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Thread: using my little Mirage as a camping power source

  1. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Daox View Post
    You can do this. The Mirage alternator is rated for 80A and spits out 14.5V. This gives you a max output of 1160W. You can run a 1000W whatever, but it will probably drain your battery because inverters are not 100% efficient. You can replace your starting battery with a deep cycle (I did in my car) and it'll last longer.

    Is it efficient? Nope. Your engine is rated for 78hp, and you're running it at maybe about 15% load. Engines are usually most efficient at ~80% load.

    Idling for longer periods of time is not harmful to your engine. I see no issues there.

    I'm sure there are more factors to consider, but thats what I got off the top of my head.

    do you think its gonna be much more efficient to replace to a larger battery, start engine every time when it needs to be charged,let's say keep engine running for 2mintues every hour,just like hybird car does, or just leave it idle 100% of time?

    is there a way I can do some modification to make engine start and stop itself to keep battey at 20%~80%? maybe a smart sparker



  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Loren View Post
    I think you need to analyze and state your actual power needs. The way you stated it, people are thinking you need to run the car 24/7 to keep 1200 Watts available at all times. I doubt that is the case.

    What are your actual power needs? If you're living in the car... maybe you'll want or need AC or heat and the car will need to be idling for that. Will it hurt the car? Think of it as "taxi cab mode". Call it "severe service", and service the car accordingly. It's not stressing the engine in any way, should be fine at least for short term use.

    So, what are your actual power needs? Laptop charging? Phone charging? I'd say get a couple good large capacity Lithium battery packs. Charge your laptop, your phone and your battery packs while you're DRIVING as much as possible. But, if you need to charge them while you're stationary, letting the car idle for 30-45 minutes while you charge something isn't going to hurt anything.

    Won't that take up most of the needs of the modern "traveler"? What else do you need power for?

    And the hair dryer... as has been noted, the car should be able to support 1200W with a good invertor. (look at the rating of the fuse that the invertor requires... be sure that's not more than the 12V socket/lighter fuse on the car... if it is, then you might need to connect directly to the battery... if you do, DO IT WITH THE ENGINE RUNNING and you're not going to drain the battery a lot) Not talking about 1200W of hot plates cooking dinner for 3 hours or anything... but, 5 minutes of blow-drying shouldn't be a problem!

    I wouldn't plan on trying to run a refrigerator or anything like that. Get yourself a good cooler and keep it stocked daily with a couple $2 bags of ice.

    Minimize your power needs, shouldn't be a problem.

    How much fuel? You could do some research on how much fuel is used at idle and figure it out. But, just a lazy "worst case" guess:

    Let's assume that a talented hypermiler can get 60 mpg travelling an average of 30 mph. They're running the engine (at considerably more load than idle) for 2 hours on 1 gallon of fuel. That should be your absolutely worst case. Half gallon per hour. Realistically, probably way less than half that.


    my actual power needs

    long time power need : lights, computer, air purifier,router - 150~250w needed for about 14h in a day when I am not going to work

    rice cooker (680w) pressure cooker (700w) - normally need to run up to 1 hour

    RV AC (700w), might need to run 10 mintues every hour if van is well insulated

    I guess I would need to be sure they are not running at same time, maybe replace a larger battery in the car, and put a 2000w inverter on it, so I should be able to temporary draw a larger amount of power from battery, and alternator will catch up once I consume less energy, not sure this setup works

    for energy, when I am at 60mph I usually see my engine running at 2100 rpm to 2800 rpm with 40mpg, yesterday I tested power generation and I dont see rpm changes compare to idle , just 900~1100rpm, should be at least half of the cost?

    is the fuel consumption per hour always have a linear relationship to RPM? O.o

  3. #13
    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fozziekyu View Post
    is the fuel consumption per hour always have a linear relationship to RPM? O.o
    More or less. It's more about load. You can have zero load at 3,000 rpm (sitting in the driveway) or be going up a mountain at 60 mph at 3,000 rpm. One is very light throttle, one is very heavy throttle.

    I don't think you should try to use the Mirage to power your "RV" needs. Using the Mirage to power "self-contained short-term in-car camping" is what I was thinking. You could do that.

    If you're creating an RV, buy a good inexpensive inverter/generator. They make them very small and very quiet these days. Not much louder than your car idling.

