Did I buy the wrong generator?

/ Did I buy the wrong generator? #101  
Just how do you get a generator excited?:D Well first you could try plying it with alcohol, soft music and low lighting.:)

We have one electrician at work that we like to call in when we have "excitation problems", generator or otherwise... to say that she is an attractive young lady is a bit of an understatement. I think she's getting tired of us asking if she would "give the generator a little rub" to get it in the mood.


Sean
 
/ Did I buy the wrong generator? #102  
We have one electrician at work that we like to call in when we have "excitation problems", generator or otherwise... to say that she is an attractive young lady is a bit of an understatement. I think she's getting tired of us asking if she would "give the generator a little rub" to get it in the mood.


Sean

Oh Man, ROFL! thanks for jumping in.. I was having a hard time trying to convince QRTRHRS that I wasn't just making this "excitation" thing up. I mean after all how do you get excited about a generator.. or whatever:laughing:
I would like to meet that electrician by the way:D

James K0UA
 
/ Did I buy the wrong generator? #103  
I know it's legit from hearing about it in other generator threads, just never seen it myself.

I have seen gennys come out of 20 year storage and not have the problem, so it is not happening to all generators just because they have been unused for awhile.

JB
 
/ Did I buy the wrong generator? #104  
We live off grid, new house with new appliances and fairly sensitive electronics. We started with a Honda EB3000 running 4-8 hours per day depending on season & amount of daylight. After many-many thousands of hours [with proper maintainance, the genny needed servicing. We were without a generator for all of six hours, we bought a Champion 4000 from tractor supply for $299. In the first six hours of running we figured out running that Champion produced different power than the Honda. Our 1 year old front-load washing machine was fried, two PC's lost their power-supplies, and our 32" LCD flat-screen was TOAST! So, we borrowed another brand 5000 watt to run what was left, pump-lights-etc...

We have since bought the Honda EU3000 (and replaced most of the electronics thanks to add-on service plans and warranties), now using the old EB3000 for a spare/back-up. Turns out the frequency was WAY OFF (supposed to be 60 cycles) on the cheaper genny's from 40 to 90 cps.

If you wish to run the newer appliances and electronics without killing them with the generator, you should find a way to get cleaner power by buying a generator with a built in inverter or run the genny-power through a pure-sine-wave inverter/charge controller.

ANY generator can run a Skil-saw and lights! It's amazing the number of house-hold items have circuit boards in them and the damage that can be caused by a "cheap" generator!

Also, if a generator will produce the majority of power (running most of the time you're on location) you should consider propane fuel. You will use less fuel, have less carbon deposits and longer engine life. Not to mention the propane guy can fill a 100 or 250 gallon tank [pig] about twice per year and you don't have to "fill & spill" those 5 gallon gas/diesel cans!
 
/ Did I buy the wrong generator?
  • Thread Starter
#105  
We live off grid...

That is so cool!
I'm jealous.
There are days I want to lock the main gate and tell the world to go hang...

Welcome to TBN. I look forward to hearing more and seeing PICTURES!

Be well,
David
 
/ Did I buy the wrong generator? #106  
How much fuel did the EU3000 burn per week if you ran it between 6 to 8 hours per day.

I would think that could get expensive.
 
/ Did I buy the wrong generator? #107  
Start a thread on your experiences. When you are off the grid the inverter generator saves so much on engine wear and fuel it's a gotta have.
 
/ Did I buy the wrong generator? #108  
I've been giving some thought to getting a smaller generator, something in the 3000-3500 watt inverter range should do the trick. The EZ5000, while bulletproof, produces dirty power and is noisy.

It's not really a high priority for me, but I'd like to find someone that bought one and found it to be too small for their use.

Sean
 
/ Did I buy the wrong generator? #109  
Oh Man, ROFL! thanks for jumping in.. I was having a hard time trying to convince QRTRHRS that I wasn't just making this "excitation" thing up. I mean after all how do you get excited about a generator.. or whatever:laughing:
I would like to meet that electrician by the way:D

James K0UA

Next time we need something "excited" I'll ask her if she minds if I take a picture of her giving the generator a "come-hither" look. Good chance I'll be un-employed or injured shortly afterwards, so I may wait until I'm closer to retirement.

Sean
 
/ Did I buy the wrong generator? #110  
TimberXX, the run-time on the EU3000 *on eco-throttle* is supposed to be 21 hours... we get between 18 and 21 hours most of the time. Our genny gas bill is around $120 to $180 per month since I make a conscious effort to reduce run time.
Laundry [with 110v water pump] takes high throttle but it's once a week a for a few hours. I'm planning to replace that well pump to a 'slow-start' solar friendly pump in the spring. In March we should have ten 235 watt solar panels assembled in the yard and a 3K Outback inverter all set up to cut way back on the gas bill.
Converting a non-solar built house is costly, I built ours to be mostly solar so everything is handled nicely with the EU3000.
 
/ Did I buy the wrong generator? #111  
Next time we need something "excited" I'll ask her if she minds if I take a picture of her giving the generator a "come-hither" look. Good chance I'll be un-employed or injured shortly afterwards, so I may wait until I'm closer to retirement.

Sean

Maybe you can get her to do a "Training" video for all us TBNers that may need to flash their gennys?
 
/ Did I buy the wrong generator? #112  
MadJack said:
We live off grid...

That you live off grid is impressive. Are you well past any power or just simply choose to be independent? I am also impressed that you can operate all that you do on a 3000 watt generator. And lastly, I concur with your comments on quality of generator. That is a significant risk of the low cost generator unless you use it at the construction site.
 
