In loving memory of Kenis D. Keathley 6/4/81 - 3/27/22 Loving father, husband, brother, friend and firewood hoarder Rest in peace, Dexterday

Generator Recommendation

Discussion in 'Chainsaws and Power Equipment' started by Lawn Chaney III, Nov 9, 2023.

Page 3 of 4
  1. Lawn Chaney III

    Lawn Chaney III

    Joined:
    Oct 25, 2022
    Messages:
    52
    Likes Received:
    277
    Location:
    Pembroke, MA
    Where does one get to try your product?
     
    Lawn Chaney III, Nov 13, 2023
    #41 Top
    Screwloose and brenndatomu like this.
  2. Canadian border VT

    Canadian border VT

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2015
    Messages:
    17,614
    Likes Received:
    114,699
    Location:
    Vermont
    Check new prices of boilers need to put a 1 in front of that 7
     
    Canadian border VT, Nov 13, 2023
    #42 Top
    Screwloose, Lawn Chaney III, morningwood and 1 other person like this.
  3. Monadnock Monster

    Monadnock Monster

    Joined:
    Dec 21, 2022
    Messages:
    114
    Likes Received:
    540
    Location:
    New Hampshire
    :faint:
     
    Monadnock Monster, Nov 13, 2023
    #43 Top
    Screwloose, Lawn Chaney III and Canadian border VT like this.
  4. Warner

    Warner

    Joined:
    Jun 19, 2017
    Messages:
    7,019
    Likes Received:
    44,836
    Location:
    New Hampshire
    What kind of boiler is 17000$?
     
    Warner, Nov 13, 2023
    #44 Top
    Screwloose, brenndatomu and Canadian border VT like this.
  5. Canadian border VT

    Canadian border VT

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2015
    Messages:
    17,614
    Likes Received:
    114,699
    Location:
    Vermont
    Buderus clone

    Installed 4 furnaces in apartment building after July flood. All oil; 3 forced hot air about 8k apiece
    One boiler was 18k installed. Ordered from Webb by furnace guy I used 20 years.. I couldn’t find cheaper in stock
     
    Canadian border VT, Nov 13, 2023
    #45 Top
    Screwloose, morningwood and brenndatomu like this.
  6. brenndatomu

    brenndatomu

    Joined:
    May 29, 2015
    Messages:
    22,385
    Likes Received:
    142,158
    Location:
    NE Ohio
    Medium size gasifying OWB.
     
    brenndatomu, Nov 13, 2023
    #46 Top
    Screwloose, Canadian border VT and morningwood like this.
  7. morningwood

    morningwood

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2022
    Messages:
    307
    Likes Received:
    1,295
    Location:
    Ohio
    A friend of mine had a pretty long power outage last year. His generator was big enough to run his house but not his AC so he bought a big V-Twin ( 20kw...area ) Westinghouse generator so he could run his AC. We haven't had any power outages since then so he doesn't have much feedback about it. Have you had any problems with your Westinghouse generators ? They seem to pretty affordable too.
     
    morningwood, Nov 14, 2023
    #47 Top
    Screwloose and brenndatomu like this.
  8. MasterMech

    MasterMech The Mechanical Moderator

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2013
    Messages:
    9,648
    Likes Received:
    26,018
    Location:
    Greenville County SC
    What type of generator you need depends on how you will use it. If it's solely for emergency use, then weight/portability and even noise don't really matter all that much. Reliability and ease of maintenance do.

    Can someone define for me what the term "sensitive electronics" covers? Your laptop is isolated via a small switch-mode power supply as are just about all things most would call "sensitive". Desktop computers, TVs, set-top boxes, stereos (all essential emergency kit items.... :thumbs:) are all isolated behind their switch-mode AC to DC power supplies that chop up AC current and reassemble/rectify to DC.

    You'd be surprised how significantly a utility waveform can be "clipped", especially in areas where there is a lot of high-power manufacturing utilizing large switch-mode power supplies.

