daugen
Epic Contributor
I'm thinking heating the oil is way more important than heating the battery if my temps don't normally go below 10 degrees, ever.
Do I need both heaters?
Do I need both heaters?
Your last generator Maintenance Run
- Thread starter 3930dave
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Assuming you mean 10F d, this Sandia paper has SLA batteries down to 65% capacity.
http://prod.sandia.gov/techlib/access-control.cgi/2004/043149.pdf
I suspect that Flooded Lead Acid is similar.
If you're only going to pick one, I'd go with oil. But, esp. if it's just plug and play, both temp controlled, then I'd buy the battery warmer too - Belt and Suspenders
.
Rgds, D.
http://prod.sandia.gov/techlib/access-control.cgi/2004/043149.pdf
I suspect that Flooded Lead Acid is similar.
If you're only going to pick one, I'd go with oil. But, esp. if it's just plug and play, both temp controlled, then I'd buy the battery warmer too - Belt and Suspenders
.Rgds, D.
daugen
Epic Contributor
Assuming you mean 10F d, this Sandia paper has SLA batteries down to 65% capacity.
http://prod.sandia.gov/techlib/access-control.cgi/2004/043149.pdf
I suspect that Flooded Lead Acid is similar.
If you're only going to pick one, I'd go with oil. But, esp. if it's just plug and play, both temp controlled, then I'd buy the battery warmer too - Belt and Suspenders
Rgds, D.
yup, and I'm an old insurance guy and been doing belt and suspenders for a long time
thanks
grsthegreat
Super Star Member
i cant say whether the battery warmer would be needed or not. i use both. i do know that a battery weakens as it gets colder. ive had a few no starts on my truck in severly cold whether. mind you here in north idaho it does get real cold at times. if your winters arnt too severe, than you probably dont need it.
David_Kb7uns
Veteran Member
Ran a load test Monday morning from 1am until 4am with utility loss.
Warned the new neighbors they should consider generator last summer while the houses were being built and now a few are showing interest.
We got a 5875 20KW Generac air cooled generator in 2010 and it had the Nexus controller with integrated battery charger it was earlier ones with a standalone charger in the transfer switch that over charged, best to just replace with a battery tender, note the battery charger must have power when utility is off and generator is running as the newer generators do not have a battery charge winding.
David
Warned the new neighbors they should consider generator last summer while the houses were being built and now a few are showing interest.
We got a 5875 20KW Generac air cooled generator in 2010 and it had the Nexus controller with integrated battery charger it was earlier ones with a standalone charger in the transfer switch that over charged, best to just replace with a battery tender, note the battery charger must have power when utility is off and generator is running as the newer generators do not have a battery charge winding.
David
An engineer buddy of mine put an older auto-generac system in when he built his retirement home "up north"
. (Canadian joke....)Did the research, and he noticed that the cold-start (circa -40) requirement for the nat-gas pressure was notably higher (told me the #s, but it was a while ago....) than what the normal household regulator supplies. (Normal Natgas pressure in households is very low). So, he bought a separate to-spec higher pressure regulator to feed only the generator and had that installed at his cost when his house was built.
And.... also bought a second higher pressure regulator, and stored that as a spare. It's not something that the gas company always has on the shelf. Like I said..... engineer :thumbsup:.
He met a lot of neighbours quickly that first summer in the new house (big August NE blackout), as his fairly empty new freezer quickly filled up with product those neighbours would have had to eat immediately, or lose.
Rgds, D.
cqaigy2
Super Member
An engineer buddy of mine put an older auto-generac system in when he built his retirement home "up north"
Did the research, and he noticed that the cold-start (circa -40) requirement for the nat-gas pressure was notably higher (told me the #s, but it was a while ago....) than what the normal household regulator supplies. (Normal Natgas pressure in households is very low). So, he bought a separate to-spec higher pressure regulator to feed only the generator and had that installed at his cost when his house was built.
And.... also bought a second higher pressure regulator, and stored that as a spare. It's not something that the gas company always has on the shelf. Like I said..... engineer :thumbsup:.
He met a lot of neighbours quickly that first summer in the new house (big August NE blackout), as his fairly empty new freezer quickly filled up with product those neighbours would have had to eat immediately, or lose.
Rgds, D.
Yeah, free food. :laughing:
David_Kb7uns
Veteran Member
An engineer buddy of mine put an older auto-generac system in when he built his retirement home "up north"
Did the research, and he noticed that the cold-start (circa -40) requirement for the nat-gas pressure was notably higher (told me the #s, but it was a while ago....) than what the normal household regulator supplies. (Normal Natgas pressure in households is very low). So, he bought a separate to-spec higher pressure regulator to feed only the generator and had that installed at his cost when his house was built.
And.... also bought a second higher pressure regulator, and stored that as a spare. It's not something that the gas company always has on the shelf. Like I said..... engineer :thumbsup:.
He met a lot of neighbours quickly that first summer in the new house (big August NE blackout), as his fairly empty new freezer quickly filled up with product those neighbours would have had to eat immediately, or lose.
Rgds, D.
Did a lot of research on the propane requirements, running a twin regulator set up with the proper sized piping, every propane dealer I have seen set up the generators around here are not putting enough volume capability, tell them to size for 160,000 BTU with no pressure drop. Went with a 500 gallon tank to have enough area for boil off in the colder temps and even have my own manometer to check pressure (that surprises the propane guys) low gas pressure is one of the biggest causes of problems with the generators.
