Longest power outage?

[ultrarunner]

Ive installed 12 new whole house generators in the past 2 months. Two were 45kw the rest 11-22 kw units. Whole house units are quite the rage. Generac has created a new synergy unit that varies between 1800 and 3600 rpm depending on the need. Im getting lots of request for these units lately.

Are these natural gas and or propane units?

 

[MikePA]

According to the Generac site, "The Generac Synergy runs on natural gas and LP fuel, and easily converts during installation without the need for tools."

 

[grsthegreat]

They have a knob that you turn to switch between propane or ng

 

[ultrarunner]

Very cool... I like being self sufficient and don't mind spending money to be so...

I have Winco 5000 watt with transfer switch... good little unit except loud.

I guess my ideal would be a low speed onan diesel of 8 kW... enough to cover all the essentials and not outrageous to run in terms of fuel costs.

The 1800 rpm units have not been able to be sold for a long time here in California.

 

[MossRoad]

This thread made me go out and fire up my generator with a load on it for half an hour today. Many of us forget to exercise these things on a regular basis. It might not be ready when we need it.

 

[tcreeley]

Thursday we just ended 5 days without power due to the rain followed by snow storm we had last weekend. The leaves were still on the trees and with snow- bent down and took a lot of wires and transformers. Poles were snapped. limbs everywhere. Years back we had 5 days without due to an ice storm as well, This was different, The roads were clear the next day. A couple of years ago we bought a generator at Home depot for the frequent 1 day power outages we now have year round. We heat with wood and cook with gas- so it is really for the running water, frig, etc.. Gets old buying gas though. We ran it in the morning and in the evening. Off during the day.

I wired my house panel so that the gen feeds one side. I flip off the main breaker from the road, flip on the 100 amp breaker to my shop, and my gen is set up there through another breaker to backfeed power to the house panel.

 

[dragoneggs]

This thread made me go out and fire up my generator with a load on it for half an hour today. Many of us forget to exercise these things on a regular basis. It might not be ready when we need it.

Good advice. I do it a couple times a year but I tend to agree that regular exercise is better.

 

[MikePA]

My auto transfer switch has a Test Generator option that is off by default. When I change this option to On, the switch starts the generator, lets it get up to speed and when the switch senses it's receiving power, it shuts off the generator. I have a monthly reminder on my phone to run this test.

 

[Looking4new]

My 9,000 watt genny is in a tin garden shed along with about 50 gallons of gas. I cut vents high and low in the walls of the shed so fumes if any can escape. The floor under where the gas sits is 1/2" hardware screen and open to the air. The exhaust side of the genny has a 2' square screened vent. The power cords are already there, so when good old unreliable Ontario Hydro goes out I fire up the genny and plug in the cords, flip the switch for the power and go inside and transfer the essential loads, one by one. (sump pump, fridge and some lights)

 

[3930dave]

My auto transfer switch has a Test Generator option that is off by default. When I change this option to On, the switch starts the generator, lets it get up to speed and when the switch senses it's receiving power, it shuts off the generator. I have a monthly reminder on my phone to run this test.

About how long does the engine run, before auto-shutdown kicks in ?

There have been a few good gen maintenance stories over here http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/oil-fuel-lubricants/271843-your-last-generator-maintenance-run.html

Rgds, D.