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SmittyMHS

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Posts posted by SmittyMHS

  1. Posted

    15 hours ago, Sota said:

    would have to look but I'm thinking it's 1/2" it's 3/4" at the end where I thought about putting the generator.

    Hence why I asked about pipe vs. electrical. :D

    House feed is 1" inside the building.  I'm figuring it's that at the outlet of the meter.  could be stepped down though. don't feel like going and looking.

    You can get 60' of 6/3 stranded romex for around $160 if that helps. 

  3. Posted

    3 hours ago, Sota said:

    yea but pressure losses depend on run length, pipe diameter, and number of turns.  It's possible that to run a bigger generator (10kW+) I'd need to get my meter replaced.  Then questions get asked.  I'm already at the far end of the run for the whole house.

    unless you're suggesting I run a full sized pipe directly from the meter, around the outside of the house.

    You're gonna need a minimum of a 1" pipe to feed the beast. Do you have that near where you intend to put the genset? Is it before or after your furnace/water heater? I think a plumber would size the piping for the BTU use total on the line. Which wouldn't be the case if the power is out. Best of course is to have it on its own supply direct from the meter. Not always necessary in an emergency. If you want to heat the house, cook diner, take 3 showers, and run the generator all at the same time, you may have a problem. If you want a whole house power supply for everything and not worry about it. Get a supply line sized to the max load.

    • Agree 1

  4. Posted

    27 minutes ago, Sota said:

    one of the aspects I need to decide, is which one is better: 60' run of gas pipe to the generator, or 60' run of electrical wire back to the panel/transfer switch.  thinking the latter.

    Pipe is cheaper then wire.

    just sayin...

    • Agree 1

  7. Posted

    6 minutes ago, Sniper said:

    Guess what, after the first week or two, when all the other people run out of gas in their 5 gallon cans, your genny running off of that 600 gallon tank will be attracting those Mad Max guys I posted above. Your genny will be the only sound for miles.

    Wait... What.... you should already have all the ammo you'll ever need?

    Never enough.

  10. Posted

    55 minutes ago, USRifle30Cal said:

    Will a local.place fill a 40lb cylinder?

    I'd find that out before I got one. I'm sure anyplace that can fill cylinders could do any size. But with the new exchange-a-cylinder thing going on recently it might  be a little harder to find a fill station.

    • Informative 1

  11. Posted

    I run my getset on NG except to fire it up once every few months. The pluses way out weigh using gasoline . I've looked into getting a big LP tank and found Tractor Supply, loews and HD all carry them. A 40lb tank would be like having 10 gal of gas on hand and not worrying about rotating the gas cans to keep it fresh. If you already have the conversion kit, it's a no brainer. If you've ever had to fill your generator in a raining lightning storm night, you'll leave the gas cans for the lawn mower.

    No a side note, if you are storing gas for any length of time I just talked to a long time small engine guy that says using hi test is the way to go. It will out last regular even treated. The alky is tuff on these small engines. And if you can get it, aviation fuel is even better long term.                                                                 

    • Informative 1

  12. Posted

    13 minutes ago, Sniper said:

    I'd even wonder about the extension cord. If the fridge is relatively new, they don't draw a lot. I recently bought a new GE 25 cu. ft.fridge, and the sticker says it pulls 1.5 amps and pulls 420 watts during the defrost cycle. You can pretty much run that on any standard extension cord.

    He's 2.5 hrs away or I'd go over and check it all out. Extension cords tend to take a beating so I told him to start with that. He's in construction so I'm not sure where the cord came from. If you know what I mean.

     

  13. Posted

    9 minutes ago, Malsua said:

    You don't need a UPS, you can use a line conditioner.   This way you won't have to replace the battery every 4 years.

    For what it's worth, I have a relatively new(2017) Samsung fridge and it runs just fine off my 14kw standby.  The standby is not an inverter but I have no idea how the power compares to a portable.   The fridge is on a ARC Fault/GFCI combo breaker and has never tripped.

     

     

    I don't think a line conditioner is the answer here. More his extension cord or a fluky GFCI on his genset.

  14. Posted

    14 minutes ago, Sota said:

    I got a pair of APC Smart UPS 1400RM2U units here I'm "retiring" from primary computer duties, if you're interested in playing shuttle duties or your buddy wants to come buy one.

    Otherwise, I recommend this and this company: http://www.refurbups.com/APC-SUA1000-Smart-UPS-1000

    They're good to deal with, and I have been for almost 2 decades now.

