Your last generator Maintenance Run

[grsthegreat]

right now im having trouble getting any whole house generators. ive had 7 on order for 4 weeks from generac. its getting pretty late in my install period before winter hits, and im cutting it tight trying to get these installed. it was 30 last night.burrrrrrr

after these get installed im stopping further installs or sales until next year. im going to try to relax this winter and just play in the snow.

 

[3930dave]

Here's hoping Generac clears their backlog soon grs, and that you get some quality downtime in over the Winter.

From your prior posts, I suspect you'll still have a few hours here and there, with maintenance calls on existing systems.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Reading a PopMech mag today, I came across this Generac:

Generac Power Systems | Portable Power | Generac Power Systems

Anybody seen one running ? They're obviously gunning for Honda; I pulled the SPL report from their site.

View attachment Generac-iQ2000-Beats-Honda_Inertek-Report-FINAL.pdf

They're claiming quieter, If you read the report, the Generacs saw slightly lower wattage loading, due to the Hondas putting out slightly higher voltage into similar ohm loads.

Personally, I probably wouldn't hear the difference doing A/B testing with the same load.

I thought I'd post this for anybody considering a new 2kw inverter gen. This Generac looks like another viable choice, and they can be paired too.

Rgds, D.

 

[daugen]

Isn't a key issue whether the gen can maintain some reasonable voltage, you pick, 115V let's say as a minimum, under full load?
Plus whether the waveform gets real nasty at full output. That would be good to know.

Generac has been mailing me some warning notices on my unit for corrosion around the carburetor, apparently in units at the shore, but I'm guessing here,
saying to keep the area clean, inspected, blah blah. Not quite sure what to make of it. I check mine for bugs inside and it stays pretty clean inside the enclosure.

Maybe someone will have to make a trip to the USVI to do a study on portable gens and their maintenance in storms.
Fully paid for by TBN. :thumbsup:

 

[cqaigy2]

Ran generator for 20 minutes, under small 1200 watt load. Drained and replaced oil. Need to start up again then check oil level and output.

 

[3930dave]

Ran generator for 20 minutes, under small 1200 watt load. Drained and replaced oil. Need to start up again then check oil level and output.

:thumbsup:

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Isn't a key issue whether the gen can maintain some reasonable voltage, you pick, 115V let's say as a minimum, under full load?
Plus whether the waveform gets real nasty at full output. That would be good to know.

Generac has been mailing me some warning notices on my unit for corrosion around the carburetor, apparently in units at the shore, but I'm guessing here,
saying to keep the area clean, inspected, blah blah. Not quite sure what to make of it. I check mine for bugs inside and it stays pretty clean inside the enclosure.

Maybe someone will have to make a trip to the USVI to do a study on portable gens and their maintenance in storms.
Fully paid for by TBN. :thumbsup:

Output voltage for both G and H gens was within reasonable limits, no foul there.

In terms of SPL, my inner geek would prefer to see different gens matched in load wattage, rather than just matching load resistances. Since a given gen's noise level scales up with delivered wattage....

A small point, probably not noticeable outside a test lab like was used. I guess I was also trying to underline that the Hondas didn't get beat by much.

I prefer heavier stuff for many mechanical tasks, but for light corrosion protection on a carb I'd consider WD40 (original formula) - coastal duty like you have is pretty much what it was originally designed for.

Rgds, D.

 

[90cummins]

