Back up Generators - finally looking.

[check]

My step son was in a car accident and he is now confined to a wheel chair. He was using a portable generator for back up power but that is no longer an option for him. Wife wants to buy him a whole house standby generator and run it from the 500 gal propane tank that is there. I am still working on sizing it, which will depend on if she also decides to give him central AC as the house is in NC. My question is, do folks have recommended brands we should be looking at, or brands to avoid. My neighbor in Maine just installed a Kohler standby unit and it is LOUD, it drowns out all the other generators in the neighborhood when it is running. So Kohler is off my list unless someone knows this might be just one bad model. I don't know what model he installed. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Yes, check further. My 17kw Kohler on propane is very quiet. The manual will tell you how many decibels it is.

 

[LouNY]

They cost more but the lower rpm liquid cooled units in a decent enclosure are much quieter.

 

[twowoode]

I put in a kohler for the whole house 20kw. It runs on propane and I have a 500 gallon tank. I have been happy with it so far but wish I had gone with a 1000 gallon tank. Look at the propane consumption and you may want the larger tank.

 

[5030]

And yet, both of my Honda generators keep going and going and going...

SR

When they crap out' forget about parts. Tactyl isn't the only one. The other Utuber, Cotten I think is in the same boat. No parts and NLA. Least you have a good motor though limited use as generator motors all have tapered keyed shafts.

I have a Champion Inverter that is at least 12 years old and I can get parts for it. 1/2 the cost of a Honda and runs like a top.

 

[5030]

They cost more but the lower rpm liquid cooled units in a decent enclosure are much quieter.

Absolutely. The propane and gas run ones spin at 3600 rpm. My turbo diesel Generac turns at 1800 rpm and it's totally enclosed too.

You cannot hear mine 15 feet away which is why I had an electrician install lights on the side of the shop so I can look out and see what it's doing.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

When they crap out' forget about parts. Tactyl isn't the only one. The other Utuber, Cotten I think is in the same boat. No parts and NLA. Least you have a good motor though limited use as generator motors all have tapered keyed shafts.

I have a Champion Inverter that is at least 12 years old and I can get parts for it. 1/2 the cost of a Honda and runs like a top.

Like I said, one has easily paid for itself and the other is well on it's way...

As for tapered shaft, no problem at all IF you know what you are doing.

SR

 

[5030]

Like I said, one has easily paid for itself and the other is well on it's way...

As for tapered shaft, no problem at all IF you know what you are doing.

SR

So please elude as to how you convert a taper shaft engine to a straight shaft. I'm curious.

 

[pmsmechanic]

So please elude as to how you convert a taper shaft engine to a straight shaft. I'm curious.

I would just machine an adapter to fit the tapered shaft. It's not a conversion but an adaption to enable the engine to do what I want it to do.

But then SR might have a different idea.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

So please elude as to how you convert a taper shaft engine to a straight shaft. I'm curious.

There is more than one way to do it, but you can buy ready-made adapters, depends on what you want to use the engine for.

SR

 

[5030]

There is more than one way to do it, but you can buy ready-made adapters, depends on what you want to use the engine for.

SR

Care to link one please? The other issue is, the genny head direct bolts to the engine block so the hole pattern isn't conducive to much of anything else, especially a direct couple. Even my diesel standby, the genny head direct bolts to the back of the JD bell housing.

 

[check]

LOL. Maybe the reason my 17 kW Kohler Whole house standby generator is so quiet is that it’s in a bit of a hollow, and surrounded by snow, plus the top is covered with snow. I do keep the vents clear of course but it may be that there’s just not much place for the noise to go. In any case, my neighbors have commented that my generator is very quiet. And for the last power Outage was sitting on the front deck and I didn’t even know that the power went out because the generator comes on almost instantly, and it was so quiet. Frankly, I was quite surprised that I couldn’t hear it. It was about as noisy as a refrigerator coming on. At least that was the noise level that made it around to the front of the deck.

 

[5030]

I would just machine an adapter to fit the tapered shaft. It's not a conversion but an adaption to enable the engine to do what I want it to do.

But then SR might have a different idea.

All well and good but the majority of owners don't have that capability. I do, I own and operate a fully equipped machine shop. We do short run die stamping and custom jobs all the time

 

[Larry Caldwell]

My first generator was a no-name HF portable that was so loud it would give you a headache at 50'. I fitted the Intec engine with a riding mower muffler that helped a lot, but was still as loud as a riding mower. I found a junk car muffler from some mini rice burner, and did an elbow and slip ring adapter tightened by a hose clamp, stabilized by wires and mini carabiners to the frame, then ran the stack above head height so the sound went up instead of sideways. That did the trick. I have to pull the muffler any time I move the genset more than a couple feet, but that only takes 30 seconds and a screwdriver. Red neck solutions to a red neck problem.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I own and operate a fully equipped machine shop. We do short run die stamping and custom jobs all the time

And that is why I don't understand why you couldn't figure out how to solve the tapered crankshaft problem, or know that there's already adapters on the market to solve it, OR how to find your own links to them.

SR

 

[Sawyer Rob]

My first generator was a no-name HF portable that was so loud it would give you a headache at 50'. I fitted the Intec engine with a riding mower muffler that helped a lot, but was still as loud as a riding mower. I found a junk car muffler from some mini rice burner, and did an elbow and slip ring adapter tightened by a hose clamp,

Back in the day when I did a LOT of welding with a portable welder, I did the same thing to quiet it "some".

Eventually, the welder portion died (Onan) and I pulled the engine, (it has a tapered shaft) I still have it, and I made an adapter to solve the "tapered shaft" problem.

SR

 

[5030]

And that is why I don't understand why you couldn't figure out how to solve the tapered crankshaft problem, or know that there's already adapters on the market to solve it, OR how to find your own links to them.

SR

Because YOU are the one who initiated the comment, not me. Never had a reason to modify a tapered crank, ever. So, how about a link to a commercially available adapter? All I see is crickets.

 

[alexpops]

tapered shaft to straight shaft adaper - Google Search

The above might help

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Because YOU are the one who initiated the comment, not me. Never had a reason to modify a tapered crank, ever. So, how about a link to a commercially available adapter? All I see is crickets.

And that's all you going to see from me, I'm NOT a secretary for lazy people. lol

SR

 

[alexpops]

HMMM ... I guess that makes me the secretary. A few ground rules then ... I don't do dictation, & there'll be none of that chasing around the conference room table funny business.

 

[5030]

I might add that I had a Honda engine on my rear tine rototiller that tossed a rod and the local dealer denied warranty even though it had less than 10 hours on it. Got replaced with a cheap Pred that is humming long just fine