school me on generators

[huskihl]

Now it stalls eco or not A/C load or not. I guess the first thing is the carb…

Seafoam at a high dosage and let it sit for a month. Or clean out the main jet in the carb.

I have a Champion 3700w inverter generator and have been more than happy for the price. Runs a 31’ rv ac fine

 

[davidwyby]

I tried some mechanic in a bottle…probably just take it off and clean it.

I’d rather have two small Hondas…I’m super picky about quiet. This trailer is old, as is the A/C, I think I’m gonna put a mini split or two
in it, way less amp draw and quieter.

 

[merc_man]

I have a little 2000 watt champion and that little thing is very quiet.

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[Al Smith]

Syncing AC generators is something not normally done on small installations . Honda makes very good gen sets .An option could be getting on the internet and finding an older Onan that came from a motor coach .These usually do not have a lot of hours on them and are less expense often around 7500 watt . I've got a 5,000 marketed by Homelite but not made by them plus my sons 3,000 which is a Champion . I've got a 20 KVA at my shop left over from WW2 .looks like a small locomotive --you wouldn't want that

 

[Al Smith]

Here another option .Certain small gasoline powered welders like a Lincoln weld and power ,some sold by Miller and others had 16HP twin cylinder engines and ran the generator at 1800 RPM .Those are all about the same ,5,000 watt but they weight 350-400 pounds and burn 4- 5 quarts of gasoline per hour under full load and they are noisy .Usually dependable though . My 5,000 watt unit burns 5 gallons in 8 hours .I think it's a 8 HP single cylinder Briggs flat head

 

[karrl]

Obviously the Honda’s are going to be the best but we have have two of the hf predator 2k generators and like them. They might be louder than the Honda’s but once they’re on eco they’re pretty quiet. One of them will run a register and a ice cream cooler on eco after starting on regular mode. One of them could not run my refrigerator when we lost power a while ago.

I’d like to pair the two up that we have so I’m interested to see what you come up with. Harbor freight sells their own kit to parallel two gennys, which is what I’ll probably end up doing. The predator and the other 2k inverters are really efficient on gas, so in a gas shortage kind of disaster they can be a lifesaver.

 

[Al Smith]

On say two diesel gen sets the conventional method is with a syncro scope .I'm a tad skeptical if the governors on a small gasoline engine could do it . One way to find out ,do it .I've been wrong before .

 

[karrl]

https://manuals.harborfreight.com/manuals/62000-62999/62564.pdf

That’s what I was looking at, I’m guessing it would work on any two of the same small inverter generators, not just the predator.

 

[Larry B]

Before going to all the trouble of trying to sync up two portable generators that were never designed for that i would just get two inverter generators and a sync kit.

 

[old saw fixer]

I would just get one good sized generator and be done with it.

 

[davidwyby]

I would just get one good sized generator and be done with it.

For stationary, yes, for camping, huge pain in the butt.

 

[Al Smith]

It depends on the definition of camping .A tent is one thing but an RV entirely a different breed of cat .You know they still make Coleman lanterns and camp stoves .If you must have electric lights and TV plus air conditioning it might be a better option to just visit a motel .I've done it all and at this stage of life I opt for the motel .

 

[davidwyby]

It depends on the definition of camping .A tent is one thing but an RV entirely a different breed of cat .You know they still make Coleman lanterns and camp stoves .If you must have electric lights and TV plus air conditioning it might be a better option to just visit a motel .I've done it all and at this stage of life I opt for the motel .

Last week I slept in the back of my truck in rough wild places in the mountains of AZ. I have slept on the ground in the desert in the winter. I stay at a cabin in the mountains in CA with no water or power but a lantern and gas stove. When we take the RV trailer it’s often down here in the desert where the A/C is not an option, it’s more of a requirement…the trailer doesn’t have a cabinet for the Gen, so it has to be wrestled around and loaded and unloaded into the truck. Two small ones would be a lot easier…and when a lot of power is not needed, only one can be run…the Hondas are very quiet.

I also stayed in a hotel once or twice last week.

 

[Al Smith]

We used to make a trek to the Colorado mountains yearly west of Vale to deer hunt usually 8- 12 of us .Two big army squad tents butted together with a camp stove in each end . Had a trailer that could seat us all with a propane kitchen stove and lights that ran off the 12 volts from the Jeeps .It wasn't bad .Last I was there was some time in the 80's .That monster trailer could hold two Jeeps plus the tents and all the gear .Those Chevy 3/4 tons had a little problem because of the altitude .That was in the days of carbs before fuel injection .The Jeeps we just retarded the timing 4-5 degrees .It was between 8-10,000 feet .The gas boiled in the chainsaws .They had to be set a tad lean ,thin air .

 

[Duce]

Anyone run a PTO generator for power outages at home?

 

[farminkarman]

Anyone run a PTO generator for power outages at home?

Growing up we had an old Winco that we only had to use a few times. Also came in handy for doing in-field welding before the days of inverter welders.

 

[Black Dog Chainsaw]

Ended up with my mom's honda 3000. Revs up hard and then stalls occasionally when hooked to Rv trailer on ECO. Gonna try some VP engine fix in a can...

Just an outside the box thought… you can retrofit the Honda GX engines to Trifuel carb and delete the need for gas… you probably are already carrying LP…? Natural gas, LP, and gasoline can all be used on a trifuel but if your only use is when you’re carrying LP there’s no reason to double lug 2 fuels. Also you can downsize larger generators if you don’t need the fuel tank.

Also the consistent quality of the electric being produced is better in higher end power head units. MultiQuip and Honda are the brands to look for that have good copper windings and Honda engines that will make good consistent energy for you. Cheap generator heads can kill what you’re running off them by providing inconsistent energy delivery. This was all explained to me by a master electrician in terms above my basic knowledge.

Also probably previously mentioned you’ll want yo oversize your calculated load by 10-20% so you’re not putting full load on the electric gen head or engine… over sizing will allow engine to run at lower rpm (quieter) and provide that consistent electric. Also don’t look at start/surge load… you want 10-20% over your “normal running load” rating. Ie: Honda eu2200 is 2200 starting but only provides consistent 1800 watts. So I would only count on maybe 1600watts… generator heads are just like engines, they only maintain manufactures spec output for so long and after runtime/wear that rating decreases.

 

[Black Dog Chainsaw]

I got a Generac standby for the house - not impressed with the quality. I suggest you look elsewhere. Also, Generac customer service was awful. Within one year, two major parts failed. Even though the unit was under warranty, it took Generac months to send both. In all fairness, these failures occurred 5 to 6 years ago, and Generac customer service may have improved during that period. Nonetheless, I won't purchase another Generac product. Gave me a real bad tasted in my mouth.

Watch your area Facebook or Craigslist for a old multiquip that is coming off rental life… they can usually be had cheap and they are built for lifelong rental abuse…


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[Black Dog Chainsaw]

It depends on the definition of camping .A tent is one thing but an RV entirely a different breed of cat .You know they still make Coleman lanterns and camp stoves .If you must have electric lights and TV plus air conditioning it might be a better option to just visit a motel .I've done it all and at this stage of life I opt for the motel .

I like your style… get an Air B&B! I honestly can’t stand the guys that feel the need to pull in with a 50ft gooseneck that has all the conveniences of being at home. Uber expensive and kills the point of camping if you ask me…

Most onboard generators on motor homes are consumer grade and become problematic at best all too often.

 

[Al Smith]

Well on that the 40 foot Newmar Country Star motor home my parents had ,RIP had an Onan diesel genny at 7.5 KVA .It was build like a battle ship .So was the rest of the unit for that matter .