gen charge

oadkins

What can I use to automatically charge battery bank with generator without buying expensive charge controller

Blackcherry04

Most here would use a stand alone charger or a Inverter charger with a generator. I have been using IOTA chargers for many years. They have gotten more expensive recently and are not as good of a buy as they once were. I see a Golf Cart charger that Sams Club touted as a good buy ( $99 ), but know nothing about it.

In a pinch as set of jumper cables on a car / truck could be used if you can work the voltage out.

oadkins

What I want is something to start and stop generator automatically

Blackcherry04

That requires either a integrated AGS system from within a control system on a Inverter charger or a separate control module.

You can home brew a system if you have the skills with a VCS and a Adkinson AGS module. Is it 2 wire or 3 wire, does it require a choke ?? Most automatic system do not work all that well and can cause lot's of trouble. I read somewhere that most Generac automatic systems have a 40% failure rate during a power outage, that you could attribute to lots of things.

The last one I personally had got stuck cranking and burned up the starter, and melted the post off the battery. My wife called me because it started smoking and and sounded crazy. I didn't get there until after the Fire dept had left, they cut the battery cable. In the end it was a bad starter solenoid , but I couldn't trust it any longer.

oil pan 4

If you are trying to find a "cheap one" you are better off going with out.