/ Did I buy the wrong generator? #113  
JD4520, I'm not the "green" type, I live this way for independence and economics. Central Maine Power has given me a quote of $18,000 to run wire down 5 poles on the main road [state highway] and 3 poles up my driveway that the phone company installed before I started building. That is wire and a transformer plus labor.
With what I can do here on much less than $18K I can live comfortable, plus I never have to deal with outages and the new RF-Meters screwing up my electronics and/or my health.

I have started another thread, 'off-grid living' so's I don't thread-jack this one. Sorry if I offended the original poster.
 
/ Did I buy the wrong generator?
  • Thread Starter
#114  
I have started another thread, 'off-grid living' so's I don't thread-jack this one. Sorry if I offended the original poster.

MadJack,

You can hijack my any of my threads, anytime. :thumbsup:

I'm loving your new thread too (more pictures please!). Especially want to see the pooltable room. My pool table is still in my "Bar" in the basement of my big city house that is now rented out to a wonderful retired couple... But I miss my monthly gatherings of all my freinds around the pool table... I may never hove room for one in this house...

See! I hijack my own theads!

Merry Christmas,
Be well,
David
 
/ Did I buy the wrong generator? #115  
How long does it take for a full carb to completely evaporate?

Late to the game, I wanted to make a few comments about all I have read

Your question is a good one, and I don't know. But I wanted to mention that the problem can happen with a full carburetor.

I have done carb work for years on a variety of carbs..and the WORST are old motorcycles and old tractors that have the fuel gravity flow from the tank. As some of the fuel evaporates, it is replenished, and this continues until no more fuel is left. (Although frequently in this process, the float eventually sticks either open or closed.)

So, we are not talking about the solids of a bowl, or a partial bowl, but a partial or entire tank in many cases. It is a horrible carb job to do.

Idle jets are tiny. Many carbs have filter screens so tiny in mesh, that a particle cannot get through which would clog the jet. Yet..I see clogged jets frequently, so there can be no doubt how this happens. It is coming through in a liquid state, and then solids are being formed in the bowl. And it need not be an evaporation issue, but can also be an oxidation issue where oxygen attaches making new compounds. Products like Stabil are mostly anti-oxidants.

Shellac was mentioned, and is a product of the Lac bug, and is an excellent insulator. Most folks call what in in the bowls of carbs "varnish" in these parts, but I also hear gum sometimes. (Not trying to be a stickler...just looking for a way to tell folks about handy bug secretions.)

Shellac - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And it really is the "She" lac. Apparently the "he" lac only helps us by propagating more "shes":) (Incidentally, that's one of the best things many of you ever did for the world too. :D)

two cycles...frequently these are protected by: the lube oil additive is also a fuel stabilizer. Also, very little of the fuel is exposed to open air, and fuel does not gravity flow into the carb. The 2-cycle carb has its own built-in fuel pump driven by crankcase pressure oscillations. So 2 cycle fuel has stabilizers by default, and the fuel pump is in the carb, so small evaporation will not be replenished by gravity flow.

When I purchase a device with a 2 cycle, I insist on those with the little push bulb (primer bulb.) The bulb is not a primer of the engine, but instead a primer of the fuel pump. If you dump all the fuel out, and then use the primer, you frequently can replace that fuel with air (perhaps not on all motors, but my Husqavarna blower suggests that as part of the "prepare for storage" procedure.)

When I want to put away a 2 cycle for the season: I start it up and run it until it is warm so it will restart easily. Then I empty all the fuel out of the fuel tank through a funnel back to a small storage tank...pause long enough to push the primer bulb to pump (instead of fuel now) air through the works. Drain the fuel that returned during this pumping, and then put the cap on. Crank the engine, and let it run until it stops. This all serves to get as much fuel out as possible, and even protects the tiny pores in the fuel filter (in the tank) from getting clogged.

Looking at the Stabil site, their ethanol 411 links, it seems myths are growing about ethanol.

BoatUS Magazine: Three Ethanol Myths Clarified

Anyway, this was too long to read, but if you did so, accept my apology.:)

Bonus:
Coercivity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On the coercivity page, you get the see an example of magnetic hysteresis curves. Without magnetic hysteresis, the chart would look like a straight line with a certain slope. But, without magnetic hysteresis, a brushless alternator likely would never have been invented since it would have had to be flashed each time, or a battery would have to be installed.

Don't be mad...it was a bonus. Don't blame me for your hysteresis, you weren't even coerced! :D
 
/ Did I buy the wrong generator? #118  
Late to the game, I wanted to make a few comments about all I have read

Your question is a good one, and I don't know. But I wanted to mention that the problem can happen with a full carburetor.

So are you a drainer, let it run dry???

JB
 
/ Did I buy the wrong generator? #119  
So are you a drainer, let it run dry???

JB

Draining is better than running it dry. Either is better than nothing.

Fuel cutoffs should be used each time if present, and if practical to do, install them if absent.

If something will be used at least within the month, although I always turn off a fuel valve, I'd NOT drain, nor run it out in that case.

Longer term storage...tank 95 % full of stabilized fuel, the fuel valve turned off, and the carb hopefully drained, but if not possible, run out instead.
 
/ Did I buy the wrong generator? #120  
If anyone is concerned about engine damage when killing the engine by cutting off the fuel, be aware that aircraft engines are shut off the same way.
 
 
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