Need a new generator

[r porter]

the company had a big ol 7000w genny that was a bear to handle. we had a ramp made and an electric winch installed to pull it up. no one broke a sweat.

 

[dstig1]

What is the advantage? They(engine driven compressor) cost way more and are heavy as well. You lose the the ability to have power unless you take the generator with you. What am I missing?

As you know compressor start-up loads are brutal. Several others here have said you are going to need a big generator to handle it. You wanted a smaller generator. Those two things are in conflict. If you want a smaller generator, one clear method is to remove the compressor from the equation. Thus an engine driven one.

There is no free lunch... It means one more engine to maintain, and as you note they are heavier than electric compressors (and costlier). But at the same time many of them are wheelbarrow style and with a simple ramp could be much more easily rolled up into the PU bed by one person (especially if you use the terrain to reduce the angle of the ramp). With the generator being much smaller, it will be easier to load and unload along with the compressor. Basically breaking one big mass into two smaller ones.

The other option is one well-covered here - a large generator that can handle the load. But you have stated you do not want that.

I didn't see a ton of detail on your needs other than the existing comp is 12A running. One possible third option is a smaller compressor that won't require as much power. But that depends on what you need for air CFM.

You are going to have to pick whatever trade-off fits your needs and pocketbook best as there is no magic bullet.

 

[ericm979]

Maybe you could use a soft start device to reduce your compressor's starting draw enough to use a smaller generator.

Hyper Engineering | Single Phase

 

[grsthegreat]

Ive installed lots of hyper engineering units,.. but never tried one on a compressor before....might be interesting.

 

[crazyal]

While not ideal maybe using two smaller generators with a parallel connection might work for you. That way you would be splitting the weight and instead of one large one taking up room you would have two smaller ones you may be able to find places (or possibly stacked on top of each other).

 

[Sawyer Rob]

My Honda 2000 will just start my small electric compressor, but once the compressor shuts off, it can't restart it with a head.....BUT my Honda 2800 will!

I like the 2800 SO much better than the 2000 and it's still light enough to load (even though it takes up more room) and they cost the same as the new Honda 2200's, that replaced the 2000's...

SR

 

[4570Man]

I have a tiny air compressor that an inverter generator will start and it’s surprisingly convenient but forgot it for any amount of air delivery. I bought a gas compressor for high air loads. It’s much better than a big generator and compressor.