Your last generator Maintenance Run

[3930dave]

Thanks Dave!

I installed it 4 years ago after getting along with a 7.5 KW gas portable for many years. But I got tired of starting the generator, wheeling it from the barn to the house, and then plugging it in and throwing a transfer switch. It seemed most power failures were at night during snow and it is uphill from the barn to the house so I truly was pushing the generator uphill through the snow.

This one is a 40 KW with a 200 amp auto transfer switch. I went with the Asco commercial transfer switch over a "homeowner" grade because it allows more customization including allowing engine warm up delay between power loss and changeover to the generator. It also does an in-phase transfer back to commercial power 5 minutes after it returns and is stable.

40 KW is a bit of overkill but it was only a little more costly than the 30 KW model I considered and the 40 KW has a more efficient 3.3L Mitsu direct injected turbo diesel and uses a mechanical pump with governor but the engine controller has fine speed control over the governor to keep it very close to 60 hz spec. The only downside is loading it sufficiently, not a problem in the summertime with two central air units and a pair of electric water heaters plug the well pump but in winter I use a lot of space heaters for a load when exercising it. Far different than the former portable I used where I needed to shut pretty much everything else down when it was time to start the well pump to refill the pressure tanks.

This produces very clean power which is one of the first things I noticed after install. I am a ham radio operator and I installed commercial grade surge protectors at the breaker boxes for the house, barn, garage, and outbuilding and these also have an interference filter in them (RFI filter along with MOVs and gas discharge tubes). When running off the gas generator, I could hear the metal boxed suppressors "singing" along with the generator but now they are silent and this generator produces a beautiful sinewave on the scop. With the generator installed in the semi-basement part of the barn it is extremely quiet running at 1800 RPM and it can only be heard with the windows open. I should have installed it years ago, it has been well worth the cost and effort!

Rodger

Wow ! Killer setup !

You've blended various technologies very well, and understand the MTCE needs of a relatively high capacity diesel - I'm sure it should give you excellent service for a long time.

Happy DXing , esp. when the grid is down !

Rgds, D.

 

[aba4430]

Back-up 20KW Eaton (Generac) ran for @2 hours today due to a power outage. Inherent extended exercise other than the weekly 15 minute auto runs.

 

[orezok]

I had a 10kW Generac for 10 years and it never failed, but it was getting old and only had a 10 circuit transfer switch.

We are both getting older and decided that we wanted Hot water, Air conditioning, oven, cooktop and the garage/shop powered all at the same time (more or less). 2500 SF all electric house.

I upgraded to a 22kW Generac but now in the 6 months since install, the total run time including exercise has been 2 HOURS total.

So why did I upgrade

 

[bdhsfz6]

I had a 10kW Generac for 10 years and it never failed, but it was getting old and only had a 10 circuit transfer switch.

We are both getting older and decided that we wanted Hot water, Air conditioning, oven, cooktop and the garage/shop powered all at the same time (more or less). 2500 SF all electric house.

I upgraded to a 22kW Generac but now in the 6 months since install, the total run time including exercise has been 2 HOURS total.

So why did I upgrade

It's called "insurance". The more you spend on a generator, the less likely you are to have an outage.

 

[ultrarunner]

I had a 10kW Generac for 10 years and it never failed, but it was getting old and only had a 10 circuit transfer switch.

We are both getting older and decided that we wanted Hot water, Air conditioning, oven, cooktop and the garage/shop powered all at the same time (more or less). 2500 SF all electric house.

I upgraded to a 22kW Generac but now in the 6 months since install, the total run time including exercise has been 2 HOURS total.

So why did I upgrade

During the extended power outages here my Honda EM 5000 powered the refrigerators at 4 single family homes plus modest lights and computer/cell chargers…

My then 95 year old neighbor was in charge of rolling it out and laying all the 10 gauge cords.

Originally it was just for my house but I was often away so he took over for my place, his place, his daughters place and we added the 100 year old widow lady next to his daughter…

The Honda has been zero trouble since I bought it new in 1985…

 

[3930dave]

Back-up 20KW Eaton (Generac) ran for @2 hours today due to a power outage. Inherent extended exercise other than the weekly 15 minute auto runs.

2 hours isn't long.... but if you have just got in the shower, before going to work..... nice to have the seamless transfer of power....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

So why did I upgrade

Murphy.... has many sides

The interview was about other things, but in a recent podcast, a guy who consults for resource companies, mostly in the USA, commented about considering "Do I really still need to be paying for this Sat-phone ?"... then, just a little afterwards the big recent AT&T outage happened....

