Frank Gilliland wrote:
(There is a hard-drive full of generator FAQs on the net, as well as
thousands of posts telling of personal experiences with various makes
and models. So I won't even try to make a list. But there are a few
things I have learned over the years:
Electric start is nice, but make sure it has a backup starting method.
A 4-pole generator runs at 1800 rpm which effectivley quadruples the
engine life over 2-pole generators, which run at 3600 rpm.
If the rotor is a brush-type, make sure it uses 4 brushes. Many
generators only have 2 brushes which makes for lots of RFI.
Some generators (especially brushless generators) are regulated only by
the speed of the motor. That's fine if you only want to run power tools
and light bulbs.
Make sure the motor has a pressurized oil system w/filter. Otherwise you
will have to change the oil every 8-10 hours. It also increases the life
of the motor by at least 10 times.
This may not be easy, but try to find a generator head that has two
seperate 115VAC windings (4-wire) as opposed to a center-tapped single
230VAC winding (3-wires). Suppose the generator has two outputs for 20A
@ 115VAC. If it's a 4-wire generator you can parallel the two 115VAC
windings for a total of 40A from a single output. This is important
because it will provide more surge current for things like electric
motors in freezers, washing machines, etc, which need lots of starting
current or they will burn out from slow starts (leaving the generator to
run happily along as if it wasn't responsible). But if it's a 3-wire
generator, you're stuck with 20A and run the risk of burning up your
furnace blower motor (ask me how I know!). )


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Haha,,,,that sucks! I'm chuckling because for a moment there you had me
calculating the price of a new washer, even though this one is only a
few years old. I guess the Troy-Bilt was made for this stuff, 'cause I
ran several other things while the washer cycled.


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(Keep a stock of spare parts, especially the brushes, bearings, diodes,
capacitors and filters. That way you can fix it when you -need- to fix
it, not when the hardware store opens back up after power is restored.
If these parts aren't available when you buy the generator, don't buy
it.
One more thing: Run it once in a while! Too many people run their
generators once, put them in the garage for months or even years, then
pull them out to find that the battery has solidified into a beautiful
blue-green mass of crystals, or the motor is frozen, or the carb is
gummed up because they didn't drain the bowl.)
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Thanks Frank,,,now I need to bone up on these brushes and les you speak
of,,eventually.