Generator PTO Generator

[RonMar]

It would not call it an ideal setup. It would be better if his tractor governor has full throttle authority, but most do not... IMO, as far as PTO generators go, and based on the typical tractor governor, the ideal for the most stable power is a undersized generator/oversized tractor. On the larger tractor the governor has control over a larger ammount of horsepower and can more easilly deal with load changes and maintain a steady RPM over a wider load range. In his case, he will max out at around 10-11KW. But I doubt he will be able to set 60HZ with 1KW load and be able to apply 10 more KW without adjusting the throttle up manually to maintain 60HZ. A full authority governor would be able to do this. Without a full authority governor, a large load kicking in can draw the RPM and the voltage down and you can create your own brown-out and do a lot of damage to your electric appliances/electronics without some carefull preparation and planning.

My best advice would be to find your average load and set your throttle for 60HZ at that load. Hopefully the minimum and maximum loads won't force the RPM/frequency to stray too far from 60HZ. When I say stray too far, I am talking greater than +/- 10% or 54-66 HZ

When you ordered that generator, you should have also ordered one of these. Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices
IMO, anyone who makes their own power shouldn't be without one. One of the things I find handy abut it, is I can plug it in wherever I am at in the house, and monitor my generator frequency and load. My generator uses a flyweight mechanical governor and has a pretty consistent RPM droop over it's load range. It goes from 62HZ no load to 58HZ full load.

Good Luck.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

One word of caution reguarding the harbor freight and most other cheap geneartors. Most use capacitor voltage regulation which is not a good way to stabilize current. AVR regulation is much better, but more expensive. Electronics are very sensitive to dirty power, which is what you get from a cheap generator. Before running one of these I'd run around and unplug all computers, tv, etc... last thing you want to do is burn up the $3,000 flat screen because you bought a cheap generator.

 

[John47]

Also remember a motor starting, ie your fridge and freezer take a lot more current when starting than when running. Always take into account that fact.
The average home is supplied with a 100 amp service to cope with the "peak" loads.
I'd be careful running sensitive electronic equipment from any cheap generator set, they do produce "hash" and transients.

 

[khamill2000]

should I look into a line conditioner?

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

I'd look into a line conditioner for your electronics, your not going to find one that can handle the amperage for the whole house at a good price. you'd be better off just buying an AVR regulated generator.

 

[SPYDERLK]

It would not call it an ideal setup. It would be better if his tractor governor has full throttle authority, but most do not... IMO, as far as PTO generators go, and based on the typical tractor governor, the ideal for the most stable power is a undersized generator/oversized tractor. On the larger tractor the governor has control over a larger ammount of horsepower and can more easilly deal with load changes and maintain a steady RPM over a wider load range. In his case, he will max out at around 10-11KW. But I doubt he will be able to set 60HZ with 1KW load and be able to apply 10 more KW without adjusting the throttle up manually to maintain 60HZ. A full authority governor would be able to do this. Without a full authority governor, a large load kicking in can draw the RPM and the voltage down and you can create your own brown-out and do a lot of damage to your electric appliances/electronics without some carefull preparation and planning.

My best advice would be to find your average load and set your throttle for 60HZ at that load. Hopefully the minimum and maximum loads won't force the RPM/frequency to stray too far from 60HZ. When I say stray too far, I am talking greater than +/- 10% or 54-66 HZ

When you ordered that generator, you should have also ordered one of these. Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices
IMO, anyone who makes their own power shouldn't be without one. One of the things I find handy abut it, is I can plug it in wherever I am at in the house, and monitor my generator frequency and load. My generator uses a flyweight mechanical governor and has a pretty consistent RPM droop over it's load range. It goes from 62HZ no load to 58HZ full load.

Good Luck.

True, but an oversize engine is inefficient. A gen loses voltage instantly when overloaded-it doesnt wait for rpm to drop. Motor startups cause a big surge but demand drops back quick. That favors a high cap gen driven by an engine with a lot of flywheel, but no more HP than needed to drive the max steady state load. When surged, the big gen ensures that voltage doesnt crumple and the big flywheel keeps the frequency from falling as much during the surge. +/- 5HZ is no problem to anything. I set no load to 65HZ and dont have a problem holding comfortably above 55HZ at full load or with surges.
larry

 

[vettemanwight]

I bought a 11K generator from Northern It run our house and our barn We just have horses but we do have a well pump there and in our house. We can run the whole house just like if we were on National Grid. I went with a pto gen because I wanted the veratility of being able to hook up and take it around my property to use the electricity. Works great for me , in the 7 years we have had it Ive used it about 6 times wouldnt be without it. V

 

[RonMar]

True, but an oversize engine is inefficient. A gen loses voltage instantly when overloaded-it doesnt wait for rpm to drop. Motor startups cause a big surge but demand drops back quick. That favors a high cap gen driven by an engine with a lot of flywheel, but no more HP than needed to drive the max steady state load. When surged, the big gen ensures that voltage doesnt crumple and the big flywheel keeps the frequency from falling as much during the surge. +/- 5HZ is no problem to anything. I set no load to 65HZ and dont have a problem holding comfortably above 55HZ at full load or with surges.
larry

All home generated power is inefficient. Some are just worse than others. PTO power is heading towards the "worse than others" department due to all the drive system, tractor and PTO gearbox losses. You are taking around 2200+ engine RPM, turning it into 540 RPM, then turning it back into either 1800 or 3600 generator RPM. When doing that, the word efficiency shouldn't even be in your vocabulary Using a genertor rated at 15KW, that has a blower built in to dissipate that much full load heat, to power a 3-5KW average load is also pretty inefficient. That large blower consumes quite a bit of HP just moving air. Running a diesel below 70% load is not especially efficient either. Under these circumstances, the difference between a 20HP tractor and a 30HP tractor powering 5KW thru the same PTO generator would not be all that great.

This is casualty power! This is for when the local substation with the aging transformers made of unobtanium decides to fry during a winter storm and puts your lights out for a week. This is to keep the lights on, the pipes from bursting and the freezers from melting all that stored food. It only needs to have a low enough rate of consumption to make the ammount of fuel you have stored, or can get in a reasonable time, last thru the event...

 

[SPYDERLK]

You seem to be making your point in circles, but the only thing youve said that is actually wrong is the amt of HP needed for the cooling blower. It is trivial. 1/2 hp would be excessive on a 15kW gen.
larry

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Forgive me for jumping in late here, but I was reading the earlier posts on this thread and had some thoughts about how to rate a house for generator needs.

Could a guy basically turn a house on to full load and just watch the electricity meter for a while to tell how much demand there is? It seems to me this would be the most direct empirical way of knowing how much power that particular house would draw. It seems like it would be a pretty simple way to figure it too.