Your last generator Maintenance Run

[ultrarunner]

A reliable grid is the cornerstone/foundation of modern life... your #'s are great.

Once you get into a Cali type scenario..... Island mode starts looking pretty good. UR had plenty of surgeons who previously had been bragging about their PV systems and Teslas, crying pretty hard during extended "safety" outages....

The advantage I see with a designing your own battery system is you can make it much more accessible for service, than many vehicle installations are. That said, most people want everything MTCE-free today, and don't want to deal with batteries.

Rgds, D.

Brand new Lightning in Doc parking lot this morning...

At least half new physician autos have some component electric.

The EV home tie in is coming...

 

[daugen]

Brian Johnson ended up with hearing problems, not from fronting a loud rock band, but from racing cars.... we all likely need to use better hearing protection !​

(not sure where the perma-bold ^ came from....)

Thnx for the feedback on the alarm. ".... in basement" ? < Did you change your setup to run indoors ?

Rgds, D.

the power has returned alarm is installed in/just outside the main panel box in basement.
Once I'm on gen power, I turn on the alarm. When street power comes on and activates the alarm,
I then turn it off. Same as before, gen sitting outside.

I used to have an old Radio Shack audio meter. I'd love to measure the output.
Plus the noise pulses, truly irritating, very effective
meaning likely you would hear it on second floor if it goes off in basement.

 

[3930dave]

the power has returned alarm is installed in/just outside the main panel box in basement.
Once I'm on gen power, I turn on the alarm. When street power comes on and activates the alarm,
I then turn it off. Same as before, gen sitting outside.

I used to have an old Radio Shack audio meter. I'd love to measure the output.
Plus the noise pulses, truly irritating, very effective
meaning likely you would hear it on second floor if it goes off in basement.

Great 411 on the alarm d !

You've probably seen them already.... some good Ytube videos around on acoustic panels you can build to absorb/re-direct sound a bit, on portable gens.

Rgds, D.

 

[grsthegreat]

ive installed those alarms for many of my portable gen customers over the years. ones that dont have street lights or close by neighbors to alert them of power restoration.

 

[daugen]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/17/us/generac-whole-home-generator-recall/index.html

any of you have the big portable Generac?
I wonder if there was any cover at all over gen if sun would overpressurize tank...???

 

[3930dave]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/17/us/generac-whole-home-generator-recall/index.html

any of you have the big portable Generac?
I wonder if there was any cover at all over gen if sun would overpressurize tank...???

Thanks for posting that d. I don't have anything that big, though I do find myself drawn to their one I've posted up here a time or 2..... good price point for something in the near 10kw range, and FI.

Sounds like a design or manuf error with the roll-over valve...... not the first time I've seen an Added Safety device causing a problem - this time, in the exact area it is supposed to address.

An example of why Designs Have To Iterate.....

Rgds, D.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Did my three month run today. The gennie only has about 20 hours on it. Ran it under load for about 20 minutes today, running my 3000 psi pressure washer.

Battery was good. Started right up!

 

[Sprinkler Fitter]

This reminds me that I have to get a price on a transfer switch and cord for the house. We have a EU6500 on a vending trailer I can use if I needed it.

 

[grsthegreat]

Generator Interlock Kits | Electrician Interlock Kits | GenInterlock

The GenInterlock.com generator interlock kit provides an economical and dependable way to meet your electrical needs.

www.geninterlock.com

 

[5030]

Generator Interlock Kits | Electrician Interlock Kits | GenInterlock

The GenInterlock.com generator interlock kit provides an economical and dependable way to meet your electrical needs.

www.geninterlock.com

Looked at the website and all it did was cornfuse me....

I already have all of that and have for years. Vacuum breakers for the main input/output and it's all automatic switch over.

Just about to start taking the diesel standby apart and install it in int's new fully enclosed aluminum home, courtesy of Gererac and 2700 smackers. Thinking I'll pull all the switchgear first and then take one if the tactors with forks and a couple lifting slings and pull all the mechanicals (engine, generator) together in one shot and set them in the new enclosure.

