What voltage does your generator run at?

[TomSeller]

Where does Honda rate as far as clean regulated power... do you get what you pay for?

My friend is a Harbor Freight Junkie... every month he makes the trip to Harbor Freight and their generators cost a fraction of Honda.

There should be a Percent Total Harmonic Distortion rating %THD. I don't know how the HF ones are rated well or not. I have not been able to find a generator listing by model/manufacturer and the corresponding %THD

 

[joefromga]

The small 2000 peak predator inverter generator that is like the Honda is very nice and quiet. You can have a conversation with it running right next to you just like the Honda. It holds a little more fuel and will run longer as well. On sale it was 449 I think. I like it.

 

[ultrarunner]

Even less in my latest Harbor Freight promo...

 

[CobyRupert]

P=IE .... Power in watts = Current in amps times Energy [ voltage ]

JerryK was right on the formula. The pump only takes 1,056 watts to stay running, but it takes several times that many watts to START the motor.

The "E" (voltage) referred to above stands for "electromotive force", not energy.

Energy is the total amount of work.
Energy would be the Power (P) x the (elapsed) time(t). Example 10 watts supplied for 10 hours is 100 Watt-hrs (as your utility charges, or 360,000 Watt-seconds, or 360 kilowatt-seconds, or 360 kilo-Joules)

 

[Zerk]

The important thing is the ' cycles per second '. Voltage is really somewhat meaningless measurement, which varies with load, and only has to be in a certain range. Even your house voltage varies depending on how much current you, your neighbors, and the other folks around you are using. The electric company attempts to place a voltage on the high side of your residential transformer that will give you a certain range of voltage going to your house. But the cycles stay at 60 per second. They make meters to set up generators by measuring the cycles per second... which is what you are changing by adjusting the motor RPM...

110 is low. Not saying you can't get buy if you have to. But if you are getting that from the utility you should complain.

Voltage is not meaningless.

 

[Oldpath05]

The math is easy... Volts x amps = watts...

SO, 220 volts x 4.8 amps = 1,056 watts...

SR

Now your talking down to my level, I get that, thanks......

 

[Zerk]

The math is easy... Volts x amps = watts...

SO, 220 volts x 4.8 amps = 1,056 watts...

SR

Divide that by .85 to .9, to account for power factor. Watts is a resistence, like heaters and incandescent bulbs. Motors are inductive. Utilities switch in capacictors to bring up voltage, because it is important.

 

[Zerk]

Voltage does make a difference. You may need tol install an auto transformer or buck and boost to get 208 to 240, when running heat.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Thanks, I dont know how you got the answer but that's ok, now I know what the running watts are, surge is probably a 1000 more.......

Inrush on starting your well pump would be more like 4 kw, but 240v. motors start very quickly. As long as the voltage does not drop way off, it would be up to speed in half a second. Your generator picks up a bunch of stored energy from the rotation of the armature and the motor, which gives you a mini-flywheel effect. That's where the peak wattage comes from in your generator rating. The motor may not put out enough horsepower to deliver 10 kw, but the generator will do it for a second while loads come online. The surge is too brief to pop breakers or smoke the wiring.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Divide that by .85 to .9, to account for power factor. Watts is a resistence, like heaters and incandescent bulbs. Motors are inductive. Utilities switch in capacictors to bring up voltage, because it is important.

Motors have starting and running capacitors to compensate for phase shift.