Oversized generator

But was he serious or joking/being sarcastic?

"Tony Miklos" wrote

This is nothing to joke about. Thee are probably millions of watts of electricity floating about after storms, caused by careless generation. IMO, the government should regulate this. Congressional hearings are in order to get to the bottom of this. Bush ignored it, but hopefully, Obama will take care of the problem.

"jamesgangnc" wrote

A local appliance dealer was on the radio after a big storm and power outage here in CT. Seems that many new refrigerators have electronics in them and the generators were killing them. Maybe those cheap generators are no so cheap after all.

In my case, total outages are less that 40 hours in 66 years. I've not bought one yet.

On 10/7/2011 11:17 AM, Jim Elbrecht wrote: ...

...

Well, here's a (useless since it has no scales; you can tell it's a marketing tool) graph from Honda showing they're just the cat's meow in that regard.

Try a ping to Honda referring to the graph and ask for the supporting data and see how far you get... :)

Undoubtedly since there's less load (torque applied) it requires less input power. How much that translates into fuel saving versus load is anybody's guess.

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My Generac 7KW was the smallest standby generator sold in 2006, and I bought it since it had more than enough power to carry my basic home needs (furnace, refrigerator, sump pump, most lighting, computers, TVs, garage door opener, microwave, etc.)

The idling consumption of gas is about 50% lower than the idling consumption on the next larger model, and thus a partially loaded 7KW generator consumes considerably less fuel than the same load on a 10 or

The 7KW generator is smaller, quieter, and cheaper, and made the most sense to me. I have never regretted using a minimalistic approach here.

To be fair, the negative side is that I cannot supply enough power to run my home central a/c, my electric ovens, or my electric clothes dryer. And I suppose that my single cylinder engine will not last as long as the 2 cylinder engines used in the more expensive models.

Generac, Kohler, and others have deliberate;y made the transfer switch / breaker panel for the cheaper models offer fewer circuits. This limits the number of home devices which can be powered, and some people buy the larger generators so as to have more powered circuits supported. Careful rearrangement of branch circuits in your home can overcome some of this constraint.

I therefore would vote for having LESS rather than more in a standby generator, and would certainly buy another smaller unit like the 7KW if I was doing it over again.

They should really bottle them, for use during subsequent periods of electrical drought.

Engine speed on a non-inverter generator will always stay steady (ideally anyways) but at low load the RPM requires significantly less throttle - and less gas. 50% load will genereally require about 60% fuel.

The Honda gensets referred to are INVERTER generators - they are variable speed units, generating DC which is converted by an inverter to AC and speed varies directly with load - which means a LOT less "overhead"

A cheap generator is false economy because they ONLY fail when you need them.

If you are using the generator for "convenience" a failure is only an inconvenience. If using a generator for "emergency use", failure is an "emergency"

Actually, in actual use a 3500 run at full tilt MAY use as much or more fuel as a 7000 run at half load. GENERALLY the specific fuel consumption is a bit better when not run at full load, because even relatively simple small engine carbs can have full load enrichment circuits that richen the mixture at full power. Will the differnce be large? No - in either direction. I'd opt for the 7K unit - particularly if it is an 1800 rpm unit instead of a 3600. Not too many

I DO have a 3500 watt 1800 rpm Onan. It's a "senior citizen" with a rope start (not recoil) only - so that gives you an idea of it's age.

That's something I think we all worry about. During the huricane I had a two year old Kitchenaid fridge, another five year old freezer and this PC all running on a cheap Chinese generator. All ran fine. But I did try to limit the potential for damage by not turning on the big LCD TV or other non-essential electronics.

This got me thinking. What exactly is the source of the generator issues that kills electronics? The generator is just a rotating magnetic field moving inside a fixed wire stator. So what exactly causes the problems? Is it some kind of surge issue when big loads turn on and off that creates big voltage spikes? It's hard to believe it's an overall voltage issue as you would think most electronics could tolerate running at 100V or 140V without damage. Anyone ever look at the waveform on an oscilloscope?

You have my permission.

Just say "as a smart guy I know once said" --

A real Mini Cooper, or one of those modern BMW pieces of sh*t? ;-)

Maybe because the receptacle on the generator is slightly corroded and vibrating which causes arcing and sparking of the contacts?

It can also be something as simple as some other circuit on the genrator turning off and causing a big spike, however short, that blows the electronics. I think if there were just a steady resistive load, everything would be fine. I have a front porch light on a photocell/motion sensor that turns on about half the time that I turn off the ceiling fluorescent lights in the adjacent family room. They are on the same branch circuit. So there is some sort of a spike generated when I turn off the inductive ballasts of the fluorescent light that does its thing in the motion sensor.

A half loaded generator will run longer on the same tank of gas. Plus, the bigger generators often have a bigger gas tank so you don't have to go out at 3 am and fill it.

Buy your tools one time.

Not so common, the throttle of an AC alternator is controlled by sensing RPM or frequency in a direct sense. Indirectly it is also responding to load since a heavier load will tend to slow the generator down. DC generators are regulated according to voltage usually with an exception being a welder which is current regulated.

Jimmie

Not serious in the least, just sick of people graduating from 8th grade without the faintest knowledge about anything electrical.