Your last generator Maintenance Run

[ultrarunner]

Just ordered the Honda EU2200i as I want my own private generator since the EM5000 now has neighborhood duty.

Also tried to order the extended run kit/tank but not allowed to ship to California... figures.

The seller said California is the leader in generator sales at the moment.

Surprised they had any in stock.

Meant to order the carb for the Champion 3500... in the future I will not neglect it and be proactive when it comes to maintenance runs.... a nice feature for me is the Champion also has 240V which seems to be rare in this size unit.

The 25 year old EM5000 so far has never missed a beat... only thing special has been Stabil to the fuel since Ethanol is all you can buy at the pumps.

If the new 2200 proves this reliable I will be more than happy...

A few of those I know that live off grid full time can't say enough about the Invertor 1000 and 2200 Honda... both for quiet and fuel sipping...

 

[3930dave]

Even some of the most ardent all electric supporters in Berkeley have told me they wish the city would re-think all electric homes.

Working with a lot of homes built during the 1920's building boom many still have original gravity furnaces or floor furnaces in service... A few still have Wedgewood combo gas and wood white porcelain stoves... All the old homes had built-in kitchen chimneys suitable for wood stoves.

Been out of town, on family matters...... just now back to this digital world....

While I do like electric tech, in many forms, this all-electric mindset is more jihad, than pragmatic.....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Decided that the simplest and cheapest solution was to buy more gas cans. Next time I go to the coast will have 30 gallons.

Hear ya. If you are like me, considerable research would happen, before buying the next one....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Storms rolled through last night & did a number on a bunch of power lines. Our neighborhood's power dropped about 9:20PM (tree damage), the 22KW whole house kicked in as designed, so we pretty much ignored it & went to bed. Power was restored around 4:30 AM (the time stamp on the text message on my phone telling me the generator was ready to run, is how I know when power was restored).

It was nice not to have to get out in the wind & rain to mess with fueling, connecting/disconnecting a portable or worry about whether food in the fridge & freezer was going to be OK until power came back.

Convenient - even when you are home :thumbsup:

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Anything not consumer oriented has had that for decades and even a lot of consumer product now have that feature.

Its called under frequency roll off (UFRO) or V/Hz and has an adjustable knee point and roll off rate on a better regulator.

On your last point about running a generator slower for warmup, without the under frequency roll off function you will burn out your regulator and/ or field windings as the reg will still try to produce rated voltage at idle.

Interesting. Very.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

I didn't need a maintenance run, the power went out at 4:15 this morning and the genny ran from 7 until 1 P.M. when the grid came back on.
I am glad I have wood heat. The overnight temp was around 26ｰF.

I am a fan of that evil stuff (), wood. A really smart guy I know, primarily heats his house with a pellet stove. Even a decent 1kw generator would probably be plenty to keep that running during an outage.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Just ordered the Honda EU2200i as I want my own private generator since the EM5000 now has neighborhood duty.

Also tried to order the extended run kit/tank but not allowed to ship to California... figures.

The seller said California is the leader in generator sales at the moment.

Surprised they had any in stock.

Meant to order the carb for the Champion 3500... in the future I will not neglect it and be proactive when it comes to maintenance runs.... a nice feature for me is the Champion also has 240V which seems to be rare in this size unit.

The 25 year old EM5000 so far has never missed a beat... only thing special has been Stabil to the fuel since Ethanol is all you can buy at the pumps.

If the new 2200 proves this reliable I will be more than happy...

A few of those I know that live off grid full time can't say enough about the Invertor 1000 and 2200 Honda... both for quiet and fuel sipping...

I'm sure that new addition will serve you very well ur. Can't say I've seen a 3500 with 220v in the steel myself; that is a nice option for smaller 220v loads.

Esp. for steel tanks, I've grown to like Stabil's 360 protection.

STA-BIL 36 Protection - Fuel Treatment for Engines | Gold Eagle Co

I know you've been fixing things since b4 you needed to shave..... so likely not news....... for a relatively small fee, UPS will accept a one-time shipment for you at one of the their retail outlets, in the State of your choice. I know that you could safely rig up a marine tank, in your sleep :thumbsup:.

Rgds, D.

 

[ultrarunner]

Been out of town, on family matters...... just now back to this digital world....

While I do like electric tech, in may forms, this all-electric mindset is more jihad, than pragmatic.....

Rgds, D.

Natural Gas is the next battle on the Global Warming Front... at least in some SF Bay Area cities.

A city like Berkeley already has all the gas infrastructure in place whereas the Grid is already a max capacity...

It takes a lot of kW to replace gas heat, gas hot water, gas cooking and gas drying which is how all the homes around here were set up except for a brief period in the late 1960's when some were being offered as all electric... read that the builder did not install gas service in part because of the cost to enhance the existing gas infrastructure.

I have seen it myself during the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake... my 1922 home had hot water, cooking, heat... neighbors that remodeled didn't... my entire 3 bedroom home did just fine with a single 30 amp fuse for the main... (30 amp main which went to a two fuse box with a 15 amp light circuit and 20 amp outlet circuit... I had microwave, washer/dryer, refrigerator, etc... never blew a fuse or in all the years I lived there)

Also... no gas and no propane and no permit for Diesel Storage for home generators leaves few options...

Maybe the work around is one of those Generator Interface Meter Rings and a portable generator?

As for the Hospital the power never did go out yet we were notified it would... across the street was without power for days but we were OK... maybe having the tank at 101% of capacity is why.

Maintenance run today...

 

[90cummins]

ultrarunner
I bought a new fuel cap and made my own auxiliary tank.
I drilled the new tank cap and installed a fuel valve then used an old boat fuel tank.
I cut the fitting of the end of hose and slipped it on.
The primer bulb in the line let’s you easily top of the Honda tank.
California is screwed up!
90cummins

 

[Katahdin]

I am a fan of that evil stuff (), wood. A really smart guy I know, primarily heats his house with a pellet stove. Even a decent 1kw generator would probably be plenty to keep that running during an outage.

Rgds, D.

I burn firewood as well, that said, I found that my home heating oil boiler and one zone's water circulator only draws 230 watts. I can hook up a 2000 watt inverter generator and it runs all night on a half gallon of gas.