be careful with portable genererators

[Diesel Pro]

The honda EU series generators are excellent. I have a EU2000 and a EU6500 and they are fantastic. They are mouse fart quiet and with the ecothrottle they just sip fuel. Only fault is the cost. Aint cheap but worth every dime. Carbon Monoxide is bad news. Good thread to remind all to check CO and smoke detectors in the home.

I have the same pr of generators. Started with teh 6500 at the cabin, but got sick of wheeling in and out plus that's a lot of $$$ sitting 99% of the time. Bought the 2000 so I could bring it home safe and sound.

My plan is to add a Kohler 18kw whole house unit. They really aren't that bad (cost a bit more than my 6500) and you can't walk off with one of those. Also automatic transfer and non spoiling propane fuel.

 

[stipes]

Oh,,,got ya Mike...

Put it on the porch with an exhaust extension going above at least the gutters...

Mike

See where your coming from now Bro.... Great idea!!!

 

[ropensaddle]

Looks like it ain't melting lol going to get additional 3 to 8 inch of wet stuff power probably go out limbs already snapped. Oh I hope the Generac 9200 watt is a good choice. It will be its first use. It should run the blower for my outdoor wood furnace and Ice box ,tv puter and limited lighting don't know about the electric oven though:monkey: It is nice to know we won't be freaking shivering under the covers though lol

 

[Gypo Logger]

I have the same pr of generators. Started with teh 6500 at the cabin, but got sick of wheeling in and out plus that's a lot of $$$ sitting 99% of the time. Bought the 2000 so I could bring it home safe and sound.

My plan is to add a Kohler 18kw whole house unit. They really aren't that bad (cost a bit more than my 6500) and you can't walk off with one of those. Also automatic transfer and non spoiling propane fuel.

Honda use to make a small 350 watt 2 stroke geny. It's about the size of a lunchbox. Like to have one of those.
John

 

[stipes]

The 8400 I have...

Looks like it ain't melting lol going to get additional 3 to 8 inch of wet stuff power probably go out limbs already snapped. Oh I hope the Generac 9200 watt is a good choice. It will be its first use. It should run the blower for my outdoor wood furnace and Ice box ,tv puter and limited lighting don't know about the electric oven though:monkey: It is nice to know we won't be freaking shivering under the covers though lol

Did my fireplace insert,,,microwave,,tv,,lights all tru the house,,,didnt hook to 220,but you know what would pull it down the most,,,the coffee maker.....No crap....Youll be suprised...

 

[Diesel Pro]

I think that everyone should have some sort of way to inject power into their critical systems.

Several years back my Parents lost power during the night due to a winter storm. They said that they would tough it out, plus if worse came to worse they could go to their store which had heat and power. By the following evening they still had no power and had done nothing but bundle up. I have a buddy who is local to them and I am an hour away. This buddy is one of those guys who isn't too sharp, but will do anything he can to help. He has like 3 generators and took one over to help. So we have my Dad (sundowners really bad after his meds) and my buddy with one of those crappy kinetic shake to charge flashlights in the basement trying to understand my very simple instructions to cut the female end off of an extension cord and wire nut to the wires inside the furnace disconnect switch. Well, they did manage eventually, but it was borderline on me needing to make the 2hr round trip to do it.

Fast forward to our new home. I knew right from the start that I wanted a transfer switch. Electrician brought out one of those giant aluminum boxes and I wanted nothing to do with that. I found that Kohler/Square D make a VERY nice panel with transfer switch built in. It's a bit crowded inside, but nice and neat AND automatic if you have a Kohler generator. I still need to add the generator, but I have the panel ready to go. You will find that a nice 18k Kohler runs about $4k which is quite reasonable. Propane powered so no stale fuel...


