jdmeth
Bronze Member
Depends on the size of the generator. I have 16 kW generator I used on my farm, it will start and then run three 3 hp motors and three 1 hp motors.
PTO Generator inadequate for larger HP motors?
- Thread starter arcteryx
- Start date
Willie B
Silver Member
I got a lesson last week. Our volunteer fire chief has had a long range goal: In his life he wants the fire house, shared by two very small towns to be an emergency shelter for all of the townspeople. His vision included a giant generator big enough that everybody in town could bring any load they could imagine. After 20 years of him asking me to calculate a generator installation of 50, 100, 85, 200 killowatts, he found a donor willing to pay for the full price of a realistic generator. We chose a 14 KW generator. Biggest load we calculated was a 5000 Watt air compressor. My air compressor starts fine on my 10 KW generator, so I expected no problem with a 14 KW machine.
We found the run capacitor bad. Replaced the run capacitor, it started fine with the generator, as long as not much other load.
My seemingly identical compressor at home was bought used, it originally came from a local industrial supply. The one at the fire house came from Tractor Supply. Mine is code G, starting current is 5-6 times full load current. The one at the fire house is code L, 9-10 times full load to start it.
We found the run capacitor bad. Replaced the run capacitor, it started fine with the generator, as long as not much other load.
My seemingly identical compressor at home was bought used, it originally came from a local industrial supply. The one at the fire house came from Tractor Supply. Mine is code G, starting current is 5-6 times full load current. The one at the fire house is code L, 9-10 times full load to start it.