Gas generator rebuild or life expectancy

[Code54]

Now that the storms have past I started looking for a better generator, perhaps a diesel unit. With that I started looking at life expectancy and wanted to compare it to gas units. I cant seem to find what I should expect out of the Briggs engines on the portable Gen sets (6500 watt size I currently have), nor can find a darn thing on how long the Generac 20KW home stand by units should last. Any ideas?
I did find several of the major diesel players (Kubota, Etc) give some estimates and they looking much better long term but would like to see something on the other units to be sure. Right now I am leaning toward something around 11K with a major brand diesel but the cost is a little hard to fit in the budget but with the way we lose power around here it is looking to be a bigger priority every day.
Thanks

 

[ronjhall]

Many RV's have 7 to 10KW generators in them. Properly maintained they get 6-7000 hours on a gas model. Diesel generators will run 10,000 plus with normal maintenance. I hope my 12KW B&S whole house generator makes it to 6 or 7000 hours. It's got just under 300 hours. Most of those doing a weekly 30 minute run. In 7 years it has required a starter solenoid and 3 batteries. Besides normal maintenance.

 

[genusCastor]

Several months ago I went through the process of deciding what kind of generator would best suit my needs. For the amount of use I'll give a generator, I couldn't justify the added cost of a diesel.

If I lived in the burbs I would consider a generator that runs on propane, but out here in the sticks I decided it wasn't worth the cost of LPG needed to run it.

I also considered a PTO driven generator, but decided against it for a number of reasons. Mostly, the weather will be bad when I need to run a generator, and I didn't like the idea of getting the tractor from the shed to the house during a thunderstorm. With enough rain, our property (East Texas prairie flatland) can get difficult to drive on, even for the tractor. As a neighbor once said, "I've seen everything stuck in this prairie mud: cars, trucks, tractors, cows, horses..." :laughing: I thought about building a shed next to the house to park the tractor in, but eventually decided a dedicated generator was a better way to go; just go out and start it.

So...I ended up getting a gas powered portable Ridgid 8kW (10kW surge) from Home Depot online.

HTH. Have fun shopping. And thinking. :laughing:

- djb

 

[Baby Grand]

Take a look at this unit - quiet at 1800 RPM. They say a 12k is on the way.

Kubota Powered 6.5 kW water cooled Diesel

 

[Code54]

That Kubota is NICE!!!!! The price is not as nice as I would like but I do feel if I invest in something like that i won't ever have to mess around with this issue again.

The RV generators are also of interest, I just don't know what the "good names" in small diesel generators are exactly. I looks like Everlast, Apollo are both Chinese units and that scares me - I like some of the features and maybe able to adapt to something in that size range but want a good piece of equipment.
I also looked at the Ridgid and have entertained that idea - I like the Subaru motor but dislike it being gas. My problem is gas is tough to store compared to Diesel - the nice thing is I can cycle my diesel fuel by using my stored supply in the truck and tractors to keep it fresh and easily haul a 100 Gallon tank home in the bed of the truck. Diesel is a bit easier to store long term and a little less risky in my case.

 

[MossRoad]

I think you have a few choices to make.

Portable or permanent?
Gas, diesel, propane or natural gas?
Small load or whole house?

For us, I wanted a portable unit that anyone in the family could use during an emergency. So we went with a small 4000W gas with a 3600 RPM motor. It was only about $400.00 new 18 years ago. It still works. We only had to use it 4-5 times over the years at three different houses during emergencies.
CONS:
3600 RPM gas engines are LOUD!
And, they suck gas.
You have to store gas. We use three 6 gallon cans, but they get rotated often because our tractor, lawnmower, chainsaw, weed eater are gas.
PROS:
Portable.
Cheap.

If I had a diesel tractor, I'd probably look at a portable diesel generator. But since I don't I don't want to store diesel fuel for just a generator.

 

[tommu56]

check these guys out the 9kw looks good



Kubota 9,875 Watt Diesel Generator

 

[Code54]

That seems almost too cheap! I like that A LOT!

 

[techman]

check these guys out the 9kw looks good



Kubota 9,875 Watt Diesel Generator

I have this unit. I can testify that it is a solid, well built unit, well worth the money. I got mine about 2 years ago, and it has powered us through Irene, Sandy and a few other minor outages. It has a good overload (surge) capacity and enables me to have my 3 heat pumps running. Consumption in my case has been about 0.5 gal/hr. I would advise having them add the start controller if you buy one. It was under $ 200 and adds all of the safety cutoffs (temp, oil, voltage, etc), id does the glow control, cool down, and displays frequency, total hours, battery voltage, etc.

I would give this genset high marks.

paul

 

[Mickey_Fx]

How long an engine will last for generator usage, depends on engine design and whether you're looking at the old B&S flathead or something more substantial. The old B&S may be good for a few hundred hrs. RV genest have been mentioned. The most popular genset used in RV's was the Onan flat twin in 4.5kW and 6kW sizes. These engines are/were good for 2500-3000 hrs. Newer OHV design with full pressure oiling should be good for something in that range to maybe a little higher.

IMO for backup usage, it's hard to justify a diesel model. Gas is the easiest to get fuel. I'd not consider propane. Propane has a lot less energy content so you'll be using a lot more and if you life in a cold climate and expect to have need of the genny during the winter, propane could leave you sitting high a dry IF you plan on pulling vapor from the tank (typ way propane is used) as the ability to vaporize the liquid propane is directly related to temp. On Yanmar site they have info about propane tank size needed to run various sized generators. For a 7kW genny @ 20F, you'll need at least a 450 gal tank. On RV forums, quite common to read owners with propane gensets say they would not go that way again.

I have 3 different gennys. A small 1kW inverter model, a 4.5kW model in the motorhome and the latest is a Honda. a 2 cyl OHC water cooled engine rated for 6.5kW. The Honda should last for MANY yrs. Haven't had the need to use it yet and I'm just finishing up on wiring in the transfer switch to the house. My intended use would be to use the small inverter genny to power my pellets stove and run things in the living room for the extended periods. Use the Honda a couple times a day to power the water pump and keep the refrigeration equipment cold. Have 2 freezers and 2 frigs. The little genny can put out half power for about 5 hrs on 3 qts of gas. Much easier on keeping adequate amounts of gas on hand doing it this way. Can operate the pellet stove and keep everything in the living room going on <500W.

I wouldn't ever consider operating everything in the home on a genny for backup needs. I have alt sources for heat and I can live without AC. Fuel costs would be sky high IF one could find fuel if this was a major disaster. YMMV