Gen is up & running

[exMember]

Snow storm hit us yesterday and kept knocking out the power. Well it took it out for good around 1:30am! We've been running the fridge, freezer, incubator and now the internet off the diesel gen. 8 hours run time and less than 2.5 gal of fuel used! Its running a lot of stuff in the house so that is a great little set up. No running water and just a single light due to all the extension cords getting over whelming, but hey, at least the internet works!

What a damn mess April has been for Colorado.

 

[Okie Hog]

CO got a pounding from the latest storm. Hang in there, spring is on the way.

 

[Standing Bear]

Same storm ? Came thru central Texas last night. Power out in some places but not ours. 

Instead of extension cords we turn ALL the breakers off before cranking the genset (especially the main don't want to electrocute a lineman).  Plug the genset into the welding machine outlet. Crank it up and turn on the welder breaker now the main buses are hot and individual breakers can be manipulated as needed.

 

[RonRC]

I Have Been thinking about getting a generator even though I am in a suburban community.

Jonathan, what are the specs on yours? Perhaps I can use them as a guide.

I lost power 45.5 years ago when I got married. :shock:

Thanks,
Ron

 

[BigAl52]

Ron 
Check with your wife I bet she can power you up.:cheers:

 

[Kentucky Colonel]

I almost bought a generator in '04 when three hurricanes barreled through 
central Florida. We lost power for a week at a time and we were among the lucky ones. 
It would have been great to have a generator. 

We had a large oak tree on our roof that needed to be cut as much as possible before the next 
storm was to hit. (We could not lift it all off- that would take a crane- but reducing wind resistance 
and weight was vital.) I reached for my chain saw... and started cursing myself. 

I had bought an electric powered chainsaw out of concern for the environment. 
As we live in the city, I did not think we needed a traditional big chainsaw. I never 
even considered emergency needs. I ended up using an axe and a pruning saw to remove 
a couple thousand pounds of oak.
 
I now buy gas powered and keep spare fuel on hand. But, a genny would have 
given me my chainsaw back at a key time.

FEMA would have refunded the purchase of a generator at the time due to the emergency. 

However, the output of generators varies quite a bit. On the fly, it was hard to be certain about what it would power. Lack of lights are no worry for us but refrigerators draw big power. And, aircon would have been a God send since we were working non-stop in the severe heat to clear debris. But, a generator does not automatically power everything. You need the right match to be safe.

Running a generator creates fumes unsafe for closed spaces. So, it would have had to be exposed. Theft for these were famously high. Fuel was also more difficult to come by because most of the gas stations were closed due to lack of power.

By the time I would have gotten it up and running, most of the drama would have been over. I almost got one anyway... 

But, it would have just been taking up space for 12 years if I had. So, I probably made the right call. 

However, hurricane season is coming around again... I may revisit this idea again. 

Hope this helped.

 

[Standing Bear]

I bought a 4500 watt genset that from the factory runs on gasoline or propane. 
TC

 

[Kentucky Colonel]

I bought a 4500 watt genset that from the factory runs on gasoline or propane. 
TC

What will that power?

 

[RonRC]

That is helpful, Colonel!

We have the occasional ice or snow storm that will knock down a line or a transformer. Rarely have we ever lost power more than for a few hours. But a backup would be comforting.

When we lived on a farm in Virginia, you could count on the power going out to the well pump just about every major thunderstorm. Then, I was off into the woods with a few fuses and an electrical repair kit and come back to the house covered in ticks. Now and again the pump would be destroyed and we would have no water for at least a day or 2.
Ron

 

[Standing Bear]

4500 watts is about 40 amps 20 amps per leg on 220 v.  Won't run electric heat maybe an a.c. if nothing else turned on. Will run fridge, freezer, lights, ceiling fan. You can turn other breakers off and run a water well or even electric water heater etc.  Also good for fan on central heat to circulate heat from fire place. I couldn't  see $ for 20KW gen set to run everything at once.

 

[patocazador]

For Frances and Jean (2 hurricanes) I had 2 Coleman gas generators that ran almost constantly from Sat. through Thurs. After the storms there was so much clean-up to do that I just put them in the barn and forgot to drain the gas. 2 years later, when I needed one again for an outage, they wouldn't start. Cost me almost $200 to have the carbs cleaned out and rebuilt.
Now I use non-ethanol gas that I get from the marina and treat it with Sta-bil.

If I had it to do all over, I would buy a diesel generator that was on demand whenever need. Initial cost is much higher but the decrease in aggravation factor would be worth it.

Also, if you have a tractor, you can get a PTO-powered generator that is less expensive.

 

[exMember]

go diesel Ron!

Its made by Titan and is a 6550 wat gen. Not to loud either, they actually have a muffler upgrade to tune it down even more.

Great run time on fuel too. 8 hours and it still had a 1/4 of a tank this morning. About 10 hour run time on maybe a 2.5 - 3 gallon tank.

 

[RonRC]

Thank you, Jonathan!
Ron

 

[Smokin' Joe]

Ron, I have a Honda 2000 watt portable generator that I use for my ice fishing house.  That would probably get you by for a few things.  They are super quiet and very reliable.  I've been thinking about it to run the furnace in case there was a winter outage.

 

[olehunter1]

For us that forget to drain ethanol gas,, My dad let his 4 wheeler set for a year ,he was in -out of hospital  heart problems , After he recovered he wanted to use his 4 wheeler and it wouldn't start ,His older retired neighbor [ mechanic ] told him to do this ,,drain old fuel all that he can the try to get as much Coleman fuel he could in to carb and new fuel in tank , tank holds about 2 gallons,, add half Coleman fuel , Let set for a few hours and try again ,,He was able to get it fired up and with in 10 minutes of poorly running it cleared up and ran good  ,,I found this out after spending 200.00 on my wife's 4 wheeler  ,It wouldn't run with old  gas and gummed up carb ,,,

 

[exMember]

All our gas and diesel gets treated. I forget what its call, but certainly not that stable crap lol.