Backup Generator

[Industrial Toys]

The bearings in the generator are certainly an issue, but no big deal.

If the Rotor and Stator were in an environment with great temperature swings and moisture, there is a higher liklihood that you will have insulation failure, sooner, than if the unit had been in a warm dry environment.

 

[Hunter29]

OK I got a shipping estimate from the Maine place. $500 for the 9875w Kubota to a freight terminal in Sacramento. So even including shipping, it is less expensive than the Kubota GL11000. And of course the 1800rpm engine vs 3600rpm on the Lowboy. I checked the fuel consumption figures, at half load the 9875w Kubota is .41 gph vs .71 gph for the GL11000. That would make a real difference in a long outage. And it is good to know from commenters here that the generator is a good one. I am pretty much convinced to order one.

I spent more time on their website. They sell an Isuzu engined generator for $6400 (8kw) and $7100 (12.5kw). Both are also in the ballpark for me, in terms of KW and budget. I wonder if anyone here has experience with those. They are rated continuous duty. Worth the extra loot over the 9875w Kubota?

Thanks very much for info and feedback.

They just cost more, and there bigger I think...that little Kubota will do you fine, also compare the weight of each if it is a concern, I was looking at the perkins 10kw, real nice unit about the same price but it was 100 pounds more, that pushed me over the edge..

You may want to consider that Perkins too, its a bit stronger.. But for me it is the kubota...

 

[Hunter29]

The bearings in the generator are certainly an issue, but no big deal.

Why ? There rated for 100,000 hours.

 

[fried1765]

I have several gas stations within 10 minutes. If they are all without power I will just have to drive 20 minutes into the next large city. Not sure any of them have generators. Our power goes out rarely, but it's till a pain fighting the portable generator. Hauling it from the detached garage to the lower patio at the house. But still glad I have it and it has never failed to run. It will run all night on a tank of gas. Bought it at Sam's Club on sale for $200. It's a 4000 watt Max, 3750 running I believe.

Those small generators are very efficient at converting gasoline into noise....3600 RPM

 

[fried1765]

Thanks for all comments. I sent a note to the Maine generator place to see about shipping. It is about as far from the Mendocino coast as you can get without jumping into the Atlantic Ocean so probably too costly.

Hardy diesel is located in Jamul, CA., East of San Diego.
Shipping should not be bad for California.

 

[Hunter29]

Hardy diesel is located in Jamul, CA., East of San Diego.
Shipping should not be bad for California.

I told him to see if HD can build the same unit, I'm sure they can, but HD prices are not as good as CMD, I have looked everywhere and no one can beat them.

 

[fried1765]

Do yourself a favor, if you going to spend that kind of money get a 1800 RPM genset, way way better and it will last you the rest of your life.. The Low Boys are OK , nice set up but they run at 3600.. Look at fuel consumption too.

I had an 1800 RPM Onan for years.
1800 RPM is worth every penny!

 

[RoyKing]

Here some esoteric stuff I''ve learned. Mecc alte now uses a digital regulator which allows voltage adjustments and stores alarm conditions via modbuss. Several alarm conditions can be caused by the Alternator and will cause shutdowns. There are three regulators to chose from DER, DER1, DER2.

 

[Hunter29]

Downsize, whatever you get can we see photos, how it came in on a pallet and then your install? please

 

[downsizingnow48]

Sure, glad to do that. I am going to order the CMD 9875w Kubota tomorrow morning.

 

[Hunter29]

Sure, glad to do that. I am going to order the CMD 9875w Kubota tomorrow morning.

Good for you, one day in the not too distant future I will do the same.. what ya going to do for a fuel tank ? Battey tender ? solar battery tender ?

 

[Hunter29]

Get some of this too..

Biobor JF Diesel

 

[Chilliwack Murray]

Why ? There rated for 100,000 hours.

30,000 is about the longest rated bearing replacement interval you’ll find for an alternator but it is very cheap insurance to change it sooner. That is almost 3 1/2 years of 24/7 running.

When the end bearing starts to pile up and produce drag the governor just puts more fuel to it. The end result is nothing usable.

Go with the manufacturers recommendation on this one.

 

[TheMan419]

Those small generators are very efficient at converting gasoline into noise....3600 RPM

It just depends on your needs. Knock on wood we don稚 lose power here that often. So my 3600 rpm gasser has more hours on it in quarterly maintenance runs than on actual powering the house runs.

If we lost power often then I would consider different options.

 

[kcflhrc]

My little 4000 watt generator I bought at Sams Club isn't noisy at all

 

[downsizingnow48]

Placed the order with CMD. Three week lead time plus shipping. I guess that gives me time to make the generator shed. I was planning a bare bones structure. But I saw on the Hardy Diesel website a useful sketch on how to make a shed that reduces the noise with simple vents and baffles. That seems worthwhile.

 

[LittleBill21]

Placed the order with CMD. Three week lead time plus shipping. I guess that gives me time to make the generator shed. I was planning a bare bones structure. But I saw on the Hardy Diesel website a useful sketch on how to make a shed that reduces the noise with simple vents and baffles. That seems worthwhile.

are you buying a ATS?

 

[Industrial Toys]

I like the heat of the generator in my shop, but it's noisy and there is a tiny exhaust leak. I would love to build an insulated building for generator use. Out of block would be nice for fire resistance. It would aleviate some of my fears about leaving a generator running all night in my shop. An open frame generator, you can walk around and see what's going on, is great.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

30,000 is about the longest rated bearing replacement interval you値l find for an alternator but it is very cheap insurance to change it sooner. That is almost 3 1/2 years of 24/7 running.

When the end bearing starts to pile up and produce drag the governor just puts more fuel to it. The end result is nothing usable.

Go with the manufacturers recommendation on this one.

In the manual for my Winco PTO generator, I'm going to go with the mfg's recommendation, it clearly states: for maintenance, change the rotor bearings every 80,000 hours. (eighty thousand)

SO, I guess they last a little while!

LOT's of folks around here without power right now, but ours is doing just fine, for the moment.

SR

 

[Hunter29]

The 9875 has an alternator that is oversized (I believe it is 14 KW rated) along with the larger rotating mass of the diesel's flywheel which gives you quite a bit more surge capacity for starting larger motor loads. As I indicated I have 3 heat pumps (a 2 ton geo, a second 1.5 ton geo and a 1.5 tom air-air unit. I have no problem starting even when two are already running. One problem in many big box store generators today is that to cut costs they reduce the iron (magnetic frame) and copper (windings) to a bare minimum on the generator. This reduces the surge rating substantially which limits motor starting capability. Also the light engine construction with small flywheel weight also reduces the surge load capacity of the engine due to lower rotating inertia. This is why the heavier units (also the mil surplus are in this category) do better overall. One change I made to my Centralmaine unit was to add a water separator to the fuel line to protect the unit's injection pump. Also I use a plastic 55 gal drum for diesel, so rust and corrosion is not a problem. Also if you have fuel stored for long periods, temperature changes causes breathing of air and moisture in the fuel tank. To combat this I have a desiccant breather on the tank to eliminate water (condensate) accumulation in the tank.

I also had Centralmaine add a "2 wire start controller" to my unit. They used a Dynagen unit, which when I bought mine some years ago cost an additional $300. This unit enables remote start/stop over a low voltage pair of wires (in my basement), controls shutoff valve, glow plug timing, warm up and cool down timing as well as low oil, low battery, overcrank and hi temp shutdown protection. It also displays battery voltage and frequency. Well worth the money.

paul

Post your photo.