Your last generator Maintenance Run

[3930dave]

Gone are the days of legacy appliances. Today, it's maybe 10 and landfill.

Big emphasis on maybe.

That is how we are so Green, today ? JK, obviously.

Rgds, D.

 

[DarkBlack]

The EVSE is not the charger, it's essentially an extension cord with a contactor in it and a small microcontroller that gives the car a square wave of certain duty cycle. The duty cycle of that square wave is what determines how much current the car will draw via its onboard charger.

If the EVSE is set to 6A, the car will draw a maximum of 6A regardless of whether it's 110V 200V or 240V.

As far as I know, The only square wave would be the control signal, not the power for charging the battery itself

 

[3930dave]

Yes and it runs just fine. Bit smokey but I run it in canned gas.

I have a soft-spot, for American V8s.

This chat, has a vision of a small-block, custom-exhaust, running a washing-machine, floating through my head.....

Rgds, D.

 

[DarkBlack]

Seriously…how stupid can a person be…operates generator inside garage and nearly dies.

Family warns the public after narrowly surviving 'terrifying' ordeal caused by home appliance: 'I woke up on the bathroom floor'

"We're very lucky and very blessed to still be alive."

www.yahoo.com

Not a very accurate article though,either by mistake or intentional ..

“Carbon dioxide is tasteless and odorless and can cause dizziness, permanent brain damage with prolonged exposure, and even death, according to the Mayo Clinic. ”

 

[grsthegreat]

My only GFI is on my deck (old house), and it was already here decades ago when we bought the place. Mine is still working fine.

Neighbour has gone through 2 GFI on her deck, house is about 25 y/o. First time, I thought it was a broken wire, so asked her to call an Electrician (I don't have a Fox/Hound) but was just a dead GFI. Fool Me Once.... about 3 years ago, she hired a guy to pressure-wash her deck and that side of the house.... he ran her well dry, and sprayed enough water near the GFI he killed that one too..... so I replaced the last one for her myself.

If it was just her deck on that circuit, it would be one thing, but it was wired with the attached single garage on that loop too.... so when it fails, there is no light in her garage. So much for Safety.... she is quite active, but is elderly and lives alone.

Built to A Price is part of the problem, but as noted by others, various in-use conflicts happen too....

Rgds, D.

Dont know how old the deck gfci is, but some real old ones still work after electronics inside fail. I have ran into alot of them that wont trip with my gfci tripper tool, but still provide power.

Newer ones fail open.

 

[JRH02]

A question for those who use a battery maintainer on their generator:

Is it safe to leave a maintainer connected to both the battery and A/C power while the generator is running? With vehicle batteries, either the A/C or DC side must be disconnected when the vehicle is moved. Not so with a stationary generator.

I had a BatteryMinder, which I used on dozens of batteries in boats, trailers and vehicles for over 30 years. I hooked it up the the battery on my generator and it worked fine leaving it connected to AC & DC while doing short maintenance runs. We had a 6+ hour outage a couple of days ago though and the BatteryMinder failed. It overheated and the case is noticeably swollen.

I'm planning on replacing it with a Noco Genius 10, which states in the manual that it is ok to leave both AC and DC connected.

Has anyone else had this problem? There is nothing in the BatteryMinder manual that says to disconnect it from a running engine. The unit was over 30 years old, maybe it was just its time.

I have used battery maintenance chargers for years. We are off grid and I am somewhat **** about power usage in general. I have several brands but have settled on BatteryMinder Model 1500 or equivalent. Basically an inline very low wattage device. It is NOT a battery charger. It cares not whether the power comes from the generator or the off grid inverter. It just watches the battery voltage and maintains it and does its desulfating thing which is a different subject.

Using the battery maintainer on the charging source like a generator's battery has not been an issue for me. When the generator's system is charging it's own battery the voltage should cause the BatteryMinder to do nothing. When the generator is off and the unit's battery drops voltage the BatteryMinder goes to work for maintenance.

As for the BatteryMinder failing, well, stuff happens. It may happen with your Noco unit too in time.

 

[ultrarunner]

Tragic story of a family that ran a generator in the home because they did not have long enough extension cords but the generator kept shutting down so was of no use.

They brought the charcoal grill inside to cook and add warmth… people died from charcoal used indoors.

 

[LouNY]

Tragic story of a family that ran a generator in the home because they did not have long enough extension cords but the generator kept shutting down so was of no use.

They brought the charcoal grill inside to cook and add warmth… people died from charcoal used indoors.

We hear of that type of stunt too often, even gas grills being used inside during power outages.

 

[JRH02]

Recently I saw a post or headline about people having a problem with technology. I didn't have the patience to scan more than the first little bit of it. It goes way past 'technology'.

My Dad, bless him, didn't know which end of a screwdriver to use (jokingly), but it isn't far removed. He just didn't have a desire for tools, technology, etc but he was a very intelligent person. In that his 'smarts' were enough that he knew his limitations and I say this, took advantage of them.

So to me the worst of the worst is the person who thinks the whole world has to watch out for them. These are the ones who, as an example, want a mandate that all generators should have a CO sensor that isn't reliable anyway. But they'll force it down your throat because of their own short comings. If one wants a generator with a CO sensor they should be able to buy it. And for those smart enough to not run a generator in their garage, they should be able to buy one without. This goes a whole lot further than the example for sure.

 

[ultrarunner]

We hear of that type of stunt too often, even gas grills being used inside during power outages.

The family did not speak English and from Vietnam… I imagine cooking in the home country may be in well ventilated semi open kitchens?