My day with the generators...

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MNwr786

Demi-God
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minnesota
Another storm, another full day going on a second without power. Poles snapped all over, might be a few days. I have a 5000w generator and an 800w generator. The 5kw has wheels, but usually sits in its shed wired into our panel. After fixing the 800w 2-stroke one i rarely use, I kindly offered to bring it to the neighbors cabin for his fridge (he is 4 hours away and has meat in there). Little did I realize at the time, a fridge takes WAY more power to start the compressor than it takes to run. So, I go home and get the 5kw gen. Meanwhile, my better half decides to hold our fridge door open hoping it suggests a snack and now our fridge is warm. Ok, back to the little 800w gen... After a few failures seeing it struggle at 85v (probably destroying my compressor), I stick my finger in there to bypass the governor and rev it hard while I plug in the fridge. 5th try, success! Voltage stabilized at.... 105v???? And thats with a power factor of .88 and only pulling 200w. Back to the tool box. I made a new governor connecting arm and got it running the fridge at 116v!!! Good enough for me! Or was it... Turns out, with such a small load on the generator (after, of course, getting it to initially start the compressor), the motor sputters like it has no load. Only having one outlet, I had to once again shut it off and add a splitter to include a 250w light to keep it stable. Now, as long as the compressor dont cycle off then back on, she is good enough to use and the fridge can cool down while I go get the 5kw back. The neighbors rack of ribs is rock solid now and our good generator is home for the night heating my shower water. I think tomorrow will go a little easier, but as I write this listening to the hours rack up on the 5kw, I realize how badly I want a DC solid state freezer!
 
Most of the non-inverter type generators I know of are governed at a specific speed (rpm) to make the 60hz AC cycles presented by wall power. While you increased the voltage by speeding up the engine for a brief time, your 60hz AC was probably higher too. You have to do what you got to do and that was probably less harmful than having the compressor overheated while running off a cheap modified sine wave inverter. I ended up getting a 1800watt pure sine wave inverter generator...perfect AC wave form and uses way less gas than the 8500 watt. At today’s gas prices, 7 days of running the 8500watt costs more in gas than the inverter generator cost to buy.
 
Most of the non-inverter type generators I know of are governed at a specific speed (rpm) to make the 60hz AC cycles presented by wall power. While you increased the voltage by speeding up the engine for a brief time, your 60hz AC was probably higher too. You have to do what you got to do and that was probably less harmful than having the compressor overheated while running off a cheap modified sine wave inverter. I ended up getting a 1800watt pure sine wave inverter generator...perfect AC wave form and uses way less gas than the 8500 watt. At today’s gas prices, 7 days of running the 8500watt costs more in gas than the inverter generator cost to buy.
The Hz is something I didnt consider when I changed governor rods for higher RPM. Although we are lucky enough to have gotten our power back this morning, I connected it back up to test that. It's running at 58Hz. How its not a little higher, I have no clue. Its one of those Sigma 2HP (formerly Tail Gator) cheap ones so who knows how accurate it was to start with.
 
As hurricane season is upon us , as well as a rash of Coronal Mass Ejections thought it would be a good time to share what the guy at small engine repair and sales shop , advised me in regard to keeping my gasoline generator ready for SHTF . His advice was every 3 months or so to crank up my generator and put a load on its output . The output load as best as I could understand helps dry up condensation . Running it also helps with preventing a congealed carburetor. If battery starting this also recharges the battery . -- As I type this I can hear my generator running that I put my refrigerator on to give it a load to pull . --- Today was also spent cleaning battery terminals and other maintenance work on my solar system .
 
As hurricane season is upon us , as well as a rash of Coronal Mass Ejections thought it would be a good time to share what the guy at small engine repair and sales shop , advised me in regard to keeping my gasoline generator ready for SHTF . His advice was every 3 months or so to crank up my generator and put a load on its output . The output load as best as I could understand helps dry up condensation . Running it also helps with preventing a congealed carburetor. If battery starting this also recharges the battery . -- As I type this I can hear my generator running that I put my refrigerator on to give it a load to pull . --- Today was also spent cleaning battery terminals and other maintenance work on my solar system .
Good advice. My smaller 3500 gas I installed a drain valve to refill the gas can. Did the same on the dual fuel 7500 That I now run quick connect propane in.
Run them out til they quit.
Battery for the 7500, I have couple of the handbook sized car jump starters, will work. I do check the charge on them twice a year Because of being in the vehicles
 
As hurricane season is upon us , as well as a rash of Coronal Mass Ejections thought it would be a good time to share what the guy at small engine repair and sales shop , advised me in regard to keeping my gasoline generator ready for SHTF . His advice was every 3 months or so to crank up my generator and put a load on its output . The output load as best as I could understand helps dry up condensation . Running it also helps with preventing a congealed carburetor. If battery starting this also recharges the battery . -- As I type this I can hear my generator running that I put my refrigerator on to give it a load to pull . --- Today was also spent cleaning battery terminals and other maintenance work on my solar system .
That’s my regiment. Crank and run it every few months. Cut the fuel and let it run dry. The untreated gas is old but it starts and runs fine. Luckily these days my shop stays 150F inside most of the summer so humidity isn’t a concern like heat exhaustion inside or second degree burns if I accidentally touch the outside sheet metal.
 
Same here, the 1000W gets started monthly and the 2,5Kw every 2 months. I loaned the little one out last week and it ran for 2 full days off and on powering an angle grinder at 650 W while the neighbor was cutting an old greenhouse down built with 1 inch water pipe steel ribs. I have a couple of butane gas lighter re-fill cans and use that to help the little one with the cold starts. Both are hand pulled start and have no batteries so I am good there.
 
Good advice. My smaller 3500 gas I installed a drain valve to refill the gas can. Did the same on the dual fuel 7500 That I now run quick connect propane in.
Run them out til they quit.
Battery for the 7500, I have couple of the handbook sized car jump starters, will work. I do check the charge on them twice a year Because of being in the vehicles
Run generators for at least 15 min once a week!!
 
Run generators for at least 15 min once a week!!
No gasoline in them, when I drain the Tank and run them dry.
Even run the propane one dry.
My backup for the battery works. I have to run a gen a couple times a year anyway.
My system works for me.
 
I had continous problems with my propane genny from the day I bought it. Most times I could only start it using starter fluid, and then it would just die for no reason.

It took a long time to find someone who would work on it. Most small engine repair shops wouldn't touch it because it was propane only (they will work on dual fuel generators but only using gasoline."

But I did find someone and it was a very simple problem that he fixed in minutes. The pressure regulator wasn't set correctly. Sometimes I can start it with one pull now.
 

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