Generator Sheds - show me what you have

[MoMower]

Do you have to worry about overcharging the small battery with the solar charger?

How often and how long would your maintenance runs have to be to insure a fully charged battery? I know this will vary with the age/condition of the battery, just looking for a ballpark.

The charger has overcharge protection. It is a tender type, not an all out charger. I run it for an hour at least once every other month with an electric heater running full bore.

 

[RalphVa]

NICE.!!! Is the solar to keep the battery charged?? GREAT IDEA.. Nice venting & always a full battery..

I tried a solar panel like that to keep ours charged up. Didn't work. Gotta work the panel in the house plus the one on the generator. Too much for such a small solar panel. Have an all weather Battery Tender.

Running 15 minutes every 2 weeks won't keep ours charged up.

Ralph

 

[MoMower]

I have a log home so I built a log generator shed using landscape timbers. The roof is on hinges, and opens up 90 degrees with help of gas shocks. I use the tractor to lift the generator out of the shed for maintenance etc. My generator is a Honda and I extended the exhaust pipe so it goes though a hole in the wall. The roof is 4" wider than the walls, so there is a 4" air gap all around the top of the shed to provide fresh air to the generator. I got the concrete pad from my father-in-law who was getting rid of a concrete patio. He cut me a piece 4'x4' and brought it over one day.

I have yet to stain the shed, and I want to add a float charger to the shed to keep the generator battery topped off. That's my only complaint with the Honda generator - no pull cord so if the battery is weak or dead, you are out of luck!

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I did it as easily as possible, you did not, nice work!

 

[QRTRHRS]

Years back, a co-worker bought this generator powered by a VW diesel. He put the unit along with a 275 gallon tank in a prebuilt utility shed. He piped the exhaust out somehow. Everything was out of the weather and the noise was greatly reduced. No issues with heat but it was water cooled.

 

[MoMower]

 

[BHD]

my generator shed, the generators on the south wall there is a transfer switch that can select between generators, and there is a larger transfer switch that is on the pole so I switch between the shed and the power company, the big generator does produce three phase if needed for the shop,

the block is "hardened" it has rebar that goes into the foundation, and up through the roof, the roof is concrete with a grid of rebar about 10" x 10" grid the block has cross rebar and all filled, I do not know if its tornado Proof, but it should be very resistant, to strong winds, the large brown tank is a water storage tank,

converted the generators to propane, originally on the second picture there is a indent i the wall of the shed, that at one time held 6 55 gallon drums with gasoline in them, treated with PRIG, it worked well, but propane is easier, the propane tank is a or was an NH3 tank I bought for $200 it had a broken trailer under it, the coop had the brass valves and gave me then in tank price,

the little blue tank is for starting the generator on gas, and then would give me time to open and drop the pump in to the drum of gasoline, it will still run on gasoline, both generators will run on propane or gasoline,

If I had it all to do over again I most likely would pass on the generators, just get a welder with a generator, in it, after I bought the engine powered welder, all I would have needed to do is make an extension cord, and a plug (the correct plug set up not a suicide cord) at the first transfer switch, and call it good,

the little generator pictured was bought after an ICE storm in 1977 the power was out for over 30 days, but beside that one time since REA power, my guess is the power has been out for less than 3 days total in what all most 65 years, I am glad I have my set up but I do not know if it is necessary , the welder is on the back of the truck and is used and keep up as it is used, this morning I need to charge the battery on the generator, (it is a older not so good battery to start with), I had a automatic charger on it at one time, and after 20 years of use it malfunctioned and would boil the water out of the battery, had one battery blow up at my feet trying to start the generator and got covered with acid and the second one I had shared the combine battery with the generator shed, and put it in the combine and blew the top off and it landed behind the combine, so now I just try to keep an EYE on it and charge as necessary, and usually do a test run for some mins as well,

figure is all else fails I can pull a battery out of something around here to start it, and I do have a hand crank on the engine as well and have started it that way, but prefer the electric starter,

 

[MoMower]

So my shed did well up to now, the longest run was 4 hours or so without issue. We were out from noon Friday until noon today. Friday evening the fan burned up and for the rest of this recent run (running constantly) I had to run it with the top of the shed open.

I will be installing a bigger fan and more vents.

Just an FYI.

 

[Old Red]

my generator shed, the generators on the south wall there is a transfer switch that can select between generators, and there is a larger transfer switch that is on the pole so I switch between the shed and the power company, the big generator does produce three phase if needed for the shop,

the block is "hardened" it has rebar that goes into the foundation, and up through the roof, the roof is concrete with a grid of rebar about 10" x 10" grid the block has cross rebar and all filled, I do not know if its tornado Proof, but it should be very resistant, to strong winds, the large brown tank is a water storage tank,

converted the generators to propane, originally on the second picture there is a indent i the wall of the shed, that at one time held 6 55 gallon drums with gasoline in them, treated with PRIG, it worked well, but propane is easier, the propane tank is a or was an NH3 tank I bought for $200 it had a broken trailer under it, the coop had the brass valves and gave me then in tank price,

the little blue tank is for starting the generator on gas, and then would give me time to open and drop the pump in to the drum of gasoline, it will still run on gasoline, both generators will run on propane or gasoline,

If I had it all to do over again I most likely would pass on the generators, just get a welder with a generator, in it, after I bought the engine powered welder, all I would have needed to do is make an extension cord, and a plug (the correct plug set up not a suicide cord) at the first transfer switch, and call it good,

the little generator pictured was bought after an ICE storm in 1977 the power was out for over 30 days, but beside that one time since REA power, my guess is the power has been out for less than 3 days total in what all most 65 years, I am glad I have my set up but I do not know if it is necessary , the welder is on the back of the truck and is used and keep up as it is used, this morning I need to charge the battery on the generator, (it is a older not so good battery to start with), I had a automatic charger on it at one time, and after 20 years of use it malfunctioned and would boil the water out of the battery, had one battery blow up at my feet trying to start the generator and got covered with acid and the second one I had shared the combine battery with the generator shed, and put it in the combine and blew the top off and it landed behind the combine, so now I just try to keep an EYE on it and charge as necessary, and usually do a test run for some mins as well,

figure is all else fails I can pull a battery out of something around here to start it, and I do have a hand crank on the engine as well and have started it that way, but prefer the electric starter,

That is pretty cool man....look at the generator head on that thing. Huge. What are the specs of that yellow beast? I am sure back in 1977 generators were fairly uncommon. The funeral home close to my office bought one back in the 70s as well. And I guess our hospital had one as well....but other than that they were fairly uncommon around here. I guess the first one I ever fooled with was a Honda EU3000....buddy had one then I ended up purchasing one I February 2007. Now have 2 champion 2000 watt inverters and a 10KW military unit. I rarely use them.

 

[4shorts]

I built my enclosure a few years ago and it has worked as planed. 1/8th steel with 1/4 bottom. It is lockable, folding down front for easy loading, fan to keep things cool and a custom exhaust. It has keep us warm a few times. It was an enjoyable project and we still get to use the generator as a portable. It has its own dedicated street light so the surrounding area will be lit in the event of a power failure and features a wireless auto start.

 

[oosik]

Hear that knocking sound?? That's me, knocking on wood. Thirty seven years out here and NEVER even once have I ever needed a generator. Longest outage - 28 hours. That was in the middle of summer - so just keep doors shut on refrig & freezer and all was OK.

Some very nice looking generator sheds. Its unfortunate that so many have the need. Our co-op utility has consistently been judged one of the best in the nation.