Your last generator Maintenance Run

[grsthegreat]

Good read

News & Events - Hard and Soft Starters in the HVAC Industry – Which Is Right For You? - BriskHeat

Or even better. This site was recommended by my ac installer

This is Not a Soft Start - HVAC School

Tells just what a hard start can damage a compressor, especially a scroll compressor. You get what you pay for.

Check out this actual test between the 2. Emerson SecureStart Installed on 3 ton Bryant Air Conditioner - YouTube

 

[grsthegreat]

Also, i install , or at least installed, generators as a major part of my business career. I can not tell you the number of A/C and Heat Pumps that just would not operate on a generator UNTIL a soft start was installed. A hard start DOES NOT decrease input amperage necessary to turn a compressor. A soft start does.

 

[grsthegreat]

You could also use a Generlink inter-connect...

No modification required or alterations.

Generlink.com

those are nice, but really expensive. up my way there only installed by the utility companies, and they want an arm and a leg. i was supplying and installing a manual interlock, an outdoor outlet and supplying a 10' cord for way less than 1/2 the price of the generlink unit.

 

[ultrarunner]

Yep... they are pricey but simple and clean without permanent modification.

Look at on for my place but never followed through because of my solar... don't know if compatible with both generator and solar?

 

[shaeff]

Also, i install , or at least installed, generators as a major part of my business career. I can not tell you the number of A/C and Heat Pumps that just would not operate on a generator UNTIL a soft start was installed. A hard start DOES NOT decrease input amperage necessary to turn a compressor. A soft start does.

I posted back before I realized there were this many replies about hard start kits and the soft start unit.

My condenser will kick off no problem, it just bogs the generator down more than I’d like for a few seconds. Ideally, when I save some expendable income I’ll get that Emerson unit, that’s pretty awesome.

So what is it that the extra capacitor does to allow a generator to fire off the condenser? Is it just the extra jolt that it has stored up that gives the fan a kickstart using stored power? (Over the standard cap?)

I’m going to look into that Emerson unit more, it’ll even be helpful when I get proper standby generator, especially since we will be putting central air on our second floor in spring 2021.

Thanks for all the replies regarding this issue, it’s extremely helpful!

 

[3930dave]

Excellent 411 stream on this topic........ :drink:

Rgds, D.

 

[Popgadget]

So what is it that the extra capacitor does to allow a generator to fire off the condenser? Is it just the extra jolt that it has stored up that gives the fan a kickstart using stored power? (Over the standard cap?)!

The capacitor causes a phase shift to the start winding giving the magnetic force a second angle to pull the rotor making it spin up faster.
I’m not familiar with the sure start, Hyper’s literature doesn’t really say anything about the theory of operation in a technical way, I’m trying to find more information about them and how they work.
My experience with the “Hard Start” with a potential relay is that it reduced the starting current as measured on my Fluke clamp on by about 50% in most cases.

 

[3930dave]

While it's been too long since that type of gear has been at my fingertips, my preference for startup issues would be a good probe, and a fast scope.

Not saying anything against that Fluke of yours Popg. John (Fluke) and Bill and Dave (HP) built some of the best gear of my era, and I obviously don't know exactly what you were using.

I suspect by your ".... as measure on...." comment, you already knew what I put in this first paragraph .... but moving transients around can be more involved than we'd like.

As we've wandered through in recent pages, some equipment may be more susceptible to fast-transients, some may be mostly just area-under-the-curve allergic........ sometimes you need a fast 'scope setup to distinguish.

Playing with power..... lots of nuances, and it's good to see these things kicked around in a practical thread like this one......

Rgds, D.

 

[daugen]

carbon monoxide, the silent killer...
At least 10 deaths in in Louisiana and four in Texas were attributed to the storm. Several of the victims succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning from running generators amid widespread power outages.

"People are running generators indoors or in very poorly ventilated areas and that is just an ultra hazardous thing to do, so I’m encouraging everybody that until the lights come back on, please don’t do that," Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a news conference Friday afternoon.

At least five of the deaths in Louisiana were blamed on carbon monoxide poisoning, including a family in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The generator in Lake Charles was inside an attached garage and fumes entered the house through a partly open door, WBRZ r

 

[3930dave]

carbon monoxide, the silent killer...
At least 10 deaths in in Louisiana and four in Texas were attributed to the storm. Several of the victims succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning from running generators amid widespread power outages.

"People are running generators indoors or in very poorly ventilated areas and that is just an ultra hazardous thing to do, so I知 encouraging everybody that until the lights come back on, please don稚 do that," Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a news conference Friday afternoon.

At least five of the deaths in Louisiana were blamed on carbon monoxide poisoning, including a family in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The generator in Lake Charles was inside an attached garage and fumes entered the house through a partly open door, WBRZ r

Sadly, that message can't be reinforced too often..... fatalities from generators or temporary heating appliances in a wide-area outage are common......

Repeating myself (likely).... but this one still gets me....... '98 Ice Storm up here - just after the storm, temperature dropped - Cold even by Canuck standards.

That night, guy decides to haul his propane bbq into the house, turn both burners on full blast, AND GO TO BED. Near killed the whole family, but fire-dept got them out in time......

Still don't get that one.....

UnCommon Sense shortage out there......... couldn't see my grandparents going to bed with the stove-pipe on the wood-stove disconnected......

Rgds, D.