How To Get Clean 12V Power for Sensitive Electronics

Question:

Is it safe to plug a wall outlet with USB charges to the generator 333-0004 and charge my cell phone? Is it safe to plug a batteries charger to a 120 VAC outlet from the generator to have a source of 12 VDC and charge a car battery. I have already had that batteries charger. Thank you.

asked by: Tuan L

Expert Reply:

The 4,500-Watt Portable Generator, # 333-0004 is a conventional generator that supplies power for the job site or emergency situations. This does not have a built in inverter to control current and therefore susceptible to fluctuations and can cause damage to sensitive electronics such as cell phones when plugged in directly to the generator. If your battery charger is a newer digital "smart charger" design I would not recommend plugging in directly. However, if you have an older type car battery charger, especially non-digital, you are fine. If you are using this for a power source for an RV already equipped with a properly wired inverter then you can safely plug in the cell phone to outlets within the RV when using this generator.

I always recommend the inverter type generators, such as the A-iPower 2,000-Watt Portable Inverter Generator, # 289-SUA2000i. If this amount of wattage is not enough, this unit can be paired with another to run in parallel and increase the total wattage, # 289-SUA2000i-2. This also will also be far less noisy than conventional generators.

expert reply by: Michael R