Generator opinions/info please

[mmbvd7]

quote:

---

Originally posted by microage97

quote:

---

Originally posted by mmbvd7

Thanks punalvr. That speaks volumes! I will be on Kona side today. Will see if they have one in stock! If not, can order.

We are usually good, but on overcast days the battery bank runs low after dark. Will look into timer for fridge. Hubby more worried about milk possibly going bad.

For people that put their fridges on a timer, do you adjust the temperature settings of the fridge? The freezer portion?

Best wishes

---

What is you state of Discharge or Bat voltage in the morning when you get outa bed?

---

HOPE


Hope I'm understanding this correctly. This varies. Like when my 18 year old step daughter here, along with my 15 year old daughter, there was a make up party nearly everyday complete with the latest hair trend designs and wardrobe chanes approximately three times a day. On those days, hit 41 and 44 and no juice!

Again, I'm thinking current generator not working properly. Usually it is at 47, which was number we were informed to keep above. During day, charges up in the mid-50's.

Went to Kona today for physician appointment. Had to leave without trip to Costco, because 15 year old had to be picked up after school, and we were cutting it close. Have to return to that side of island again soon...unless something else appears to be perfect, reasonably priced, and in stock, will try to get to Costco again.

Best wishes

[mmbvd7]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bullwinkle

A word of caution on the champions,colemans and other off brand gensets.

The pot metal or thin sheet metals usually rust out quickly and are poorly made.

Good for one time emergencies and short term use. Throwaways - thats why folks dont repair them - they are not worth the labor to fix em when they go bad.

the auto parts over by the kta in Hilo sells em as loss leaders from time to time.

---

Wow. Thanks for info. Another person reported excellent return and/or replacement service with Costco. Need to check into that.

Has well vented area that is under roof. House has tall metal gait. Off the road, cannot see place. Although fairly new to area, seems like decent neighborhood. The generator has thick chain pad locked to concrete. To get to the chain, have yo get through another locked door.


Best wishes

[mmbvd7]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Punatic007

A friend purchased 10 off-grid acres a couple of years ago and has been immensely enjoying the well deserved beauty, peace and quiet. He retired from a Peace Corps admin position. The bordering 10 acres was recently purchased by a New Yorker and after building his new house he runs a large loud generator at least 12 hours a day. Refusing to stop, he has basically ruined the peace of all neighbors in the area, that type of noise travels far and wide.

Just a friendly reminder....be mindful of others when it comes to big loud generators.

Thanks!

---

We run ours after 6:00 a.m. And before 10:00 p.m. We have solar power...only need back up to " top off" the battery bank when there's been excess use, or a lot of dark days. The level gets checked daily around sunset. Yes, try to keep others in mind. We basically have the belief and practice of treating others like we would want to be treated.

Best wishes

[mmbvd7]

quote:

---

Originally posted by terracore

If your fridge is newer or "energy star" the timer may not save you any power. They are designed to run more continuously using less power while running than older models that ran less frequently at higher power. Sort of like how your car gets better gas mileage on the highway than doing lots of starts and stops in the city. (That is an oversimplified analogy but the best I can think of right now). If you put it on a timer not only will the food warm up but the fridge will run forever trying to re-cool it and with a higher net usage. But I understand that if you're only making electricity during the day... I can run our side-by-side GE Fridge for over 3 hours on 1 marine battery (I don't know how long it will run before the voltage drops too low to power the inverter because I didn't want to risk damaging the battery finding out) but you could use a 2 battery system to power your fridge at night and charge the batteries during the day. Think of it as a mini-grid within your off grid.

---

This idea had occurred to us as well. I think, since the current one is used, we may start fresh with the Champion. Want to speak with the man that sells this brand to see if he recommends a certain generator. We need the generator to "top off" the battery bank.

During the drought, not one day of low bank power! We also need to do another energy use appraisal. As my son will be moving to us soon ( he is in a school to help with vocational training -- has form of autism), and he loves his electronics...we may run into a drain of power more frequently. If we have to run the Champion 30 minutes a day to top off the battery bank, that's approximately $40 a month in gas. There are also a few more steps in the process...LOL!

I was told that besides panels and batteries, we would another inverter and charger as well. Maybe I misunderstood. Only five panels in a string. We have 15 currently. They would also have to be installed on another part of the roof. I think give more panels and six more batteries would be a large enough addition. The man that installed the system said occasional battery bank charge the easiest fix(as well going with the cost).

Best wishes

[knieft]

If you will be using your generator regularly you might consider a low RPM diesel. Though they cost about a dollar a watt, they are much more matched than the high RPM gasoline generators to the off grid demands of charging batteries.

Like a previous poster we have had nothing but trouble from the "top of the line" Hondas (EX 5500). Repair after repair (mostly by Steve who back then worked at the Honda dealership, now has his own place on the Hilo dump road).

