Your last generator Maintenance Run

[Chilliwack Murray]

I wrote off a brand new Ford Escape rental a couple years ago on generator service trip. I sat out the storm in it and that was the loudest thing I’ve ever heard… even put a 16V71 at full load to shame.

Insurance claim said it was $28k damage, only had 178km on it.

 

[3930dave]

Baseball sized piece of ice.... (Earth) terminal-velocity @ time of impact.... lots of ergs there......

Can't really imagine how loud that would have been... just thinking about how loud that would be even inside a steel-roofed pole barn is almost painful.

Once a vehicle roof has to go, likely doesn't take much else for a write-off....

Rgds, D

 

[nikdfish]

Added another gen to the stable. Picked up a Westinghouse igen2500 on sale ($399), 2500/2200 inverter, gas only. Just finishing the break in process with a 3 hour half load, no load run, following a couple hours of quarter load, no load & two oil changes to flush manufacturing debris.

It only holds 0.37 quarts of oil. I marked the fill point on the included oil bottle to use it as a pre measured oil change source. The tank holds 1 gallon, which provides 10 hours run time at a quarter load. < 50 lb. fueled up.

 

[90cummins]

Can’t beat the utility & efficiency of the small inverter generators. I can run the essentials during the winter with my EU 2000i.
90cummins

 

[3930dave]

Added another gen to the stable. Picked up a Westinghouse igen2500 on sale ($399), 2500/2200 inverter, gas only. Just finishing the break in process with a 3 hour half load, no load run, following a couple hours of quarter load, no load & two oil changes to flush manufacturing debris.

It only holds 0.37 quarts of oil. I marked the fill point on the included oil bottle to use it as a pre measured oil change source. The tank holds 1 gallon, which provides 10 hours run time at a quarter load. < 50 lb. fueled up.

That'll be nice for portable use, or to give your whole-house a break.....

How loud do you find it, at half-load ?

Rgds, D.

 

[daugen]

do the inverter gens have inherently lower THD?

Is there a spec we should all seek out? I remember when it was a big deal for stereo amps to say yes
we make 35 watts rms 20-20,000 hz with less than .01 THD
a good usable spec
that same amp was probably advertised at 100 watts peak power.
what should we use for residential generators?
Short of an expensive UPS, is there any means to improve rated THD?

 

[nikdfish]

Re noise: Not bad, not much increase from no-load (w/ eco mode turned off). I believe the literature puts it 'low as" 52 db. You can carry on a conversation at normal voice level while standing right beside it.

Re THD: Look for < 5% THD. At that point, you should be able to run anything without issues. The igen2500 claims < 3% THD. I don't think there are any reasonably available methods to improve THD external to the generator or through generator modification.

 

[3930dave]

Not bad, not much increase from now load (w/ eco mode turned off). I believe the literature puts it 'low as" 52 db. You can carry on a conversation at normal voice level while standing right beside it.

Back When, Honda pretty much had that market to themselves...... nice to have options @ other price points today.

Rgds, D.

 

[Patrick Herd]

Re: THD from inverter generators. They SHOULD be universally better but it depends on how well the output filtering is built.

Re: Removing THD. We can go on a rabbithole of filtering, ferro resonant transformers and other voodoo if it's not too much of a thread hijack

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Can’t beat the utility & efficiency of the small inverter generators. I can run the essentials during the winter with my EU 2000i.
90cummins

I use an EU2000i also

 

[buckeyefarmer]

do the inverter gens have inherently lower THD?

Is there a spec we should all seek out? I remember when it was a big deal for stereo amps to say yes
we make 35 watts rms 20-20,000 hz with less than .01 THD
a good usable spec
that same amp was probably advertised at 100 watts peak power.
what should we use for residential generators?
Short of an expensive UPS, is there any means to improve rated THD?

Under 5% THD is good. I think pretty much all inverter generators meet that.

