hookups

Have a tristar 40,6 trojan 6volts,400 watt panel.
What would the best way to hook up a generator to the system?
Directly to the batteries? output leads of the tristar?
Are there any feedback issues to the controller?
Have a disconnect at the controller output for charging?
Generator has 12 volt supply...wire before tristar...let controller handle it?
I dont want to damage controller.
What would the best way to hook up a generator to the system?
Directly to the batteries? output leads of the tristar?
Are there any feedback issues to the controller?
Have a disconnect at the controller output for charging?
Generator has 12 volt supply...wire before tristar...let controller handle it?
I dont want to damage controller.
Comments
Lots of questions...
The TriStar 40... Is that a TS 45 PWM (pulse width modulation) type controller, or a TS 45 MPPT type (maximum power point tracking)?
What kind of generator are we talking about... A "real" DC generator or an AC alternator + rectifier? What kind of regulation does the generator/alternator have?
In general, a series type charge controller works by turn on/off to adjust the average current going into the battery. DC generators and especially AC alternators output voltage can dramatically increase when the output it switched on/off under load (12 volt alternators can easily exceed 120 VAC when their output is disconnected and the alternator is turning fast. And I would worry that the inductance of a generator/alternator can cause high voltage spikes--Both of which can damage attached solar panels and the solar charge controller itself).
Also, alternators/generators designed to attach directly to a battery bank generally have very poor voltage regulation (as above, very wide output voltage when unconnected to a battery bank). If the generator/alternator is designed to run without a battery bank (stable DC voltage direct to attached loads)--Placing the output in parallel with the solar panels may cause other issues.
On average--I would not suggest paralleling solar panels+generator input to the solar charge controller unless you know exactly how your generator behaves electrically.
-Bill
--vtMaps
As vtMaps said--Just get a good AC battery charger and power it with the eu1000i 120 VAC output... Typically, a non-PFC Iota 20 Amp @ 12 VDC should run OK on the eu1000i. A 40 amp @ 12 VDC charger may be too large (to high of VA input) for the small Honda.
-Bill
I have an iota DLS-54-13, a 13 amp 54v (48v) charger. I just plug that in to our Honda eu2000i and let it go.