Your last generator Maintenance Run

[3930dave]

Never seen propane sold at Costco in MD, VA

I usually pay attention to costs..... but when Costco came along with their offering I was reminded of an old Nordic saying...... You can get used to anything, even a hanging.....

Prior to that, when you took a 20# tank in somewhere, you paid a flat price, regardless of whether the tank had anything left in it..... that was back in the days before tank-swap was available.

Not sure what I thought of first...... What was I thinking ? or How is that even legal ?

Rgds, D.

 

[grsthegreat]

Its way cheaper to refill a tank than to swap one out. Like 50% less here in N Idaho.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I met a guy that works for a BBQ exchange place that claims he is never out of propane at home, taking home partial tanks.

 

[Patrick Herd]

My inverter easily powers the entire house including the deep well pump however I would need to run one of my diesel DC gensets to maintain the backup batteries after a couple hours when my wood furnace is operating in the winter.
During the heating season my wood furnace is my primary heat source and power consumer. The fan motor is a new High Efficiency model and consumes 236 running watts and operates 24/7. My batteries do not have the capacity to run this and other essentals thru the night.
The fan motor runs constant when the furnace is supplied with a steady supply of wood however it cycles off and on when the furnace starts to cool. It is this scenaro that gives the Honda EU2000i absolute fits.
A soft start module would hopefully allow the Honda EU2000i to easiy start the fan motor while also powering minimal lighting (all LED's) and 2 bedrooms with electric blankets.
Transfering this load and several other small loads such as the living room tv and the bedrooms and electirc blankets to the Honda would minimize load on the inverter batteries allowing the inverter to support the house thru the night without the need to operate the diesel generator.

90cummins

I've been lurking on this thread for most of a year now, Electrical Engineer by trade, I've learned a **** of a lot from everyone here, thank you Figured it was time to say hello and possibly share some advice:

Our house (wasn't grid connected prior to us owning it) has the remnants of a motorhome style 12V DC system which I have reconfigured in a manner similar to what 90cummins has.

Battery storage is 24V, 1100Ah, for something around 26kWh when it was new.
1150W of solar panels keep the batts charged and supply all the loads which are still connected to the old DC distribution.
In the event of a grid outage, the lights, ADSL modem etc are all running on the DC system so we often don't notice initially. For longer outages then we power up the AC switchboard from the inverter via a changeover. In the process of putting in a proper changeover switch next to the main switchboard so anyone can do it.

Now this is the part that might apply to 90:
In the event that we have a week long outage in foul weather and the batteries start to go flat, I have a small generator affectionately known as the shoebox. This is connected to the 24V bus with an industrial 24V power supply, set the voltage to about 27V. The generator is one of those cheap "2hp" two stroke models which is capable of maybe 500W on a good day. Not enough to charge the batts much but it keeps up with the average demand of the house plus a little bit.

90 have you considered running some kind of 24V charger from your little Honda? Not going to be quite as efficient as powering the furnace fan directly, but it would increase the glide time of your system in between running the diesels considerably.

Edit: Reminds me: I need to test run the generator...

 

[daugen]

Help my lousy memory pls..... is your transfer switch wired up ?

Rgds, D.

yes, and already tested...the lights came back on.
if you remember, I had the list of instructions made for operating it

 

[LittleBill21]

I've been lurking on this thread for most of a year now, Electrical Engineer by trade, I've learned a **** of a lot from everyone here, thank you Figured it was time to say hello and possibly share some advice:

Our house (wasn't grid connected prior to us owning it) has the remnants of a motorhome style 12V DC system which I have reconfigured in a manner similar to what 90cummins has.

Battery storage is 24V, 1100Ah, for something around 26kWh when it was new.
1150W of solar panels keep the batts charged and supply all the loads which are still connected to the old DC distribution.
In the event of a grid outage, the lights, ADSL modem etc are all running on the DC system so we often don't notice initially. For longer outages then we power up the AC switchboard from the inverter via a changeover. In the process of putting in a proper changeover switch next to the main switchboard so anyone can do it.

Now this is the part that might apply to 90:
In the event that we have a week long outage in foul weather and the batteries start to go flat, I have a small generator affectionately known as the shoebox. This is connected to the 24V bus with an industrial 24V power supply, set the voltage to about 27V. The generator is one of those cheap "2hp" two stroke models which is capable of maybe 500W on a good day. Not enough to charge the batts much but it keeps up with the average demand of the house plus a little bit.

90 have you considered running some kind of 24V charger from your little Honda? Not going to be quite as efficient as powering the furnace fan directly, but it would increase the glide time of your system in between running the diesels considerably.

Edit: Reminds me: I need to test run the generator...

I'm more interested in knowing why his honda can't run a 300 watt fan, but i agree, i would just throw a 24v charger at the honda, vs a softstart module.

 

[grsthegreat]

man, if i was still installing generators i could have sold 50 installs over the past week. every stop i had neighbors asking me if i could install a unit for them. i was servicing 3 units today, had neighbors from all surrounding houses ask me. i have taken to printing up a card with some reputable dealers names on them.

 

[3930dave]

Its way cheaper to refill a tank than to swap one out. Like 50% less here in N Idaho.

I've got too much Scottish ancestry, to pay that premium, so have never gone for that option.

Rgds, D.

 

[fried1765]

I've got too much Scottish ancestry, to pay that premium, so have never gone for that option.

Rgds, D.

Virtually all the swaps in my area are for tanks filled with only 15 pounds of propane.
Having your own tank refilled, will allow for a full 20 pound refill.
BJ's wholesale club in this area, does full 20 pound refills for $14.

 

[3930dave]

I met a guy that works for a BBQ exchange place that claims he is never out of propane at home, taking home partial tanks.

Reminds me of talking with a guy a lot of years ago. He was a manager by then, but had spent years on the trucks delivering fuel oil. What the typical spillage allowance was (hey, it was the 70's), pretty much covered his own heat..... stopped by home with a gallon or 3 fairly often was all it took.

Rgds, D.