which portable generators do people have

[podagrower]

I'll throw the Troy Bilt generator I have out there. 7,500 watts, about 12 years old now with probably less than 200 hours on it. Purchased after Charley/Frances/Jean left us w/o power for a few days. Came in quite handy this year after Irma left us in the dark again, ran the fridges/freezers, well, microwave, phone chargers, a few lights, and portable AC without issue. It's a very basic unit, no hour meter, no voltage gauge, no time left to run on fuel calculator. But one of the things I really like about it is that it has the same B&S motor as our riding mower so I only have 1 set of spare parts to keep track of.

 

[Brad_Blazer]

After some tornadoes came through here Monday I put my HF/Predator 7KW rated generator to the test. Only needed it for a day and a half. Ran great, used less than 10 gallons. I did the bad thing and shut off the main / back-fed through a 30 amp dryer circuit. 2 freezers, 2 fridges, lights, well pump, coffee maker, etc ran fine. I had a few trees and fences down from the storm but nothing too serious. One area worker died cutting a widowmaker tree on a power line. Utility worker dies clearing storm damage in Alexander County; 1st reported fatality related to Monday's storm | News | hickoryrecord.com

 

[Ken45101]

He installed a Reliance transfer switch. It is very easy and convenient: but requires 240v feed. Those Hondas and most other Inverter generators are 120v only.

No it does not! That electrician was an idiot. I installed a Reliance 220 transfer switch for an Honda EU3000i. Just tied the two hot lines together at the plug for the generator. Of course it limits the power to the house, but you are already limited using smaller generators. You do have to properly size the wire from the switchbox to the generator, of course.

 

[Ken45101]

I had a big box store 6000w generator but it was so noisy we would do without power rather than running it. I gave it to my son.

We had a Honda Eu2000i and it was great until I couldn't get it started. Honda dealer had it for a year and couldn't fix it. I have the pieces out in the barn...

I have a Honda EU3000i and it has been fine but is heavy for moving around. I have it in the garage and wired to a Reliance switch. I miss something small and lightweight for moving around the farm.

 

[buickanddeere]

A Walenstien 5000 powered with a Honda . Bought it from a rental company and it looks like it too. Everything works and it starts on the 1st or 2nd pull after turning the gasoline valve on. Holds rock steady output voltage and frequency . A used 4000 Homelite with so many hours that it has 60wt oil in the crankcase to reduce the smoke and oil consumption. Holds rock steady voltage and frequency. Went cheap at an Amish sale, all it needed was a new carb. Splurged on a 5000W Generac that was deeply discounted after Y2K. Thought I had a deal then but have watched the price of that model and generators in general keep dropping to less than half of what I paid for it then. Starts and runs just fine. Holds good frequency control. However the voltage regulation is unacceptable and even dangerous. No load is 146V and full load is 104V. I have a generic external rectifier/regulator from eBay that will be installed one of these days .If it works I値l drag it to the daughters house, she hasn稚 more storage room in her garage than I have in my shop. Kicking around the idea of a large PTO generator or one of those Champion propane-gasoline 8000/10,000watt 459cc units. Model 100297. They loose some engine power with the dual fuel but that isn稚 all bad as now the generator head end is now oversized and more reliable . 8���-Watt Dual Fuel Generator - Champion Power Equipment

 

[downsizingnow48]

This Craftsman generator came with the house in Mendocino County. No idea when it was made. It has a Generac engine. It always starts with one pull, or actually half a pull, it is very easy. There is a manual transfer switch and input receptacle installed near the garage breaker panel for running circuits in house and garage. I've never used it. The power does go out sometimes, but I can live with that for a day or so, by which time it comes back on. I run the generator every couple months using some power tools for a load, and keep the tank filled using a fuel stabilizer. It seems to be a good generator.

 

[ultrarunner]

No it does not! That electrician was an idiot. I installed a Reliance 220 transfer switch for an Honda EU3000i. Just tied the two hot lines together at the plug for the generator. Of course it limits the power to the house, but you are already limited using smaller generators. You do have to properly size the wire from the switchbox to the generator, of course.

If you tie the two hots together how do you prevent 220v appliance problems?

I've done it during construction but only after disconnecting/eliminating 220v loads...

 

[KubotainNH]

If you tie the two hots together how do you prevent 220v appliance problems?

I've done it during construction but only after disconnecting/eliminating 220v loads...

Mine is wired the same way so I can use my 110v generator. In a nutshell, you connect the circuit wire to the transfer switch (removed from the breaker), it goes through the triple throw switch (mine has 6) and then you wire the transfer switch back to the circuit breaker. The switches on the transfer switch isolate everything. When each switch is set to generator it breaks the connection to the breaker box and ties all those 110v lines to your gen, when it's set to "line" it ties them to the original breakers which are isolated. There is also a neutral spot where none are tied. You can connect the two center switches with a band to have 220v output setup but I don't use that.

transfer switch wiring diagram - Google Search

 

[KubotainNH]

This Craftsman generator came with the house in Mendocino County. No idea when it was made. It has a Generac engine. It always starts with one pull, or actually half a pull, it is very easy. There is a manual transfer switch and input receptacle installed near the garage breaker panel for running circuits in house and garage. I've never used it. The power does go out sometimes, but I can live with that for a day or so, by which time it comes back on. I run the generator every couple months using some power tools for a load, and keep the tank filled using a fuel stabilizer. It seems to be a good generator.

That looks like my old Generac, re-branded I would guess.

 

[ultrarunner]

Mine is wired the same way so I can use my 110v generator. In a nutshell, you connect the circuit wire to the transfer switch (removed from the breaker), it goes through the triple throw switch (mine has 6) and then you wire the transfer switch back to the circuit breaker. The switches on the transfer switch isolate everything. When each switch is set to generator it breaks the connection to the breaker box and ties all those 110v lines to your gen, when it's set to "line" it ties them to the original breakers which are isolated. There is also a neutral spot where none are tied. You can connect the two center switches with a band to have 220v output setup but I don't use that.

transfer switch wiring diagram - Google Search

Missed the transfer switch part... thank you.