Comparison Home Stand By Generators

[farmer2009]

The cold weather kit can't change the incoming air temps, so it won't influence starting the way I described above. The cold weather package is still a good idea, but won't fix the starting issues I mentioned.

It can with a block heater. As the cylinder is kept warm. By the coolant. Would rather have a block heater and battery maintainer than an oil pan heater and battery warmer any ways.

 

[buickanddeere]

Sure, it will spin faster, but I don't think having warm oil will change the choke requirements at all....it's not able to heat the incoming air, and at -10*F, the intake is going to stay very cold even if the oil is warm. The idea that heat from the oil in the pan will heat the intake any significant amount....not gonna happen.

My electrician said that when they didn't start they would backfire a couple of times...big, loud bangs, and after doing that a couple of times would stop trying (can't recall...something like 3-5 attempts) because of the computer sensors. He would get there, put it in manual mode, put his hand over the intake, and cover it completely (he showed me this as he was doing the first service on my generator in case it ever happens to mine)....then they would start. He pretty much completely covered the intake with a gloved hand...that's a bigger difference than you're ever going to get with a slight change in intake manifold temperature (the actual metal).

Temperature isn't going to mean anything to a vapour engine on LP or NG. On a gasoline engine a warm manifold will assist vapourization of the gasoline.
The LP and NG have cold start problems because there isn't enough delta P across the "carb" to draw enough fuel vapour to raise the intake mixture above the LEL.

 

[buickanddeere]

Briggs and Stratton have been in bed with Generac since 2000. B&S have an agreement with Mitsibushi which explains why my gas powered Mitsibushi is a Generac/Briggs with a Mitsubishi label.

 

[hr3]

Temperature isn't going to mean anything to a vapour engine on LP or NG. On a gasoline engine a warm manifold will assist vapourization of the gasoline.
The LP and NG have cold start problems because there isn't enough delta P across the "carb" to draw enough fuel vapour to raise the intake mixture above the LEL.

:thumbsup:

 

[GManBart]

It can with a block heater. As the cylinder is kept warm. By the coolant. Would rather have a block heater and battery maintainer than an oil pan heater and battery warmer any ways.

Well, that isn't the kind of kit in question...it's just a pan heater and a filter heater...can't recall if the battery warmer is included.

 

[K man]

The LP and NG have cold start problems because there isn't enough delta P across the "carb" to draw enough fuel vapour to raise the intake mixture above the LEL.


Can you explain this in plain English Delta P? LEL? it's all Chinese to me

 

[K man]

The thing that gets me is why we do not hear from propane generator owners who have problems starting the generator in the Winter. We only hear from the ones that don't.

 

[K man]

Last week it was -10 C here and I was standing by my generator waiting for it to start at 2:00 for the exercise run. It cranked over 3 times before starting not 3 attempts I mean it turn over 3 times and fired. Maybe it takes 3 turns before the fuel is fired not sure. It started the same way at + 25 this Summer. Now I will wait till it is -30 and see how it starts. There is so much negativity here on cold starting propane generators.

 

[Toyboy]

I have found that a propane fueled generator seems to fire up faster than NG fueled one in very cold weather. Our former home had a propane fueled Generac and it never failed to start no matter what the temp was.

The Generac we have now is NG fueled, and last winter we did have problems getting it to run at -28F.
Backfired and such just as describes in a few posts above. Fortunately is was only trying to start for the exercise cycle. That's when I had the cold weather kit installed. It seemed to be ok after that, but the temps had moderated some also.
I've heard that Kohler has a carb heater package and I wish Generac would come up with one.

 

[msb1766]

My propane generator has no problem stating in the winter, I exercises once a week for 20 minutes, I am home when it exercises it it starts right up. I know one
morning we lost power and it was 8 below zero and it started right up, we were out for 5 hours.

 

[K man]

Now that is what I like to hear something positive about propane generators . That they do start with no problems in the cold weather. :thumbsup:

 

[grsthegreat]

Off to install another 22kw Generac this rainy morning. Have another in shop for next weeks install. So many people are buying generac units its taking me up to 3 weeks to get them in anymore.

 

[buickanddeere]

The LP and NG have cold start problems because there isn't enough delta P across the "carb" to draw enough fuel vapour to raise the intake mixture above the LEL.


Can you explain this in plain English Delta P? LEL? it's all Chinese to me

Change in pressure differential and lower explosive limit.

