Time for a new portable generator

[John_Mc]

If all you are concerned about is our router and computer, don’t waste your money on an inverter generator. Buy a robust UPS instead. The generator only charge the batteries, and they don’t care about dirty electric and then the batteries run an inverter which puts out clean wave form electric.

Not all UPS units work this way. Some feed the grid AC power directly to whatever you've got plugged in to it, and only switch the the battery & inverter setup when the power goes out. The type you described is a better solution for protecting sensitive electronic devices. You just have to make sure that's the type of UPS you are buying.

 

[orezok]

Not all UPS units work this way. Some feed the grid AC power directly to whatever you've got plugged in to it, and only switch the the battery & inverter setup when the power goes out. The type you described is a better solution for protecting sensitive electronic devices. You just have to make sure that's the type of UPS you are buying.

“Robust” was the key.

 

[TheMan419]

I bought a Champion 100520 last year to deal with the PSPS in California, and other outages as well. I am totally happy with it! Always starts with the push of the switch, even if left to sit for 6 months. The starter battery holds it's charge well. I wanted inverter so as not to fry any of the numerous electronics it powers while on. Why take chances? If a device is operated on dirty power, excess heat can be made in the device, potentially damaging it.

At the time, I wanted a dual-fuel inverter generator, Westinghouse was at the top of the list. However, none that were CARB legal could be found anywhere I searched. No one would ship a non-CARB legal model to me in the Goldilocks State. It was a time of a dearth of generators that fit my needs for output and clean power.

When I saw the 100520 for sale, I jumped on it. It's gasoline only, to be honest I have not missed the ability to power it on propane. I am fortunate to have a source of ethanol-free gas nearby, and that is all I have ever used in it. Just recently we had an outage due to equipment failure. The tank was half-full of 6-month-old gas. I hit the start switch, it fired up instantly.

It's noisy, but not that bad. I run it near the house and can hardly hear it with the windows closed, which I do to keep exhaust out.

As far as hooking it into the house, I contacted two electricians to update my power panel to accommodate a whole house switch. They both flaked. So I made a suicide cord to plug the 240V into an unused dryer outlet, keeps the well and anything else (within reason) running just fine. I am beyond religious in disconnecting the house from the mains, and in never exposing live metal on the suicide cord. It requires mindfulness, but I've never had a problem. I will say that my main panel connects to the utility power via an ancient setup with cartridge fuses, so when I pull those I have very clear visual confirmation that the utility is disconnected.
Also needed using this method of connecting is turning the dryer circuit off when not actually transferring power from the generator into the house wiring.
Please, please do not use a suicide cord unless you fully understand what you are doing and why, and will always abide by the proper procedure to connect and switch things. It's just not worth killing yourself or others.

A good source of information on portable generators is GeneratorBible.com - Leader In Portable Generators Stats & Comparison

Yeah I would never use the suicide cord. I would mostly trust myself to do it right everytime, but not Mrs. TheMan. She would back feed and blow something up the first time she did it on her own.

The house currently has an interlock and the barn will have either that or a transfer switch. Electrician to decide which one is appropriate.

Thankfully we do not have the power company voluntarily cutting our power here to avoid fires. We just have wind, snow and tornados to take down trees and/or poles and/or substation equipment to cause outages.

The last storm that came through here knocked about 25K homes off line. For some reason it took them the better part of 2.5 days to get everyone back on line. Thankfully we were not impacted by that particular storm.

 

[LittleBill21]

“Robust” was the key.

to use the correct term. your looking for a "Double Conversion" type of ups.

 

[grsthegreat]

i had one customer , a few years back, that used his portable gen with a suicide cord WITHOUT A MANUAL INTERLOCK... did it for years without any issues.

i got involved as i sold him and installed a new auto start backup generator. reason he bought it was because he forgot to unplug generator, and forgot to shut off main breaker, when power came back up. blew the generator to pieces.

 

[LittleBill21]

i had one customer , a few years back, that used his portable gen with a suicide cord WITHOUT A MANUAL INTERLOCK... did it for years without any issues.

i got involved as i sold him and installed a new auto start backup generator. reason he bought it was because he forgot to unplug generator, and forgot to shut off main breaker, when power came back up. blew the generator to pieces.

So he was on his own transformer? i have almost never seen that around here.

 

[grsthegreat]

everyone here has their own transformer. mine sits in my front yard by the 400 amp service main.

 

[blee03]

to use the correct term. your looking for a "Double Conversion" type of ups.

Anyone have any recommendations on a good double conversion UPS?

 

[LittleBill21]

everyone here has their own transformer. mine sits in my front yard by the 400 amp service main.

guess its a distance thing, makes sense now that i think about it. most of our neighbors are pretty close.

 

[fried1765]

i had one customer , a few years back, that used his portable gen with a suicide cord WITHOUT A MANUAL INTERLOCK... did it for years without any issues.

i got involved as i sold him and installed a new auto start backup generator. reason he bought it was because he forgot to unplug generator, and forgot to shut off main breaker, when power came back up. blew the generator to pieces.

I do the connection manually, without any sort of interlock.
I have an identical checklist attached to both the generator, and the service entrance box.
I am the ONLY person to use the generator!
I spent my entire working life using checklists, and in 30,000 hours never once landed gear up!