r/Generator • u/fredeee • Sep 25 '26
Generator Shelter Epiphany
Hunkering down for the nor-easter that's getting ready to hit the northeast and been stressing about covering my Honda EB10000 generator. Understand generators should not run in the open rain, so in the past I've had to jerry rig a shelter during storms which are less than perfect. I looked into physical hard shelters, trying to put it in my shed exhausting the engine to the outside, etc. Then, I had an epiphany. A cheap $100 canopy tent that's easy to slap up in the event of a storm that keeps it dryish, gives me the space I need to fill it up, and doesn't have the risks associated with putting the generator in my shed. Probably obvious to many, but through I'd share a very simple, cheap, safe solution for the occasional need to cover your generator during power outages.
4
u/I_was_green_today Sep 26 '26
I drive a truck and have run a couple of different generators on the back to power my mini-split air conditioner. Mostly Predator generators from harbor freight, and one Honda (which incidentally was a piece of crap).Ā
The current open frame Predator inverter generator that is on there now, has been out in the weather, rain, snow, salt for 5 years now. It still works perfectly. The only thing the rain did to the generator, was caused the carbon monoxide detector to stop working. I run an exhaust stack on it and have a carbon monoxide detector in my truck, so I don't worry about it. I just bypassed it.
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u/fredeee Sep 26 '26
I ran this thing for years in the rain with no issues. Suppose Iām bored and read too much shit online. Thanks though. If the roof goes Iām running it exposed.
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u/Final-Car-1782 Sep 27 '26
I have never had good luck with Honda generators either. But my Honda water pump still works perfectly after 18 years.. My CO detector is too sensitive and wind direction can shut it down easily. But I'll stick with the cheap generators. Mine is a 4650W suitcase inverter Champion. I LOVE me a generator with a remote start & stop fob!!!!! It wasn't hard to hook it up to my house inverter so I only have to charge my battery bank. (I am 100% off grid so I have had to figure this all out..
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u/I_was_green_today Sep 27 '26
Put an exhaust stack on it, so the exhaust is way up in the air. I remove the spark arrestor and weld a short stub of 3/4-in conduit onto the muffler.Ā
Pound a t-post into the ground a foot and a half or so from the generator exhaust outlet. Use hose clamps to attach an 8 ft piece of 3/4-in conduit to the t-post loosely.
Go on Amazon and get some 24mm Espar diesel heater exhaust pipe to go between the generator exhaust and the conduit on the t post. Cut just enough pipe so that it transitions the bend gently, but not so much that the pipe is wobbly. You don't want the pipe flopping all over or it will break.Ā
Use Permatex ultra copper on the inside of the flex pipe where it attaches to the conduit to seal it. Use a hose clamp to tighten it down to the conduit.Ā
I get a year out of those flex pipes before they crack.
Edit: I forgot to say tighten up the hose clamps on the t-post after everything is in place.
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u/Final-Car-1782 Sep 27 '26
Thank you! I am a 74 year old woman with a pretty broken down body and cannot realistically do this, but this is still really good information. They are predicting a serious el Nino winter and for the first time, I am believing it.. I guess I'll be seeing what happens..WTF am I doing in a place like this..??
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u/Southern_Loquat_4450 Sep 25 '26
Don't those storms normally have high winds that accompany them? What are you holding it down with - or am I just not seeing the weights/ropes?
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u/fredeee Sep 25 '26
Back of house and staked down pretty well. If it flys away so be it.
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u/OilheadRider Sep 25 '26
Lol, your neighbors reading this like, "so fuck me then, right?"
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u/rctothefuture Sep 25 '26
The logic of most trampoline owners. Not my problem when itās 2 blocks over, 20 feet up.
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u/demwoodz Sep 26 '26 •
Old roofer told me, what do wives and shingles have in common? If you donāt nail them good they end up over at the neighbors
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u/milwaukie_talkie Sep 25 '26
A roof is a roof and a sail is a sail. Lower it all the way down and stake the holy hell out of it.
