Just picked up a 'good' generator.
Tried it on my little hand planer 200w - no problem Tried it on my Flymo 300 compact hoover lawn mower 1400W - does not seem to have enough umph (even thou not cutting anything)
Just what will it drive ???
Does it not have an information plate (or book) that states the wattage output. It's a bit like "How long is a piece of string?" without that information. You can get 3.5kva gennys that can run up to 3000 Watts, and others that will struggle to power 1500 Watts. What make and model is it?
HTH
John
The message from itsafluke contains these words:
Well, allegedly at full pelt, 3.5kW, but of course that's a manufacturer's rating, so in real life it may be considerably less.
Is that 3500 watts peak or 3500 intermittent? you may find in the specification it's only 1000watts continuous and 3500 watts at 10% of full cycle! so OK for running say a large PA or audio amp that will only be using maximum power on peaks of music or speech but won't like a flymo which has a continually rated motor .
Des
It says its made by Stephill Generators
3KVA (my apols) 110/240v 26/13A
Well 3.5kva = about 2800watts 16amp for most loads but its recommended you derate by about 25% for use with induction motors, like perhaps your flymo.
The number of watts it can drive is more a function of the equipment you are powering than the genny... with incandescent lighting you cna probably go close to 3kW, whereas with an induction motored power tool you could be down to half that.
I have a home-built 3.5kva generator based on a Chinese copy of a Honda GX200 engine and an alternator from Machine Mart. I've sucessfully used it to power a similar mower to yours.
I'd suggest trying to power a resistive load such as some 500w floodlights and see what it will do. I have a group of 4 mounted on a fold-out tripod with "T" bar (Ex D.J. lighting stand!). The gen will power these OK with a little flicker from the lights which is typical of small generators. I also have a 3.5kva "Kipor" brand digital inverter generator which powers the same lights without the flicker and with less noise too, however delivering decent quality power is one of it's features.
Alan.
Depending on the power factor of both the Gen (probably 0.8) and the motor it is driving (in the case of a cheap induction lawn-mower, probably alot less than 0.8)
Tim..
I have just borrowed 1700w chinese concrete breaker, and a Dewalt breaker of similar rating, and they run perfectly.
I think the conclusion I have come up with is that the concrete breaker actually starts on no load (or soft start). Load only comes on as u use it.
Where as a flymo virtually has full load on it straight away, ie belt is connected direct to the blade, which has to created the hover straight away, that also has to cut straight away. I noticed that with a JCB hover mower the intsructions say to tilt it over when first starting.
The message from luke58 contains these words:
All the hover mowers I've ever bothered to read the instructions for have said that.
Both probably have universal motors...
Its quite possible that the mower has an induction motor - lots of modern ones do since they run much more quietly. These (unless corrected) often have a poor power factor. That will mean that the load it presents to the generator will appear much greater, and hence the genny will have a harder time running it, even if the power consumption is theoretically within its capability.
replying to John Rumm, kiwi wrote: ? Electric Mower 1500W Remember your generator needs to have enough power output to handle the startup wattage (approximate 2 to 3 times the values of the running
replying to John Rumm, kiwi wrote: Common Appliances: ? Clothes Dryer 4000W ? Dishwasher 1200 - 3600W ? Electric Oven 2000W ? Heater 150 - 2000W ? Microwave 600 - 1500W ? Toaster 800 - 1500W ? Electric Frying Pan 1200W ? Iron 1000W ? Blow Hair Dryer 1000W ? Stove Range 800W ? Coffee Maker 800W ? Vacuum 200 - 800W ? Washing Machine 500W ? Fridge/Freezer 200 - 700W ? Television 100 - 450W ? Computer + Monitor 100 - 400W ? Blender 350W ? Electric Blanket 200W ? Sewing Machine 100W ? Light Bulb 18 - 60W ? Laptop 50W ? Shaver 15W Outdoor Power Tools: ? Electric Mower 1500W ? 10" Bench Saw 1500W ? Weed Eater 500W ? Hedge Trimmer 450W ? Belt Sander 380W ? Drill 330W hope this list helps .approximate values for the running wattage of common household appliances: a generator needs to have enough power output to handle the start up wattage (approximate 2 to 3 times the values the start up is normally the max it will run Output: 800w while the load is the rated Output:
700w the unit i have shown is not able to run a fridge and tv together but will run the TV but would be pushing to handle the fridge just on its ownreplying to kiwi, Bob wrote: You are replying to a ten year old question. And you are replying to the wrong person; John Rumm knows more than most people about these things.
Is the OP still alive?
Do you think the mower and generator would be defunct by now?
EU rules now advocate soft startup for some power items.
This might assist you with posting to a newsgroup, albeit through a website:
- If you are sending a reply to a message or a posting be sure you summarize the original at the top of the message, or include just enough text of the original to give a context
Not on a 13 amp socket!
A what?
Presumably an American hot-fill one?
Owain
Seems unlikely in the UK; 2 - 3kW would be a more normal range for a domestic tumble drier.
~3.1kW would be the maximum for a plug in device (240V @ 13A), however
1.8kW to 2.8kW is a far more typical range.
Electric single oven would be more typically 1.8kW, a double oven could be upto about 4.8kW
What type of heater? 3kW plug in heaters are common. But 60W tubular heaters also readily available.
over 2kW would not be exceptional for a 4 slice machine.
Not sure what you class as a "stove range" - here it would typically mean a larger electric hob and possibly a set of ovens. Peak loads of
12kW would not be unrealistic - although obviously diversity would apply, and that will reduce the typical operating average load considerably. 900W is the EU enforced power limit for domestic vacuums now, although older machines of 1800W to 2kW are common.No chance in the UK, 2 to 2.5kW would be common - since they will usually be cold fill and have internal electric heating.
Many modern appliances are better than that now.
Again, most modern TVs will come in under 300W these days.
2W to 500W (LED candle lamp to halogen floodlight)30W to 90W
Yup, but I am not sure what for!
.approximate values for the running wattage of common
Not quite sure what that paragraph is actually saying...
Fridges typically have compressors driven by induction motors, and inrush current on those can be 5 to 9 times normal operating current. Add to that the older ones may have a relatively poor power factor which makes them harder for a generators to drive. A TV should be an "easier" load even if notionally the same power consumption.
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