Rgds, D

 

[3930dave]

During the extended power outages here my Honda EM 5000 powered the refrigerators at 4 single family homes plus modest lights and computer/cell chargers…

My ten 95 year old neighbor was in charge of rolling it out and laying all the 10 gauge cords.

Originally it was just for my house but I was often away so he took over for my place, his place, his daughters place and we added the 100 year old widow lady next to his daughter…

The Honda has been zero trouble since I bought it new in 1985…

I was thinking of your Honda as Vintage, then considered that your Gen Tech/Minder and neighbours would consider it only a Pup !

Rgds, D.

 

[bigtiller]

I had a 10kW Generac for 10 years and it never failed, but it was getting old and only had a 10 circuit transfer switch.

We are both getting older and decided that we wanted Hot water, Air conditioning, oven, cooktop and the garage/shop powered all at the same time (more or less). 2500 SF all electric house.

I upgraded to a 22kW Generac but now in the 6 months since install, the total run time including exercise has been 2 HOURS total.

So why did I upgrade

for that once in a lifetime rogue Santa Ana wind storm that nobody ever wants....Midwesterners call them derecho. they can be bad!!

 

[orezok]

for that once in a lifetime rogue Santa Ana wind storm that nobody ever wants....Midwesterners call them derecho. they can be bad!!

I live in the desert where the Santa Ana’s originate. We do experience significant wind during Santa Ana conditions, but nothing like coastal areas.

 

[3930dave]

This produces very clean power which is one of the first things I noticed after install. I am a ham radio operator and I installed commercial grade surge protectors at the breaker boxes for the house, barn, garage, and outbuilding and these also have an interference filter in them (RFI filter along with MOVs and gas discharge tubes). When running off the gas generator, I could hear the metal boxed suppressors "singing" along with the generator but now they are silent and this generator produces a beautiful sinewave on the scop. With the generator installed in the semi-basement part of the barn it is extremely quiet running at 1800 RPM and it can only be heard with the windows open. I should have installed it years ago, it has been well worth the cost and effort!

Rodger

Rodger - I'm curious about the Make/Model of surge suppressors you installed - labels still accessible ?

Rgds, D.

 

[RBsingl]

Rodger - I'm curious about the Make/Model of surge suppressors you installed - labels still accessible ?

Rgds, D.

Dave,

Attached is the photo of one of mine, I use one at the service entrance where the main line comes into the property and my transfer switch is located and then the barn, garage, tractor outbuilding, and house breaker panels all have their own units. They have to be connected through a 50 amp dual pole breaker, they are designed to fail with a dead short if they are hit with a surge beyond their capabilities so you do want to check the breaker from time to time but I have not had an issue with any of mine in decades of service.

But now the bad news, the company is no longer making these mains type protectors even though they allude to them on their website so hopefully they are coming back.

ICE is now Morgan Systems and they still make a lot of great products but they don't list the suppressors I bought. I also used one of their units on the phone line when I had a landline and my ham radio antenna rotors and antenna feedlines are protected by them: https://www.surgestop.com/

I am going to reach out to them via my business account when I get some time next week to see if they have plans of bringing the mains type units back because they work very well. Shortly after I had a new well put in back around the year 2000, the company I use started installing a bunch of VFD well pumps and the fairly sophisticated control boxes that provided the 3 phase variable speed drive to the pumps were failing at a high rate due to lightning surges. They started installing one of the ICE surge suppressors every time they switched a customer to VFD and the failure rate went to near zero. The only downside of them is the gas discharge tubes clamp very hard and very quickly so you will see some light flickering when a storm approaches as they briefly clamp the line every time a surge exceeds their triggering point.

And on edit, this company also has some excellent tech papers on proper grounding techniques for lightning protection and related subjects: https://www.surgestop.com/tech.html

Rodger

 

[3930dave]

Dave,

Attached is the photo of one of mine, I use one at the service entrance where the main line comes into the property and my transfer switch is located and then the barn, garage, tractor outbuilding, and house breaker panels all have their own units. They have to be connected through a 50 amp dual pole breaker, they are designed to fail with a dead short if they are hit with a surge beyond their capabilities so you do want to check the breaker from time to time but I have not had an issue with any of mine in decades of service.