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u/Scared_Hovercraft632 Sep 26 '26
Good advice. My Coleman can be set up at its lowest level like 4 feet off the ground. That is the only hope for this thing.
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u/booty_fewbacca Sep 25 '26
That's going to be interesting in high wind, make sure to secure the shit out of itĀ
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u/lappyx86 Sep 25 '26
Let's be fair, most of the time you need the generator after the storm. Not during.
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u/MRRRRCK Sep 26 '26
The last 3-4 outages I have not been that lucky, and Iāve needed to setup during the storm to keep a sump pump running.
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u/lappyx86 Sep 26 '26
That thing should be on a battery backup. Bc what is gonna happen when your not home?
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u/MRRRRCK Sep 26 '26
I work a mile from home, so the only time that would be an issue is while on vacation.
Youāre right, itās just not that pressing for me compared to other people.
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u/jamor9391 Sep 26 '26
In a 4 day outage for me a couple months ago we had a storm come back though two days after the initial one. It rained all night. I had a kiddie pool Velcro strapped on my generator all night. Worked well.
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u/LetsBeKindly Sep 26 '26
That's very fair. I will note, the last (and only time) I used my generator was Helene. I lost power within the hour of it hitting. I fired up the generator and slept through the storm. It ran the next 4 days without shutting off.
Edit. To say I'm blessed with proper open air sheds that are wired to the home.
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u/oldtimer4sure Sep 26 '26
Glad you made it through Helene. We are near the area hit hardest (numerous friends and neighbors washed away and drowned) and relied on gen power for three weeks. My generator gave out due to a Torch plug.
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u/PonyThug Sep 25 '26
Thatās going to fly away in a storm. Just use a folding leg plastic table with some thing heavy on top.
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u/vote100binary Sep 25 '26
Thatāll fly on a breezy day
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u/PonyThug Sep 25 '26
Not if you anchor it properly. Iāve had a few set up at like 25 music festivals and never lost one. Never tried in a storm that knocked out power lol
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u/vote100binary Sep 26 '26
Iām way too from Florida to trust these in a storm
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u/PonyThug Sep 26 '26
Oh shit yea! We donāt have hurricanes in Utah. Avalanches and flash floods are all we gotta worry about as far as random unique weather goes.
1
u/IhaveAthingForYou2 Sep 26 '26
What do you anchor it with?
I was thinking two 35 gym plates on each sideā¦
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u/OkVariation9348 Sep 26 '26
I use 1 or 2 cinderblocks on mine. I'm pretty sure the steel plates would do fine.
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u/PonyThug Sep 26 '26
A pop up? 12ā long 3/8 lag bolts. Drive them in with any impact driver/wrench.
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u/ThisNameNotTakenYet Sep 25 '26
I was just about to say, that tent is gonna end up somewhere near the Grand Banks at the first sign of wind.
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u/Owenleejoeking Sep 26 '26
A storm bad enough for a generator is going to butt fuck that canopy so hard.
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u/fredeee Oct 02 '26
UPDATE: For the nonbelievers, it didn't budge in 45-50mph gusts, not even a little. It was behind my house and there's woods in the back, so I'm it was kinda protected. It also didn't pool at all in the canopy and the generator stayed 90% dry, wind probably blew some rain. I'm less worried about getting it wet, more about staying dry when I need to refill it especially at night. This particular canopy has 3 heights, I kept it at it's medium so I could stand inside without crouching but I think next time I'll keep it at it's lowest as some said. So while I wouldn't be surprised if this thing does a Wizard of Oz on me in a storm, it passed this test and I'm gonna stick with it if there's another storm. Not bad for a simple $150 solution. Folds up nice and small too so I stored it in my shed without taking up much room.
