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Generators

T

TimberPig

Active Member
Being stuck without power has me in search of a generator to avoid future problems. Living like a refugee gets old pretty fast. I want to be able to run my furnace, microwave, and a few lamps during outages. Anyone have any recommendations or pointers?

What would something like this be capable of? generator
 
TP just remember this rule of thumb, watts divided by volts equals amps. Thus, a 3500 watt generator will supply 29.16 amps at 120 volts or 14.58 at 240 volts. Not really enough to run a household but better than nothing at all.
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Good info bearpaw, that might come in handy if I figure out what my appliances draw. I read the reviews on that Champion unit and they werent so great. I'm thinking I'd be better off spending my cash on something like this NortherTool and installing a transfer switch to my junction box.
Still looking for any pointers or opinions, but I might be MIA till I can mooch another computer! Thanks....
 
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installing a transfer switch to my junction box.


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That's what I did and it works well with my 5000 watt
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That thing has run everything in my house including AC!

Bigger is better when it comes to generators
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You need to run them under load a couple times a year and don't forget to add Stabil to the gas!

Mine is a little noisy but it sure sounds nice when you need it!
 
Anticipating such an ice storm, about 7 years ago we buried all the power lines on our farm, bought a PTO driven generator from a retiring dairy farmer, installed a Ronk disconnect box, then never wired the generator to the disconnect box.
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I've got the cord laying in the shed. I heard on the news this am that it might be 7 days before we get power. I might have to finish the project.
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As stated above, bigger is better. When you figure what size you need to run everything in your house, multiply again by 1.5 and start shopping with that number.
Size your unit so that it doesn't strain under normal load. It's easy to think of ways to "get by" when looking at the price tag, but once you need it it really pays to have the correctly sized unit.
Also, get a unit that will support an automatically scheduled exercise routine. The big generator for my workplace exercises every Tuesday morning for a half hour under full load. We bought this particular unit as a NG powered model and just hooked it up right to the regulator at the side of the building. The tank is always full!
The units linked above from Northern Tool are mostly LP powered, which I would highly recommend if you already have a tank at your place. Just remember to keep it full! Typical fuel consumption on a 10-15kw unit averages about a gallon an hour.
 
Just make sure that after you pigtail it to your junction box that you are able to shut down the link to the service comming in. It is possible to feed back through the lines and seriously injure somone working on what they think is a cold wire. A heavy switch set up to one position being overhead service and the other position being the generator is the safest route.
 
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Just make sure that after you pigtail it to your junction box that you are able to shut down the link to the service comming in. It is possible to feed back through the lines and seriously injure somone working on what they think is a cold wire. A heavy switch set up to one position being overhead service and the other position being the generator is the safest route.

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Good advice!

I have mine so I can shut the main off so a lineman doesn't get hurt.

It's hard to tell when the power is back on that way...have to go "cruisin" and see if the nieghbors lights are on
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My power has been out for two days too and I have been thinking about doing the exact same thing. I've been trying to figure out how big of a generator to get and what it will cost to wire up a switch to hook it up to.
 
getting bigger than what you think you need is good advise. appliances like your freezer, and refridgerator aren't a constant draw
 
Orschlen in IC called me this AM- they had a 6250/5000 just unloading off the truck so I ran down and picked it up. There were maybe 20 there and I think they were all spoken for... Problem was then that everyone in IC was out of stock on the locking plug end. House was already wired with the generator board to eliminate feedback- I just never invested the generator.
 
Let's hear some more from the experts. I may be running east for a generator and want to know the safest/simplest way to do it.
 
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Let's hear some more from the experts. I may be running east for a generator and want to know the safest/simplest way to do it.

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Safest and simplest???? Well, simple is to have a heavy duty cord with 220 plug ins (male) both ends, plug one end into the generator, the other into a 220 outlet in the garage AFTER flipping the main breaker to isolate you from the REC "grid". Open the garage door to vent the fumes from the generator. Now that isn't probably the safest.......
 
