Master thread for disasters and generators.

[Poppy]

Have not seen data on this... but chances of both your units dying is slim. I would not worry about it.

Long term storage... technically you're supposed to put a little oil in cylinder through the spark plug hole and pull the rope to coat the bore with oil to prevent rusting. I've never done this. Would probably consider it if storing for longer than a year or so. You stop pulling when you feel compression... this ensures the valves are closed, sealing the cylinder.

I tried the oil directly in the cylinder trick many years ago for my snowblower. For some reason I didn't put the spark plug back in, and that winter/summer I think the cylinder rusted. Because the following winter when I started it up, it smoked. It never did that before. I think it also lost a couple of horse power, like down from a 7hp to a 5hp.

So guys, don't leave the spark plug out!

 

[Poppy]

This question may need a thread of its own.

Would an automobile engine (V8 or I6) be suitable for running a generator for a backup power system for an all-electric home? Would it use too much fuel, compared to a commercial ready made generator like a Generac, etc.?

Generally, an idling car uses somewhere between 1/5 to 1/7 gallon of fuel per hour. Compact cars that carry a 2-liter capacity engine burn around 0.16 – 0.3 gallons of gas on a per-hourly basis. A large sedan, on the other hand, with a 4.6-liter engine, burns approximately 0.5 – 0.7 gallons of gas while idling.Aug 14, 2023
Source

How Much Gas Does Idling Use?

Know how much Gas does Idling use and its facts. Everyone has their own perceptions about this so knowing the technicality behind the same is essential.

carfromjapan.com

IIRC a 4.6L engine idles at around 800 rpm. If a gen set requires 3500 rpm then you'll need to get a pully or gear set that will drive the generator at a higher rate of speed than the engine idle. Certainly that will put a small load on the engine so it will burn more fuel.

I suppose that it might be feasible. IIRC my 10HP briggs engine in a 5500 watt genset would burn 5 gallons in 8 hours.

 

[orbital]

+

BVH is the only person I'v seen mention Pecron.
I'v used my E1000s' for a few years & they've been workhorses for me

so thumbs up to that

solar?

 

[BVH]

I will eventually get some panels to recharge the Pecrons. All my research kept bringing me back to the Pecrons. Cost, Capacity and features-wise, they can't be beat in my humble opinion.

 

[BVH]

It's really a hobby, not a need so the money spent is for having fun and being prepared. We don't travel or have other expensive hobbies.

 

[raggie33]

i think i saw maybe it was amazon had 100 watt panels for 80 bucks

 

[orbital]

I will eventually get some panels to recharge the Pecrons. All my research kept bringing me back to the Pecrons. Cost, Capacity and features-wise, they can't be beat in my humble opinion.

+

Get larger panels when you do, same amount of work setting up, just more watts.
like 320W panels / just four of those will get alot done, really
(a 320W panel will give you about 250W most of the time, some very clear days more)

Have to recommend this controller for your LFP, just great for the low cost & it even has potted electronics

40A MPPT Solar Charge Controller with Parallel Charging & Bluetooth

HQST provides all your affordable solar equipment. Shop for starter solar panel kits, solar panels, other off grid systems. Reliable and Durable! Black Friday is coming! Up To 35% Off!

hqsolarpower.com

 

[BVH]

Thanks Orbital. The Pecrons have dual built-in MPPT controllers up to 700 Watts input combined so I wouldn't need to buy one of those. In the reviews, they preferred connecting panels in Serial to be up at 45 or greater Volts. I think they will handle up to 95 Volts. I believe the reviewers said charging would not start until input voltage was 30 or 32 minimum. I see lots of info and adapters for Parallel connections but very little on Serializing them. When you buy two of the same panels, can you choose to Parallel or Serial them?

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Series connection of solar panels involves simply plugging them into each other, with one pole on the first panel, the other pole on the last panel. Be careful not to go too close to maximum volts of charge controller. Winter clear skies and cool temperatures can exceed panel voltage rating on some models.

Parallel connection of panels require combiners. One can do a combination of series and parallel connection of multiple solar panels. Shading considerations can apply as to how solar panel arrays function best.

 

[orbital]

.. When you buy two of the same panels, can you choose to Parallel or Serial them?

