Sine wave Inverter type back up generator for well pump.?

[CalG]

I'm looking to up grade the 4500 watt Homelite generator for the single reason I don't want to burn up the well pump motor. My wife has little idea of "load" or "starting current requirements". And there have been some "close calls" in the recent past. (Why would you turn on decorative outdoor lights when running on a gen? ;-)

Anyway, I was looking at the Honda 7000 units. Mostly because they are advertised as being quiet. But I noticed the unit is an inverter type. Is that a plus, or a minus, for starting a single phase induction pump motor? It appears those units draw a premium sales price, and the last thing I want to do is pay more for something that doesn't work as well. ;-)

Clean power for electronics means nothing to me. I just don't want to burn out the 30 year old fridge, the 50 year old freezer, or the "pricey to replace" well pump.

Comments?

 

[LouNY]

It would depend on the response time of the generator when responding to the load. Is that inverter generator a 120/240 unit or is your well pump just a 120V?

 

[ericm979]

I have not needed to run the well pump on a generator as we have a 10k gallon tank and gravity fed to the house. But the EU7000i has run our 3 ton A/C unit. The well pump is only 1.5hp and on a smaller breaker so it should work. If your pump is larger then it might not.

There was a price decrease of $1k last year to $5k. Last year when I bought mine not all retailers were using the new pricing. It's definitely not a deal but it is a quality unit and is super quiet. A lot of people have done well with the Predator which is about half the price.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

I recommend the Honda EU7000is for backup to solar systems for battery charging during the winter.
Being an inverter generator the plus is that once the load is started the units rpm will go down which uses less fuel. It will auto adjust the throttle based on the electrical load going up or down and still put out the correct voltage because of the inverter circuitry. This unit is also fuel injected, so it is more fuel efficient than a carburetor generator.

A quality generator that should get you thousands of hours of use.

 

[CalG]

It would depend on the response time of the generator when responding to the load. Is that inverter generator a 120/240 unit or is your well pump just a 120V?

The gen has 120/240 outlets With both three wire (dryer) and 4 wire (range) outlets. If I read the description correctly, It allows "disabling" of the 240 V output to provide full wattage to the 120V circuits. I can't imagine how this "feature" beats just not plugging anything into the 240 v plugs, but what do I know.

The well pump is straight 240 V Two wire. Must use the well casing for ground!

 

[CalG]

I have not needed to run the well pump on a generator as we have a 10k gallon tank and gravity fed to the house. But the EU7000i has run our 3 ton A/C unit. The well pump is only 1.5hp and on a smaller breaker so it should work. If your pump is larger then it might not.

There was a price decrease of $1k last year to $5k. Last year when I bought mine not all retailers were using the new pricing. It's definitely not a deal but it is a quality unit and is super quiet. A lot of people have done well with the Predator which is about half the price.

It appears

The customary price is $4500

One can pay more however.

 

[ericm979]

The customary price is $4500

Price has gone down since last year!

 

[ponytug]

The gen has 120/240 outlets With both three wire (dryer) and 4 wire (range) outlets. If I read the description correctly, It allows "disabling" of the 240 V output to provide full wattage to the 120V circuits. I can't imagine how this "feature" beats just not plugging anything into the 240 v plugs, but what do I know.

The well pump is straight 240 V Two wire. Must use the well casing for ground!

Do you know the well pump specifications? Other than the straight load (watts), what usually causes generators and pump motors problems is the pump starting current that can run 2-6 times the running current.

Inverter generators can be more efficient when supplying reduced loads, compared to ordinary gasoline generators. They will tolerate low loads better than standard gasoline and diesel generators, as the latter are susceptible to "wet stacking" under sustained low power loads. Inverters also generally produce cleaner power, however, as a rule, they are less tolerant of large starting loads compared to some other designs.

If you have home heating oil, you might want to consider a diesel, but otherwise, if the well pump starting surge current is low enough, I think the Honda EUi inverter series have a long history reliability and performance.

Some folks that I know seem to prefer to think that being on generator power is the same as being on grid power, and are reluctant to change habits. Which ends up being pricey one way or another.

All the best,

Peter

 

[steve tym]

If it's a two wire motor, no bigger than 1.5 hp. It should draw 3 times running amps to start. I'll send Franklin Electric an email and see what there take is on inverter generators. I know their VFD's don't like them, or at least didn't, but there have been a lot of changes since I last asked that question. I'll try to remember to post when I hear.

 

[TN8Man]

The gen has 120/240 outlets With both three wire (dryer) and 4 wire (range) outlets. If I read the description correctly, It allows "disabling" of the 240 V output to provide full wattage to the 120V circuits. I can't imagine how this "feature" beats just not plugging anything into the 240 v plugs, but what do I know.

The well pump is straight 240 V Two wire. Must use the well casing for ground!

I use the EU7000i generator for home back-up and use it in the 120V mode for more power.