Your last generator Maintenance Run

[3930dave]

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...

Thanks for stepping into the light Patrick .

Modern inverters (DC-AC boxes) are way more efficient than their ancestors, but there are still advantages to staying within the DC realm in a compact system.

I'm hoping 90 lands some luck with a suitable low-hp soft-start unit..... that sounds like the cleanest compact solution. Startup seems to be the only problem..... assuming he's had the Eco Throttle off on his 2kw, next size up I'd try is a Honda 3kw w/o adding soft-start - I've seen those do well with RV AC units (normal class C ones, not the monsters they have on 5'ers). @ 3kw, they are still pretty quiet/easy on fuel.

90 has crafted a really efficient/heavy-lift DC charge platform.

Sub that ^ level, one of my bonepile projects I've yet to GOMA (get off my _____) and do is belt up an alternator to a small engine. If the parts are lying about anyway, it's a dirt-cheap way to generate high current DC. Even 24v heavy truck alternators aren't crazy money, so that might be my target, when I GOMA.

Playing with Power.... lots of fun options :thumbsup:

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

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

Memory is the second thing to go...... .... that, and you're proactive enough to have the lists in place early :thumbsup:...

Just wanted to make certain you weren't waiting on a final connection, before I wandered along this path......

Worst-case cold operation will be @ high-load...... hence my interest in getting your abode switched-in Max mode. I'd want to do that to check your tank vapourization at worst cold ambient. My guess - I don't think you'll have a problem, given your Winter ambients, but I've learned to appreciate Show Me, and once more too.....

More so, I'd want to do some baseline runs on propane, to get a feel for how many spare tanks you may want..... staying away from gasoline totally is attractive.....

Rgds, D.

 

[daugen]

Memory is the second thing to go...... .... that, and you're proactive enough to have the lists in place early :thumbsup:...

Just wanted to make certain you weren't waiting on a final connection, before I wandered along this path......

Worst-case cold operation will be @ high-load...... hence my interest in getting your abode switched-in Max mode. I'd want to do that to check your tank vapourization at worst cold ambient. My guess - I don't think you'll have a problem, given your Winter ambients, but I've learned to appreciate Show Me, and once more too.....

More so, I'd want to do some baseline runs on propane, to get a feel for how many spare tanks you may want..... staying away from gasoline totally is attractive.....

Rgds, D.

I'm pretty sure it won't hold a heavy load at say 32 degrees.
I suppose I could do a little science experiment here...
My second tank is being used for infrequent heat in the garage and is kept full.

Just trying to put off dumping gasoline in the tank for as long as I can.
If power goes out for any time on a very cold day, I'm likely to dump the gas in and just walk away
knowing it will run just fine. If the propane supply was inadequate, the power would be down, and that means
clipping and related brownout type problems under load that I simply can avoid by running gasoline.

I really miss my 1000 gallon propane tank at my last farm.

it would be nice if there was a phone app reporting in the numbers on the info panel on the gen, particularly voltage and amperage.
That would be handy to have in the house, to better understand startup surges of some appliances. My well pump flickers the lights in the house
when it comes on, an old large 120V pump. Now that thing needs a soft start for sure. Plumber doesn't like it on general purposes as a jet pump, wants to
install a submersible. Too bad they didn't spec a 240 V pump to begin with. Remember this is a 900sf cottage with a 100amp panel.

 

[fried1765]

I'm pretty sure it won't hold a heavy load at say 32 degrees.
I suppose I could do a little science experiment here...
My second tank is being used for infrequent heat in the garage and is kept full.

Just trying to put off dumping gasoline in the tank for as long as I can.
If power goes out for any time on a very cold day, I'm likely to dump the gas in and just walk away
knowing it will run just fine. If the propane supply was inadequate, the power would be down, and that means
clipping and related brownout type problems under load that I simply can avoid by running gasoline.

I really miss my 1000 gallon propane tank at my last farm.

it would be nice if there was a phone app reporting in the numbers on the info panel on the gen, particularly voltage and amperage.
That would be handy to have in the house, to better understand startup surges of some appliances. My well pump flickers the lights in the house
when it comes on, an old large 120V pump. Now that thing needs a soft start for sure. Plumber doesn't like it on general purposes as a jet pump, wants to
install a submersible. Too bad they didn't spec a 240 V pump to begin with. Remember this is a 900sf cottage with a 100amp panel.

"I really miss my 1000 gallon propane tank"

I wish someone would take mine away!
I have natural gas now, and don't need it anymore.
Too far from you though.

 

[groundcover]

Which location is it ?

 

[shaeff]

Not necessarily generator related, but it's right in line with the current (see what I did there?) conversation...

We have probably 4-5 outages/yr. Sometimes they're several hours, sometimes less. Worst we've had in the last five years was 18hrs. We have well water, when we first had the home built it failed for total coliform bacteria. After a good application of chlorine and a flush, it was fine. As a precaution, I put in a twin 20" filter system after the pressure tank, as there was really no way to put it before. Then it runs over to a UV filter. If the power goes out and the water is running, my wife insists that now our house lines are contaminated with "bad water." I get tired of pulling the UV filter and pouring some bleach in, running every faucet in the house until I smell bleach, then flushing it out. It's a waste of time and water. (And I need to modify my lines to allow an easy chlorine application, just in case)

Fast forward to today, I had some points to burn up on a credit card so I bought a UPS that'll run the UV light for a while. I only need it to run long enough to turn the water off real quick when the power fails. So, even if it only lasted 10 seconds that would be enough.

Not sure why I didn't do this sooner.

 

[3930dave]

Bada Bing !

Some people hate dealing with batteries, but I find mixing them with modern power electronics to be very useful.

One of the coolest home projects I've seen, was done by a telecomm engineer who built a whole-house UPS. Data-centres usually cycle out their UPSes routinely, so used ones are often available in the secondary market........ how big you play primarily comes down to how much space you want to dedicate.

Handy stuff, at all sizes.....

Rgds, D.

 

[grsthegreat]

I had another call today. Generator is nearly 10 years old and shut down during long outage. Alarm was low oil. I was able to get about 1/2 a cup of oil out of it using a compressor to make sure all was out (mind you it holds 1.7 quarts). Did full service, unit started right up and ran good. Has very good compression. I think the super cold weather helped protect this generator. I was surprised it didnt shut down earlier, but pressure switch tested ok. I would have replaced it, but i used my last one yesterday. I told them im ordering a new pressure switch and install later next month.

While talking to homeowner, i found out they didnt even know how to open unit. Has never been serviced since new. But has NEVER seen service since new. Oh brother.

 

[ultrarunner]

^^^ Ten years is a long time... oil consumption must be low.

Had a tenant that bought new a 16 valve Toyota... car had 40,000 miles and never an oil change... not a one.

I asked her about it and she said whenever the oil light blinked on and off she added a quart...

 

[Industrial Toys]

Maybe most of these things don't see enough hours to make a bit of abuse matter in the short term. Amazing how many people have not a clue about the technology they depend on daily.