trouble with recent emergency battery, inverter, car set up

[CRNG]

On Sun, 28 Jun 2015 06:53:54 -0500, "Terry Coombs" wrote in

Mind if I ask what brand gen you have?

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

Running it dry will help. It's something I do regularly now. Having a gasoline shutoff helps.

I seem to have heard of another problem with generators. That they depend on some residual magnetic field that has to be refreshed occasionally. I'm not sure how true this is, or if it applies to mine (Honda EB3000c, which, according to the manual, generates 3-phase which is electronically converted to 1-phase).

[philo]

I've got a few industrial-grade UPS's here and we once had a power outage go 24 hours.

Since the weather was hot, all I cared about was the fan I keep next to the bed and UPS held up the entire time.

[KLayton888]

You need a deep cycle battery not a car battery. You were ruining your car battery by running it the way you were.

For emergency power needs, the best bang for your buck still can't beat out a gasoline powered generator.

[Stormin Mormon]

Agree. It also helps light up the house, and get the neighbors to call the cops. Nothing like revolving red light bars to help you see to get ready to go to bed.

- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .

. .

[Terry Coombs]

It's a B&S model 030430 , 5500 watts / 8500 surge . Retail was around a thousand , I got this one for less than half that from a remorseful buyer . It had never even been started ... this is the second one , the first was stolen out of my shed (down in Memphis) on a dark and stormy night .

[CRNG]

On Sun, 28 Jun 2015 21:06:32 -0500, "Terry Coombs" wrote in

Thanks. It looks like a nice genny for emergency use.

[Terry Coombs]

It is , it will run my whole house in Memphis except for central air . Up here , we turn the water heater off , but can leave it on if I want long enough to get a hot shower . I can also run all the shop equipment but the TIG machine if needed . (not all at the same time of course)

[trader_4]

During Sandy I was surprised at how much you can run off a generator that size. Neighbor had one that was ~5000W and we ran two houses off of it. That included at least 3 refrigerator/freezers, two furnaces, two gas fired water heaters with blowers, plus lights, radios. Even more amazing, the second house was on at least 100ft of extension cord. The neighbor was even hooking up a resistance heater first day, until I got his furnace going for him. Only thing it wouldn't run was his washing machine.... Why he would even try that, IDK. Could have killed the golden goose. Might run OK without the other loads, but even then hard to imagine you can't go a week without doing laundry. On my side I did do some load management, eg disconnecting the freezer while the furnace was on. But not sure I even needed to do that.

[Stormin Mormon]

Years ago, I did some calculations. A galon of gas provides about 4,000 watts for one hour. With a

5k genny, best to have a LOT of gasoline on hand. Cause the gas stations don't have power.

- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .

. .

[bob_villa]

You can siphon gas from your car in an emergency. Good thought though...

[clare]

That's why I spent about $300 extra to make mine run on natural gas - and another almost $100 to handle propane as well.

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

I considered running my washer on a generator during the power outage a month ago, but knew there was no way to run the electric dryer.

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

Maybe you could convert the genny to run on propane. There are some conversions that let you use either fuel. You can keep propane longer.

[Mark Lloyd]

I thought most car tanks were designed to prevent that.

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

The conversion I installed is supposed to work on either propane or NG. I had some extra expense for propane (hose and regulator). NG would require the installation of an NG connection.

[bob haller]

you can put a shrader connector on the fuel line under the hood. normally the fitting is used for pressure testing the fuel system

[clare]

I already had the NG line for the Bar B Q - just added the 1/2" quick connect to the line - and I also had to buy the natural gas hose. That (along with the motor snorkel kit from US Carburetion) looked after the NG conversion. To run off of Propane I needed the propane regulator and the anti-backflow "T" to connect 2 tanks because one 20 or 30 lb tank cannot supply the 440cc engine for more than a few minutes in cold weather without freezing up., as well as the female quick-connect to connect the propane regulator to the natural gas hose. as well as a pair of whip hoses to connect the tanks.

All prices in Canadian Dollars - and include shipping and brokerage getting parts to Canada from USA

[Stormin Mormon]

Some generators do have 220 VAC outlet, but it would have taken some creative wiring to get to the dryer. That would have been a real waster of gasoline. Filament heaters suck major electric amps, and watts.

Wiring the furnace was excellent idea. I have done that during power cuts. If the gas or fuel source is okay, furnace provides good heat, and warms the home evenly. Not just spot heat in one room.

- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .

. .

[Stormin Mormon]

Reply center posted, as your reply was.

- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .

. .