Four post ramp in garage with no power

[Captain Answer]

Fessia fancier said:

Thanks for all the suggestions.
I can see that generator would be significantly more powerful, it is quite a lump, though! I guess I'd also have to somehow get it from home to the garage once it was delivered, which looks like a two man job.
A powerwall is a good idea, I like the idea of harvesting solar over time, but the garage is in a conservation area so I will have to see if I can put solar panels up (and there is a tree next to it). Also they look pretty dear.
A bit more headscratching!

Trailer? I'd engine crane (or ramp) it into the back of mine then same off the other end, it's on wheels so moving it wouldnt be too difficult solo

[Fessia fancier]

It would be something of a hassle, I don't have a trailer or car with a tow bar, but do-able I suppose.

[Polly Grigora]

Are you able to back-track to

northwestrecovery said:

Get a hydraulic ramp and covert it 12v and run it off a couple of batteries , seen it done a few times at farms .

[ruggedscotty]

Okay thinking about this....

couple of ways -

12V and inverting to run a motor takes some doing- 5kw nominal at 12v is a hell of an amperage. remember you need to allow for your losses and the like. How about going to 24v and using a truck invertor or a 24v hydraulic pump system to run the lift.
or use 24v invertor.

Using a leisure battery and then think about 4 of then in a series parallel set up to give 24v with extra umph.

Charging them? Solar or even wind...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/5000W-Power-Inverter-1000...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Turbines-Generator-Waterp...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ECO-WORTHY-3KW%C2%B7H-720...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yuasa-L36-100-Leisure-Bat...

Sooooo :-

choices

mains vehicle lift
12v 24v lift
hydraulic lift

battery power 12v 24v

battery direct
battery invertor to mains

charge from petrol generator
charge from solar
charge from wind

plenty to be getting on with

[Fessia fancier]

Thanks for all the input. Harvesting renewables is good but will require clearance from the conservation officer. I might see what they think.
Another option is to get mains put in. However that is about £7k........
I'll mull it over a bit more, and any other ideas are obviously welcome in the meantime.

[AW10]

It seems a waste of energy to use an inverter. The idea of using a 12V or 24V hydraulic pump does seem to be the most sensible. Someone clever/familiar with hydraulics should be able to work out the right size of motor needed to raise the ramp; you might be able to use a less powerful motor that has a lower peak current draw in exchange for an increased lifting time. It obviously wouldn't change the amount of energy needed to raise and lower the car but might allow use of lighter cabling and/or smaller batteries.

[Chris32345]

AW10 said:

It seems a waste of energy to use an inverter. The idea of using a 12V or 24V hydraulic pump does seem to be the most sensible. Someone clever/familiar with hydraulics should be able to work out the right size of motor needed to raise the ramp; you might be able to use a less powerful motor that has a lower peak current draw in exchange for an increased lifting time. It obviously wouldn't change the amount of energy needed to raise and lower the car but might allow use of lighter cabling and/or smaller batteries.

[Fessia fancier]

Thanks and it does seem like there must be losses when converting.

[dhutch]

Fessia fancier said:

A powerwall is a good idea.....

Power wall is just an inverter and batteries!

Seems like it's the start current that's killing it, but not a huge am you can do about that other than find something with the poke to run it, or swap the motor.

If the genny is a conventional non-inverter type as appears to be the cases swapping the breaker (likely a B curve) for a C or D curve might just work.

Else larger inverter I guess, ideally a brand name one such a Victron, which could be 12 or 24v supply. Pair of 110Ah truck batteries.

Not super cheap, and hasle if you have to take them home to charge them, but a fraction of the £7k connection fee.

[Fessia fancier]

Well rather than leave this hanging I have finally sorted this with a big genny. Works fine so far after some teething adventures.
Now, how to charge the battery on the generator!

[Lordster]

Hi, I've got the same issue ,what size and make of Generator did you buy?

[Fessia fancier]

Hi I bought a Wolf WPB8510ES Petrol Generator
I had some teething troubles with it because it ran but gave no output. In the end that was fixed and now it works fine. It copes with a ramp with a car up to 1400 kg on it (it may cope with more, that is the heaviest car I have put on it).
I hope that helps.

[Lordster]

Thank you for your reply, I'm glad that you are sorted!

[ruggedscotty]

Fessia fancier said:

Well rather than leave this hanging I have finally sorted this with a big genny. Works fine so far after some teething adventures.
Now, how to charge the battery on the generator!

whats the battery on the generator.... Id have looked at some snazzy solar panels on the garage roof depending on likelihood for being nocked... Feed this to a proper charger to suit the battery so you dont boil that But ive done this before a few times to keep the starter battery fully charged....

[hidetheelephants]

Use the manual start cord; those things should not be difficult to start.

[Fessia fancier]

The battery is just the small one that came with the generator. It is only used occasionally - perhaps ten or fifteen times a year, as it is really for storage rather than working on the car,
So far I have not had to recharge it. Once it sounded a bit flat so I attached one of those Lithium ion battery packs to give it a bit of a boost, and left that attached for a bit.
I did plan to connect a small solar panel but for now I will probably just use it and top up the charge via a battery pack. Even if I have to take it off and charge it once a year, that is not much of a problem for me given the low usage.

[AW10]

Just connect a charger to the genny and run it!

[TwinKam]

Does the genny not charge its own starter battery?

[Fessia fancier]

It would but it only runs for a minute or two so I am not sure it would be enough.
It wouldn’t harm though.

[Teddy Lop]

Fessia fancier said:

Well rather than leave this hanging I have finally sorted this with a big genny. Works fine so far after some teething adventures.
Now, how to charge the battery on the generator!

Nice.

I'd have thought a solar setup would be useful as you can trickle charge the cars too.