Please post your generator choice and experiences

   / Please post your generator choice and experiences #31  
We are still running a 10 horse, 5500 watt Porter Cable we bought a dozen or so years back. It is one of the brushless models that, supposedly, can handle up to a 9000 watt surge. It gets exercised every few months for 30 minutes or so with a 1500 watt load on each leg. It typically starts on the first pull. Gas is stored in a locker away from the house in 5 gallon cans, treated with Stabile for a 18 month shelf life & rotated during the year on various equipment items.

This past week it was supporting 1 freezer, 2 refrigerators, fans and various household electronics. During equipment motor starts, power didn't dip below 118v (according UPS readout). It has a 7 gallon tank and I went 12 hours before refilling, but could have gone a bit longer.

The wife & I have discussed getting an updated backup power system, but have been somewhat daunted by a comment from an electrician that local code requires fixed, whole house, generators to be capable of handling the full circuit panel load with no provision for load shedding ($$$ for genny), or a second panel be installed, moving over loads whose total did not exceed the generator capacity ($$$ for labor). In addition to being expensive to acquire, I'm guesstimating that fuel consumption would easily be in the $5-$7 per hour range burning propane for a generator that could handle the full panel. Diesel would be cheaper to run, but could easily double the installation cost.

Nick
 
   / Please post your generator choice and experiences
  • Thread Starter
#32  
i have a 15000 watt generac that I got from Norwall.com Ihave only hooked it up to the house to make sure it works and start it (without fail) every month or two. i have used it for welding at the back of the property. I just had to take the welder. I permanantly mounted it on a cheapo harbor freight trailer. I found this option cheaper and more versatile than a permanent stand alone generator. I put in a whole house transfer switch. I have had it for 5 years and now since purchasing have not had the power off long enough to warrant using it.

Good luck but I found norwall wonderful to deal with

One of Generac's 15,000W units is something I am considering. I'm torn between a whole house standby unit or a large portable. I won't be toting around the large portable, I have a smaller one for that. I like the convenience of a whole house unit but don't like the cost.
 
   / Please post your generator choice and experiences #33  
Locoweed said:
My thoughts are that in case of a emergency, I want something I can rely upon. That excludes anything made in China for me.

Just to add a perspective to your perspective... I'm totally off grid, have to have a Genset for those non sunny times. I have a 24kw New Holland Shanghai. In last 5 years, I put almost 1050 hrs on it. Until April, I had a HONDA EU3000i as backup for my cottage and emergency backup for my primary. It is 6 years old. In Apr, it refused to start, after using it just three days prior. Checked everything I could, replaced the plug, ended up taking to dealer. Best guess is the inverter, a $700-800 repair. I don't think so for a 6 year old generator. Thankfully, my Chinese Genset is just humming along. I have a Honda EU2000 for emergency emergency, but wouldn't expect to run the whole house.
I remember growing up, thinking Japanese made = junk. I have 2 Toyotas in the yard, the latest from trading a GMC. I'd be more worried over something made in India, but I'll save for another time.

David Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet
 
   / Please post your generator choice and experiences #34  
I am asking if every can post their PORTABLE generator of choice if they were to purchase one today AND anyone that has a good proven one over the years.

I am researching to buy one very soon and I am over whelmed on which way to go. I have a 100 gallon LP tank for kitchen stove only. I like the idea of a standby unit but don't want to add another LP tank and I really don't want to spend 5-6 grand.

I don't need to run the whole house at once but the biggest thing I would want to run is my 3 ton AC unit. I'm looking at a generator in the 10-12,000 watt range. Also don't want a PTO genny because I may need my tractor in certain disasters.

You asked about PORTABLE units but mentioned looking for 10-12k watts. I believe that *most* of the ones considered portable will not go above 10k. The ones that do, will tend to be pretty pricey.

Also - look very carefully at the fuel consumption rates for propane, gas, and diesel for generators of a similar size. When I was looking at different possible choices, I seem to recall that propane used 2-3 times the amount of fuel as gas, and close to three times the amount of diesel. It could be extremely convenient to have an auto-start generator connected to propane, but you expenses do not end with the purchase - they are very expensive to run.

If money was no object, I would absolutely buy a Honda i series. Hands-down, Honda makes the smoothest, quietest, most reliable generator motors in the business. The i series (inverter) are much more efficient, and even quieter, than conventional generators. However, you pay a LOT for that. A Honda generator can easily run you 3-5x the cost of a comparable non-Honda generator. The Honda i series maxes out at 6500 watts, so that's out for you. A conventional Honda portable generator can be had up to 10,000 watts, which retails for around $5k, which is how much you said you don't want to spend.

The i Series are nice, but I found them to have only marginally better specs than many of the competitors. When you factor in the price, the only way I would go Honda (i Series or otherwise) would be if I could get a screaming deal on a new one or a very good deal on a used one.

The major advantage to most of Honda's generators is that they are extremely quiet.

I ended up buying a portable from Sam's that will peak at 8250. I bought this one to replace a 5k Coleman that was pretty poorly maintained and "left it all out on the field" after running for three straight days last fall. That generator was able to power all of my lights, my well pump, my oil-fired hot water heater, my refrigerator, garage door opener, the blower fan on my wood stove, and a few other "small things" without issue.

