Portable Generator

[Financegal]

dcyrilc: Thanks. I think I am fine. Something I'd read led me to think I may have a problem. My whole setup was installed and tested by an electric company electrician. He let it all run for about 1/2 hour and nothing tripped. He had the well pump and many of the 120 circuits working at once and it appeared to be fine.

Forgot a neighbor up the street is also an electrician and I asked him about it yesterday. He came by and started it up and allowed it to run for about 10 minutes and it was fine for him too so by now I figure if 2 master electricians think it's fine, I can't worry. I am pretty easygoing and can usually roll with the punches but I have my elderly father living here. He's at the point where taking him out of his familiar surroundings throws off his natural balance of things - and it stresses him. If we were to have another storm I can't take him out of here again - he needs to be able to remain here.

 

[dcyrilc]

dcyrilc: Thanks. I think I am fine. Something I'd read led me to think I may have a problem. My whole setup was installed and tested by an electric company electrician. He let it all run for about 1/2 hour and nothing tripped. He had the well pump and many of the 120 circuits working at once and it appeared to be fine.

Forgot a neighbor up the street is also an electrician and I asked him about it yesterday. He came by and started it up and allowed it to run for about 10 minutes and it was fine for him too so by now I figure if 2 master electricians think it's fine, I can't worry. I am pretty easygoing and can usually roll with the punches but I have my elderly father living here. He's at the point where taking him out of his familiar surroundings throws off his natural balance of things - and it stresses him. If we were to have another storm I can't take him out of here again - he needs to be able to remain here.

Since you've run the house with it, you're good. Wasn't trying to worry you or anyone else. It's just something I've run into with my friend and an untested system. I wanted to throw it out so if someone runs into it, they might remember and find their problem easier. Even as an electrician, it took me a couple of hours of scratching my head before I found the problem. Didn't help that it was at night, in the dark, in the middle of a big storm.:laughing:

 

[whistlepig]

dcyrilc: Thanks. I think I am fine. Something I'd read led me to think I may have a problem. My whole setup was installed and tested by an electric company electrician. He let it all run for about 1/2 hour and nothing tripped. He had the well pump and many of the 120 circuits working at once and it appeared to be fine.

Forgot a neighbor up the street is also an electrician and I asked him about it yesterday. He came by and started it up and allowed it to run for about 10 minutes and it was fine for him too so by now I figure if 2 master electricians think it's fine, I can't worry. I am pretty easygoing and can usually roll with the punches but I have my elderly father living here. He's at the point where taking him out of his familiar surroundings throws off his natural balance of things - and it stresses him. If we were to have another storm I can't take him out of here again - he needs to be able to remain here.

We moved here from a long way off three years ago. Knew nothing or nobody out here. Called the electricians with the fanciest adds at first. That's all they were. Just a fancy add. Then we got to know the locals. That's when I finally found a electrician that I could trust.

 

[Financegal]

Since you've run the house with it, you're good. Wasn't trying to worry you or anyone else. It's just something I've run into with my friend and an untested system. I wanted to throw it out so if someone runs into it, they might remember and find their problem easier. Even as an electrician, it took me a couple of hours of scratching my head before I found the problem. Didn't help that it was at night, in the dark, in the middle of a big storm.:laughing:

Not to worry, you didn't throw a scare into me - I did that on my own (because I am high maintenance and tend to overthink things). When I first spotted the wording on the switch website, I didn't understand so sent off an email to them with my make/model generator (before the second electrician checke it). I asked if that is the type they were referring that would not interface with the switch. They answered this morning. My generator is fine.

BTW, don't things always go wrong at the absolute worst time - trying to get power back in the dark in the middle of a bad storm - sounds like here - Murphy's Law thrives and is ever present in my life!

 

[KubotainNH]

BTW, don't things always go wrong at the absolute worst time - trying to get power back in the dark in the middle of a bad storm - sounds like here - Murphy's Law thrives and is ever present in my life!

That just shows it should be tested before it's really needed. One thing I'd like to add is to be careful where you put the generator. A friend of mine had his outside his garage but he left the garage door open. His whole family got carbon monoxide poisoning, none of his 3 detectors went off and they never smelled any fumes. The firemen that came started giving him the riot act assuming he didn't have any detectors but then he pointed them out. They were not the battery backed up kind but were on live plugs, he ended up sending them to First alert to have them checked. I'm going to switch my detectors over to the kind with a digital readout and battery backup.

 

[BobRip]

Starting up a deep well pump can take a lot of power. My 5KW will barely start my 1.25HP pump at 300 feet down. I usually use the 8KW for the well. I had a 4kw that would not start the well.
I have heard people say that their outages only last a few hours. I think that cannot be predicted. During hurricane Isabel, the average outage (as best I can figure it) was about 7 days. Gas stations were out of gasoline or they did not have power to run the pumps. Get at least qty 5, five gallon gas cans. More is better. Fill them and your cars at the first warning of an outage (snow, ice, hurricane, whatever). Put Stabil in then. Have a method to get the gas from the car to the generator. The most critical item is water. Running out of that will be the first thing you have to have. Refrigerators will not keep your food cold if you run them a "few hours" a day. You need at least 12 hours and more is better. Test your generators with a load (electric heater) per your generators recommendations. Mine says every two weeks. Keep extra oil, air filters, oil filters and spark plugs. All of these will be unavailable during an outage.
It sounds like a lot of stuff, but many people waste their money on a generator and still have no power when they don't start or moisture has gotten in the windings of the generator head and it shorts out. Running it periodically will help prevent this.