MEP 952b fuel consumption test.
We had a scheduled power outage today so the electric utility could upgrade the lines so I thought it would be a good excuse for me to perform another more accurate fuel consumption test.
In the past when performing a fuel consumption test I measured the quanty of fuel consumed using a 5 quart container which while not very accurate did give me data that I used to make calculations and adjustments pertaining to my equipment.
On my last test I used a spring scale so I could hang my fuel supply and calculate consumption by weight. This removed much of the human error involved when measuring the amount of fuel consumed however I was not sure how accurate it was. This prompted me to search for scales and I found a very accurate 90lb electronic postal scale that was reasonably priced so I purchased one on Ebay.
The scale is rated at 90lbs and displays in pounds/ounces, ounces and kilograms down to 1 gram.
This scale will allow me to precisely measure and calculate fuel consumption at various loads and allow me to determine the most efficient engine speed and timing for maximum efficiency.
The heart of my backup system is a Xantrex XW4024 4kw pure sine inverter with a surge capability of 8kw. My battery bank has a capacity of 570ah's, and should be able to operate my home thru a winter night supporting heat and all essentials including my water pump.
Googling the weight of 1 gallon of #2 diesel resulted in answers from 6.7 to 8.2 lbs per gallon. I even stopped into my local oil dealer and the said they use 7.7 lbs/gallon for shipping.
During my days in transmission engineering we operated large diesel test cells ranging in size from 500 to 1200 hp and used 7.2 lbs per gallon to calculate fuel connsumption using off road diesel so 7.2 lbs is the number used in my calculations.
My test.
The MEP-952b has a Farymann 43F single cylinder direct injected diesel rated 15hp at 3000rpm and has two heaters in the intake and oil sump for operation in subzero environments. The engine directly drives a 28 volt Niehoff 6 phase alternator rated at 280amps. It has no fuel or batterys so it needs external sources for each. It has an electric fuel pump and an attached 30' hose for connection to a fuel source and power is via a NATO 24v plug.
Maxium torque is 27 lbft at 2000rpm with a bore of 3.75 inches and a stroke of 3.94" for a displacement of 738cc. The rated output is 5kw 28 volts @180 amps.
Previous testing at 3000 rpm resulted in approx 2.5 hours per gallon. To reduce fuel consumptiuon I tried to slow the engine by backing off on the throttle using the lever however due to the govenor design the engine would not respond to changes in load and would slowly stall out.
After much thought I removed 2 of the 3 govenor springs leaving in place only the high speed spring. The results were very good with excellent load response and speed control. No load engine speed is now 2428 and at full load is 2299rpm with an AC load of 4.29kw. The DC load was 202amps @ 25.4volts which was a load of 5130.8 watts.
My test procedure;
The APU is connected to my battery bank using an Anderson 350amp 2 pole connector and the fuel line is inserted into the fuel container which is on the scale. The APU is started and the load connected and allowed to stabilize engine speed was 2414 with an initial AC load of 0.46kw.
The time initial load and weight were recorded with the fuel & container weighing 577.6 ounces (36.1 lbs) or 16.366kg.
Laundry was being done so the washer was operating along with the well pump which cycled on & off along with other house hold items such as lights & TV.
The unit was run for a total of 267 minutes (4 hours 27 minutes) = 4.45hrs. In that time it consumed 122.7ounces / 3.474Kgs of fuel which equals 7.669 lbs./7.2 = (1.065 gallons consumed) which works out to 1.723 lbs of fuel per hour.
No load speed at conclusion of the test was 2428 rpm.
Electrical conversion efficiency was 82.8%.
I'm very pleased with my results. At this consumption rate the APU can run 24/7 for 9+ days on 55 gallons of fuel.
My goal for the MEP-952b APU has been to attain a 4 hour per gallon run time while supporting my home under normal basic loads. To illustrate the significance of that I have a Honda EU2000i which is an amazing machine that will run 10 hours on 1 gallon of gasoline with a light load, however at the rated load of 1.5kw the run time is 4~5 hours so you can see it is not nearly as efficient as a properly sized and tuned diesel. The Honda is extremely reliable, handy, portable and quick to setup when needed but is not as efficient as you would think.
Looking forward to a full day of testing once I start my wood furnace to get real numbers.
Now I need to re test my other generators to obtain accurate numbers.
Other units to Re-test are;
10hp L100 Yanmar belt driving a 450 amp Niehoff 28 volts alternator.
Dayton 5kw diesel generator with a new L70 Yanmar diesel with extended 2 quart sump designed for 400 hour non stop runs.
Honda EU2000i
Generac XL 4000
Gererac 25kw pto generator driven with my Ford 1720 tractor that has been turned up with the addition of a turbocharger.
90cummins

 

[3930dave]

