These days with 12V technology and batteries coming so far, you might think that there’s no need to pack a generator on any trips any more, but the reality is a petrol generator is still hugely useful when you’re camping or out bush. The ability to very easily and very quickly produce a large amount of power is fantastic in emergencies or even if you’ve just had a couple days of poor weather and you need to top up your batteries again. A camping generator can do just about anything from powering up your cooking appliances, to running you heavy duty power tools to charging your batteries with the use of a 240V battery charger. There’s even times when running your fridge off 240V power from your gennie is a better idea than trying to use your batteries themselves.

Let’s explore that last idea for a second – why would you want to run your camping fridge from a camping gennie? Well there are a couple of reasons! Number one is that if you’re pulling power out of battery at the same time you’re trying to charge it, it takes longer to charge – you may need to use your generator to take over running your fridge/freezer and at the same time use a battery charger to give your battery a good solid charge where it isn’t required to power anything else. Batteries also charge much more effectively if they’re not providing power because the charger itself can more accurately gauge the battery’s state of charge and what is required to top it up. So, powering up the camp generator and letting it do the work for a couple hours of one day on your trip, could result in the opportunity to stay at camp longer with your battery in better health. Even just running the fridge off the gennie and letting your solar panels focus on charging your battery bank is a great idea. If you’re in a group, you can also make the most of the power provided by your gennie and power many fridges at the same time! Most 12V camping fridge/freezers draw between 40 and 90 watts – if your gennie is able to output 2000W it wouldn’t struggle even if it had to power 10 different fridges!

Let’s say you’ve had a few days in a row of cloudy weather and your solar isn’t putting out as much power as it could be. Because of that, your battery is a bit discharged and you’re concerned about your food in the fridge! Sure, you could start up your car and let it idle to charge up the second battery with a DCDC charger, but you’re wasting a lot of fuel and creating a lot of noise and exhaust right in camp. Instead, using a generator solves those issues – you can charge your second battery up at the same rate without using nearly as much fuel and you can keep the noise and fumes far from camp. Just think about it for a second – by using your vehicle to run a 20A DCDC you’re powering a small ~300W (or.3kW) charger with an engine probably 3000cc in capacity or larger, capable of around 100kW! That’s around 300 times over sized! Compare that to the compact ~100cc generator engine capable of outputting 2000W of power and you quickly see it’s much better matched to the requirements! At 7m away the Adventure Kings 2kVA Inverter generator at idle only produces 59dB – which is about the same as conversation in an office or background music and there’s no reason you can’t move it further away with an extension cord, so even while it’s running you know it’s going to be much quieter than your vehicle,  which is usually sitting right in the middle of camp.

Camping generators are designed to be super easy to use and super reliable – so they’ll work when you need them to! The main things to consider is that you should always use fresh fuel in the tank as old fuel won’t run nearly as smoothly and if it sits long enough it can clog up the fuel system. That being said though, Adventure Kings Generators are 4 stroke engines – a design renowned for longevity and reliability. While the old argument is that 2 stroke engines are more lightweight for the same power, they have the disadvantages of needing oil mixed with the fuel with generally makes more of a smell, makes you and your setup more oily and they tend to run dirtier and louder, meaning your campsite won’t be as peaceful or relaxing! With a 4 stroke generator you add oil into the engine when you first get it, then you just need to use standard 91 octane unleaded – the only maintenance is the occasional oil change and check over the spark plug and ignition system! Too easy!

Generators are also becoming more compact and lightweight – they are no longer a huge and heavy, loud and clunky item that you struggle to use and dread having to carry and start up. With advances in engine technology you can have a powerful engine with a small overall size – the Adventure Kings 2kVA gennie only weighs 19kg which means just about anyone can lift it! Combined with the recoil start and Capacitor Discharge Ignition or CDI, it’s also super easy to start and just about anyone can do it – you won’t be standing there for half an hour trying to get it going! Then, when the unit is running you can rely on the power output – again thanks to advances and modern technology! Adventure Kings Generators use pure sine wave inverters for the 240V output which means they’re able to run sensitive electronics like laptops, power tools and medical equipment without a worry.