Honda Generators

[Jim Wilkins]

Too bad Honda generators break and are VERY expensive to fix. I went instead with a couple of very cheap second hand Colemans I can maintain with a chainsaw tool, and a noise-reducing folding weather enclosure made from fireproof ceiling tiles, which quiets them enough that they can't be heard from a moving car in the street. We lose power for a week or more after bad ice storms and a 2KW Honda won't start my washing machine; the Coleman 3750 can barely supply the starting current.

The smaller Coleman is light enough to carry through deep snow without shoveling a path, or lift into the back of the car. Those can be important.

jsw

[HeyBub]

One nice thing about Honda generators is that they're quiet.

That quietness enables you to hear all your neighbor's generators during a power outage.

[Stormin Mormon]

Looking at? You can see electricity?

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

Some little generators are not for electronic equipment. Don't want to fry the controller. I'm in process of looking at voltage and waveforms from mine.

Greg

[notbob]

What issue was that? I've recieved QST fer the last year and a half and don't recall any such article.

nb

[krw]

Most electronic equipment today uses SMP supplies which are quite tolerant of poor waveforms - actually a lot better than older transformer input stuff.

[krw]

If this happened with any regularity (read: twice), I'd have a permanent installation by the time the power came back on. Sometimes, 0ur power goes out daily but it's usually just long enough to screw up all the clocks and set the 'fridge alarm off. It's rarely more than an hour (even after a storm has taken lines down) and never a week after an ice storm. ;-)

[The Daring Dufas]

He's using a visual aid, an oscilloscope. The old way was to get a sheet of paper, pencil and pair of wires. Stick the wires in your mouth, hold the pencil to the paper then turn on the electricity. Your hand will jerk around drawing the waveform of the voltage. To get a drawing of the current waveform the wires must first be hooked to your testicles then follow the same procedure as before. ^_^

TDD

[The Daring Dufas]

Keeps the generator thieves from looking for one at your place during a disaster. ^_^

TDD

[Robert Macy]

Put a 3 stage EMC line filter in series with your electronics. One stage a waste of time. Schematic is often shown on the side. A 10A unit is a large block, but will provide a lot of protection against higher frequency spikes - the type of spikes most 'inexpensive' electronics do not protect against.

[Percival P. Cassidy]

Pages 49ff. of the June 2012 issue. They tested Honda, Yamaha, Generac and Champion models.

Perce

[Stormin Mormon]

I learn so much from you. What would I ever do without you?

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

.

He's using a visual aid, an oscilloscope. The old way was to get a sheet of paper, pencil and pair of wires. Stick the wires in your mouth, hold the pencil to the paper then turn on the electricity. Your hand will jerk around drawing the waveform of the voltage. To get a drawing of the current waveform the wires must first be hooked to your testicles then follow the same procedure as before. ^_^

TDD

[HeyBub]

Oooh! Good point! But, if you can't hear the generator, how do you know it's gone?... Never mind.

I have burglar-bar doors and chain my generator to the door. For others, it seems trivial to sink an eye-bolt to the brick facade (or similar).

[notbob]

Well I'll be dogged. Their it is! Don't know how I missed it. Probably cuz I'm not a big fan of QST. Too much ARRL propoganda and sales. I'd rather read CQ, which has more hands-on DIY stuff.

nb

[Percival P. Cassidy]

Ryobi (sold by Home Depot) now has an inverter generator as well, the RYi2000(T) for $599, but the reviews on the HD Web site are a mixed bag:

4 out of 5 overall, but several ratings of only 1.

Perce

[gregz]

Called an oscilloscope.

Greg

[gregz]

There was recently a long thread in electronic group recently. Reported distorted waveforms, and problems loading on side of the 240 split.

Greg

[Steve W.]

Sounds like the guys who sell Thermal Imagers in the fire service. They will take a unit and bounce it off a concrete floor or throw it around to demonstrate how much they can take. One rep had that fail at our station though. He brought in the units and started his demonstration. He would then pass the unit around to show how the functions worked. When it came to the tossing part he did his thing and handed me the camera. OOPS! the screen had a big blank spot where part of the sensor or screen failed!!!

[Jim Wilkins]

I can run on a solar-charged battery and use the genny only to top up the battery on overcast days or wash laundry. The clothes dryer is solar.

Soon enough we'll have Social Poetic Justice when the carbon tax jacks up the energy bills of those who demanded it, but don't know how to reduce their consumption.

[Jim Wilkins]

We are supposed to keep generators away from any structure for their fire and carbon monoxide hazards, and protected from the weather.

[krw]

Distorted waveforms, within reason of course, aren't a problem for most SMPSs. PC power supplies, for instance, will take just about anything. They have a rectifier right in the front end and switch that voltage up to a few hundred volts and step down from there. This isn't at all uncommon in electronic appliances anymore. Anything with a transformer in the front end will balk at crappy waveforms, though.