Rodger - I'm curious about the Make/Model of surge suppressors you installed - labels still accessible ?
Rgds, D.
Your last generator Maintenance Run
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Rgds, D.
Dave,
Attached is the photo of one of mine, I use one at the service entrance where the main line comes into the property and my transfer switch is located and then the barn, garage, tractor outbuilding, and house breaker panels all have their own units. They have to be connected through a 50 amp dual pole breaker, they are designed to fail with a dead short if they are hit with a surge beyond their capabilities so you do want to check the breaker from time to time but I have not had an issue with any of mine in decades of service.
But now the bad news, the company is no longer making these mains type protectors even though they allude to them on their website so hopefully they are coming back.
ICE is now Morgan Systems and they still make a lot of great products but they don't list the suppressors I bought. I also used one of their units on the phone line when I had a landline and my ham radio antenna rotors and antenna feedlines are protected by them: https://www.surgestop.com/
I am going to reach out to them via my business account when I get some time next week to see if they have plans of bringing the mains type units back because they work very well. Shortly after I had a new well put in back around the year 2000, the company I use started installing a bunch of VFD well pumps and the fairly sophisticated control boxes that provided the 3 phase variable speed drive to the pumps were failing at a high rate due to lightning surges. They started installing one of the ICE surge suppressors every time they switched a customer to VFD and the failure rate went to near zero. The only downside of them is the gas discharge tubes clamp very hard and very quickly so you will see some light flickering when a storm approaches as they briefly clamp the line every time a surge exceeds their triggering point.
And on edit, this company also has some excellent tech papers on proper grounding techniques for lightning protection and related subjects: https://www.surgestop.com/tech.html
Rodger
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Excellent 411 ! Thanks for posting all those details Rodger.
If you get some updates from that company, please post again. Even pre-tariffs, accessing quality products in a small market like Canada is challenging.
I've had a few discussions over time about VFDs with my neighbour (HVAC contractor); I should see what he may be using these days.
Rgds, D.
Mine auto started this morning shortly before 6 after a brief interruption. I decided to turn it into an exercise cycle so that it would get up to operating temp under load instead of shutting back down after monitoring the line for 5 minutes for another power dropout.
The cats didn't appreciate me turning the thermostats down on both central AC systems to add more of a load because in their view the HVAC system is broken unless there is hot air coming from the vents
Very dense fog this morning so probably an insulator somewhere had a major arc and caused a quick drop and automatic restore.
Rodger
The cats didn't appreciate me turning the thermostats down on both central AC systems to add more of a load because in their view the HVAC system is broken unless there is hot air coming from the vents
Very dense fog this morning so probably an insulator somewhere had a major arc and caused a quick drop and automatic restore.
Rodger
Back When, I wanted an ongoing Reminder to Self..... (still needed, by me
), and figured maybe a couple of people would stop by.....It's been a lot of fun here, and showcases the best aspects of TBN. We've gotten very well detailed accounts of solid, well-engineered installations of all sizes, and along the way, helped sort out some ailing generators. Ongoing reviews and feedback about generators and add-ons/enhancements..... priceless data, IMO. Yes, thanks to all who post here !
Rgds, D.
Da Kats, taking one for the team !Mine auto started this morning shortly before 6 after a brief interruption. I decided to turn it into an exercise cycle so that it would get up to operating temp under load instead of shutting back down after monitoring the line for 5 minutes for another power dropout.
The cats didn't appreciate me turning the thermostats down on both central AC systems to add more of a load because in their view the HVAC system is broken unless there is hot air coming from the vents
Very dense fog this morning so probably an insulator somewhere had a major arc and caused a quick drop and automatic restore.
Rodger
Your comment about flash-over, reminded me of seeing a crew, many years ago, power-washing insulators from a bucket truck. I haven't seen that being done, in quite a while.....
Rgds, D.
daugen
Epic Contributor
what a nice looking generator, you clearly took good care of it
and are those steel wheels? real steel?
I think I've only seen plastic
truly built to last
ultrarunner
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Good question… will have to check.what a nice looking generator, you clearly took good care of it
and are those steel wheels? real steel?
I think I've only seen plastic
truly built to last
Right after I bought it in the early 90’s the same neighbor gave me a genuine Honda factory cover for it…
Good neighbors are priceless…
Have to drag my Troy bilt 5500 out tomorrow and clean it up and get it running. Hasn’t run in probably 10-12 years since I got the generac whole house unit. Electrician is changing out the panel box and wiring in the new generator at the job on Tuesday. And I need power for saws and compressor.