Like I said in the PMA I see a 15KW LP generator in my future. I'm going to have an electrician come out and wire a recpticle on the pole so I can plug the male/male wire in. Along with the recepticle I will have a manual, maybe automatic switch so I won't feed back. I also want a little light that comes on when there isn't power from the grid and goes off when the power comes back on, sort of a "night light" if you will. Some features I want on the generator would be a gauge to tell me how much power the generator is producing or the house is consuming, to see if I'm maxing it out, an hour meter, push button breakers and be resonably quiet, maybe 75 decibles at 50 some feet. I want LP cause it doesn't go stale. I'll probably runn it off of a couple of 100 pound cylinders or an old pickup truck LP tank. I'm going to build a trailer for it so I can haul it around easily. Store it in teh shed and pull it out with the Rhino when I need it. I can also use it to make my welder portable.

Can ya tell I been without power and don't plan on being without it again? I worked Friday night and spent the night googling generators. I could probably get by with a 10K but a 15K would be better.

The 'Bonker
 
There are some big dealers in the DM metro. Ziegler Cat (the new one at Altoona) has a very nice power systems division that could offer up a nice solution. Interstate Power Systems is also a nice outfit to work with.

The Kohler line of gas (NG or LP) is what I'd consider the "Cadillac" system. It's a great solution for light industrial or a full-featured home setup. The Cat stuff is also fantastic, but of course pricey, and geared toward the diesel market.
Briggs&Stratton has a lineup that looks neat, but I've never had experience with them.

If I was putting something in I wouldn't go under 15 kva, and like I stated before, it would HAVE TO HAVE the automatic exercise.

My goal would be to have the genset running at 60% capacity or under while at full load.

If you buy from one of the dealers like I listed above work the service contract into your purchase price. They'll come out and do oil changes, load banking (if applicable), all the stuff that you don't/can't/shouldn't be doing to ruin the thing youself!!!
 
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Let's hear some more from the experts. I may be running east for a generator and want to know the safest/simplest way to do it.

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Safest and simplest???? Well, simple is to have a heavy duty cord with 220 plug ins (male) both ends, plug one end into the generator, the other into a 220 outlet in the garage AFTER flipping the main breaker to isolate you from the REC "grid". Open the garage door to vent the fumes from the generator. Now that isn't probably the safest.......

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That's basically what I did on one house I built. I ran a #10 wire to the garage (during construction) and hooked it to an appropriate size breaker in the box and then just flipped the main off and the other on.

They do make very heavy duty cords for that purpose also, although all that stuff may be in short supply at the moment.

If you get one as noisy as mine...you won't want it in the garage
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Of course there is always the handy dandy extension cords running thru the house
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The automatic ones like Bonker is talking about are the cats meow though
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Standby generators

Transfer Switch Guide

Prewired Transfer Switches

Power Cords
 
Well, I dont know what I need, or what I should have, but I do know what I'm getting! Figuring that this will likely be the biggest need I will ever have for it (hopefully) I figure now aint the time for fancy shopping. My wife and daughter are already getting tired of living like refugees at other peoples houses. The local Theisens store took a U-Haul to C.R. to meet a semi and pick up 40 Coleman 5500/6500 10hp units. The misses probably wont be doing any laundry or baking any cakes, but it should at least provide heat, lights, microwave, etc, as long as I dont try to turn on everything in the whole house at once. One of our deputies is a former electrician, and is coming over in the AM to get me going with it. I'll probably have to hold off on the transfer switch until I have more time and better conditions, but I definately want one for the convience and saftey factor. A friend of mine went to Northern Tool in DM and dropped $2500 on a nice 10kw Honda unit, but I cant go that deep at this time.

Rudd, if you get one and need somebody reasonably priced to hook you up, let me know and I'll get you Matt's number, hes good guy and always looking for some fast cash.

Thanks for all the info guys.

BTW, anybody know if its safe to run my computer with generator power? Something tells me no...
 
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BTW, anybody know if its safe to run my computer with generator power?

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I have TP...never had any problems.

Here's a couple links on the subject:

Frequently Asked GenSet™ Questions

Generator Power

The 10 hp you bought will get you back in business for sure. Let us know how it works out but my 10 hp pretty much will let me live a normal life (such as it is
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I think mine will run for 6 hours on a tank of gas...so you might have to get up once to fill it up.

Another thing...a can of starter fluid comes in real handy for starting a generator...especially the bigger ones.
 
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