But now the bad news, the company is no longer making these mains type protectors even though they allude to them on their website so hopefully they are coming back.

ICE is now Morgan Systems and they still make a lot of great products but they don't list the suppressors I bought. I also used one of their units on the phone line when I had a landline and my ham radio antenna rotors and antenna feedlines are protected by them: https://www.surgestop.com/

I am going to reach out to them via my business account when I get some time next week to see if they have plans of bringing the mains type units back because they work very well. Shortly after I had a new well put in back around the year 2000, the company I use started installing a bunch of VFD well pumps and the fairly sophisticated control boxes that provided the 3 phase variable speed drive to the pumps were failing at a high rate due to lightning surges. They started installing one of the ICE surge suppressors every time they switched a customer to VFD and the failure rate went to near zero. The only downside of them is the gas discharge tubes clamp very hard and very quickly so you will see some light flickering when a storm approaches as they briefly clamp the line every time a surge exceeds their triggering point.

And on edit, this company also has some excellent tech papers on proper grounding techniques for lightning protection and related subjects: https://www.surgestop.com/tech.html

Rodger

Excellent 411 ! Thanks for posting all those details Rodger.

If you get some updates from that company, please post again. Even pre-tariffs, accessing quality products in a small market like Canada is challenging.

I've had a few discussions over time about VFDs with my neighbour (HVAC contractor); I should see what he may be using these days.

Rgds, D.

 

[subhunter]

This has been a fun thread to read. Thanks for all your posts.

I have a maintenance run coming up soon and will post about it.

 

[RBsingl]

Mine auto started this morning shortly before 6 after a brief interruption. I decided to turn it into an exercise cycle so that it would get up to operating temp under load instead of shutting back down after monitoring the line for 5 minutes for another power dropout.

The cats didn't appreciate me turning the thermostats down on both central AC systems to add more of a load because in their view the HVAC system is broken unless there is hot air coming from the vents

Very dense fog this morning so probably an insulator somewhere had a major arc and caused a quick drop and automatic restore.

Rodger

 

[3930dave]

This has been a fun thread to read. Thanks for all your posts.

I have a maintenance run coming up soon and will post about it.

Back When, I wanted an ongoing Reminder to Self..... (still needed, by me ), and figured maybe a couple of people would stop by.....

It's been a lot of fun here, and showcases the best aspects of TBN. We've gotten very well detailed accounts of solid, well-engineered installations of all sizes, and along the way, helped sort out some ailing generators. Ongoing reviews and feedback about generators and add-ons/enhancements..... priceless data, IMO. Yes, thanks to all who post here !

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Mine auto started this morning shortly before 6 after a brief interruption. I decided to turn it into an exercise cycle so that it would get up to operating temp under load instead of shutting back down after monitoring the line for 5 minutes for another power dropout.

The cats didn't appreciate me turning the thermostats down on both central AC systems to add more of a load because in their view the HVAC system is broken unless there is hot air coming from the vents

Very dense fog this morning so probably an insulator somewhere had a major arc and caused a quick drop and automatic restore.

Rodger

Da Kats, taking one for the team !

Your comment about flash-over, reminded me of seeing a crew, many years ago, power-washing insulators from a bucket truck. I haven't seen that being done, in quite a while.....

Rgds, D.

 

[daugen]

During the extended power outages here my Honda EM 5000 powered the refrigerators at 4 single family homes plus modest lights and computer/cell chargers…

My then 95 year old neighbor was in charge of rolling it out and laying all the 10 gauge cords.

Originally it was just for my house but I was often away so he took over for my place, his place, his daughters place and we added the 100 year old widow lady next to his daughter…

The Honda has been zero trouble since I bought it new in 1985…

View attachment 3551244

what a nice looking generator, you clearly took good care of it
and are those steel wheels? real steel?
I think I've only seen plastic

truly built to last

 

[ultrarunner]

what a nice looking generator, you clearly took good care of it
and are those steel wheels? real steel?
I think I've only seen plastic

truly built to last

Good question… will have to check.

Right after I bought it in the early 90’s the same neighbor gave me a genuine Honda factory cover for it…

Good neighbors are priceless…

 

[Racer4]

Have to drag my Troy bilt 5500 out tomorrow and clean it up and get it running. Hasn’t run in probably 10-12 years since I got the generac whole house unit. Electrician is changing out the panel box and wiring in the new generator at the job on Tuesday. And I need power for saws and compressor.