 

[check]

I have found that a propane fueled generator seems to fire up faster than NG fueled one in very cold weather. Our former home had a propane fueled Generac and it never failed to start no matter what the temp was.

The Generac we have now is NG fueled, and last winter we did have problems getting it to run at -28F.
Backfired and such just as describes in a few posts above. Fortunately is was only trying to start for the exercise cycle. That's when I had the cold weather kit installed. It seemed to be ok after that, but the temps had moderated some also.
I've heard that Kohler has a carb heater package and I wish Generac would come up with one.

Yup. I have a Kohler at the cottage and it has a carb heater kit. Starts in Winter every time, and it gets REALLY cold up there (-30).

 

[dave1949]

Off to install another 22kw Generac this rainy morning. Have another in shop for next weeks install. So many people are buying generac units its taking me up to 3 weeks to get them in anymore.

Why do you think that (so many buying) is the case?

Maybe the price for the perceived usefulness is seen as attractive?
Worries that the grid will fail, be hacked, whatever?

 

[GManBart]

Why do you think that (so many buying) is the case?

Maybe the price for the perceived usefulness is seen as attractive?
Worries that the grid will fail, be hacked, whatever?

I'm not the oldest guy around, but the incidents of extended power outages seems to be getting far more common than in the past (talking beyond 10 years or so). I honestly think the power grid isn't being maintained nearly as well, and power companies are running minimum staffing, so there are more outages, and less people to correct them when they happen.

Since we moved to Michigan a bit over 5 years ago, we've had more power outages than we experienced our entire lives before living here. That's a big part of why we opted for a whole house setup.

 

[dave1949]

I'm not the oldest guy around, but the incidents of extended power outages seems to be getting far more common than in the past (talking beyond 10 years or so). I honestly think the power grid isn't being maintained nearly as well, and power companies are running minimum staffing, so there are more outages, and less people to correct them when they happen.

Since we moved to Michigan a bit over 5 years ago, we've had more power outages than we experienced our entire lives before living here. That's a big part of why we opted for a whole house setup.

That's another perspective, our reliance on power has increased while the reliability has gone down?

I assume most generator owners are in suburban to rural areas. Probably the areas where the grid is least reliable. It would be an interesting paradigm shift if people in those areas begin to see the need for on-site backup power as the norm--for whatever reason. It certainly opens the marketing doors to a variety of solutions.

 

[doxford jim]

Anyone have Kubota standby power, looking at SQ33. HS

HS,

I have the Kubota V1505 12kw diesel generator for backup. It runs at 1800 rpm and is reasonably quiet - though we have it housed in a wooden shed about 50ft from the house. My setup is manual start and the change over switch is manual as well. I don't mind this at all as I am able to see what is happening and how the machine performs while there and can fix any problems with it if need be.

Where I live it can get very cold and I have had trouble starting it in very cold weather so now I have an extra battery by the machine. When the generator runs the second battery is charged with the plug in battery charger and gives a load to the generator if not connected to the house (ie test run).

When I bought my place, this generator was already installed but had not been used as intended. I had to set it up properly and re-run the fuel supply to give proper performance. I could improve the very cold weather starting by running a dedicated power source from the house to supply block heater, oil heater and battery warmer etc.
Diesel fuel source easier to deal with on our rural property (no propane or NG).

HTH

jim.

 

[houstonscott]

HS, I have the Kubota V1505 12kw diesel generator for backup. It runs at 1800 rpm and is reasonably quiet - though we have it housed in a wooden shed about 50ft from the house. My setup is manual start and the change over switch is manual as well. I don't mind this at all as I am able to see what is happening and how the machine performs while there and can fix any problems with it if need be. Where I live it can get very cold and I have had trouble starting it in very cold weather so now I have an extra battery by the machine. When the generator runs the second battery is charged with the plug in battery charger and gives a load to the generator if not connected to the house (ie test run). When I bought my place, this generator was already installed but had not been used as intended. I had to set it up properly and re-run the fuel supply to give proper performance. I could improve the very cold weather starting by running a dedicated power source from the house to supply block heater, oil heater and battery warmer etc. Diesel fuel source easier to deal with on our rural property (no propane or NG). HTH jim.

Nice, I think a company in Maine makes units. I'm looking at them, very reasonably priced. I wouldn't mind manual switch over too. I actually don't want to start up when I'm not home. Thanks. HS

 

[dieselbeef]

im in on this...i use 2 8500w portables when needed..went 21 days after charley came thru..it wasnt cheap