 

[3930dave]

This Trane paper references IEEE 519, table is on 2nd last page. Context is mostly how buildings interact (reflect back) onto the grid.

Sounds like 5% THD is a good #, for the typical portable gens we'd be looking at.....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Re: THD from inverter generators. They SHOULD be universally better but it depends on how well the output filtering is built.

Re: Removing THD. We can go on a rabbithole of filtering, ferro resonant transformers and other voodoo if it's not too much of a thread hijack

Engineering Details.... always welcome......

Might only be CM and GRS keeping up at first, but that will give the rest of us an excuse to do more Power Electronics 101 reading

Rgds, D.

 

[Williy]

Our Yanmar Diesel 5500 watt gen
takes 3.4 gal diesel will run for 23
hours on half tank and you have to
be about 5 ft to it to know that its
running

willy

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I use an EU2000i also

I have one too, also a Honda 2800 inverter, they sure are nice generators, with low fuel use.

SR

 

[ultrarunner]

My little Honda EU1000 is quiet and sips fuel... don't see many around and seldom It bring out the EU 2200.

When neighborhood power goes down it's the EM 5000 to the rescue.

Quietest generator I came across was a very large Honda on a movie so shoot... I think it was even. Diesel but never seen another...

It was large and self contained with wheels...

 

[90cummins]

Our Yanmar Diesel 5500 watt gen
takes 3.4 gal diesel will run for 23
hours on half tank and you have to
be about 5 ft to it to know that its
running

willy

I have 3 Yanmar’s
The L100 drives a 450 amp 28 volt dc alternator that supports my off grid battery backup.
The L90 drives my pressure washer and the L70 is a portable ac gen set.
All 3 are very loud not so much exahust but the typical direct injection diesel combustion noise.
In my experience the open framed air cooled Yanmars are fuel efficient and durable but not quiet by any stretch of the imagination.
Is yours a silent genset in an enclosure?
90cummins

 

[Williy]

No enclosure its a 9.1 hp diesel
and its very quiet you can stand
right next to and talk to anyone
don't have to raise your voice
3.4 gal tank will run at half cap
for 23 hours or full for 6 hours
Just turn the key and starts
real happy with it. will be using
it to run my air compressor to
put up a fence wood fence using
a staple gun Its a 2021 year

willy

 

[daugen]

Re: THD from inverter generators. They SHOULD be universally better but it depends on how well the output filtering is built.

Re: Removing THD. We can go on a rabbithole of filtering, ferro resonant transformers and other voodoo if it's not too much of a thread hijack

I had a little fun with this researching, yes it gets very complicated and expensive too. IM and RFI can be controlled but not an originally square or notchy sine wave that's supposed to
be smooth. In other words, hard to put humpty dumpty back together again. Unless you basically start "all over" and that's the complicated part. Over my pay grade...

none of the ads on the Westinghouse gen a few of us have lists any thd spec. Had to go to company site, not very encouraging:
Total Harmonic Distortion ≤23%

hopefully that is worst case. How expensive is a THD meter/harmonic analyzer?

How to measure power quality? What devices should you use and what to measure? | EEP

Measuring power quality and finding a bugbear in the network which is messing with the power are considered a highly paid job.

electrical-engineering-portal.com

 

[Smokeydog]

Our regular backup generator is a Yamaha 2400is inverter. Born 2005. Can start and run camper 13,500btu air conditioner. Lives on back deck for power outages. Powers lights, refrigerator, freezer, wood stove fan, tv, internet, coffee pot or microwave. Have a digital volt meter always plugged in by the coffee maker. Nice steady voltage control. Just changed the oil and air foam air filter. Does some portable farm chores when needed, power tools, dehorning, etc. Been a quiet, reliable unit and sips fuel. Use 100% gas and Pri-G never any carburetor or fuel problems. Alway starts first or second pull and runs smooth.

Have Miller Bobcat gas welder for 240v. Haven’t needed for over 20 years.