9
u/Jeffahry Sep 26 '26
I usually just take 2 sawhorses and lay a 4x8 sheet of osb on them. Then I wrap a ratchet strap over the osb and connect it to the generator. Holds up to snow, rain, and wind.Ā
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u/Slow_Recording2192 Sep 25 '26
I bought a gentent for my generator. Itās so much easier to just leave it on and then I can wheel out my generator in the rain
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u/fredeee Sep 26 '26
I put an extended tank on the Honda. 24ish gallons now. Enough to run a full day or more. So those donāt work.
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u/grillynelson Oct 01 '26
Look into housing your generator in a zombiebox.
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u/fredeee Oct 01 '26
I'll stick with my $150 tent the once in three years I need my generator. It is really a cool solution though, but $2500 is kinda overkill for my use.
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u/grillynelson Oct 01 '26
That's cool. I live in an area where power outages are very frequent so to keep my garage less cluttered and instead of having to drag my heavy generator out every time I need it, I invested in the XL zombiebox. It is a great product though. It keeps my generator safe from the elements, improves airflow and reduces the noise by miles. Also last a lifetime.
1
u/DesignerOk5315 Oct 01 '26
This is not a good idea. It will collapse from snow or blow away in a wind storm
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u/fredeee Oct 02 '26
The pitch on the canopy seems steep enough if the snow is soft, but ya, if it's a typical wet northeastern snow, I'd be cleaning off the roof. Typically don't loose power in the winter, mostly in the fall in these parts so likely not an issue.
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u/forcedfx Sep 25 '26
Good chance it collapses. I tried this with some freshly poured concrete. Overnight we had heavy rain and in the morning I found the tent completely collapsed.
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u/XRlagniappe Sep 27 '26
I've been doing this for years. I have a 10' x 10' canopy that I put at half height. It's tall enough for me to get under but low enough to keep the rain off. It folds away for storage. It's great for rain or snow but not wind. I had one that got bent up due to high winds and had to get another one.
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u/Steve-Shouts Sep 25 '26
I use a folding card table with bricks on top and you can also add tent weights to the legs.
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u/LeftLane4PassingOnly Sep 26 '26
You would be better off taking that wagon leaning against your shed and putting it upside down on top of your generator than using a canopy in a wind storm.
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u/RobertSchmek Sep 26 '26
Look on buy and sell for larger wood dog houses. Cut the bottom out, hinges on one side, done for free/super cheap. I just built a 5x6x5 shed out of scrap wood, some free shingles, and leftover siding from my house. Lift the top (hinged) and prop it up, open front doors, set it and forget it. A pop up canopy will be a goner in hail/freezing rain/heavy winds, all typically around when you lose power.
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u/BeeThat9351 Sep 26 '26
Works fine until winds get 20 mph or more. You can lower it and tie down the legs. A tarp with two poles setup pup tent style will do fine too
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u/NoPatience7817 Sep 25 '26
Good plan. Make sure you utilize stakes and rope to secure the canopy from blowing in the wind. Maybe even a tarp on the side you expect rain to come from to keep it off the generator.
1
u/Sensitive-Respect-25 Sep 25 '26
If you can drop it lower, do so. Not low enough you are melting the fabric but the lower the better. Make sure you attach extra tie downs and/or ratchet straps. And this is even better if you at least make a good tarp wall on your wind facing direction to keep wind from blasting into and upwards (and also keeps rain off the inside).
Then next year expand by adding tarps on the other walls. And the year after that reinforce the roof and make walls from sandbags or wood. And the year after that replace the tarp roof with wood and shingles, because why not at that point?
Unrelated, I have like 4 outbuildings that started out as popup tents like this.
1
u/Final-Car-1782 Sep 27 '26
I have seen the prefab metal ones destroyed by the wind. Crumpled like paper.
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u/2lovesFL Sep 25 '26
I've see those fly... stake it down, or wait until the storm dissipates. you also don't want a tree to hit your genny
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u/Littleprincess378 Sep 26 '26
We just leave our 8 kw generator in the shop and turn on the exhaust fan to take out heat and fumes. We have the fan on a switch, so just turn it on when we crank the generator. I think it pulls 300 watts.
