Anyone have any generator expertise - specifically diesel?

[skyking]

Here is a really cool webpage that lines it out completely.
http://www.yamaha-propane-natural-gas-generators.com/fuel_consumption.htm

 

[Modelworks]

One really good place to get diesel generators is government surplus. They remove them from service after so many hours of usage regardless of the state of the generator. Finding what you are looking for is hit or miss. You go to the website and locate what you want and then you can go look at it before bidding.
http://www.govliquidation.com/


My brother got one like this for about $350 last year , with the trailer. all he had to do to it is change out the filters.
http://www.govliquidation.com/auction/view?id=4834719&convertTo=USD

R Hollingsworth Co Mep002A generator set diesel. 5 kw, 60 hz, SN KZ18636. 1660.9 hours. 120 volts, 1 phase, 120/240 volts, 1 phase, 120/208 volts, 3 phase, amps 104,52,34.7. Mounted on 116A2 trailer chassis. Batteries removed operating condition unknown.

 

[skyking]

Out here the MEP002's go for 1~2 grand. he got a deal.

 

[Rubycon]

6.5kW is absurdly tiny for a diesel genny.
They do have specific small displacement designs for acoustics and longevity. For home use when oil heat (no.2) is in use it could be more convenient. Way beyond your budget though.

 

[crab]

You're looking for quite a tiny unit there. I installed a Generac 55kw unit on my (albeit large) home and with our electric geothermal units and all, it still can't power the whole house. It has a 5.4L Ford Triton V8 set up to run on LP and even though it runs weekly to excersize itself, it barely seems to use much fuel. Ive never had a single issue with it since install.

 

[sjwaste]

Wow. 55kw? That's huge. I've been looking at applications for a typical home in this town (2000-3200 sq ft), FHW oil boiler, no AC, and the usual appliances. Just about every site is recommending 13kw for whole house even if I throw in a window AC unit on the calculator. I suppose if you're using geothermal, those are pretty serious pumps, and most of the country has central AC too.

I'm thinking a 13kW Kohler LP generator will be what I go with, unless we end up with a home that has AC or forced hot air - doubtful as none are on the market in this zip code right now.

I'd probably be fine with an 8kW, but I really don't want to manually light up circuits. If the transfer switch can light up the necessary circuits and allow others to come up as capacity allows, I'd be pretty happy with a smaller unit. I don't want to waste fuel on something completely oversized.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Wow what are you running there, a data center? lol 55kw is an insane amount of power. That's over 200 amps at 240 volts.

I've been looking at a 8kw for my house eventually when I have extra money to burn. My neighborhood gets lot of small outages in the summer because of all the road construction in the area. UPSes only go for 10-20 minutes at the very most. Servers shutting down is quite annoying as they never come back up 100% perfect. Usually hardware problems and stuff.

 

[DrPizza]

You're looking for quite a tiny unit there. I installed a Generac 55kw unit on my (albeit large) home and with our electric geothermal units and all, it still can't power the whole house. It has a 5.4L Ford Triton V8 set up to run on LP and even though it runs weekly to excersize itself, it barely seems to use much fuel. Ive never had a single issue with it since install.

Are you missing a decimal? 5.5kw? There's no way you use 55kw. (Is your electric bill around $4000 per month?)

 

[skyking]

I think he has it right, look at the ford triton v-8 part

 

[Rubycon]

Are you missing a decimal? 5.5kw? There's no way you use 55kw. (Is your electric bill around $4000 per month?)

It's definitely possible. I've seen people with 25k sq ft homes with bills higher than that.

If you have lots of "difficult" loads a larger genny will be required. The power quality is also better - particularly frequency stability which is important for sensitive equipment. You could condition it with ferroresonant transformers but core losses add up quick! With a larger sized genny I suppose it would not matter either way. That's gonna need a healthy gas main/pressure though.

 

[crab]

Are you missing a decimal? 5.5kw? There's no way you use 55kw. (Is your electric bill around $4000 per month?)

No, its 55kw. Its sized for a worst case scenario - if the geothermal units fail and even just the largest floor's 20kw emergency heat strips need to kick in, we need all the power we can get.

The main floor has a 5 ton geo unit and a 20kw backup electric heat unit. The other floors are 2 ton and 4 ton but I don't remember what the backup is sized at.

My electricity bills are about $700 to $1000 throughout the year.

 

[jme5343]

I went with an 8k / 10k surge unit that runs on gas. It was a good combo of price point / power / good reviews.

I'll probably never have to use it, which is fine by me.

 

[AlienCraft]

Murphy's Corollary says that After purchasing and installing and testing a back- up / Stand- by generator, you will never need to use it.

 

[Rubycon]

Murphy's Corollary says that After purchasing and installing and testing a back- up / Stand- by generator, you will never need to use it.

Or when they do it won't start. :biggrin:

 

[richardycc]

I am surprised this thread isn't longer, with the recent power outage in the NE, I think everyone and their mothers is looking for a generator..anyway, I am looking into one myself, but I am still at the switch stage, namely, currently looking at the pros and cons of using the interlock kit for the panel or the manual transfer switch. I will most likely get a 8k gas generator with a 30amp inlet. One electrician quoted $350 to install the interlock kit that I provide the interlock kit and inlet. He will provide the breaker and the 10gauge cable, which I think is way too high for an hour or so job. I didn't even bother to ask for his price to install the switch. the research continues....

 

[skyking]

It really depends on your planned usage. I have electric heat, so I have no plans to heat my house with a genset. It would require an inordinately large generator.
What does that leave? some lights and running the fridge/freezer every 8 hours or so to keep food cold.
I can plug those into an extension cord that I plug into my generator. No transfer switches required.
It also helps that my big generator is built into a 5th wheel trailer. We would move into that for any long outage.

 

[NetWareHead]

On that budget, you probably aren't going to find much. 1800RPM(or slower!) diesel is definitely the way to go if you want longevity though.

I'll have one of these soon enough:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHebEYSsfeo

There are a few satisfactory Chinese diesels. Research Changfa.

Thanks for posting this. I never knew about Lister or Changfa. I thought the defacto standard RPM for diesel generators was 1800 but after looking at some Listers, they run even lower, some down to 600. Will have to research more but so far they look like solid engines.

 

[skyking]

Solid is one term. Dense is another, take a look at the shipping weight for a lister or lister clone.

 

[Specop 007]

My advice is go with gas or LP/NG in your price range or increase your price range. I really wouldnt recommend any diesel gen set in the $1500 range.

If the idea is to be a intermittent use gen set just get a decent Generac and be happy. Keep a couple 10 or 15 gallons of gas with some treatment in it and sleep well.

 

[richardycc]

I think this is exactly what you are looking for:
http://www.auroragenerators.com/products/diesel-generators/silent-diesel-generator
there are a few youtube clips with this generator running, it's very quiet, I'll need to get a Honda gas generator ($$$$) to match its quietness. I am actually thinking about getting this one myself.

 

[herm0016]

those look great. but the max altitude is pretty useless to us out here.

 

[BoomerD]

Since this thread is almost 6 years old...I suspect the OP got his answers.

 

[ultimatebob]

Are you missing a decimal? 5.5kw? There's no way you use 55kw. (Is your electric bill around $4000 per month?)

Hey now... some people like to be able to run their arc welder, blender, microwave, space heaters, and Christmas lights all at the same time!