Your last generator Maintenance Run

[grsthegreat]

Ive seen too many predator generators fail and fry electronics in houses to ever recommend one. This comes from over 10+ years working solely on generators and houses. Seemed that everyone that had a overpower surge issue was a HF chinese piece o crap.

they had something like 35 amps on one leg and 205 on the other leg. Was especially hard on led lighting. Fried every led lamp In their house.

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Ive seen too many predator generators fail and fry electronics in houses to ever recommend one. This comes from over 10+ years working solely on generators and houses. Seemed that everyone that had a overpower surge issue was a HF chinese piece o crap.

they had something like 35 amps on one leg and 205 on the other leg. Was especially hard on led lighting. Fried every led lamp In their house.

Hard to power a house with a little inverter…. Sorry they had issues… I’ve not read of this or seen it myself. I’ll post if I do

 

[90cummins]

It’s 1:45am why am I awake??
I agree but you can power essential 120v circuits thru your transfer switch with a small inverter. To do this I made a 12 gauge extension that plugs into my EU 2000i.
The other end has an L14-20R with X&Y jumped to energize both sides of transfer switch with 120v only.
No 240 volt circuits here!!
You can power any 120v circuit within the capability of the generator (IF) you manage your loads thru your transfer switch.
My EU 2000i handles my 1/4hp wood furnace blower motor (with a soft start module) or oil heat furnace or living room propane heater along with living room electronics and limited lighting & let’s not forget two bedrooms with electric blankets.
Kitchen outlets fridge, microwave & freezer are possible if needed.
Again it’s about managing your loads!
With the optional auxiliary 5 gallon fuel tank you’re good for 30~50 hours.
90cummins

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

I really just use the inverter for powering essentials like freezers, chargers and basic cooking appliances. In the winter it will allow me to also run a couple fans to circulate heat from my 80k btu propane heater in a pinch. It's really just there to make life liveable. Our new property will have while home power on a propane generator.

 

[WinterDeere]

Ive seen too many predator generators fail and fry electronics in houses to ever recommend one. This comes from over 10+ years working solely on generators and houses. Seemed that everyone that had a overpower surge issue was a HF chinese piece o crap.

they had something like 35 amps on one leg and 205 on the other leg. Was especially hard on led lighting. Fried every led lamp In their house.

Not arguing with your conclusion on Predator, I know nothing about them. But at the same time, with that sort of imbalance, its hard to blame the generator for any issues. Huge imbalance when you're operating at any significant fraction of generator capacity, is going to cause massive voltage irregularity and be very hard on the generator output components.

Most electricians or DIY'ers can do a reasonably good job at balancing their panel when on utility power, but don't give much or any thought to the configuration they're running when on generator power. If you turn off half your 115V loads or breakers when operating on generator, the load balancing may be much different than intended.

 

[grsthegreat]

Not arguing with your conclusion on Predator, I know nothing about them. But at the same time, with that sort of imbalance, its hard to blame the generator for any issues. Huge imbalance when you're operating at any significant fraction of generator capacity, is going to cause massive voltage irregularity and be very hard on the generator output components.

Most electricians or DIY'ers can do a reasonably good job at balancing their panel when on utility power, but don't give much or any thought to the configuration they're running when on generator power. If you turn off half your 115V loads or breakers when operating on generator, the load balancing may be much different than intended.

This is not due to imbalanced loads, it’s due to cheap electronics like voltage regulators, and cheap rotor and stators that fail.

 

[check]

I don't know how (other) people here are so negative to our power company. I heard today that there's over 1100 tree with lineman crews working this storm. That's more than the terrible ice storm of 1998.
My hat's off to them.

I agree. The power company up here is just excellent, and they show up as soon as possible when the power goes out. Also, they have a very good equipment. I just use them a few days ago to upgrade my power from 100 amp to 200 amp. They were there on time to disconnect the meter, and then came right back after the electrician finished installing the new interior 200 amp panel.

They are also pleasant to interact with.

 

[3930dave]

Nothing like serious cold, to get people thinking about gens ! Even, or esp., @ 1:00am......

I don't own an inverter gen, yet, but have some understanding of problematic electronics. For starters, retail-grade product is usually not designed or tested for sub -20C operation.... that alone can be trouble.

Condon (I'm terrible w. names), the recent eu2000 vid I posted..... I watched another older vid he did, on a couple of Champion 7kw (sustained) gens he picked up, destined for scrap (impact damage). One of them had a faulty AVR, he determined once he meter-tested after forcing it to run.

At first, he thought that one was shutting down from faulty Low-Oil detection, but that was not the case. That unit had a module for remote-start (he didn't have the remote), and it turned out, that module was stopping the generator running, as it had detected the high-voltage from the failed AVR.

Once he replaced the failed AVR, the control-module on that Champion allowed it to run normally. Smart-design, on that basic (non-inverter) Champion.

Wishing everyone smooth running (if needed) gens, speedy return to grid, if down. If you know anyone less-aware than the typical crowd on here, it's probably a good idea to remind them of CO risk, if they are running on a borrowed or new portble gen.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

My little Predator 3500 inverter is a champ at a fraction of the price

I don't know the inverter line of theirs, but all the reading I've done indicates usually good mechanical integrity for their clone engine designs.

Rgds, D.

 

[ultrarunner]

Nothing like serious cold, to get people thinking about gens ! Even, or esp., @ 1:00am......

I don't own an inverter gen, yet, but have some understanding of problematic electronics. For starters, retail-grade product is usually not designed or tested for sub -20C operation.... that alone can be trouble.

Condon (I'm terrible w. names), the recent eu2000 vid I posted..... I watched another older vid he did, on a couple of Champion 7kw (sustained) gens he picked up, destined for scrap (impact damage). One of them had a faulty AVR, he determined once he meter-tested after forcing it to run.

At first, he thought that one was shutting down from faulty Low-Oil detection, but that was not the case. That unit had a module for remote-start (he didn't have the remote), and it turned out, that module was stopping the generator running, as it had detected the high-voltage from the failed AVR.

Once he replaced the failed AVR, the control-module on that Champion allowed it to run normally. Smart-design, on that basic (non-inverter) Champion.

Wishing everyone smooth running (if needed) gens, speedy return to grid, if down. If you know anyone less-aware than the typical crowd on here, it's probably a good idea to remind them of CO risk, if they are running on a borrowed or new portble gen.

Rgds, D.

One thing I learned from my time in Europe is in snow and ice regions the locals are very focused on multiple ways to heat and cook.

Wood, Coal, Electric, Gas, Heating Oil, Passive Solar, etc.

Generators are just now becoming a thing… of course farmers would have PTO generators.

Several have questioned California focusing on just Electricity as short sighted.