    Look for one with a good brand name, good noise ratings, and good reviews.

    We use a generator to power our equipment for autocrosses. (the timing equipment is battery powered, this just runs the laptop, a fan, a 32" tv monitor, and an LED timing display... probably 300-350 Watts) We don't put a lot of load on it, but the way we use it is less than ideal. Basically, it its in storage most of the time and gets used for about 8-10 hours every other week, and if we remember... we do some maintenance on it every year.

    We've been through about 4 generators:

    1 - 20+ year old generic 3,000 watt generator. Just a cheap $300 generator that you'll find pretty much anywhere. Old school. Big, loud, gas-sucking engine. The pros were that it was reliable and cheap. Rebuild the carb every few years and put a new spark plug in it every now and then, change the oil every year. It usually started easily, and worked. Cons were that it was LOUD and used about 4-5 gallons in our 10-hour day.

    2 - Almost as old Yamaha generator. It was a little bigger, but a better brand. Somebody traded us for it because they wanted something smaller. It was equally reliable right up until it wasn't. Pretty much the same as the other one, only bigger and maybe a little quieter, but still loud. Slightly less thirsty, but still used at least 3 gallons in 10 hours. I opted to replace it before I fixed it. When I did fix it... it was an $8 capacitor that failed. Took 5 minutes to replace, and somebody is still using the thing for backup "storm power".

    3 - Bought a small $150 inverter generator. (This One) This thing was AWESOME! Used less than half the fuel. Much, much quieter. Started first-pull every time. And about 1/4 the size! Lower capacity output, but it met our needs. We loved it! Until the carb crapped out after about 2 years. We replaced the carb once for about $60. When it crapped out again... we thought seriously about just replacing it with another one just like it. We got a good 3-4 years out of a $150 generator! But, when it failed, it failed without warning, and that was annoying. After a carb cleaning, it's back in use also as backup "storm power".

    4. - Bought a $700 Generac inverter generator. (This one.) Specifically searched for reliable, quiet and efficient, but without being in the price range of a Honda. (if you have the money, buy a Honda) It's way larger capacity than we needed (2200W for our 350W load), but it's damn near silent when switched into "economy mode", and we get through 10 hours on about 3/4 gallon of fuel! It's been flawless for nearly 2 years so far. It is stunningly quiet. Would get a little louder under more load, of course.

    So... yeah. Rather than buying a big inverter and torturing your car, just buy cheap generator. Even the super-cheap one would get you by for a while.
    Simplify and add lightness.

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  5. #14
    Well it's not only me that thinks this doesn't make sense. Living in a rental van is questionable enough, using a car as a generator just takes it to the next level. If you really want to live in a vehicle why not just buy a motorhome that already has proper batteries and maybe even some solar panels installed already, sell the car and buy a bike? Or better yet move ?

    Edit: I just realised I may sound like a hypocrite since I apparently live in a Crack house. But who doesn't right?
    Mirage videos:

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        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE wussie cvt edition. 1.2 automatic: 37.7 mpg (US) ... 16.0 km/L ... 6.2 L/100 km ... 45.3 mpg (Imp)


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    Senior Member Dirk Diggler's Avatar
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    I'll say this again. Leave San Fran! No town is that cool where you have justify living in a Mirage just because you think the area code is posh. Problem solved. Move to Oregon or something.

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  9. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Loren View Post
    More or less. It's more about load. You can have zero load at 3,000 rpm (sitting in the driveway) or be going up a mountain at 60 mph at 3,000 rpm. One is very light throttle, one is very heavy throttle.

    I don't think you should try to use the Mirage to power your "RV" needs. Using the Mirage to power "self-contained short-term in-car camping" is what I was thinking. You could do that.

    If you're creating an RV, buy a good inexpensive inverter/generator. They make them very small and very quiet these days. Not much louder than your car idling.

    Look for one with a good brand name, good noise ratings, and good reviews.

    We use a generator to power our equipment for autocrosses. (the timing equipment is battery powered, this just runs the laptop, a fan, a 32" tv monitor, and an LED timing display... probably 300-350 Watts) We don't put a lot of load on it, but the way we use it is less than ideal. Basically, it its in storage most of the time and gets used for about 8-10 hours every other week, and if we remember... we do some maintenance on it every year.