Panel:
http://www.kohlerpower.com/common/pdfs/74281_ITS_SellRevise.pdf

 

[CentaurG2]

Honda use to make a small 350 watt 2 stroke geny. It's about the size of a lunchbox. Like to have one of those.
John

I think there are a bunch of small 2 stroke generators on the market. I don’t know too much about them. I will stick with the Honda eu2000. I really want to get the halogen light kit for mine but it costs almost half of what I paid for the generator. Would come in handy on those never ending tree jobs. I don’t know how many times I have finished a job by flashlight, coleman or petromax lantern.

 

[ba-1]

We ave a eg5000 that I bought new in the mid/late 80'sane we were in a Mobile home . Ran everything in the home{gas furnace/stove well on dads
meter} but I had 13 heat lamps going in the hog house and blower on wood
stove got along well with it. I agree on the coffee maker the gen would flat
open up when the hot plate kicked in.

 

[ropensaddle]

Did my fireplace insert,,,microwave,,tv,,lights all tru the house,,,didnt hook to 220,but you know what would pull it down the most,,,the coffee maker.....No crap....Youll be suprised...

Good thing for me I don't do coffee them ehhhhhhhhhhhh lol

 

[PasoRoblesJimmy]

Good idea, though you would still need a generator to charge the batteries.
I've often thought of doing what you described. Given that I have 4 large batteries, would a 1500W inverter power my shack essentials for say 12 hrs., with the generator running half that time to charge the batts?
Thanks,
John

It might work for a few light bulbs, but nothing larger. Remember P = E x I. P=watts. E=volts. I=amps. Do the math. Physics rules!

For example: If you have a load of 10 Amps at 120 VAC, the inverter supplying this power to the load will draw approximately 100 Amps from your 12 Volt batteries.

One single light bulb in an outhouse can do wonders in taking the edge off of a sharp night chill.

 

[PasoRoblesJimmy]

Back in the mid-1950s we lived 4 miles from the nearest power line. We had a Homelite 4-cylinder generator inside an outbuilding that ran on LPG. When you turned a light switch or a load on, the generator automatically fired itself up. When you turned all loads off, the generator automatically shut itself down. It was sweet!!!!

Our refrigerator-freezer was a Servel that ran on LPG.

 

[leonbentz]

Hmmmmmm theoretically exhaust could be led out by metal ducting this has me<a href="http://www.sweetim.com/s.asp?im=gen&lpver=3&ref=11" target="_blank"><img src="http://content.sweetim.com/sim/cpie/emoticons/0002014F.gif" border="0" title="Click to get more." ></a>

Yep, I totally agree. It's good to place the generator in an attached garage, but pipe the exhaust to the outdoors. It minimizes the noise and eliminates corbon monoxide poisoning.

 

[barton174]

Yep, I totally agree. It's good to place the generator in an attached garage, but pipe the exhaust to the outdoors. It minimizes the noise and eliminates corbon monoxide poisoning.

This is true, but only if the exhaust is sealed pretty well... Always keep CO detectors on, just in case...

Mike

 

[Taxmantoo]

Older brother of a guy I went to school with was a carnival worker. One cold night, he and his girlfriend got the great idea of sleeping in a trailer with a generator in it for a little extra warmth. They never woke up.

 

[Slamm]

Older brother of a guy I went to school with was a carnival worker. One cold night, he and his girlfriend got the great idea of sleeping in a trailer with a generator in it for a little extra warmth. They never woke up.

Another perfect example right here......... "carnival worker" and possible mate, eliminated from the gene pool by a trusty generator.

If Obama's Healthcare Plan did have euthinasia of old and sickly people in it, I best somewhere in that plan there was some generators. That old phrase should be changed to "Generators - Thinning the herd for over a century."

Likely the Nazi's use generators for mass killings. I'm suprised we don't see or hear of more generator use in all of those mass killings in Africa, instead of a machete they would just use generators, surround a village and gas'em to death.

Sam

 

[barneyrb]

While I do agree that generators in the house are very dangerous, the propane and kerosene heaters also are a great risk too. Toght closed in places are no place for carbon monxide.