God old New Hampshaa Ice Storm

[Blazin]

Heater core is fixed. i didn't have time to mess with it. I took it to a buddy of mine. Him and his step father run a shop. I wouldn't take computer diagnostics, etc. to them. But for brake lines, fuel pumps, exhaust, heater core type stuff they do good. $70.00 to swap the core in an AC truck! They treat me good because I send them allot of jobs that I don't want to mess with or I know the people won't pay my price.

[JJSZABO]

Sometimes it is just easier to go to someone and have it fix.  Especially if the price is right and at 70 dollars, the price is RIGHT!

[DnStClr]

I hope you are all ok in the northeast. We had a snow and ice storm come thru but it left the next day... Another one tonight I guess. Global warming.
I need to get a genset- how big should it be? Is 5500 ok if it has a 220 outlet? I thought of getting two 2000 watt units and tie them together (They're quiet)

[JJSZABO]

Hey Don, how much do you want to run?  Whole house or specific circuits?

[bigkountry]

60 yesterday and now I have freakin ice all over my truck...ahhhhh

[ccz145a]

I thought of getting two 2000 watt units and tie them together

Don't do that. The power needs to be phased correctly, and 2 gensets working together will not be phased.

Add up the load that you need working during an outage: Refrigerator, freezer, lights, air handler... then look at thier tags and find the startup load for all the motors. Your genset will have to handle all that.

I can run 2 refrigerators, 1 freezer, air blower (not the a/c compressor) and 3 or 4 75 watt light bulbs and one of the following; microwave, coffe pot, or hair dryer with my 4000kw onan.

I just bought a 6720kw genset in Sept, but haven't tested it yet.

I have a multi step list of procedures to engage:
1. flip house main breaker and all individual breakers off.
2. Hook up the wiring from the generator to the house (wiring de-energized)
3. Start generator and let it run alone until running smooth.
4. Energize wiring to the house at the genset breaker box.
5. Energize 2 pole back-feed breaker at the house breaker box
6. flip on individual pre-marked circuits in order to allow for electric motor startup load.

[Lt.Del]

Don it depends on your house.  do you have electric water heater or gas?  do you want to run your HVAC system with it?  If both answers are to the affirmative, you will need more than 5500 watts.

I have two fireplaces so I don't care about running HVAC with generator.   I have a 3500 watt and it is plenty.  I have electric water heater, but, running the generator directly to it for 20 minutes about once every three days, will be just fine.  The water for showers will at least stay warm for a few days after 20 minutes direct electric.

So I don't run my heat pump or AC with generator, no need.  If I had to, I can switch to my oil furnace and connect the generator to circulation fan blower.

I back feed my house after removing the main feed breaker so as not to back feed through the neighborhod.

I take an electric cord, splice a second male end on one end.  Therefore the extension cord has two male ends.  I plug one in the generator, one in any other electric outlet in the house. Viola! power.  

I have a honda 2000watt generator which I take camping and use that mainly--very quiet.  My 3500 watt is just quite loud so unless i have to, i dont use that.  

Never put a generator inside a garage or basement or whatever.  I heard druing the ice storm in the northeast last week that the only casualty was  a guy using a generator for his camper.  Must've put the generator inside or next to an open window or something.

[Lt.Del]

do a google search for honda generators.  You can safely combine two 2k watts to make 4k watts.  you have to buy a converter thing that combines the two.  you can combine two 1kwatts to make 2k watts, etc.. I see double honda generators all the time at bluegrass festival campgrounds.  you can also get two 3000 watt hondas and make 6k watts. these hondas are expensive though, but they run forever on little gas and extremely quiet.

http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/products/models.aspx?page=models&section=P2GG&category=sq

parallel box:

http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/products/generators/content.aspx?asset=gg_parallelcapability

[frogman68]

I thought of getting two 2000 watt units and tie them together

Don't do that. The power needs to be phased correctly, and 2 gensets working together will not be phased.

Add up the load that you need working during an outage: Refrigerator, freezer, lights, air handler... then look at thier tags and find the startup load for all the motors. Your genset will have to handle all that.

I can run 2 refrigerators, 1 freezer, air blower (not the a/c compressor) and 3 or 4 75 watt light bulbs and one of the following; microwave, coffe pot, or hair dryer with my 4000kw onan.

I just bought a 6720kw genset in Sept, but haven't tested it yet.

I have a multi step list of procedures to engage:
1. flip house main breaker and all individual breakers off.
2. Hook up the wiring from the generator to the house (wiring de-energized)
3. Start generator and let it run alone until running smooth.
4. Energize wiring to the house at the genset breaker box.
5. Energize 2 pole back-feed breaker at the house breaker box
6. flip on individual pre-marked circuits in order to allow for electric motor startup load.

We used to phase in two 30kw or two 60kw generators when I was in the Army .
You had "Phase Lights" they would sense the output (through the wiring) of the other set you brought the idle up or down till you got them phased then flipped the breaker two gen sets running as one.

[ccz145a]

Gee, wonder how much these little phaser thingies cost?

My point was you just can't hook them up together and expect it to work. They will not phase automatically without help. 

[choptop]

Gee, wonder how much these little phaser thingies cost?

My point was you just can't hook them up together and expect it to work. They will not phase automatically without help. 

+1 If you dont have some type of paralleling swichgear or controls that tie the to generators together, you are asking for a big melt down. Single phase is not as sensitive as 3 phase, but if the voltages and frequency ( engine speed) are not the same one will be carrying most of the load, which is why the Honda parallel device requires two like units. I imagine it is for Honda units speciafically since the have a board that controls the voltage and the speed, unlike some other models that have a set engine speed and voltage is controlled according to speed only. If you dont have a generator already, make sure it is a quality genset. The Hondas and Onans are good gensets. I prefer the Onans for durability, then Honda, followed by Generac. You can get a cheaper genset from Home Depot or Lowes, but dont count on them to last long. They are disposable, that is why they are cheap. Onan is mostly repairable, Honda as well. We have probelms getting Generac parts here. Just invest in quality, you will thank yourself later.

[Blazin]

This is the gen I have. Only difference is mine has electric start as well.
http://www.titanindustrial.net/9000.html
I bought it off a truck after a trade show for $1,150.00 I had my Artesian pump, Boiler, Microwave, half dozen lights, stereo, etc. on it. It lugged it off without a problem.

[Lt.Del]

you stole that generator.  I paid $1,000 for my 2,000 watt Honda     She will go 15 hrs on one gallon of gas though 

[Blazin]

It will run about 6 hours on a tank of gas.

[choptop]

It will run about 6 hours on a tank of gas.

I do believe I would be looking into a bigger tank, or at least an auxillary tank.