Ot. Generstor

[Jim K]

Spoilsport

Jim K

[Jim K]

Harry barfed:-

So it's not a small one at all then .... FFS

Jim K

[Martin Brown]

The instantaneous starting current draw of a freezer motor is huge and might well stall a feeble generator.

Some modern fridges and freezers actually won't work in a garage. One of the compromises for CFC free is that the working fluids have restricted temperature ranges centred around typical modern homes.

Certain refridgerants tend to stop working at ambient

So long as you keep the door shut should be mostly OK.

I don't known. Candles give a more pleasing glow as does firelight.

Can cook or boil water on the top of the wood burning stove.

It is worthwhile going around systematically removing the worst draughts on the prevailing wind side of the house. Made a big difference here as has 12" loft insulation - can't do much about the solid Victorian walls. Amazon have some self adhesive hefty foam that is thicker than the usual shed stuff and a lot more rigid. Ideal for wider window gaps found in older buildings.

Cheap and it doesn't easily crush down like the sheds stuff. Be careful where you put it or the window/door won't close.

Mine is on petrol and slightly quieter but not by very much.

[Tim+]

I was only thinking about the 12V supply Matty. I assume that one would need substantially "oversized" conductors to avoid significant voltage drop in house wiring (compared to automotive wiring).

Tim

[Dave Liquorice]

Don't care a toss about Harry but I do about the any linesmen repairing faults. With a bit of luck the crap waveform, poor frequency and voltage regulation will blow up his solar PV invertor.

[Dave Liquorice]

2 kVA is small... Machine Mart go up to 10 kVA.

I'll be working with a 150 kVA synchronous auto changeover twinset at the weekend. ie two independant 150 kVA sets linked together such that if one fails the other takes over seamlessly. We only pull about

20 kVA though and the sets are really only on "high tickover" at that load.

[Martin Brown]

It doesn't go off that quickly if it is in a sealed metal container in a cool garage with only a modest airspace on top. I'd say a check once every couple of months during the prime season for powercuts is plenty and entirely unnecessary if you have a powercut that forces usage.

Lawnmower is fine, but my strimmer is nothing but trouble :( YMMV

Old mixed two stroke fuel seems to be more problematic for me.

Aside from never starting reliably the auto extend strim mechanism is forever jamming requiring a stop and near impossible restart to fix!

[Dave Liquorice]

So was I. Assuming output power and 80% effeciency the 5 W LED will want 520 mA, each 1 W LED 100 mA (ish). So lets have 1 x 5 W and 5 x

1 W = 1 A or so, assume a lower limit for voltage of 11 V so maximum resistance of all wiring, connectors, source impedance etc of 1 Ohm. 2.5 mm might be OK but I'd do further maths to check.

[Bill Wright]

Don't be so sarky, it doesn't suit you. It's not a great problem if the mower doesn't start infallibly. Standards need to be higher for a generator used as emergency power back up.

Bill

[Tim+]

Power back up is desirable for many but "essential" for very few. For those few I'd go along with your suggestions. Sensible precautions. I don't think the rest of us need to be quite so obsessive.

The use of the word "essential" needed qualification.

Tim

[Bill Wright]

We are on a north-facing hill, quite high up. When there's a very cold north wind it can be really horrible. We also get snowed in. If we had no power and thus no heating in those circumstances we would have to evacuate, snow or not. I'd definitely class the loss of power in those circumstances as an emergency. Apart from anything else, the heating system would freeze up. In the colder months it's a major priority making sure the genny will start quickly and easily, and with no fuss. Mowing the lawn in summer I feel much more relaxed about.

Bill

[Bill]

A relative of mine did that to run a garage that he had. It caused a few bangs.

He became a teacher..........................

[Nick]

I thought you need 1500 RPM to maintain required voltage @ 50hz?

[Nick]

Plain f***ing daft! My father did just this many years ago during the power strikes. Left an upturned, live, plug on the floor. Albeit inadvertantly. Killed one of his dogs. Lucky it didn't cause any other harm. He never did it again.

[Dave Liquorice]

The RPM depends on the number of poles in the alternator but yes they do run at a constant speed. I used "high tickover" to indicate that the throttles (not that diesels have throttles ...) are barely open. Some of the genny operators bemoan this fact and look forward to a good film job that'll pull 50 kVA plus just for the lighting to blow the soot out. B-)

[Dave Liquorice]

Who said anything about fridges or freezers in the garage? Just saying that a garage in winter is likely to be colder than the inside of fridge. Thus it's quite safe to put the milk and cheese in the garage during a prolonged power outage.

Not tried that yet, though I think SWMBO'd did put a kettle on it not long after we had it installed. As the outside gets well above 100 C it ought to boil a kettle quite nicely.

We are slowly replacing the rotting timber frames with double glazing and that does make a difference. I suspect most of the benefit comes from the elimination of draughts.

At least on red I'm not paying 60 odd p/l duty, only 10 to 15 p. B-)

[Tim+]

Fine, it's important to you. Buying fresh petrol every month isn't "essential" for the majority of people with generators.

Tim

[The Natural Philosopher]

But harry might step on it, which would be 'marvellous'

[The Natural Philosopher]

that probably *is* 'high tickover'

[newshound]

Reminds me of one of SO's favourite stories from soon after we moved into our present house (there was *much* work to be done).

Someone left a bottle of milk on the kitchen worktop overnight, and it was frozen in the morning, while the milk in the fridge was fine. Thereafter, she would happily tell visitors that it was colder in the kitchen than the fridge.