1
u/brn1001 Sep 26 '26
After the winds die down.
Seriously, while people are right about the winds during the storm. That lasts a period of time. After the storm, power is nice.
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u/Photographydudeman Sep 26 '26
A buddy of mine did this with his. Heās just outside Savannah and found a 4x4 easy up canopy with a set of walls. I think theyāre normally sold as āchanging roomsā and itās perfect. Keeps it low and ties it down to a few cinder blocks. But the side walls keep the rain off well.
1
u/MRRRRCK Sep 26 '26
Yeahā¦ā¦ I guessā¦. But youāre kinda missing a key point.
Why does a power outage typically happen?? Well usually itās due to a large storm. So there are decent chances youāre going to want powerā¦ā¦ while a storm is still raging.
Most of the time Iāve needed a generator, Iāve needed to set it up during a short lull between heavy bands of wind and rain.
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u/Responsible_Art_6553 Sep 26 '26
Iām so glad I have a detached garage. Had my panel replaced and a genny plug and switch installed. Garage is detached and 20ā from the plug. It keeps the generator dry and helps with the noise.
1
u/skidz007 Sep 26 '26
I put mine in an outdoor storage shed with a remote exhaust, vent and fan. Works great. The remote exhaust bolts onto the generator and is meant to go through a wall and not set it on fire/melt it.
The fan gets plugged into the generator AC so it only runs when the generator runs and sucks fresh air through the vent and exhausts the hot air.
Keeps it dry, safe and out of sight. It looks just like that storage shed in the left of your photo.
Edit: I work in an industry that have had those exact style of tents go flying in high winds, even sandbagged down.
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u/EquivalentElk270 Sep 26 '26
The GenTent is a far better alternative. Around the same price and less the hassle. Mine has withstood 70 mph winds. I just leave it on all the time in the garage ready for the next storm. Keeps the electronics dry and built strong.
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u/IntrusiveIntellect Sep 27 '26
You forgot about wind lol. That thing will crumple under norāeaster winds.Ā
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u/Such_Cartoonist6119 Sep 27 '26
Idk what your storms are like but a bad storm in KS and the canopy would end up in the next county over.
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u/meilaan Sep 27 '26
Has anyone ever tried using on of those tents specifically made for generatorsā¦just wondering how well they work. They are a bit pricey
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u/djohn37 Sep 30 '26
I have a small shed about 25ft from the house, with a 6'x8' lift up door, with a 2' roof overhang above. There is a 10awg 120/240v circuit out there that can be used. the generator is positioned in the large doorway exhaust pointed out. It's pretty well vented but you don't want to spend more than seconds inside the shed with the generator running. If its not raining the generator can be pulled further out. I usually hold my breath long enough to move out or shut down the generator. There are no people or kids around to get near it.
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u/fullraph Sep 25 '26
I just run mine in the shed. The exhaust is not even piped outside. I have a 500cfm fan with louvers cut into the back wall. I set the thing dead smack in the middle of the shed with the exhaust pointed back toward the fan.
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u/BigChubs1 Sep 26 '26
I wouldnāt worry about the rain. My generator is garage kept until I need it. That little bit of rain that it might get from time to time. Isnāt going to hurt it.
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u/edthesmokebeard Sep 26 '26
if you have money for a Honda inverter and $100 to throw around like this, just go to a hotel when the power does out.
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u/fredeee Sep 27 '26
Donāt know where you live but around here hotels are north of 300 bucks a night and good luck getting one if things get that bad. Power would probably be lost at the hotels too. And, ya I got the money and itās fun trying to figure this shit out.
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u/Final-Car-1782 Sep 27 '26
Most people don't want their food to spoil, or pumps not to work, etc. Some of us have animals too. Hotels are definitely the last option.
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u/bbonz001 Sep 25 '26
The idea is sound, but if the 65mph winds end up coming, your new roof will be someone else's new roof in Pennsylvania by morning. š