230v and Portable generator.... is it worth it?

[The_Doc]

Bruv and I are in Houx Annexe this year. Just us and my 330d, two tents, gazebo, plus stuff.

Question: My local hire shop will rent me a petrol portable generator giving leisure-use 230v for about 35squid/the week.

Worth it?
Noisy?
Hassle?
Security?
Firerisk?
BUT......
Powers decent speakers.
Lights us up
Charges Ipod/gadgets
CAN RUN A BEER FRIDGE !!

Discuss.

[111KAB]

Worth it if the output is decent enough. If only low output it will struggle to keep fridge going .... if you wait for the fridge to cool the beer you will be sober. Higher output machines are heavy beasts. Try for a 4 stroke ... bu99er to mix oil/petrol when you've had a few. If the rental figure you mention is for a low output one you can buy for around £60 off ebay/ B&Q. Buy one and sell it on when you get home or keep for next year/winter power cuts.
111KAB

[E36GUY]

I bought a little one from Halfrauds last year for £60 and it works a treat. Powers a fridge fine but fridges in the Le Mans heat will really struggle because as soon as you open the fridge door that undos all it's hard work. So ditching that this year. However, definately taking the genny again as it's great to power my outdoor lighting rig/stereo/phone charges etc.

[Dave200]

My gang and I will be taking a Genny again this year. We found that despite the heat last year, our fridge still proved to be pretty effective at keeping food cool for the week. Above that, they are handy to have so that you can run a stereo and lights for the evenings, as well as avoiding flattened car batteries from mobile charging!

We are hiring ours at a very similar rate, but make sure that you match its output capabilities with that which you are planning to connect to it. Ours was a Honda unit which seemed somewhat overkill at the time, but allowed us to run plenty off it at the same time.
Also, don't forget a couple of Jerrycans!

[NUEZ]

I bought one off ebay for £41. The last 3 years I haven't bothered, but warm beer for the fourth year is a bit much. All the ice from the supermarches get bought up very qucikly and we've tried using bags of frozen peas in desperate times.

We regards to nosie issues, I suppose you might piss a few people off, but coem race night it won't even be an issue

[lol1]

Pick our diesel silent genny from hss hire on wend. it mesures 1 meter long by 1 meter high by 1/2 meter wide. Reckon we could run most of houx annex campers with that one and still keep our beer cold.

[dan101smith]

Superb - you can run a cable over to Beausejour for us then!

[BeeGT]

Ordered a leisure generator from Wolf today (wolf-online.co.uk), £70, Auto Express recommended and should be here by Friday. 2-stroke 700W, more than enough for one small condensor fridge and one absorption fridge. Sounds and lights in the evening an added bonus. The genny won't be on 24/7 but a couple of 6 hour stints each day should do the job to keep food fresh for Sunday.

Give chilling the beer a head start by digging a hole in the ground and leave a couple of cases in overnight.

7 days to departure...

[Polarbert]

lol1 said:

Pick our diesel silent genny from hss hire on wend. it mesures 1 meter long by 1 meter high by 1/2 meter wide. Reckon we could run most of houx annex campers with that one and still keep our beer cold.

Fancy pitching up next to us?

[pikey]

Guys - make sure you keep it fairly close and chain it up. Also lock it in a car when not in use.

Have heard SOOOOOOO many stories of these being nicked, particularly as the race ends and the pikey locals trawl the empty sites...

[Smirnoff]

Well it looks like the Houx Annex massive are all Genny'd up, so we can only piss each other off with the noise. I bought a 4.5kw 32 amp last year from screw fix for £500. cranked it up yesterday and it started on the button. We chain it to the freezer, having said that its so bloody heavy two people would take 20 mins to get out of Houx Annex with it.

Adrian

[pikey]

Smirnoff said:

Well it looks like the Houx Annex massive are all Genny'd up, so we can only piss each other off with the noise. I bought a 4.5kw 32 amp last year from screw fix for £500. cranked it up yesterday and it started on the button. We chain it to the freezer, having said that its so bloody heavy two people would take 20 mins to get out of Houx Annex with it.

Adrian

How about 4 people, a bolt cutter and a very large van?

10 seconds max...

[Digger Man]

pikey said:

Smirnoff said:

Well it looks like the Houx Annex massive are all Genny'd up, so we can only piss each other off with the noise. I bought a 4.5kw 32 amp last year from screw fix for £500. cranked it up yesterday and it started on the button. We chain it to the freezer, having said that its so bloody heavy two people would take 20 mins to get out of Houx Annex with it.

Adrian

How about 4 people, a bolt cutter and a very large van?

10 seconds max...

Went down to testing weekend just gone. The dids were even out then looking around some of the sites. be warned

[Smirnoff]

5r

pikey said:

Smirnoff said:

Well it looks like the Houx Annex massive are all Genny'd up, so we can only piss each other off with the noise. I bought a 4.5kw 32 amp last year from screw fix for £500. cranked it up yesterday and it started on the button. We chain it to the freezer, having said that its so bloody heavy two people would take 20 mins to get out of Houx Annex with it.

Adrian

How about 4 people, a bolt cutter and a very large van?

10 seconds max...

Sunday Night is the worst night and Monday morning, I'll sit on top of the Winnie with my shot gun!

[Slurms]

Yeah it starts on sunday after the race once the security have gone from the campsite gates..

I've heard some horror stories but always seems to have happened to a friend of a friend..