Your last generator Maintenance Run

[3930dave]

Progress IT ! Congratulations :thumbsup:.

I usually start with the simple stuff (being a simple guy), and often enough, batteries can do a soft-fail, and throw lots of things out of whack.

Shop around for deals/steals on big inverters..... with a lighter gen, I'd be tempted to look at using it to charge a DC bank, then use the inverters to generate 220..... just a thought.....

Keep us posted, that sounds like a nice little project you have there !

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

I lay in bed last night and realized I was totally confused. The DELAY in my ASCO switch is NOT a dwell. The switch is designed to only have two positions, no inbetween (OFF). You could throw the main switch and turn it on manually after a brief off period, but that kind of defeats the purpose of the ATS.

Chilliwack, you were absolutely correct. the battery (I was told was "Good") was in fact defective on the Onan 7.5 Quiet Diesel. Found that glow plugs work and starter gets power but no cranky. Will mess with starter a bit. Keeping fingers crossed that maybe when unit fires up, there won't be an inverter issue.

TBN Generator thread..... leads to insomnia...... guess I should get a mod to post a Warning Sticky Note !



Rgds, D.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I'm figuring out how best to deploy this thing.

First get 10KW transformer to make 110/220. Then mount the generator on a frame and house a battery, the transformer and fuel tank underneith. That makes it top heavy. How to get it somewhere, where it's needed? It does have a lifting eye, which is kind of cool. Trailer mounting it, makes it bigger than it needs to be, plus tires rotting and needing air. Plus it makes it more stealable. I can load it on my 3/4 ton truck, but how to get it off (and back on again) let's say at my lady friends.

I forsee another sleepless night.

 

[3930dave]

Actually, I had a look, and it is better than mine, for 1/3 the price!

It's a good price-point, and they throw in basic shipping. (Not a big deal in the USA, but historically less common up Nord here).

We used to use a similar 6xAA pack in OE systems we built years ago..... lots more capacity, but you have to watch certain brands/builds....... I've seen certain plastics and mould designs combine with weak coil springs, leading to poor contact between the stacked batteries. It's a good idea, but a badly built pack can act flakey..... you can MacGyver around that too, but helps if you are aware of the potential issue ahead of time....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

MARINAS USUALLY HAVE PURE GAS.. TRY --PUREGAS.COM---

MY GEN WOULDN'T START LAST YEAR. I PULLED UNTIL I WAS TIRED, LEFT AND CAME BACK AN HOUR LATER AND PULLED SOME MORE. FINALLY GAVE UP AND WHILE PUSHING IT TO A BACK CORNER SAW THE ON/OFF SWITCH---IN THE OFF POSITION. NOW I LEAVE IT IN "ON" ALL THE TIME AND SHUT IT OFF BY TURNING OFF THE FUEL.

I was smiling reading your story...... I suspect we all have "those moments" with equipment, I know I have.

One of the reasons I like to haul my gens out and run them once in a while is to build "muscle" memory.... hoping that will help my brain if I have to do it for real when I'm tired, or awoken in the middle of the night by a water alarm....

Some people buy Avgas too..... marinas or airports often have better fuel options available, for critical transport items..... those fuels are more expensive, but having a generator serviced is not cheap if you can't do it yourself, and being stuck with a non-working gen during an emergency is beyond irritating.....

Rgds, D.

 

[Chilliwack Murray]

You can use the 50hz transformer for 60hz without any extra losses, ignore the kVA ratings, the amperage is what will cause heating. Regardless of voltage, stay below the rated amps.

50hz transformers are about 20% bigger to compensate for magnetic losses due to lower frequency. 400hz transformers are tiny by comparison.

If you have a manual, it should show the proper connections for 120V but I don’t think you can connect that model for 240. (110 and 220 is farmer talk and won’t be listed in the manual)

 

[dragoneggs]

Thanks

My little horror show

View attachment 592626

At first glance at your pic, I saw you hooked up electricity to your gas can! :laughing:

 

[Industrial Toys]

And diesel in a gas can, but it has a label.

 

[Chilliwack Murray]

And diesel in a gas can, but it has a label.

Better than the other way around.

 

[daugen]

My 9V. seemed to run down very quickly when there was a power outage

I can imagine your house lights might dim pretty quickly
if you were powering the whole place with a 9V...

So much rain in this area; read a TBN member in Southern Virginia is stuck at home with two giant
trees across his driveway, and running a big house on gen. Rain has saturated ground and trees are a falling.