    In the Northeast, if your home has a significant amount of fuel-oil storage, I might consider a diesel genset. Not quite as cheap as the gasoline engine variety but they are available in the sub 10kW sizes and can be fueled from that nice 275/550 gallon fuel reserve.
     
    MasterMech, Nov 14, 2023
    #48 Top
    Screwloose, Skier76, Highbeam and 2 others like this.
  9. Canadian border VT

    Canadian border VT

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2015
    Messages:
    17,614
    Likes Received:
    114,699
    Location:
    Vermont
    Heck i went 24 days with a harbor freight predator and no transfer switch … had a smaller 4k back up to use at night til deer season… helped with oil changes
    I wouldn’t want to do it again..

    these were gasoline; figured oil changes once a week

    Was less than 600 hours
    Why when one blew up with 6,000 hours that’s almost a year
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2023
    Canadian border VT, Nov 14, 2023
    #49 Top
    MAF143, Screwloose, Skier76 and 1 other person like this.
  10. Highbeam

    Highbeam

    Joined:
    Jun 25, 2014
    Messages:
    1,818
    Likes Received:
    5,674
    Location:
    Cascade Foothills, wet side of WA
    Also homes with giant propane tanks can have a stub added to fuel a gasoline/gas dual fuel genset. Same with NG service.

    I share your distrust of the fake "sensitive electronics" concept.

    On this, I think noise can be very important eventually in a longer term emergency. You don't want to attract too much attention. Don't go running all your xmas lights. Theft, vandalism, moochers, etc.
     
    Highbeam, Nov 14, 2023
    #50 Top
    Screwloose, morningwood and MasterMech like this.
  11. MasterMech

    MasterMech The Mechanical Moderator

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2013
    Messages:
    9,648
    Likes Received:
    26,018
    Location:
    Greenville County SC
    Loud generators could cover the noise of your security system. :rootintootin: :rofl: :lol:
     
    MasterMech, Nov 14, 2023
    #51 Top
    Screwloose, Highbeam, Softwood and 2 others like this.
  12. morningwood

    morningwood

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2022
    Messages:
    307
    Likes Received:
    1,295
    Location:
    Ohio
    Are you saying 6,000 is a lot of hours or not a lot of hours ? IMHO that's a ton of hours for a small gas engine, and I'd say that person definitely got their moneys worth out of it.
     
    morningwood, Nov 15, 2023
    #52 Top
    MAF143, Screwloose, brenndatomu and 2 others like this.
  13. Canadian border VT

    Canadian border VT

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2015
    Messages:
    17,614
    Likes Received:
    114,699
    Location:
    Vermont
    6,000 is a ton of hours on a small gas engine..
    I figure 2000 to 2500 hours before replacement on gas engines in most circumstances
    10 to 12k on diesel
     
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2023
    Canadian border VT, Nov 15, 2023
    #53 Top
    MAF143, brenndatomu, morningwood and 1 other person like this.
  14. buzz-saw

    buzz-saw

    Joined:
    Jan 31, 2020
    Messages:
    4,690
    Likes Received:
    27,282
    Location:
    Ct.
    6K is a lot of time to me for a small engine.
     
    buzz-saw, Nov 15, 2023
    #54 Top
    brenndatomu, Canadian border VT and morningwood like this.
  15. MasterMech

    MasterMech The Mechanical Moderator

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2013
    Messages:
    9,648
    Likes Received:
    26,018
    Location:
    Greenville County SC
    6k hours is a crazy amount of time for a splash lube, unfiltered (oil), air-cooled engine running on standard automotive gasoline. Even a pressure lubed engine with a filter, it would have to win the manufacturing lottery for tolerances. I have seen VERY well-maintained air-cooled twins achieve 5,000 hours but they were quite tired at that point. A single? no flippin' way. The recommended change interval for most splash-lube air-cooled engines is 25-50 hours. That's every other day at 100% duty cycle. You probably could get away with once a week, being that there is almost no cold-run (rich) time and generators don't kick up a ton of dust, but to go 6k hours like that? That'd be exceptional.

