Finally bought a small generator.

[grsthegreat]

inverters are great. i do work for the state of idaho and they use Honda large inverter units. i believe there in the 7000 watt range. super quiet, but also super expensive. there nearly 6 grand.

ive installed lots of 22 kw generac whole house units that cost less than that inverter. noisier by far, but less expensive for alot more available power.

if i was in a campground i would definately have an inverter. during a wind storm and power outage, not so much. personally, i could care less about a low hum as long as my house is powered up, my animals have water, and i can either stay warm or cool.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Here's a shot of my home energy utility. It explains why I don't need much generator to be comfortable. I'm an old codger who grew up before AC and central heat, so I maintain my 19th century energy tech. Thanks for the tip about the shop doors, though. If I had an outage and couldn't get big equipment out it would be a real nuisance.

 

[oosik]

I have a 3K Honda generator. Use it out & about on the property. Allows me to use my heavier corded power tools. In the 40+ years out here - never even once had to use the generator because of a power outage.

Excellent maintenance will provide superior service. Our Co-Op electric utility is the best.

 

[ArlyA]

We have one of those little 2000i Honda's we got years ago. Gosh that thing is quite and easy to move around. Great for little construction jobs where some power is needed.

 

[Gem99ultra]

We have one of those little 2000i Honda's we got years ago. Gosh that thing is quite and easy to move around. Great for little construction jobs where some power is needed.

I also have a pair of those little Honda 2000 generators. Mine runs about 12 hours on 1 gallon of gas. It sure saved my as* after Hurricane Ike. We were without power for about 6 weeks due to trees wiping out all power lines as well as ripping out the main electrical box from the side of our house. During that time fuel was unobtanium due to the stations also not having power for the pumps.

Since moving from the Big City, we added a DuraMax 10K for 240V service for the water pumps. The DuraMax runs on both gasoline and propane but it sure isn't as economical as those little Honda's.

 

[rangerfredbob]

A friend gave me one of those little Honda 2000 generators too, runs great but I think the stator is bad, I haven't looked at it for a few months ago but apparently it's a thing and about $200 unless anyone has any good deals they know of on the parts... it starts right up but the error light comes on or whatever and there's no voltage output...

 

[grsthegreat]

A friend gave me one of those little Honda 2000 generators too, runs great but I think the stator is bad, I haven't looked at it for a few months ago but apparently it's a thing and about $200 unless anyone has any good deals they know of on the parts... it starts right up but the error light comes on or whatever and there's no voltage output...

Unfortunately i know nothing about inverter units. Do those units have brushes? If they do, you need to clean slip rings and brushes and see if it helps. If the units are brushless, need to check the capacitor.

most small generators ive worked on have an excitation circuit to begin power generation. But again, youd need to find a diagnostic manual to find out how to test stator and what ever other issues effect voltage on these units. Ive seen bad voltage regulators cause shut down due to no voltage production .

 

[5030]

Unfortunately i know nothing about inverter units. Do those units have brushes? If they do, you need to clean slip rings and brushes and see if it helps. If the units are brushless, need to check the capacitor.

Inverter generators employ a multiple pole head that produces fairly high DC voltage which is converted electronically to 60 HZ AC. No slip rings or capacitance involved and no matter what brand you buy, they all have to pay royalties to Yamaha Motor Corp to utilize the technology. Yamaha pioneered the inverter technology and holds the patent on it.

I believe the DC generator head is 12 pole and on most of them, it direct mounts to the end of the crankshaft.

I owned one of the first Yamaha Inverters sold here, was a 2800I and it wasn't a cheap date and the motherboard failed and replacement cost was prohibitive so I sold it on Flea Bay.

The Champion Inverter I now have for portable power around the farm, Internally, looks very similar to the Yamaha I had.

Inverters are nice but one capable of running the farm would be extremely cost prohibitive.

 

[Hay Dude]

We were without power in Houston when Ike came through about 15 years ago. No power for 9 days. Had an 11 kw Honda generator. Thank goodness. We could power fridge, all lights, and even the small AC unit in a bedroom above garage. Each day I changed the oil. Gave it the opportunity to “rest”. No idea if it needed this but I wanted to be sure to keep it running properly. actually bought the generator in 1998 during ice storm in Virginia. Still have it. Run it a few times a year and run all of the fuel out of it.

We now have a whole house generator. Huge thing. 38kw. 1000 gallon propane tank . Have not needed it a single time yet.

Did my whole house, too. 22KW. Love it.
Strokes your ego and makes you feel like a genius during those long power outages 1-2 times a year.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Our new home will be built with standby power ready to go. Our power outages are few, but when you are spending $600k already, what's the difference