

Steve

[tigermullet]

I hope it works out too, Reel Nauti. I'm going a bit deaf myself and, at times, it can be annoying but then again there is so much I no longer want to hear.

Seriously, the first approach might be to get an appointment with one of Centrelink's financial advisers. Generally, they are very, very good and can give you answers quickly. The know that you attend the interview with the idea in mind of maximising your entitlements. It's a great service.

I am very uncertain about the gen set approach. Our fridge/freezer will not run on its 240 volt via a generator unless it is a very good one. The el cheapo types would ruin it very quickly.

Here's hoping that you can choose the best path through these circumstances.

[Bear001]

I too cant offer more than what has been covered here - only to offer my support in your obviously very emotional time.

I watched my father slip away a few yrs ago at the age of 54 and as an only child I will never be the same. Life certainly takes on a whole new meaning.

Good luck in your ventures and dont hesitate to call upon your Ausfish friends for support or questions or just a good old-fashioned laugh.

Cindy

[cuzzamundi]

All the best, Dave. Sorry to hear of your struggle. I sincerely hope things improve.
Cuzza

[Reel Nauti]

I've done my sums, and the most I can spend on a genrerator/power is $1200. I've looked at 1 kva's yamaha and honda, and I've looked at lesser known brands 2kva with the invertor business and the sinewave etc for $1200. I can get a new reasonable looking thumpa 2stoke for around $500. So what would you do? The Honda 2 is out of the question as is the yammie 2. I have to make do with what I can afford. Invertor etc just can't come into it as I priced them today as well, and then on top of that is the batteries etc. So, I will only be running aabout a 120ltr small freezer, which I've found will draw about .8 amp. I might run an electric drill, when the freezer is off, to make some shelving etc. Nothing else will be drawn from the gennie except to charge the 12 v battery (which I'll use for lighting) probably once every 3 weeks. Solar panels etc can't fit into my finiancial situation. Would the 1 kva do? Do I really need a 2? Would the cheaper 2 stroke survive and perform if I ran a UPS to my computer? If I'm running the gennie to run the freezer for 4 hrs odd a day, will a desk top puter do? What are your thoughts....please.

Dave

[FNQCairns]

Your desktop will run off the inverter (600w sine wave), the inverter will run of the battery the battery can be charged by battery charger plugged into the gennie ( need to check the brand of generator will run your charger) and the freezer will run of the gennie also (need to check the output quality of the brand of gennie will run the freezer).

From here you have the start of everything you need, hard part is ensuring the advice upon purchase of the these things that they will do what is recommended.

cheers fnq

[murf]

mate I have run a 150lt tuckerbox freezer from a 750 Honda 20 YO gen, it did it real tough but did it until i fixed the bigger gen a few hours later

the Honda 1000eu will run the freezer fine, it may load up a little more than the Honda2 especially on start up but would be worth the investment IMHO

cheers Murf

[murf]

turn the freezer up full so it runs all the time when gen is going

unplug the freezer when you start the gen and let it warm up a little before plugging in the freezer and don't stop the freezer and expect it to run on the gen straight away as it will overload the gen until the pressure drops in the freezer (give it 20mins or so)

once the gen has started the freezer then a desktop PC will run fine too on the Honda 1000 although I have not tried it personally

cheers Murf

[Reel Nauti]

For all the years we've gone camping rigged up lighting to a standard 12v car battery. We've done it without any need for charging for 3 weeks. Will that do, with an invertor, to run the puter? Thanks for your help with this FNQ. My lighting etc is all from the battery. Small fluoro's. Cooking and kettles etc is gas and fire. It's the freezer power I'm concerned with, and of course charging the batt, which I could do from swapping the batt with the one in the boat and charging from the outboard? 2007 40hp 4stoke Yammie. This time is a bit differnt though as I'm looking at months instead of weeks.

Dave