    Of course you do! Cause I just got a APC BN1500M2 UPS for my puter room. "Nickle short and 5 minutes late" will be on my tombstone.

    Anyway I found out it was his GFCI that tripped, not the breaker and he was using a 50' extension cord rated @ 15 amps. Told him to up it to a 20 amp minimum 12 ga wire and as short as he can make it. 

  16. Posted

    2 minutes ago, Scorpio64 said:

     It MAY void warranty  or ability to sue if you electrocute yourself.

    Yeah there's always that...lol

    I don't really know whether it was a breaker or a GFCI. He's a great who could totally build his own house. Just don't ask him to do more then flip a switch or plug something in as far as electrical. I'll have to ask him that. And how long a cord and was it heavy enough to not cause a voltage drop on start up.

  17. Posted

    An interesting side note here.

    My buddy down the shore just got a 5500 watt Generac because ...well you know. Hooked it to his new Samsung fridge and POP! The breaker on the gen goes. Runs everything else in the house including a window AC unit, three 'puters and two 50" tvs. Tried it with nothing else on the line and still pops the genset breaker. Comes to find out that the new fridge needs an inverter type generator to power it. https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS00085682/

    WTF are they thinking? The most important thing to try to keep running and now you need a inverter to power it? I've been looking for a stand alone inverter for him just for the fridge but it looks like he's gonna have to get a sine wave UPS to plug in when he needs the fridge on emergency power. Anyone have any experience with a small stand along inverter just to smooth out the sine wave besides a UPS? I seem to remember something that had a bunch of large capacitors that kept the voltage constant and had a nice smooth sine wave filter. But that was years ago. Everything I found is 12, 24 or 48volt in 120 out.

  18. Posted

    18 minutes ago, Tunaman said:

    . I put 4 wheels on and now you can push it or pull it any way you like.  20.00 wheel kit.

    There's a reason most wheel kits have only 2 wheels. Make sure you block the wheels while running it or it may just walk away by itself.

    • Like 1

  19. Posted

    22 minutes ago, Sniper said:

    And I run mine dry every year, with zero problems, for decades. Summer equipment gets run dry for the Winter. Snow blower gets run dry for Summer storage. Starts next year every time, NEVER needed to touch a carb.

    Which is why I think propane is definitely the way to go. Never had to touch the carb or any adjustments on my genny. Plus, never have to screw around with gas storage, adding Stabil, rotating gas, and the dangers of having 5 gallon cans of gas sitting around. A tank of propane pretty much lasts forever, and never goes bad. Plus, in a pinch, almost every backyard has  a 20 lb. tank of propane in it.

    The added benefit of propane is it's multiple use. One, for the barbecue, Two, for the genny, Three, for the portable heater, Four, for the gas fireplace, Five, for the camping lantern, Six, for the camping stove.

    I use NG but have been thinking about getting a 100lb cyl for LP just in case. Tractor Supply has a pretty good price on new ones.

  20. Posted

    4 minutes ago, Sota said:

    what?

    I run all the generators I service on walmart brand syntech 10w30 full synthetic.  have for almost 2 decades.  no issues.

     

    Wally World synthetic oil got very high ratings (close to Mobil 1) in tests I read about in another forum I'm on. Also on You Tube. Oil is oil...Change it on time and you're golden.

  21. Posted

     

    1 hour ago, USRifle30Cal said:

    If i was going to get a generator again....i would get a diesel.....just from the availability of gogo juice.....

    Unless you have oil heat and a big tank I would rethink that. LP and NG are cleaner. We had a small diesel genset at work just for emergency lighting. We could only test it early in the morning or weekends because of the smell and noise. Bunch of cry baby scientists!

  24. Posted

    I have a FB page. Rarely if ever do I put anything personnel on it other then a comment to a friends post. Mostly joined it to access other FB pages I wanted to explore. Anything I put on it is either funny or political. The only friend request I except is from friends I know. I have NO time for anyone who doesn't like my political  posts or sense of humor. And just like here, I don't use my given name. (that I hate). A friend of mine almost lost his job because someone hacked his account and started placing racist stuff on it. So be forewarned. What I don't understand about FB is people that need to put their entire life happenings on it. That I don't need either and will unlike if they find it necessary to tell the world where they are or what their doing every moment of the day.   

    • Agree 2
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