Have had neighbors threaten to come up when the power goes out and I tell them to get their own generator, we put one in as we need to be able to prepare our own food in emergencies as non of emergency supplies or organizations are suitable or prepared for people with Celiac Disease.
At first it was embarrassing to be the only Christmas Lights on the hill lit up, but now we have 2 others with standby generators and a couple neighbors got more interested in a whole house standby generator after last weekend and one got a Honda Portable that is half the price of a 20KW Generac.
David
zmountaineer
Silver Member
Based on generacs chart for supply line size I was near the end of the 1" range. I looked at the cost difference for 1 1/4". I went with 1 1/4".
90cummins
Veteran Member
Ran a couple of fuel consumption tests on my Honda EU2000i and I'm quite pleased/surprised at the hours per gallon that I can power the 1/4 hp high efficiency blower motor for my wood furnace along with the living room lights & tv.
The load per my killawatt meter varied between 490 & 594va.
The test ran 202 minutes (3.37 hours) and consumed 31.6 ounces / 894 grams of fuel by weight.
Gasoline per Google weighs approx 6.25 lb/gallon (100 ounces) which it consumed at the rate of 9.39 ounces / 265.54 grams per hour.
To measure the fuel consumed I placed the auxilary 3 gallon fuel tank that was connected to the Honda on my digital postal scale for continious monitoring recording the start and finish weight.
The killawatt meter showed that 1.5 kw of power was used.
According to my calculations with the load mentioned above it will operate for 10.68 hours and produce 4.76kw per gallon of gasoline.
Listed below is the basic data I obtained my figures from.
Hours run = 3.37 (202 minutes)
Grams fuel consumed = 894
Ounces fuel consumed = 31.6
Hours/gallon = 10.68
Gallons/hour = 0.09
Kw consumed = 1.5
Kw/gallon of gasoline = 4.76
Please feel free to check/verify my results for errors, I strive for accurate data and welcome feedback.
Thanks
90cummins
The load per my killawatt meter varied between 490 & 594va.
The test ran 202 minutes (3.37 hours) and consumed 31.6 ounces / 894 grams of fuel by weight.
Gasoline per Google weighs approx 6.25 lb/gallon (100 ounces) which it consumed at the rate of 9.39 ounces / 265.54 grams per hour.
To measure the fuel consumed I placed the auxilary 3 gallon fuel tank that was connected to the Honda on my digital postal scale for continious monitoring recording the start and finish weight.
The killawatt meter showed that 1.5 kw of power was used.
According to my calculations with the load mentioned above it will operate for 10.68 hours and produce 4.76kw per gallon of gasoline.
Listed below is the basic data I obtained my figures from.
Hours run = 3.37 (202 minutes)
Grams fuel consumed = 894
Ounces fuel consumed = 31.6
Hours/gallon = 10.68
Gallons/hour = 0.09
Kw consumed = 1.5
Kw/gallon of gasoline = 4.76
Please feel free to check/verify my results for errors, I strive for accurate data and welcome feedback.
Thanks
90cummins
DEWFPO
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2007
- Messages
- 1,100
- Location
- "Up High in the Rockies"
- Tractor
- 2009 Bobcat Toolcat 5600 D
90cummins
Veteran Member
I’m referring to ounces (weight) not volume.
1 gallon of gasoline weights approximately 100 ounces.
All measurements are weight not volume
90cummins
Dakota_male
Silver Member
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2009
- Messages
- 183
- Location
- Chance Harbour,Nova Scotia
- Tractor
- Massey Ferguson 2850M Cab/ Takeuchi TB225,TBL;Club cadet RTZ S 46
You can稚 beat a Honda Generator for efficiency especially an inverter
grsthegreat
Super Star Member
we had a power pole snap a few days ago and power was out for 5 hours. the generator kicked in and the clock on stove was only off by 1 minute. cant beat that. We were away at the movies at the time, but it was 17F outside. It was nice knowing that the horse waterers didnt freeze up in the cold. My water trough only hold 1 gallon of water and are heated. it wouldnt take too long for them to freeze. House was nice and toasty when we got home.
its a great piece of mind to know its automatically protected. the only way i even knew the power was out was because the neighbor called me to pick my brain why his portable generator wasnt working. i helped him get it started over the phone. Hes wanting to put in a generac system soon.
its a great piece of mind to know its automatically protected. the only way i even knew the power was out was because the neighbor called me to pick my brain why his portable generator wasnt working. i helped him get it started over the phone. Hes wanting to put in a generac system soon.
Thanks 90.
High resolution data - good stuff :thumbsup: With that level of instrumentation and a constant load, I wouldn't be surprised if you could distinguish runtime between using pure gasoline, and E10.
Not that I'm wishing E10 on your re-incarnated Honda !
Rgds, D.
grsthegreat
Super Star Member
well we lost power again an hour ago...still out. My house is all lit up with outside xmas lights on.....rest of neighborhood dark.
Im so spoiled
daugen
Epic Contributor
it really does become obvious when all your Xmas lights are blazing away
Hey, Santa will find your house easier, right?
grsthegreat
Super Star Member
Exactly..... i cant have the fat boy get lost....
90cummins
Veteran Member
Perfect, if ya got it let it shine!!!
We had a major ice storm several years ago so I started my 25kw pto generator & turned every Christmas light on along with every other light in and on the house.
My wife said that the drive home from work was total darkness until she came around the corner and saw our house lit up like a beacon.
She came in & said you can't do that and proceeded to turn all the lights off.
I was enjoying my creation until she shut me down.
Everyone up & down our road has a generator now.
Just sayin!
90cummins
