Your last generator Maintenance Run

[dragoneggs]

Power back on this morning and a calm pleasant day. LOTS of new snow on the east side of the Olympics. The Brothers looked great today as some blue sky adorned the ridge. Should have snapped a pic but the outage put me behind on work and wanted not to be working Saturday!

 

[buckeyefarmer]

On gen now. Power out since 1 pm. Wires are on the ground along my creek, pole broke on neighbors.

 

[3930dave]

Rough weather, both coasts......

May your gens and fuel supply be adequate, and your outages be brief.....

Rgds, D.

 

[dragoneggs]

Sure is a good feeling when you flip your mechanical interlock, turn the key on the gen and it starts with no objection! I only wish I had a bigger gen that could power my well pump. Minor complaint. We had propane heat, lights, big flat screen, and hydration. Romantic in a way... at least I thought so.

 

[Industrial Toys]

One should never foresake good fortune. BUT, it does annoy me, that with all my back ups for my back ups for my backups, the power has only ever flickered here enough to make UPSes beep, in a year or so.

 

[TheMan419]

One should never foresake good fortune. BUT, it does annoy me, that with all my back ups for my back ups for my backups, the power has only ever flickered here enough to make UPSes beep, in a year or so.

Your neighbors thank you! Had dinner last night with a buddy. He just bought two plow trucks to make some extra cash over the winter. Of course so far we have had virtually no snow. I thanked him for keeping Mr. Murphy at bay.

 

[Industrial Toys]

They are still desperately trying to get the beans off here! There has been snow on the ground pretty much since Halloween. Makes for a VERY long winter!

 

[goeduck]

One should never foresake good fortune. BUT, it does annoy me, that with all my back ups for my back ups for my backups, the power has only ever flickered here enough to make UPSes beep, in a year or so.

You do not lose power BECAUSE you have backups, that is the way it works.

Except for me, I have 2 generators as backup and lost power 3 times in a week. About 48 hours total. I ran the 7.5kW Honda gas generator for all of it, had I known I was going to be out that long I would have fired up the 3kW Yanmar diesel generator at least for the 2 overnights to power the wood insert blower, refrigerators and freezers. The Yanmar is very efficient on fuel.

 

[3930dave]

You do not lose power BECAUSE you have backups, that is the way it works.

Except for me, I have 2 generators as backup and lost power 3 times in a week. About 48 hours total. I ran the 7.5kW Honda gas generator for all of it, had I known I was going to be out that long I would have fired up the 3kW Yanmar diesel generator at least for the 2 overnights to power the wood insert blower, refrigerators and freezers. The Yanmar is very efficient on fuel.

Lots of outages..... maybe you need a Backup to the Backup ?

JK, many people would be over the moon to have that Honda in any kind of outage.

I like both of those brands, but it's obviously high-praise when the Yanmar is doing that much better.

I hope (for the sake of my bank account) that I don't come across one of those 10kw (give/take) portable Honda diesel gens that are white-rhino rare in our markets...... I'd be sorely tempted to bring it home....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Sure is a good feeling when you flip your mechanical interlock, turn the key on the gen and it starts with no objection! I only wish I had a bigger gen that could power my well pump. Minor complaint. We had propane heat, lights, big flat screen, and hydration. Romantic in a way... at least I thought so.

With that fresh battery, your Honda setup is SWMBO friendly :thumbsup:.

I don't recall how deep your well is, but you may have a 120 vs 240 AC issue. Obviously a larger gen is the easiest fix; bringing along the corresponding fuel bump.

I don't know if it would be a fit for your site, but the approach 90cummins took with the integrated inverter/battery/generator approach is something I find really attractive. You retain the fuel efficiency of a relatively low kw generator, and use the battery/inverter et al to support short-term surge loads.

I like the efficiency of that ^ setup, but also appreciate the option of judiciously running an inverter+battery combo only, when just supporting modern light loads (the electronics we are addicted to....), or when you want the generator Off.....

I'd probably noodle out what it would take (cost-wise) to set up an inverter to support that well-pump, and compare from there..... not low-cost necessarily, but depending what you want in place down the road, might be worth reviewing....

Rgds, D.