Already pulled the mains so it's just sitting and waiting for the wrench.

Don't have to worry about the usual underside diesel storage tank because when I bought it I specified no tank. It's direct plumbed into my 500 gallon bulk diesel tank.

Will be nice to get shut of the rusting steel enclosure it came with

Be my luck we loose power during this exchange too.

 

[3930dave]

Did my three month run today. The gennie only has about 20 hours on it. Ran it under load for about 20 minutes today, running my 3000 psi pressure washer.

Battery was good. Started right up!

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

This reminds me that I have to get a price on a transfer switch and cord for the house. We have a EU6500 on a vending trailer I can use if I needed it.

I know those 5k EUs are plenty quiet; I'd bet a case of premium Sake that the 6500 is a ghost too....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Be my luck we loose power during this exchange too.

We'll Run Cover for Ya ! I usually tangle with Murph a time or 3/wk...... rest of the guys, Saddle Up !

Rgds, D.

 

[Sprinkler Fitter]

I know those 5k EUs are plenty quiet; I'd bet a case of premium Sake that the 6500 is a ghost too....

Rgds, D.

We have it in the tongue of our food vending trailer and many times people ask where we are getting power from because they don’t hear it.

 

[3930dave]

We have it in the tongue of our food vending trailer and many times people ask where we are getting power from because they don’t hear it.

They are impressively quiet. Cooking, I'd suspect you are on gas, so the typical background load on that EU probably isn't high.

Rgds, D.

 

[Sprinkler Fitter]

They are impressively quiet. Cooking, I'd suspect you are on gas, so the typical background load on that EU probably isn't high.

Rgds, D.

Smokers are wood fired, gas assist but the food warmers draw a decent amount.

 

[daugen]

one of the primary reasons I put in a generator was to maintain my basement sump pump,
because if power goes out during heavy rain, the basement gets wet.
This gets complicated for me, without an automatic gen, when I go away for two to three weeks at a time
in my rv.

this little gizmo hooked up to a big AGM battery should keep the pump going for about a day.
More than that, someone will need to come start the generator for me and run it a while.
of course, that means a lot of food will get wrecked but
this is why automatic gens are so wonderful.

so far the tattle tale light has not come on.

I'm still interested in building a LIPO4 battery/inverter setup to save the food.
a good to do project. If I were home all the time, this would be overkill; just go out and start the gen.
But if I'm not, I'm getting to truly
appreciate the simple term
automatic

 

[3930dave]

Smokers are wood fired, gas assist but the food warmers draw a decent amount.

I get challenged cooking for two.... hadn't thought about warmers - electric should make those easy to adjust to the Hold Temp you want.

Burning wood, propane, and gasoline in one spot...... watch that King Klaus doesn't order a hit on you !

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

one of the primary reasons I put in a generator was to maintain my basement sump pump,
because if power goes out during heavy rain, the basement gets wet.
This gets complicated for me, without an automatic gen, when I go away for two to three weeks at a time
in my rv.

this little gizmo hooked up to a big AGM battery should keep the pump going for about a day.
More than that, someone will need to come start the generator for me and run it a while.
of course, that means a lot of food will get wrecked but
this is why automatic gens are so wonderful.

so far the tattle tale light has not come on.

I'm still interested in building a LIPO4 battery/inverter setup to save the food.
a good to do project. If I were home all the time, this would be overkill; just go out and start the gen.
But if I'm not, I'm getting to truly
appreciate the simple term
automatic

That looks like a well thought-out controller; good service reminders.

Does the fluid-sensor sit in one cell to detect height in a flooded lead-acid battery ?

Rgds, D.

 

[daugen]

I have no idea Dave, they didn't provide any extra sensors interestingly.
AGM obviously a moot point
wonder how they detect that?