Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
#1
|
|||
|
|||
"Frank Gilliland" wrote in message ... On Wed, 29 Sep 2004 00:10:17 GMT, "AKC Supreme Being" wrote in : "Frank Gilliland" wrote in message . .. On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 23:16:11 GMT, "I am not george, itoldyouiamnotiamnotgeorge are morons!" wrote in : "Frank Gilliland" wrote in message news On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 11:43:37 -0400, (Twistedhed) wrote in : snip .....I'm going to buy a quieter (and larger) Honda model in the future, maybe a prtable A/C unit, too. This Troy-Bilt is way too loud. Just a suggestion: Shop around carefully for a generator. Most of the 'portables' and many of the commercial gensets on the market are junk. Why is that Frank? Are they way overrated for continuous duty? Too much heat? What? I've not maxed one out enough to have a failure, but was wondering what to watch for. Well, the worst I've seen are some of the Colemans with the plastic end-bell, which is about as dumb as AMC's plastic valve cover, and with more destructive results (got a B&S in the garage from a Coleman with a shattered rod, bent crankshaft and the cam snapped in half). Some brushless heads have problems due to less-than-robust rectifiers in the rotors, which are a bitch to replace. Some seemingly high-end generators are mated to motors that are not designed for such use. Some have poor regulation, some have proprietary connectors, some have limited voltage configurations, etc, etc, etc. What I'm saying is that if you are going to buy a generator, do your homework first or you are likely to have problems. Suggestions on better models? I have a really old Pincor with almost no regulation, and was thinking I may replace it with a better model so that I can feel a bit more comfortable plugging electronics into it. I always check this old thing with a voltmeter to make sure it's not overvolting. 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!). 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. Corporate radio plants are getting rid of their old gas gennies that they used to power their transmitter shack and going to diesel to power the whole plant, offices and all. The station I worked for just got rid of a 200A single phase Onan 6 cylinder for the price of the title transfer and delivery (dirt cheap) this also included the automatic transfer switch. and wiring to transfer switch I wish I would have jumped on that. I just moved from the city to, well, Bum **** Egypt and I know my power will fail this winter. The cool thing about gas over diesel at this point is that gas engines can be converted to propane and I have a big ass propane tank. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20. Watch Radio World it's a trade rag for broadcast engineers, there's always a couple in there. Chad |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Ping No One | Policy | |||
looking for old ping / pinger sound mrjiggs TB-2 or TB-2N module's | CB | |||
WTB: Looking for old Pinger / browning radio immitation ping | CB | |||
Ping Train | CB | |||
Ping away assclowns | CB |