+

Your Pecrons' have two solar inputs,
so your can have one large 24V panel plugged into one input & one large 24V panel plugged into the other input
..meaning two 24v panels for one E2000LFP
No need to series/parallel the panels

you can do that twice for your two Pecrons

=hope that makes sense=

 

[Poppy]

Yesterday I tried to start my Predator 3500 inverter generator. The battery was dead. Fortunately, with one pull it started right up. I let it run for 20-30 minutes. When I pulled the battery it was still at only 10 volts. It's three years old, so I guess it is at the end of its life span. I put it on charge, but I don't know how long it will hold it's charge. I may soon be in the market for a replacement.

This morning I was up at 5:00 AM, it was still dark out. It was pouring rain.

The power went out. I was delighted that my auto on emergency lights lite up so that I wasn't in total darkness. I was on my notebook computer, and that stayed on, but the TV turned off.

After a couple of minutes I started thinking... darn, if I had a battery powered inverter, I could turn the TV back on. I'm not about to go out in that pouring rain to set up the generator. After a few minutes, the power came back on, but it was off long enough for me to decide to get either a Ryobi inverter to go with my 18v plus one batteries, or maybe a 18Ah 12v LiFePO4 battery and a 300 watt inverter.

 

[M@elstrom]

I've never owned a generator before and only used the one at my workplace maybe twice in over ten years but with the push to renewable energy and the subsequent effect on grid demand reliability it seems like something I will need to look into, thanks for all the useful info guys 😉

 

[BVH]

Poppy, the 18AH LFP setup will give you only about 178 watt hours given an 80% DOD and the inverter will use some of that too so you're probably only going to get 150 Watt hours capacity. Probably won't run a TV but for a few minutes. I have one of these in addition to two, 5.5KW LFP battery inverter setup from Pecron, the E1500LPF. I like E600 a lot. Easy to transport, full sine wave with a surge of 1200 Watt. 491 usable Watt hours given the 80% DOD minus inverter usage. Pretty cheap at $299 for what you get.

PECRON E600LFP Portable Power Station 1200W 614Wh LiFePo4

E600LFP USA Version: 120V 60HZ, Only to USA Canada. EU Version: 230V 50HZ, Only to EU countries. Please click here Build To Last: E600LFP utilizes premium LiFePO4(lithium iron phosphate) batteries which can retain 80% of its original capacity at 3500 complete charge cycles; with Build-in BMS...

www.pecron.com

 

[Poppy]

Thanks @BVH I used Kill-a-watt and measured my 45 inch tv at 85 watts, and the router at 14 watts. I figure that if the outage lasts longer than 90 minutes, I'll get my butt out of the house and start up the generator.

Or if I use a 6Ah 18-20 volt tool battery I should get 45 minutes with each. I have two of those, and two 4 Ah ones.

I should be able to get a LiFePo4 battery and 300 watt inverter for less than $100 or there abouts. Cost is a factor considering that it is only a convenience factor for very short duration power outages. Outages are a very rare occurrence.

 

[TPA]

@Poppy What are you using for auto-emergency lights these days?

 

[Poppy]

@Poppy What are you using for auto-emergency lights these days?

I have one like this. It doesn't have an electric eye so it is on all the time when the power is on. When the power goes out, you can have it set to light out the front, or directed out the top. If directed out the top it can be hidden behind a couch, and when activated it would ceiling bounce. Currently it sits under the kitchen cabinet.

I also have a couple of these GE ones that have an electric eye, and turn off during the day, or when a light is on in the room.

So they are not fancy, just functional.

 

[TPA]

I've never owned a generator before and only used the one at my workplace maybe twice in over ten years but with the push to renewable energy and the subsequent effect on grid demand reliability it seems like something I will need to look into, thanks for all the useful info guys 😉

Having been through many hurricanes and severe thunderstorms, with lots of generator usage, I try to remind people that you only need to power the basics. Refrigerator, lights, fans, TVs, etc. At that point you need a life-raft, not the full cruise ship. Refrigerators only need to run for a few hours a day. Battery-operated lights are much better these days. Same goes for 18650-powered fans. You don't need to run the generator 24/7 anymore. Not to mention a generator's noise can attract people who might be looking to steal your generator.

Sure, you can get a bog-standard 5,000 watt generator but they're noisy and very thirsty. When the power goes out for you, it also goes out for the petrol stations as well. Smaller and more efficient is better. Inverter-based generators are MUCH quieter and more efficient and worth the extra $. I'm still a very loyal Honda/Yamaha fan and my Honda Eu2000i is now 18 years old and still starts on the first pull despite being very neglected. I know there's now Chinese inverter generators out there, and it seems that people have had good luck with them.