MEP 952b fuel consumption test.
We had a scheduled power outage today so the electric utility could upgrade the lines so I thought it would be a good excuse for me to perform another more accurate fuel consumption test.
In the past when performing a fuel consumption test I measured the quanty of fuel consumed using a 5 quart container which while not very accurate did give me data that I used to make calculations and adjustments pertaining to my equipment.
On my last test I used a spring scale so I could hang my fuel supply and calculate consumption by weight. This removed much of the human error involved when measuring the amount of fuel consumed however I was not sure how accurate it was. This prompted me to search for scales and I found a very accurate 90lb electronic postal scale that was reasonably priced so I purchased one on Ebay.
The scale is rated at 90lbs and displays in pounds/ounces, ounces and kilograms down to 1 gram.
This scale will allow me to precisely measure and calculate fuel consumption at various loads and allow me to determine the most efficient engine speed and timing for maximum efficiency.
The heart of my backup system is a Xantrex XW4024 4kw pure sine inverter with a surge capability of 8kw. My battery bank has a capacity of 570ah's, and should be able to operate my home thru a winter night supporting heat and all essentials including my water pump.
Googling the weight of 1 gallon of #2 diesel resulted in answers from 6.7 to 8.2 lbs per gallon. I even stopped into my local oil dealer and the said they use 7.7 lbs/gallon for shipping.
During my days in transmission engineering we operated large diesel test cells ranging in size from 500 to 1200 hp and used 7.2 lbs per gallon to calculate fuel connsumption using off road diesel so 7.2 lbs is the number used in my calculations.
My test.
The MEP-952b has a Farymann 43F single cylinder direct injected diesel rated 15hp at 3000rpm and has two heaters in the intake and oil sump for operation in subzero environments. The engine directly drives a 28 volt Niehoff 6 phase alternator rated at 280amps. It has no fuel or batterys so it needs external sources for each. It has an electric fuel pump and an attached 30' hose for connection to a fuel source and power is via a NATO 24v plug.
Maxium torque is 27 lbft at 2000rpm with a bore of 3.75 inches and a stroke of 3.94" for a displacement of 738cc. The rated output is 5kw 28 volts @180 amps.
Previous testing at 3000 rpm resulted in approx 2.5 hours per gallon. To reduce fuel consumptiuon I tried to slow the engine by backing off on the throttle using the lever however due to the govenor design the engine would not respond to changes in load and would slowly stall out.
After much thought I removed 2 of the 3 govenor springs leaving in place only the high speed spring. The results were very good with excellent load response and speed control. No load engine speed is now 2428 and at full load is 2299rpm with an AC load of 4.29kw. The DC load was 202amps @ 25.4volts which was a load of 5130.8 watts.
My test procedure;
The APU is connected to my battery bank using an Anderson 350amp 2 pole connector and the fuel line is inserted into the fuel container which is on the scale. The APU is started and the load connected and allowed to stabilize engine speed was 2414 with an initial AC load of 0.46kw.
The time initial load and weight were recorded with the fuel & container weighing 577.6 ounces (36.1 lbs) or 16.366kg.
Laundry was being done so the washer was operating along with the well pump which cycled on & off along with other house hold items such as lights & TV.
The unit was run for a total of 267 minutes (4 hours 27 minutes) = 4.45hrs. In that time it consumed 122.7ounces / 3.474Kgs of fuel which equals 7.669 lbs./7.2 = (1.065 gallons consumed) which works out to 1.723 lbs of fuel per hour.
No load speed at conclusion of the test was 2428 rpm.
Electrical conversion efficiency was 82.8%.
I'm very pleased with my results. At this consumption rate the APU can run 24/7 for 9+ days on 55 gallons of fuel.
My goal for the MEP-952b APU has been to attain a 4 hour per gallon run time while supporting my home under normal basic loads. To illustrate the significance of that I have a Honda EU2000i which is an amazing machine that will run 10 hours on 1 gallon of gasoline with a light load, however at the rated load of 1.5kw the run time is 4~5 hours so you can see it is not nearly as efficient as a properly sized and tuned diesel. The Honda is extremely reliable, handy, portable and quick to setup when needed but is not as efficient as you would think.
Looking forward to a full day of testing once I start my wood furnace to get real numbers.
Now I need to re test my other generators to obtain accurate numbers.
Other units to Re-test are;
10hp L100 Yanmar belt driving a 450 amp Niehoff 28 volts alternator.
Dayton 5kw diesel generator with a new L70 Yanmar diesel with extended 2 quart sump designed for 400 hour non stop runs.
Honda EU2000i
Generac XL 4000
Gererac 25kw pto generator driven with my Ford 1720 tractor that has been turned up with the addition of a turbocharger.
90cummins

Interesting setup 90 - thanks for the detailed description.

Agreed, for heavy loads, diesels often surpass gasoline performance. Looking forward to seeing the numbers for your other generators.

Rgds, D.

 

[DEWFPO]

MEP 952b fuel consumption test.

(snip)

Does your Genset run continuously when the street power is out or do you run off the batteries until the voltage drops below a certain point and Genset starts up automatically to recharge the batteries?

Since you have a large battery bank, it would seem that this would be the most efficient way to operate. The genset would run intermittently as needed and run at peak efficiency to charge up the batteries. That would really extend your fuel use and with an automatic transfer switch the delay between street power going out and battery supply kicking in would be minimal.

DEWFPO