    We've been through about 4 generators:

    1 - 20+ year old generic 3,000 watt generator. Just a cheap $300 generator that you'll find pretty much anywhere. Old school. Big, loud, gas-sucking engine. The pros were that it was reliable and cheap. Rebuild the carb every few years and put a new spark plug in it every now and then, change the oil every year. It usually started easily, and worked. Cons were that it was LOUD and used about 4-5 gallons in our 10-hour day.

    2 - Almost as old Yamaha generator. It was a little bigger, but a better brand. Somebody traded us for it because they wanted something smaller. It was equally reliable right up until it wasn't. Pretty much the same as the other one, only bigger and maybe a little quieter, but still loud. Slightly less thirsty, but still used at least 3 gallons in 10 hours. I opted to replace it before I fixed it. When I did fix it... it was an $8 capacitor that failed. Took 5 minutes to replace, and somebody is still using the thing for backup "storm power".

    3 - Bought a small $150 inverter generator. (This One) This thing was AWESOME! Used less than half the fuel. Much, much quieter. Started first-pull every time. And about 1/4 the size! Lower capacity output, but it met our needs. We loved it! Until the carb crapped out after about 2 years. We replaced the carb once for about $60. When it crapped out again... we thought seriously about just replacing it with another one just like it. We got a good 3-4 years out of a $150 generator! But, when it failed, it failed without warning, and that was annoying. After a carb cleaning, it's back in use also as backup "storm power".

    4. - Bought a $700 Generac inverter generator. (This one.) Specifically searched for reliable, quiet and efficient, but without being in the price range of a Honda. (if you have the money, buy a Honda) It's way larger capacity than we needed (2200W for our 350W load), but it's damn near silent when switched into "economy mode", and we get through 10 hours on about 3/4 gallon of fuel! It's been flawless for nearly 2 years so far. It is stunningly quiet. Would get a little louder under more load, of course.

    So... yeah. Rather than buying a big inverter and torturing your car, just buy cheap generator. Even the super-cheap one would get you by for a while.
    Just checked your generator have 56db rating on it, not sure how loud that is , if I make some custom generator box then I can get even lower noise, I should give it a try

  10. #17
    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    56db is pretty darned quiet.

    Common Noise Levels
    Simplify and add lightness.

  11. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fummins View Post
    Well it's not only me that thinks this doesn't make sense. Living in a rental van is questionable enough, using a car as a generator just takes it to the next level. If you really want to live in a vehicle why not just buy a motorhome that already has proper batteries and maybe even some solar panels installed already, sell the car and buy a bike? Or better yet move ?

    Edit: I just realised I may sound like a hypocrite since I apparently live in a Crack house. But who doesn't right?


    no matter new or old, RV/Motorhomes are expensive to buy.... check it out:https://conversiontrader.com/

    for same kind of van I could just spent $4000 to have it, and $2000 in home depot to turn it into a bedroom

    they are even more expensive if you rent a rv/camper, I checked price are from $50 per night

    I know it's not easy to live in a van and power from a car , today when I drive Uber I found out it's very hard to find a place to park a van plus a car, everywhere is flooded with cars, distance between most driveways are also short , not long enough to park two cars at all , not to mention how am I going to move two cars - city laws require to move vehicle at least every 72 hours and must move .25 mile, so I will need to find another long parking spot available and move my vehicle one by one..

    but I am still looking for best solutions, as a uber driver I need a car to work for Uber, and I need a van to live as well....

  12. #19
    Have fun sleeping next to a bucket full of turds. Remember you are who you surround with. I see no need to sleep with mr hankey and family
    Last edited by Fummins; 03-07-2020 at 06:29 AM.
    Mirage videos:

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE wussie cvt edition. 1.2 automatic: 37.7 mpg (US) ... 16.0 km/L ... 6.2 L/100 km ... 45.3 mpg (Imp)


  13. #20
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    do you think if your generator is placed inside of mirage with window closed( I will keep fan on ,ofc), does people walk close by could notice it?


    I guess the big difference between noise of a generator and a idle car engine is our brain learned to ignore common noises , at least for me, I never pay extra attention to noticed a car near me is running, do you think a generator could cause more unusual noise that making people curious?



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