PTO Generators: Winco

jgh · Sep 24, 2005

20050924

I bought several pumps on a silly whim several years ago from Northern and your Pump 2 was one of them. The aggravation is not worth the cheap price. Skip it!

Cannot comment on the others but I wound up with a real one (ie, couple hundred$, service station type) for the 55 gal drum I am going to equip.

Northern has some in betweens, check 'em out.

Watch shelf life on diesel, specially in that NC heat, the stuff does go bad, even with preservatives. I would consider propane if you go standalone.

One thing also to consider--do you want to be hooking up a PTO generator in a storm?

Just food for thought, not meaning to be a party pooper,

Jim

Soundguy · Sep 24, 2005

240vac at 50a is right at 12kw .. ANd yes.. you would need either a load trnasfer switch, or need to isolate your main breaker so you don't backfeed the grid..

Your hookup cableing needs to be of sufficient size for it's length of run so that you don't have a power drop.

Soundguy

Soundguy · Sep 24, 2005

( This one? Pump 1Or this one?Pump 2Or this one?
Pump 3
)

Pump 2 is silly for anything but a 1-2 gallon lawnmower.. I had one and it worked your arm off to fill a 5g bucket..

I have the 19$ #1 pump.. works good.. I would have got the 39$ one if i would have seen it... etc.

Soundguy

John_Mc · Sep 24, 2005

( 240vac at 50a is right at 12kw .. ANd yes.. you would need either a load trnasfer switch, or need to isolate your main breaker so you don't backfeed the grid. )

You're right. I should have been more clear in my response that he didn't need to do anything special to use a 240V generator. I was focusing on the fact that he shouldn't have to do any other rewiring of his house or get a step-down transformer or the like. I was assuming he knew that you can't just plug it in and go (never assume...). It does need to be properly isolated from the utility line. Of course this is true regardless of whether he has a 120 or 240 v generator. What I should have said was that there is nothing ADDITIONAL to do for a 240 as compared to a 120 v hookup.

I've got the mechanical interlock on my main circuit breaker, so I can't hook my generator up to the house without first disconnecting from the grid. Works great... I can use my regular panel to deactivate whatever circuits I don't want powered while running on the generator.

The only thing I want to add is some sort of indicator to tell me when the grid is back on. As it is, the only way I can tell is to disconnect the generator and reconnect to the grid. May something with an indicator light and a momentary contact "push to test" switch that would light up when pressed if the grid was back on. Have you ever seen anything like this?

John Mc

Soundguy · Sep 25, 2005

How about a neon bulb on a push-to-test switch?

Soundguy

kennyd · Sep 25, 2005

Why does it have to be on a switch? Just wire the bulb off the in side of the main breaker, the bulb could be mounted right in the cover of the panel. I have seen this in alot of commercial applications.

Charolais · Sep 25, 2005

http://www.mastersalesonline.com/appchart.html

And this is the one I bought. I made the frame(3 pt. hitch) and before I bolted it down I set it up so I could use the PTO shaft that came with my Caroni tiller.
http://www.mastersalesonline.com/voltmaster/pto15-12.html

Soundguy · Sep 26, 2005

( Why does it have to be on a switch )

Doesn't have to be... just depends on if you want the neon bulb to be energized 100% of the time when the utility is on.

Soundguy

dmccarty · Sep 26, 2005

John_Mc,

Thanks. At least I'm getting the requirements down.

Later,
Dan

dmccarty · Sep 26, 2005

Soundguy,

The electrician and I have dicussed things but I have been trying to figure out how many watts/generator we are going to use. I just want a simple switch to disconnect me from the grid. I dont' want fancy circuits that I see on some switches. I want to be able to manage things in the circuit breaker box in the house. I would like a light fixture of some kind on the grid side of the switch so I know when power is back on.

The funny thing is that now we are thinking of using a DR mower to run the generator. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif They have a 6000/5500 watt generator for their mowers. We need one of their mowers anyway, soooo.... The generator is 600-700 dollars which is the least expensive option we have seen even though 5500 watts seems to be the minimum we need to power the hot water heater....

Later,
Dan