    This brings me back to my previous point, the generator you need is highly dependent on how you will run it. Have multi-day outages every year? Maybe multiple per year? I'd consider that when deciding what kind of engine needs to be powering the genset. If it's going to run for 7 days straight, will a maintenance outage present any problems? Or is something that will run intermittently all year with the occasional longer stretch and only require engine maintenance once a year (200+ hour maint intervals) going to be a better fit?
     
    MasterMech, Nov 15, 2023
    #55 Top
    brenndatomu and Canadian border VT like this.
  16. morningwood

    morningwood

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2022
    Messages:
    307
    Likes Received:
    1,295
    Location:
    Ohio
    This person said the generator runs 24x7x365 at his fish camp. He changed the oil every 500 hours or so using straight weight SAE 30. Was still running the original spark plug at 14k hours. Based off of some of the other posts the Predator generators seem to be hit miss though. Lots of CO sensor problems, luckily it can be bypassed though. I guess Powerhouse generators are clones of Predator generators which are clones of Honda's.

    generator.jpg
     
    morningwood, Nov 15, 2023
    #56 Top
    Stephiedoll, brenndatomu, Highbeam and 2 others like this.
  17. Canadian border VT

    Canadian border VT

    Joined:
    Feb 18, 2015
    Messages:
    17,614
    Likes Received:
    114,699
    Location:
    Vermont
    MasterMech and others my comment on hours was related to morningwood post on page 2 about harbor freight Predator generator that reached 6,000 hours.

    During my house fire debacle where IIRC was 24 days without power; I borrowed a predator 7K watt generator that is still in use during deer season where it is used 7 hours a day for 17 days. good friend says it will probably be dead this year.. I offered to help with new one as I put 500 hours on old one.
    They said it didn’t owe them anything
     
    Canadian border VT, Nov 15, 2023
    #57 Top
    Stephiedoll, brenndatomu, MasterMech and 2 others like this.
  18. MasterMech

    MasterMech The Mechanical Moderator

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2013
    Messages:
    9,648
    Likes Received:
    26,018
    Location:
    Greenville County SC
    14k hours on the original plug, I certainly believe. Plugs last forever in small engines that run well. There is just not that much energy in these little ignition systems to be severely eroding plugs, so the gaps don't open up much, and with the relatively low cylinder pressures, the energy required to jump the gap is low. And no need for multi-weight engine oil if the MF'r never cools down. :rofl: :lol:

    Wonder what the fuel consumption per hour is?
     
    MasterMech, Nov 15, 2023
    #58 Top
    morningwood, brenndatomu and Highbeam like this.
  19. Highbeam

    Highbeam

    Joined:
    Jun 25, 2014
    Messages:
    1,818
    Likes Received:
    5,674
    Location:
    Cascade Foothills, wet side of WA
    So 21 months of non stop running per predator 3500. Over and over. Fascinating.
     
    Highbeam, Nov 15, 2023
    #59 Top
    morningwood likes this.
  20. morningwood

    morningwood

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2022
    Messages:
    307
    Likes Received:
    1,295
    Location:
    Ohio
    Someone asked him but he never replied with a answer.Said it’s his third one he’s put 15k hours on. He mentioned that he’s spent about about 12k on gas to run the one with 15k hours. :jaw: Maybe that’s for all them ? I’m sure someone in here could figure the math out.

    The Facebook the group is wide open, you don’t have go through any kind of vetting process to search or read posts. The group is called Predator 3500/5000 Inverter/Generator. I searched on “blew up” and his post came across my feed. I was trying to find the 6k hour generator post.
     
    morningwood, Nov 15, 2023
    #60 Top
    Screwloose, MasterMech and brenndatomu like this.
Page 3 of 4