Buying Advice Aurora Silent Diesel Generator

[beeforty]

Due to my well being powered from my power pole and not the house, I use a 5kw for the well just to keep the toilets full and when showering and doing dishes. Putting in a larger airtank helps with the bleed down of pressure. I got a 8kw that my FIL bought us when power was out for a couple of days about 7-8 years ago that is still going fine, older Generac I think. I just have to rob the battery out of my mower since it is electric start and don't use it enough to need a second battery. Last weeks wind storm was about the most we've been out of power, 52hrs straight and used less than 15 gallons of gas. I just run a few hrs and shut it off. Also don't forget about your hook up connection so you don't power the entire neighborhood. My old well pump I pulled so many times I now have it on a dryer plug, so it is just plug into the genny and pull the cord. Like wise the house has a DPDT switch that feeds the fridge, freezer and a few lights with a special wall plug and short cord from the generator.

 

[CowwFace]

Hey TractorBob,

I was looking for a diesel gen about a year ago and from what I can recall the Aurora silent Gen was also avail under different names for less than the $1600.

I ended up going with ETQ Diesel generator .. I think it's 6kw .. I will admit since I've got it the power has not gone out for more than a few moments .. so I don't have any feedback on prolonged running. I did run it for a full 2 hours when I first got it and then changed oil ... I start it now and then and it still works ... ??

Hope that helps.

Tractor / Gen On.

 

[dex3361]

I have about 60 hours on my Aurora diesel generator. The hour meter quit working the last time I used it. Other than that it has run well. I serviced it at 25 hours of run time and I noticed no metal or shavings in the oil when I changed it out at 25 hours. I adjusted the valves at 25 hours and they were not far out of adjustment. The battery has held up well for the 2 years that I have had the generator. I run it for an hour or so every couple of months if there are no power outages.

 

[5030]

Very nice looking unit but it seems more suited for off grid regular use than emergency use. That thing is clearly designed for 10,000hrs plus. I'm also drawn to the diesel on general principles but it is hard to justify for a few days or less a year. Those little Yamaha/Honda inverters that put out 1800-2000W are not enough for a well pump but would probably do fine for truly emergency use to keep the fridge and lights on. At close to a grand they are not cheap but boy are they quiet and easy to move around. We used a 6000W Generac to run well pumps and multiple refridgerators after Irene. Did a fine job though not the quietest thing around.

I'm pondering a 6500/7000W 16hp HF (shudder, cringe) generator to use at my home for welding and emergency back up. Hard to ignore the $499 cost with insider club pricing on an electric start Honda GX clone. I may do it and just run it a lot for the first three months under warranty to see if it breaks. They seem to get good reviews (or at least there are many good reviews posted on the HF site).

From what I can ascertain, HF and NT edits all reviews before posting.......

HF offers a nice Detroit Diesel (3-71) genset for I think, 4 grand.

 

[TractorBob1529]

dex3361, thanks for the update on that genny. Disregard the message from the other thread.

beefort, I have the same well setup. Its on another power meter.

My well house is about 200ft away from my house...if I have the genny running the house, can I run a line of proper size down to the well. Is the hassle of runnig the line more of hassle of moving the genny.

Really considering the Silent Diesel...Sams Club has one that for $1250...is that about the same as the Aurora?

 

[BobRip]

dex3361, thanks for the update on that genny. Disregard the message from the other thread.

beefort, I have the same well setup. Its on another power meter.

My well house is about 200ft away from my house...if I have the genny running the house, can I run a line of proper size down to the well. Is the hassle of runnig the line more of hassle of moving the genny.

Really considering the Silent Diesel...Sams Club has one that for $1250...is that about the same as the Aurora?

Why not tie into house power? If you run the pump directly aren't you bypassing the pressure switch? How do you know when to stop the pump? We need more detail. My well drilling company actually moved the generator to the well to test run it.

 

[TractorBob1529]

The well house has it's own meter, power box, and everything else. I was going to run a line to the breaker box and power the pump that way...if I could.

 

[YanmarFever]

Including just about anything made by Yanmar.

Please get your facts straight.:laughing:

Our Yanmar 12kw diesel runs at 1800 rpm, its a whisper watt enclosed unit. You can stand next to it and talk while its running. Both 3 ph and single ph.
It runs all day on almost 2 gallons of diesel. Best investment I ever made for the homestead.

 

[IslandTractor]

Please get your facts straight.:laughing:

Our Yanmar 12kw diesel runs at 1800 rpm, its a whisper watt enclosed unit. You can stand next to it and talk while its running. Both 3 ph and single ph.
It runs all day on almost 2 gallons of diesel. Best investment I ever made for the homestead.

Glad to be corrected regarding 1800 vs 3600 rpm. I was thinking of smaller 6000w genny units.

Two gallons a day to run a 12KW genset? Wow. I have owned two Yanmar 3GM marine diesels that would be about the size to run a 12KW generator and at 1800rpm I used about 0.5gal/hr.

 

[jenkinsph]

Please get your facts straight.:laughing:

Our Yanmar 12kw diesel runs at 1800 rpm, its a whisper watt enclosed unit. You can stand next to it and talk while its running. Both 3 ph and single ph.
It runs all day on almost 2 gallons of diesel. Best investment I ever made for the homestead.

If you are running a 12kw genset on 2 gals a day then I would ask why is it running? I say that because it is obviously running without any load on it.