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Small *diesel* generators

Z

zxcvbob

Jan 1, 1970
0
Reposting this here. Thanks.

Bob

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Small *diesel* generators
Date: Fri, 08 Jun 2007 17:47:48 -0500
From: zxcvbob <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: alt.home.repair

I was tempted to buy a Honda 2000 watt electronic generator at the state
fair last year because they were on special for $899. (that's a great
price) I decided not to get one because (1) I hate spending $900+ and
(2) the electric power here is very reliable.

But I'm still interested in emergency generators even if I may never get
one.

Does anyone have experience with 2kw to 5kw diesel generators? Yanmar
makes them -- very expensive and hard to find -- and there are Chinese
knockoffs for less than $1000. (If you search on "Yanmar diesel
generator" you will probably find more links for the Chinese generators
that just have the word "Yanmar" in the page somewhere.)

They run at 3600 RPM rather than the 1800 I expected. So is there any
real advantage over gasoline? How long do 3600 RPM diesel engines last?
Gasoline engines are sometimes only rated for a few hundred hours. The
online specs never give this rating. I guess it's safer to store 100
gallons of diesel fuel during the blizzard (or hurricane, or whatever)
season than it is 150 gallons of gasoline.

Bob
 
P

(PeteCresswell)

Jan 1, 1970
0
Per zxcvbob:
I guess it's safer to store 100
gallons of diesel fuel during the blizzard (or hurricane, or whatever)
season than it is 150 gallons of gasoline.

I went the Honda EU2000 route last year.

Same as you - pretty reliable electric around here.

Do you have natural gas where you live?

I'm short on actual experience, but it sounds to me like a nat
gas fired generator gets around most of the care and feeding
issues that we have with gasoline machines.

Besides storing gas and draining the carb/tank between uses,
another issue that I hear coming up over and over again is
consumption. "Feeding the beast" in one person's words.

When the electric's out odds are that gasoline is harder to
obtain and the more capacity the gennie has, the faster it drinks
the stuff. Score one more point for natural gas...

My vehicle has a beeeeeeg gas tank (41 gallons) and if I try to
keep it at least half full I'm hoping that will take care of much
of the storage issue unless there's a *really* long outage.

The rest of my fuel storage consists of a couple of six-gallon
containers in the garden shed which I keep rotating through the
lawnmower.


Finally, think about how you're going to get that alternative
electric power into the house. Right now I'm depending on a few
very robust extension cords (as in #9 wire...).

In retrospect, I think the first thing I'd invest in is a proper
cutover box: something that would accommodate just an EU2000
(i.e. no 220) or a larger generator.

The extension cord solution doesn't sound too bad when the power
goes out bco a summer thunderstorm.... but I'm thinking that an
ice storm in the middle of the night in the winter may make me
wish I'd gotten a cutover switch.
 
V

Vaughn Simon

Jan 1, 1970
0
Ulysses said:
If they don't fix it I
probably won't be buying any more Hondas. I think for $900 I should get
something with an engine that can be rebuilt.

At least you can take pleasure in knowing that both machines easily paid
for themselves in just the gas they saved over a Home Depot-class machine. I
think we can assume that nor real parts support is available for the off-brand
inverter generators, so that only leaves Yamaha if you want a portable inverter
genny. Are they any better? My shop has two 1000-watt Yamahas that we keep to
power up network gear. They run like clocks, but I doubt that we will ever have
enough hours on them to know how good they really are.

I have had my EU-2000 for two years now, and it has had no more than 5 or 6
tanks of gas put through it, so the situation there is about the same.

Vaughn
 
S

Steve Spence

Jan 1, 1970
0
Listeroids come in 6hp to 24hp, but I wouldn't call the 6hp "small". They
work great on everything from veggie to motor oil and tranny fluid.
 
E

Ecnerwal

Jan 1, 1970
0
(PeteCresswell) said:
This link http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/001011.php
cites a claim of .3 gallons per hour @8,000 watts.

I sincerely doubt that it is an accurate claim. More likely an 8KW
generator head, and a genset that burns 0.3 GPH with whatever typical
load (averaging much less than 8KW) is actually being run from it. Hype
writers tend to blur those little details, either deliberately or
through excess uninformed, non-critical enthusiasm.

Just Say: 0.0375 gallon/KWh is not bloody likely.
 
E

Ecnerwal

Jan 1, 1970
0
William Dryden said:
I am surprised no one has told you this yet, but you better hope the engine
was running the full 3600 RPM all the time. The engine speed controls the
frequency of the AC coming out of the generator and has nothing to do with
how heavily it is loaded. If it was only running 2700 RPM you would have 45
Hz AC and it would fry any motors you were trying to run.

You don't know what an eu2000 is, or how it works, or the difference
between a hole in the ground and another sort of hole. Engine speed has
exactly no effect whatever on frequency out for an eu2000, or any other
inverter-generator.
 
B

Bruce in Alaska

Jan 1, 1970
0
William Dryden said:
I am surprised no one has told you this yet, but you better hope the engine
was running the full 3600 RPM all the time. The engine speed controls the
frequency of the AC coming out of the generator and has nothing to do with
how heavily it is loaded. If it was only running 2700 RPM you would have 45
Hz AC and it would fry any motors you were trying to run.

Hmmm, obviously this guy (the Commenter) isn't familiar with the Honda
Generator/Inverter Technology.

Bruce in alaska
 
S

sylvan butler

Jan 1, 1970
0
I am surprised no one has told you this yet, but you better hope the engine
was running the full 3600 RPM all the time. The engine speed controls the

I'm suprised at your temerity to correct someone when you have no clue...
frequency of the AC coming out of the generator and has nothing to do with
how heavily it is loaded. If it was only running 2700 RPM you would have 45
Hz AC and it would fry any motors you were trying to run.

1) he said he was using an eu2000. From that model number and its
context it is reasonable to conclude the generator is a honda inverter
generator. With those the engine speed is whatever is needed to meet
the load and the inverter always provides proper frequency A.C. out.

2) It is trivial to design a generator to run at some fixed speed other
than 3600RPM. Only a two-pole alternator direct-coupled to the engine
needs the engine to be run at 3600RPM for 60hz output.

sdb
 
E

Ecnerwal

Jan 1, 1970
0
does not even get warm to the touch under a maintenance run. The engine is
touchable immediately afterwards. This bodes well for durability under heavy
load.

Actually, it bodes well for water in the oil. If your maintenance run is
not getting the thing hot enough to boil out condensate, it's probably
not doing much for maintenance. Try a longer run or a heavier load on it.

With adequate serious classified shopping, a used US-made 1800 rpm
diesel with good parts availability can be obtained in the $2K and under
price range.
 
E

Eeyore

Jan 1, 1970
0
aezael said:
I bought a small diesel generator from a company called Ramco power
systems and I have regretted every since.
The generator arrived with out a service manual and has never ran for
more than 1/2 hours, I would appreciate any one having information
about a model 2500CLE.

Googling 2500CLE yields plenty of results for resellers. Maybe one of them
can help with a manual.

Or, as Don Young says, take it back and demand your money back. Have you
even been in touch with them ?

Your experience seems to be typical btw. Research prior to purchase is a
good idea.

Graham
 
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