Your last generator Maintenance Run

[3930dave]

Now, all that is pretty funny! I keep hearing on here, how stupid it is to put hours on your tractor running a pto generator, but it's going to be OK to run your $50 or $60,000 dollar pickup for hours on end to get electricity??? lol lol

SR

Multi kw inverters are very inexpensive today..... for emergency power on a (my) budget, I'd probably just (properly) wire one up to one of my old beaters for a quick fix, or build up a dedicated small-engine driving a high o/p 12 or 24vdc alternator. If I wanted a vehicle based solution.....

Idling vehicles when you don't have to...... given the amount of people constantly sitting in very long drive-thru lineups (talking pre-Covid) around here, I'd say many of them would put more time on their expensive vehicles doing that, than dealing with supporting the occasional minor grid-down event......

Just to get AC (voltage), no, it doesn't appeal to me either, but from a high-level marketing standpoint, I think Ford is smart in taking this to market.....

Rgds, D.

 

[grsthegreat]

I watched the link again...just have a thought. Thats a stupid location in the bed of truck for control center. Would be trashed in no time in a work truck.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I gave a friend some commercial inverters. He Idled his Yukon to good effect all night during an outage.

Same friend had installed another of my surplus commercial inverters in his work van to run a circ saw and microwave. Worked well. Transformer based Inverters.

 

[3930dave]

Not for monster 5'th wheels with triple AC (air), but I can see this F150 option being popular for what is considered today to be light-duty camping.

Travel. Park @ Wally World that night...... flip on the satellite and fire up the microwave......

Rgds, D.

 

[daugen]

I watched the link again...just have a thought. Thats a stupid location in the bed of truck for control center. Would be trashed in no time in a work truck.

I thought that too, concrete block falling over, sliding 2x4, they really need to armor that location, and for sure make it seriously waterproof.

 

[daugen]

The big three are in a hot contest to out gadget the others, Ram came up with best ride due to air bag suspension and super nice interior, and it's sold a lot of trucks.
Personally I think the fold down seats are a great idea. Even if you aren't the 5-10 percent who might use them, knowing you can is part of the appeal.
Just thinking of my teenage years, owned a Peugeot 403 with reclining front seats. Not something I'd show my date's parents...

 

[ultrarunner]

I’ve been running a 2200 Watt inverter in my 1985 work truck since 1990...

No issues except in 1990 the inverter cost around $1200 plus tax, welding cable to make leads, etc.

 

[3930dave]

Trucks, inverters..... all good, and things I'm into myself..... (keeping that rolling on here is fine ).

Back to the small stuff for a moment though...... air-cooled engines sure do work hard....... just now today changed the oil on my push-mower. I get why, but I'm always struck by how clean the oil is on the stick compared to what comes out of the sump.

Same happens to a certain extent with a car or truck engine, but w/o a filter on small air-cooled engines the contrast is stark.

Small air-cooled engines I've seen (not mine) that had black oil on the top of the stick....... must have had molasses down in the sump.....

Just about anything is better than old molasses, but this is one of my fav's for tiny air-cooled sumps:

1W-3 Synthetic Small Engine Oil ASEQT-EA - AMSOIL

Amsoil ASE, if link doesn't work.

Rgds, D.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I would be very curious if that 1990 Inverter was in fact Transformer based. Weight and size alone would probably tell you that. They seem to be the only one Utilites buy when they can't accept the MOSFETS going snap/crackle and pop.

 

[ultrarunner]

I would be very curious if that 1990 Inverter was in fact Transformer based. Weight and size alone would probably tell you that. They seem to be the only one Utilites buy when they can't accept the MOSFETS going snap/crackle and pop.

Statpower high-frequency, modified sine wave.

Power tools including a small Thomas portable compressor no problem... some of my nicad chargers not so good from Makita of the same vintage.

Learned early on to keep a small load on when using.. a 60 Watt light bulb does the trick otherwise the chopsaw Tripps the inverter.