After 7 years or so and going through two Hondas, we bit the bullet and bought a diesel. Absolutely solid for the last 10 tens years. Diesel fuel is indeed safer and long lived. Still sucks though, like batteries suck. The idea that off-grid folks are more eco-friendly than grid folks is probably not as accurate as many people wish to believe. Some reports have solar panels being about 1:1 EROEI if you consider the manufacturing and shipping processes all the way back to mining. But I digress...

(http://www.northern-lights.com/landbased...3l4e65-kw/).

These are a different class of machine. Old school brushes to be replaced every 10,000 hours, as opposed to replacing the entire generator every 1500 hours. I heard that Blue Dolphin Helicopters (is that the right name?) at the Waikaloa turn near the Hilton used one 24/7 for many years.

Unless you can find a used diesel generator at a great price, it probably isn't economical for you to invest that much money in a generator instead of beefing up your system. With the drop in panel prices to about a dollar per watt, it makes way more sense to get more panels.

We did so several months ago and couldn't be happier--rarely use the generator anymore. Should consider selling it, but, dang, you just don't let go of your diesel.

For short term a cheap gas generator will do. We have one as back-up, never really used, but we like redundency, especially when the lava was gonna cut us off. Amazon has the chinese gennies a fluctuating prices...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004054GN8/
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004918MO2/

http://camelcamelcamel.com/DuroStar-DS40...B004918MO2

http://camelcamelcamel.com/Champion-Equi...B004054GN8

$15 for two day shipping, which may take four, but still...

As an aside, our generator experience is similar to our mower experience. With six acres of orchard we went through two top of the line Craftsman riders until buying a Scag Tiger Cub zero-turn for $6K back in the day (now they are $10K I hear). Looking back we wasted big bucks on equipment simply not suited to our situation, but man it's hard to spend as much on a generator or mower as we have ever spent on a car.

Cheers,
Kirt

[microage97]

quote:

---

Originally posted by mmbvd7

quote:

---

Originally posted by microage97

quote:

---

Originally posted by mmbvd7

Thanks punalvr. That speaks volumes! I will be on Kona side today. Will see if they have one in stock! If not, can order.

We are usually good, but on overcast days the battery bank runs low after dark. Will look into timer for fridge. Hubby more worried about milk possibly going bad.

For people that put their fridges on a timer, do you adjust the temperature settings of the fridge? The freezer portion?

Best wishes

---

What is you state of Discharge or Bat voltage in the morning when you get outa bed?

---

HOPE


Hope I'm understanding this correctly. This varies. Like when my 18 year old step daughter here, along with my 15 year old daughter, there was a make up party nearly everyday complete with the latest hair trend designs and wardrobe chanes approximately three times a day. On those days, hit 41 and 44 and no juice!

Again, I'm thinking current generator not working properly. Usually it is at 47, which was number we were informed to keep above. During day, charges up in the mid-50's.

Went to Kona today for physician appointment. Had to leave without trip to Costco, because 15 year old had to be picked up after school, and we were cutting it close. Have to return to that side of island again soon...unless something else appears to be perfect, reasonably priced, and in stock, will try to get to Costco again.

Best wishes

---

I would say something isn't right with your system as it should be like in the 50's Volts range when fully charged. I have a 24V system and we run a regular frige, bottom freezer, french door and watch TV all day with Sat DVR and we rarely get below 20% discharged.

[Bullwinkle]

more than you ever wanted to know about state of charge - when in doubt I use a hydrometer:

http://pkys.com/Amp_Hour_Meters.htm

[Bullwinkle]

Part two:

One defective cell - low specific gravity will draw the other cells voltage down to its level.

That one bad cell will cause one bad battery, that one bad battery draws the others down to its level.

One bad cell can drag down a 10kw bank to its level....

think on that a while - bane of my (professional) existence

a six dollar hydrometer is the most important tool in my service kit....

[Bullwinkle]

Part Three:

Leakage ...... wall transformers and and other vampire like trickle loads will suck batteries dry while we sleep.

Diodes: most devices have them - one or two may fail (field windings in generators for instance) see above for the result.

My second most used field tool - a 12 volt light bulb

turn every thing off - unplug anything in a socket that could be a load

remove the main plus terminal and do a routine post cleaning.... before re attaching the terminal....put the light bulb between the cable and post ....if the bulb lights - there is a short . dull red glow - bad diode some where.

still have genset issues drop me an email .... no promises. Don't tinker with energised systems and expect me to be responsible - by way of disclosure..

http://www.amazon.com/Professional-6-12V...B003UHNMMS


http://www.amazon.com/Custom-Accessories...automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1429046582&sr=1-4&keywords=battery+hydrometer

[terracore]

I agree. 15 panels you should be doing just fine. One of your batteries might be kaput. Your entire system is only as good as your worst battery. I understand that you still need a generator, but you might be treating a symptom instead of the problem.