Generator recommendations?

[BUTCH1]

There are forums out there devoted to the HF tools. I suggest you do some reading on them. Some of them aren't too bad at all, if you accept the price you pay for the item.

I already have a Briggs genny so it would be irrelevant to me, maybe there have been some improvements over the years from China sourced genny's. If your genny breaks your gonna need parts and that should be an easier task on a Briggs engine. Don't get me wrong I like buying cheap and saving $$ but on a generator in particular the engine works it's balls off constantly and I feel better with a company (Briggs) that has a lot of experience building small engines over many decades. I've gotten some stuff from HF, I paid $20 for a torque wrench and it works really well and is sturdily constructed.

 

[Gillbot]

I already have a Briggs genny so it would be irrelevant to me, maybe there have been some improvements over the years from China sourced genny's. If your genny breaks your gonna need parts and that should be an easier task on a Briggs engine. Don't get me wrong I like buying cheap and saving $$ but on a generator in particular the engine works it's balls off constantly and I feel better with a company (Briggs) that has a lot of experience building small engines over many decades. I've gotten some stuff from HF, I paid $20 for a torque wrench and it works really well and is sturdily constructed.

That's the thing, many of the HF ones are such good "copies" that original parts are basically interchangeable. It is actually believed that some OEM's are buying these knockoffs in pieces and assembling them here, then reselling them as OEM.

 

[desy]

3000 pk for initial startup its DESIGNED to run off a car batterys and directions you how to hook it up properly with battery isolators etc and what you can draw off of

http://www.duracellpower.com/power-inverters/recreation-inverters/inverter-1500.aspx

I don't plan to run it it full load just enough to do like this guy which is a small freezer or sump pump
power tools microwaves

 

[heymrdj]

3000 pk for initial startup its DESIGNED to run off a car battery
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow...liminator+3,000W+Power+Inverter.jsp?locale=en
I don't plan to run it it full load just enough to do like this guy which is a small freezer or sump pump
Actually that isn't the one I have, mines 3000pk 1850 normal

You're the one that said an A/C, which generally pulls very high loads.

On top of that it doesn't state it's designed for cars.

"Attaches safely and easily to deep-cycle batteries"

Cars don't use deep cycle batteries, (which can easily be 120AH or more), they use cranking batteries, which work by very different physics. Drawing a sustained load on a car battery is a good way to permanently damage it, and possibly your alternator too when it tries to go and charge the battery again later.

It looks to me to be an item sold by an automotive store for RV's. RV's will typically have cranking batteries for the engine, and then, via an isolator, charge and maintain a bank of deep cycle batteries to run the RV's load. Frequently these batteries will have nothing more than a large inverter attached to them to allow normal (ie non 12v) appliances to be used in the RV. At no time would the RV's cranking battery be used.

 

[wirednuts]

you can use car batteries... theyre better equipped to handle high loads anyway. just dont drain them below 50% and theyll last. thats why people use deep cycles though, because you can drain them flat without much worry.

draining a crank battery to 50% can take just minutes though. its ideal to have your alternator working if you want to sustain the load, but there you have to make sure your alt can handle it. most alternators couldnt push 1500w constantly!

 

[desy]

AC as in alternating current not air conditioning sorry

I'm into preparedness and keeping it simple as possible and have 90F and -40F to contend with. If we were to have extended outage from what I've read on the subject even having an hr a day of power (AC) will greatly improve your situation.
Portables because of noise will draw a crowd, not always desirable when everybody 'the unprepared' are trying to solve their own misery

I have a a marine battery 'boat owner' and use the car as the charger 'isolated'

 

[Charles Kozierok]

Hi all,

Bumping this from August.

It's basically the Honda or the Yamaha. This page summarizes the differences: http://www.wisesales.com/eu2000i-vs-ef2000is

My first inclination was the Honda, but I've heard tell that the Yamaha is better in some respects.. still, though, I don't know enough to tell which are the most important criteria here.

Any further thoughts appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[jagec]

thats why people use deep cycles though, because you can drain them flat without much worry.

That's not true...high depths of discharge are brutal on any lead-acid batteries, deep-cycle or no. Doubly so if they aren't IMMEDIATELY charged back up afterwards. Flat lead-acid batteries get sulfated and lose capacity the longer they go without a recharge.

 

[LTC8K6]

AGM batteries are appearing in more cars these days. They don't self discharge very much and they handle abuse better.

 

[grohl]

another vote for honda EU series

 

[LTC8K6]

http://www.wisesales.com/generac-ix2000-inverter.html#.UIoSL2e4KSo

I'd get that one.