 

[dcyrilc]

Starting up a deep well pump can take a lot of power. My 5KW will barely start my 1.25HP pump at 300 feet down. I usually use the 8KW for the well. I had a 4kw that would not start the well.
I have heard people say that their outages only last a few hours. I think that cannot be predicted. During hurricane Isabel, the average outage (as best I can figure it) was about 7 days. Gas stations were out of gasoline or they did not have power to run the pumps. Get at least qty 5, five gallon gas cans. More is better. Fill them and your cars at the first warning of an outage (snow, ice, hurricane, whatever). Put Stabil in then. Have a method to get the gas from the car to the generator. The most critical item is water. Running out of that will be the first thing you have to have. Refrigerators will not keep your food cold if you run them a "few hours" a day. You need at least 12 hours and more is better. Test your generators with a load (electric heater) per your generators recommendations. Mine says every two weeks. Keep extra oil, air filters, oil filters and spark plugs. All of these will be unavailable during an outage.
It sounds like a lot of stuff, but many people waste their money on a generator and still have no power when they don't start or moisture has gotten in the windings of the generator head and it shorts out. Running it periodically will help prevent this.

Good sound advice.:thumbsup:

 

[Skyco]

Gas stations were out of gasoline or they did not have power to run the pumps. Get at least qty 5, five gallon gas cans. More is better. Fill them and your cars at the first warning of an outage (snow, ice, hurricane, whatever). Put Stabil in then. Have a method to get the gas from the car to the generator.

I completely agree on having a bunch of fuel on hand for bad times.

Getting gas out of cars can be pretty difficult nowadays. Lots of vehicles have a real long contorted filler neck with the tank now placed in safer spots farther up under the car. Not like the old days where they were right under the trunk near the filler neck.
I'd also be leery of snaking a hose in and damaging the in tank fuel pump wiring or its pickup "sock" or the gauge apparatus. That stuff can be real expensive to repair/replace.

I keep my boat gas tank full for backup and as condensation prevention. It is also easy to get fuel out of, I have the fitting like on the outboard with a length of hose on it. Just plug it in to the hose from the tank, and squeeze the bulb to get the gas siphoning into a can or a generator.

Now for my diesel generator I have a bunch of cans or I can get more out of the tractor or pickup. On my diesel pickup I added a frame mounted pre-filter I can disconnect and drain fuel out of the tanks that way as a last resort.

 

[BobRip]

I completely agree on having a bunch of fuel on hand for bad times.

Getting gas out of cars can be pretty difficult nowadays.

Some cars (I don't know all but Dodge minivans do) have a high drain line coming from the tank. On my van it was above the rear axle on one side and had a plastic cap on it. They figure that with a pump in the tank you need a way to drain the tank to replace the pump. You can start a siphon and drain the gas. Just something to look for. You can always use a pick on your ex's boy friend's tanks and catch it with a funnel

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I am an electrician and I posted info about vehicle mounted generators which is not really your issue. The bigger the generator for portable use means it is more hungry for gasoline. If you plan to be around when it is running you could load spare, meaning turn off the frigde for 4 hours and turn on lights etc. Turn off the lights and on goes the furnace. If you only have say 5 gallons in stock that is only maybe good for 8 hours at 5000 watt load. My thoughts are 3500 watts but load spare. A good quality 3500 watt will last a long time. Do not connect into the house unless done CORRECT.Cord connected is simple and safe.
Craig Clayton

I have three sources of power:

A 4400/5000 watt unit that I bought from Harbor Freight in 1996 for $279. That was before the Y2K fervor. It will run 1.5 hours on 1 gallon of gasoline.

A 1000/1200 watt 2-cycle interruptor governed portable that I bought at Coastal Farm for $149 about 5 years ago. It will run 4.5 hours on a gallon of mixed gas, and is very quiet.

A 2000 watt inverter hooked to a pair of deep cycle batteries charged by a lawnmower motor and a truck alternator. It makes no noise at all when the motor isn't running.

Load managing is simple. First, I don't even get a generator out until the second day of the outage. A few wall hung oil lamps and candle sconces, a battery powered radio (DX-440), and a LED clip-on reading light for books is all I need for the first 24-48 hours. The wood stove keeps the house warm, and low head gravity feed water refills the toilet and provides drinking water.

After 48 hours, I'm tired of sponge baths, so I fire up the 4400 watt generator to heat a tank of water and run the pump for a hot shower.

The little 1000 watt generator will run the TV and a satellite dish, or a computer and DSL modem, plus a light bulb or two. It will also run a freezer or refrigerator.

The inverter provides demand power when I don't need any. I can turn on a light bulb in the middle of the night. The inverter only uses about 100 mw at idle, so leaving it on all night won't drain the batteries. When I'm charging the batteries with the motor, it will also handle both a refrigerator and freezer at the same time.

Worst case scenario, I have a FSC travel trailer with propane furnace, twin 30 lb. tanks, and twin deep cycle batteries that I keep on a float charger. The little 1000 watt generator is my camp generator, and will handle the 30 amp charger plus lights just fine.

I think people over-pay for generators, buying too much generator for the amount of fuel they store, and too much capacity. A cheap B&S engine will run fine for years if you drain all the fuel and fog the cylinders before you store it. It's not like you put hundreds of hours on an emergency generator. Running it 2 or 3 hours a day, I have put maybe 20 hours on my 4400 watt generator in the last 13 years. At that rate it will last longer than I will.