Time for a new portable generator

[grsthegreat]

I've got two gas powered generators mainly because of hurricane season here on the gulf coast. I've never considered dual fuel because during the only major hurricane I've had to suffer through (Katrina),
propane was harder to find than gasoline. I wouldn't mind one that ran off of natural gas but I've only got one accessible gas line that used to feed a gas grill and I can't find anybody that knows if it will be suitable for a large generator. I don't want to buy one only to find out it won't run on the little 3/8" line.

It wont. Nothing smaller than 3/4” recommended, larger for long runs.

 

[bullbreaker]

Been enjoying thread . Question ? Anybody here own a portable genny with a carbon dioxide sensor like I have only seen down here on a couple Generac and Ryobi models and has bypassed it . Seems like these sensors go bad quick or are real sensitive and shut down units and there might be like a 10 /15 minute reset time , not sure just asking .

 

[grsthegreat]

Yas, run into units with carbon monoxide sensors. I have never seen one that failed, and i personally would never bypass one. I had a good friend die of CO Poisoning years ago. Nothing to fool with.

 

[Root Cause]

You can always find a CO2/propane sensor at an RV online store.

Those on an RV have a 7-year shelf life if I remember correctly. There will be a label on the back to verify that. IF you have one, look on the back to see if it has expired. You can also test it by triggering a bbq or cig lighter. Light it up, blow it out but continue to depress the button.

Also, they tend to get gummed up if there are aerosol cans being used in the area. PAM spray, hair spray etc. will set them off but also degrade them faster.
Be safe everyone.

 

[caver]

I had a Honda EU2000i mainly for camping and to have a little power during outages. I often boondock camp and sometimes I need to run the A/C for a short period to cool the camper off. The Honda wouldn't do it. I almost bought a used Yamaha 3000 off Marketplace but someone beat me to it. So I bought a Champion 3400 inverter and no regrets. No worrying about someone stealing the Honda, RV plug, starts easier than the Honda does after prolonged sitting. One thing is don't believe decibel ratings as there is no standard for testing. The 3400 was about the same noise level as my old Honda maybe a tad more. I have an open frame Generac for bigger stuff but this was for the rare times I need a generator for camping.

 

[rademamj1]

I was a big Honda generator fan, and currently own two-2000w and a 3000w unit. Initially, all were very reliable and I used them constantly. Then came the day my usage decreased and my needs for a portable generator went down, so I put two away in storage and used just one of the 2000w for everything. It was a bad idea, cuz these gensets apparently hate ethanol fuels and both my stored generators after just 5 months no longer start. They are extremely vulnerable to ethanol during storage, and I learned it the hard way.

So in an emergency, I purchased an electric start Champion 4750w dual fuel generator (with 30amp RV plug), and two new 40lb propane tanks. I can run for over a week on propane, and starts every time. Now after 2 years, I can certainly recommend the Champion dual fuel generators operating only on propane.

From my experience, Honda generators are fine under continuous use. For any storage over a month, drain the tanks and burn the gas out of the carbs. Consider switching to non-ethonal fuels for all Honda gensets.

 

[ning]

Note that while many smaller non-inverter generators have a 240v outlet (my old 3300W Generac did), few inverter generators of any size do - that few that I've seen with a 240v outlet were (like 7000W+).

I used that Generac here and there for three years to cover our well, two refrigerators, one freezer, and occasional other small loads... and no, it didn't run all of that at once; if we needed to run the water, I'd have to disconnect the fridge/freezer loads and let the well run on its own - flush all the toilets as necessary, refill the dish tub in the sink, and a big drinking water jar, then wait a couple minutes for the well to turn off, and reconnect the fridge loads. It was cumbersome but it worked, and the 3300W unit was much less thirsty than a larger unit that would've run it all together.

(We use a whole house battery/solar system now, no generator - yet. I'm considering adding a generator for winter power failures to top up the batteries...)

 

[check]

OMG. Ive been running generators to power my house for 25 years, and none were inverter. One was even a chepo unit purchased used from rental yard at auction.

just use the standard surge suppressor that i normally use for electronics, and computers are fed thru UPS sources. I have never burnt out an electronic device except for an oven that went during a lightning strike on my ground mount transformer. Since that strike, i installed a whole house surge suppressor and no further issues.

Ace surge device of some sort is a very good idea. I had one in my electrical panel, just downstream of the main 100 amp breaker. There was a lightning strike to Hydro pole very close by that damage to a lot of peoples equipment, but, although my main breaker was tripped, there was no damage to anything in the house.

The surge suppressor, however, was toast, as I guess it sacrifices itself when there’s a lightning strike. I just have to replace it with a new one.

That same lightning strike damaged a neighbor’s automatic standby generator but not mine. And I have a theory about that. The normal procedure is for the Hydro line to enter the transfer switch first, and then go to the main electrical panel. However, in my case, I didn’t want not want to go through the hassle of having the meter removed and waiting for the work and then having it replaced again, so I simply took out all of the circuit breakers except the main 100 amp breaker from my panel, then ran the line out of that now empty panel into the automatic transfer switch. Then I bought a separate panel for all of the circuits, and installed that downstream of the transfer switch. Then I installed the surge suppressor into the main panel that only had the 100 amp breaker. That way the lightning strike never made it to the automatic transfer switch, because the (upstream) surge suppressor theoretically stopped it, and that single hundred amp breaker tripped as well.

For you Generator Experts, does that sound like a valid theory?

 

[sea2summit]

I was a big Honda generator fan, and currently own two-2000w and a 3000w unit. Initially, all were very reliable and I used them constantly. Then came the day my usage decreased and my needs for a portable generator went down, so I put two away in storage and used just one of the 2000w for everything. It was a bad idea, cuz these gensets apparently hate ethanol fuels and both my stored generators after just 5 months no longer start. They are extremely vulnerable to ethanol during storage, and I learned it the hard way.

So in an emergency, I purchased an electric start Champion 4750w dual fuel generator (with 30amp RV plug), and two new 40lb propane tanks. I can run for over a week on propane, and starts every time. Now after 2 years, I can certainly recommend the Champion dual fuel generators operating only on propane.

From my experience, Honda generators are fine under continuous use. For any storage over a month, drain the tanks and burn the gas out of the carbs. Consider switching to non-ethonal fuels for all Honda gensets.

If you don't mind, which Honda engine was on them? I hate ethonal fuel as a general rule and don't run it in small engines if I have any choice.

 

[EddieWalker]

...

From my experience, Honda generators are fine under continuous use. For any storage over a month, drain the tanks and burn the gas out of the carbs. Consider switching to non-ethonal fuels for all Honda gensets.

I believe this applies to all small gasoline engines. Both my log splitter and my generator are Honda engines. I always run them until they are empty. With the log splitter, that's when I call it a day for splitting wood. If I have just a few rounds left and I run out of gas, I just put a little bit of gas in the tank and then let it run until it's empty after I run out of round. With my Honda generator, if I have gas in it, I drain the gas out and then run it until it dies.

I ran my Honda generator back in February during the big freeze, but before that, it might of been more then a year since it was started. My log splitter is only used in the Spring and Fall, so it sits for months at a time. Both start easily every time I want to use them.