 

[BUTCH1]

you can use car batteries... theyre better equipped to handle high loads anyway. just dont drain them below 50% and theyll last. thats why people use deep cycles though, because you can drain them flat without much worry.

draining a crank battery to 50% can take just minutes though. its ideal to have your alternator working if you want to sustain the load, but there you have to make sure your alt can handle it. most alternators couldnt push 1500w constantly!

Yea, asking your alt for 125 amps is asking way too much, even for a short period. I think you would have to turn off everything and use the car to re-charge, just don't flatten those batts before you do so..

 

[Squisher]

I can't imagine fitting a normal generator with its frame into a car, maybe into the trunk of Grand Marquis. I imagine some generators can be made to be tow-able, though.

 

[Gillbot]

Yea, asking your alt for 125 amps is asking way too much, even for a short period. I think you would have to turn off everything and use the car to re-charge, just don't flatten those batts before you do so..

Tell that to my mower driven alternator welder. ;-) Made it from a ford 135amp alternator and old riding mower engine. I've had and used it for years, though it's not on my car and it doesn't have to recharge a battery should it die on me.

 

[BUTCH1]

Tell that to my mower driven alternator welder. ;-) Made it from a ford 135amp alternator and old riding mower engine. I've had and used it for years, though it's not on my car and it doesn't have to recharge a battery should it die on me.

Good deal. most car alt's won't do 125, must have been a special-purpose alt. even better it's off the car.

 

[Greenman]

Yea HF has killer prices but I'm not crazy about the longevity of a Chinese built motor, for a little more $$ you can get something with a Briggs at least, even the cheapest Briggs can be a workhorse if it's treated right. Keep in mind these motors will work hard and will need frequent oil changes so it's best to stock up on 30W (or whatever the manual calls for). During the 2004 'cane season it was very hard to find any genny but some that did ran them for 2 weeks straight without ever changing or checking the oil. One small motor repair shop had like 50 units with blown motors because of oil issues and none were covered by the warranty because of owner neglect..

I'll never again buy a Briggs product. The last 4 briggs engines I've had simply will not start without removing the air cleaner and giving them a good shot of ether. I hate those useless things with a passion.

 

[BUTCH1]

I'll never again buy a Briggs product. The last 4 briggs engines I've had simply will not start without removing the air cleaner and giving them a good shot of ether. I hate those useless things with a passion.

Since it happened 4 times maybe your doing something wrong?, not trying to be a smartass, possible the air filter was dirty or the fuel in the tank got stale?. I have a Briggs genny in my shed right now that I haven't started in 2 months, it will crank with 2 pulls max, I've got a Briggs on my rider mower now, starts fine, my last mower was 11 years old when I scrapped it, 3.5HP Briggs started first pull, I had to pull the plug on it when I put it out for the trash so no young'en's could injure themselves by running it..

 

[Gillbot]

Good deal. most car alt's won't do 125, must have been a special-purpose alt. even better it's off the car.

It's a common everyday run of the mill Ford 3G 135 amp. Simple google searches will yield more results than you'd know what to do with. It's actually a common setup.

 

[Ferzerp]

Alternators are getting beefy. Mine is 235A

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

Lots of alternators are rated for high amps. The trick is to look for V8 vehicles, diesels, and motors with high compression ratios. Little Honda I4 engines just don't need the amps to crank that V8s do.

 

[Doppel]

Whoever (OP?) mentioned sump pump, it would be far less hassle than maintaining and relying on a generator (I am betting most of them spend most of their life in the garage underneath crap and have stale gas in them), to get a dedicated sump backup system, be it battery (yes batteries do die eventually) or one that is driven on the water supply (fwiw I have no idea how long a typical water supply for an area would run after a power outage or whether they have generators typically).

I guess I would have a generator if my power wasn't reliable, but it's unbelievably reliable in my area. I know some close by are not so lucky, so it may come down to just when the infrastructure was laid.

 

[phucheneh]

Those high-amp alternator numbers aren't intended to be sustained, though, are they? With the penny-pinching manner in which most cars are designed, I can't see them overbuilding alternators to that degree.

I've used the old carbon pile load testers a lot, and I don't think I've ever seen a good alternator fail to put out 100a+. But that was always just a short burst...never just cranked the load knob up and held it.

 

[Gillbot]

Those high-amp alternator numbers aren't intended to be sustained, though, are they? With the penny-pinching manner in which most cars are designed, I can't see them overbuilding alternators to that degree.

I've used the old carbon pile load testers a lot, and I don't think I've ever seen a good alternator fail to put out 100a+. But that was always just a short burst...never just cranked the load knob up and held it.

No, but if you can get a 200+ amp unit, it SHOULD be able to handle a sustained 100 amps for a while. Now my 135 amp has been putting out short circuit amperage (it's a welder) for years and years, but I don't let it run continuously. Just whenever I need something welded for whatever duration I weld.