 

[MyUsernameTX]

Oooh, a thread for me!

I have a 27KW Generac RG027-QS with the 2.4L 4 Cylinder 1800RPM liquid cooled Mitsubishi Engine. I keep enough oil and filters on hand for non-stop running for a good few months. As long as the NG keeps flowing, no problem. Powers the entire house of course, goes through an ATS which flips to generator power in 10 seconds

They did butcher the install a bit, I fixed some things myself. Still not a fan of the gas pipe blocking the LB, but whatever

Conduit goes underground to the side of my garage where I had all my utilities moved to ready for the generator and solar

I also have 17kw of Grid tied solar, but no batteries yet

I also keep a 7kw Champion Gasoline generator with a tri-fuel kit, and about 80 gallons of gas on hand. I have an interlock on the main panel with an inlet, so if need be I can hook up the portable generator and power "the whole house"

 

[kilogulf59]

@MyUsernameTX nice set up. 27 kw is a big generator by my way of thinking. When I was considering one, I contacted our electric company. Very helpful folks I have to say. They said "Your highest peaks are around 13-14 kW (14.362 kW all-time high), but note that all but one of the values above 12 kW are in summer months, so may include air conditioning load, which can be significant". We have a large, two story home, which is all electric. Well, the furnace is LP and we primarily use a pellet stove, but both those still require electricity to operate. So, I could get by with a 12 kw and a 15 kw or higher would have me covered.
We also went over outages and downtime and such. Honestly, for us in our area, it's just not worth it. In the over 18 years that we've been here, our longest outage was a few hours. That was due to a winter storm. Outages, in general, are infrequent. We are lucky.
If anything, a smaller generator to, as @TPA said, power the basics. Then, they way our house is laid out, the hook up(s) would be a big PITA or I'd have to use long extension cords. It's a lengthy, involved, story and would require multiple pictures to understand what I mean. I should probably consult a good electrician, which around here, real tradesmen are hard to find. That's why buying a generator is, for me, like going down a rabbit hole.

 

[MyUsernameTX]

@MyUsernameTX nice set up. 27 kw is a big generator by my way of thinking. When I was considering one, I contacted our electric company. Very helpful folks I have to say. They said "Your highest peaks are around 13-14 kW (14.362 kW all-time high), but note that all but one of the values above 12 kW are in summer months, so may include air conditioning load, which can be significant". We have a large, two story home, which is all electric. Well, the furnace is LP and we primarily use a pellet stove, but both those still require electricity to operate. So, I could get by with a 12 kw and a 15 kw or higher would have me covered.
We also went over outages and downtime and such. Honestly, for us in our area, it's just not worth it. In the over 18 years that we've been here, our longest outage was a few hours. That was due to a winter storm. Outages, in general, are infrequent. We are lucky.
If anything, a smaller generator to, as @TPA said, power the basics. Then, they way our house is laid out, the hook up(s) would be a big PITA or I'd have to use long extension cords. It's a lengthy, involved, story and would require multiple pictures to understand what I mean. I should probably consult a good electrician, which around here, real tradesmen are hard to find. That's why buying a generator is, for me, like going down a rabbit hole.

Yeah, its too big really but the reasons I got it were

* I wanted the RG022, which uses the same engine, but it was just $400 cheaper on a $20K total install. I figured for that $400, I may as well step up

* Its not actually 27kw, its derated to 25kw on NG

* Wet stacking doesn't exist on NG engines, so going too big doesn't really cause many problems

* The local code here in Houston states that if you are under what the load calculation sheet says, then you need load shed modules on stuff. The problem is that the when the load shed modules fail, they turn off the load. So now you have another point of failure in front of your AC. No fun. The load calc sheet is also stupid and goes based of of square footage and boilerplate numbers for appliances. That load calc sheet says I need a 24kw generator, which is wrong. So going with this means I don't need to hassle with that. I have my own power monitoring and the highest ever load before we got the EV I saw was 13kw, and the highest since getting the EV is 16kw. I could probably get it higher by throwing on the oven at the same time

* I wanted to prepare for a future where we have 2 x EV's and a bunch more electric stuff. We just got an EV, so its nice to know I could charge it at full speed if I wanted with no considerations

I am glad I got it, because Generac can no longer get those engines! So they have phased that model out (Along with Cummins RS25 and other generators with the same engine). The replacement for this model is now a 1.5l 3600RPM engine! Yuck!