which portable generators do people have

Larry Caldwell · Feb 2, 2018

goeduck said:
My well has a cistern so it has the well pump plus a booster pump. So I have to be careful with the gen power in case both run. Also on power up if both are calling to run. Then the inrush of each pump adds for a total. My outages are short so I shut the well off when the commercial power goes out unless it gets too bad.

Similar to my system. I set the bottom of the 2500 gallon cistern about level with the window sills in the house, so I have gravity flow water with no electricity at all. It's nice for flushing the toilet. In a real emergency, I could heat a copper laundry tub of water on the wood stove and mix it with cold in the bathtub for a bath. The longest outage we have had was 5 days about 15 years ago, so the cheapie Harbor Freight 5000/4400 that I paid $279 for has served well for years. I recently bought a 7000/6000 electric start lpg unit because hauling a 150 lb. generator out of the barn when I am 80 won't be any fun. The old generator still provides occasional power at the barn, which is about 200 yards from the house.

LittleBill21 · Feb 2, 2018

Larry Caldwell said:
Similar to my system. I set the bottom of the 2500 gallon cistern about level with the window sills in the house, so I have gravity flow water with no electricity at all. It's nice for flushing the toilet. In a real emergency, I could heat a copper laundry tub of water on the wood stove and mix it with cold in the bathtub for a bath. The longest outage we have had was 5 days about 15 years ago, so the cheapie Harbor Freight 5000/4400 that I paid $279 for has served well for years. I recently bought a 7000/6000 electric start lpg unit because hauling a 150 lb. generator out of the barn when I am 80 won't be any fun. The old generator still provides occasional power at the barn, which is about 200 yards from the house.

larry this is what i did

https://i.imgur.com/tqTPZyH.png

it has a tow bar on it as well, i can pull it with the atv 0 issue.

Sawyer Rob · Feb 2, 2018

I was at HF today, a lady was returning a 8750 watt Predator gen set. They tried to give her a new one and she said NO WAY shaking her head fast!

When she left I asked the manager, "is that generator dead?"

The manager said, "yes, she powered something she wasn't suppose to"... "What was that", I asked? and he answered "her pump".

My answer to that was, "well, if her pump drew less than the generator out put, what would that matter?" He answered, "well, I don't think it was less!

I'm thinking, buy once, cry once!"

SR

DK35vince · Feb 2, 2018

Sawyer Rob said:
I was at HF today, a lady was returning a 8750 watt Predator gen set. They tried to give her a new one and she said NO WAY shaking her head fast!

When she left I asked the manager, "is that generator dead?"

The manager said, "yes, she powered something she wasn't suppose to"... "What was that", I asked? and he answered "her pump".

My answer to that was, "well, if her pump drew less than the generator out put, what would that matter?" He answered, "well, I don't think it was less!

I'm thinking, buy once, cry once!"

SR

If you draw to much power wouldn't it just kick the generator breaker?
Reset the breaker its probably fine.

Sawyer Rob · Feb 2, 2018

Looks like THAT generator made some smoke, so back to buy once cry once! lol

SR

goeduck · Feb 3, 2018

Larry Caldwell said:
Similar to my system. I set the bottom of the 2500 gallon cistern about level with the window sills in the house, so I have gravity flow water with no electricity at all. It's nice for flushing the toilet.

Can’t be much pressure, do you run appliances on gravity alone?

ultrarunner · Feb 3, 2018

The gravity spring at the ranch is 2 miles away... the pressure at the house is 34 psi... always the same.

It works fine unless you are trying to irrigate or hand water outside...

Talked about adding a booster pump but the water pressure has served since the 1860's.

Turbys_1700 · Feb 3, 2018

All this talk of spring water...
My water comes from a spring that has been in our family I know since at least my great great grandfather...
That would be mid 1800's...
Never been dry...
Spring box with a spring house and pump...
Runoff basin flows into the spring house from the pump foot located in the spring box...
It's good water with the occasional crayfish and spring minnow...

bigtiller · Feb 3, 2018

Larry Caldwell said:
A lot depends on the ambient temperature. I used to do a food booth at a craft fair. We found a wonderful 6' cast iron griddle, and found that a 20 lb. tank would not provide enough gas, so bought a 100 lb. tank. There was no room for a 100 lb. tank under the grill, so we dug a hole and set the tank in the hole. Of course, it iced up. When we dug the tank out it, the dirt around it was a solid block of ice. Keep a heater on that little 20 lb. tank and it will work fine. Otherwise, the propane cools by evaporative cooling until it won't evaporate any more. A larger tank has more surface area, so the propane stays warmer, but if you plan on running a propane generator in sub-zero weather, some means of heating the tank is a good ideal. A system that tests fine in the middle of the summer may starve and die at 10 below.

Good post.
Here is a chart showing available Btu's, tank size and ambient temps.