After it basically died out on me and needed a partial rebuild of the motor, I sold it to someone that wanted a project and put the money toward the new one. The unit I got has electric start on a Yamaha engine and runs very nicely. I'm considering making it the main power source for a 220V welding unit in my new shed when I build that. Then, in the event of a power loss, I'll wheel it over to its little "dog house" and fire it up to run the house.
 
   / Please post your generator choice and experiences
  • Thread Starter
#35  
You asked about PORTABLE units but mentioned looking for 10-12k watts. I believe that *most* of the ones considered portable will not go above 10k. The ones that do, will tend to be pretty pricey.

There are huge "portable" ones out there. Generac makes several from 10K to 17.5K They have wheels and can be rolled around but are HEAVY.
 
   / Please post your generator choice and experiences #36  
1*As mentioned, storing gasoline is a consideration. Earlier I had a 7.5 KW gas generator, and after I got my Kubota,2* I ceased using gas around the house, except for some 2 cycle mix for the weed wacker and leaf blower. We had an outage in the winter, and the stale gas I had would not even start the generator. Just one more consideration.
For most TBNers, a PTO genny would make most sense, most of the time. 3*The power outage in the SE and Mid-Atlantic areas (WV, specifically) have been extraordinary...same as the 4 day outage we experienced in south central PA during the snow storm last 31st Oct. So, for most of us...a PTO genny.It really depends on what you'll need to power and how prepared (or over prepared) someone wants to be...
1*It's a bigger problem and more dangerous to store than diesel.2*Same here after i went to all diesel tractors.3* We just got our power back on tuesday but we left home and stayed some where else that had power and did not return return home until thursday.3*
 
   / Please post your generator choice and experiences #37  
Stabil or no, I would never keep ethanol gas stored in a machine's carburetor. Tank, yes. Carb no. I always cut the fuel supply and let it run dry before storing them. I have lost two carburetors to ethanol gas, and it's not going to happen again.

I use this on ALL of my gas-powered equipment... Mowers, snowblowers, weed whackers, snowmobiles, etc... It keeps the carb from getting gummed up as the fuel breaks down in there. Floats will stick, and you're done.

For most TBNers, a PTO genny would make most sense, most of the time.
The power outage in the SE and Mid-Atlantic areas (WV, specifically) have been extraordinary...same as the 4 day outage we experienced in south central PA during the snow storm last 31st Oct. So, for most of us...a PTO genny.
It really depends on what you'll need to power and how prepared (or over prepared) someone wants to be...

PTO ones *seem* desirable on the surface. However, in order to produce clean power, it has to run at a specific speed. While you may have a tach on your tractor, are you absolutely certain that it's correct? And, does your engine run at exactly the same speed at all times, keeping the PTO turning at an exactly constant speed?

Any fluctuations and you're not delivering clean power. And that can lead to premature failure of your electrical items... Especially electronics and anything with a motor.

Add to that the fact that running the generator ties your tractor up and makes it unavailable for any other use. Some folks work around this, but for some it makes things tough. If you're like me, and you garage your tractor, running the generator means leaving it out in the elements while you're creating power.

There are huge "portable" ones out there. Generac makes several from 10K to 17.5K They have wheels and can be rolled around but are HEAVY.

As I said, most portables will cap out around 10k. The majority of them seem to be in the 5-7k range.
 
   / Please post your generator choice and experiences
  • Thread Starter
#38  
We are still running a 10 horse, 5500 watt Porter Cable we bought a dozen or so years back. It is one of the brushless models that, supposedly, can handle up to a 9000 watt surge.

If it weren't for wanting to stay cool, my current 5500w would be fine as well. It has a 8250W surge capacity. Call me a wuss, but I gotta be cool in my own house during summer outages.

I think these storms are gonna be a regular thing. The environment has changed and the storms are getting more and more powerful. With this comes more and longer power outages.
 
   / Please post your generator choice and experiences #40  
PTO ones *seem* desirable on the surface. However, in order to produce clean power, it has to run at a specific speed. While you may have a tach on your tractor, are you absolutely certain that it's correct? And, does your engine run at exactly the same speed at all times, keeping the PTO turning at an exactly constant speed?

If you're not sure about the quality of power coming from your genny, I suggest a Kill-A-Watt device. I always put one on my genny before plugging stuff in, just to confirm that all is on the up and up. It could detect any changes in output frequency, although you would have to actually buy a PTO generator before you could test whether its RPMs were consistent.

It seems like the Kill-a-Watt would be useful anyway, because it seems like the output of the PTO-based generator would vary depending on your PTO RPM, and you would want to tune the throttle to produce the exact right output. Without something that measured the frequency of the AC signal, that'd be impossible.

But here's the thing I wonder about PTO-based generators. I looked at some of them, just out of curiosity, and they seem comparable in price to self-contained gas generators--about $100 per kW or so. I'm kind of confused why I would pay the same price for a generator without a motor as I would for one with a motor. Okay, but fine, maybe the components are more sturdy or whatever. But question 2 is, I'm not sure it's worth the difference in price running my tractor vs. running a generator motor to me. What I mean is, every 100 hours, I have to change the oil on the generator. It's a quart or two at most. And clean the air filter. Okay. But my tractor's major services are something like $280 for fluids and filters. Holy cow! That's a mighty expensive generator motor there. I'd rather be working the tractor if I'm going to be putting hours on it.
 

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