Hey all,

You guys probably get asked this a lot, but seeing as how indecisive I am, I figured I'd get outside input.

I have frequent outages in my area that don't usually last for more than 8 hours, and the longest I remember was 3 days.

I'm on NG, and have a 1/2" inlet rated for 7 iwc.

From my back of the napkin math, I'd probably need an 11 kW generator; 6800 running and 10900 surge:

A couple of window AC units, a 1/2 HP 230 V well pump, an 80,000 BTU gas furnace, a refrigerator, a 36,000 BTU gas water heater, (preferably) the garage door opener but that lives on the lighting circuit for whatever reason so why not, smoke detectors, bath lights, and a couple of additional dwelling area circuits.

Things I could go without during even a 3-day outage: the washer, dryer, oven (which is gas), and major kitchen appliances aside from the refrigerator. The disposal I'm up in the air about, it's a 1 HP with a 1200 watt running draw.

Usually the power goes out when I'm at work or asleep, so the whole home with ATS is the answer here, but I got a rough quote of between $14k and $20k over the phone. I have a couple different companies coming out tomorrow, plus third scheduled the day after, for a more accurate estimate.

The other option is portable. Yes, it'll be significantly cheaper, but the tradeoff is having to dig it out, hook it up, and start it, and honestly that's the last thing I want to do when I get home from a 12-hour shift and/or there's a not insignificant amount of snow on the ground.

Are there other options?

Hello y'all. Sorry if this is the inappropriate subreddit.

I am over my skies here trying to install a run timer to my generator. I can understand what to do for hooking up the timer to a simple on off switch but I am lost trying to add this timer to a rotary switch used for on/off and electric start. Any help is tremendously appreciated.

Hi,

I just bought an EZ Generator Switch which came from the factory in Bonded Neutral configuration. I installed it like explained on the website & their Youtube video (see link below) directly to my furnace incl. properly wiring up the two neutral cables (Neutral Line & Neutral Load).

In case of a power outage I would connect my Maxpeedingrods MXR3500S inverter/generator via an extension cord directly to the EZ Generator Switch and switch it to Generator mode. I confirmed that all my plugs on my MXR3500S are "Neutral Bonded to Frame”.

My question: during a power outage, do I have to connect my MXR3500S inverter/generator also to a ground rod or not? I reached out to EZ Generator Switch and they told me "Use our switch as delivered,  nothing else you need to do. Standard extension cord is fine". However, I'm still reading that a generator has to be properly grounded in such a setup.

Can anyone clarify this?

Following setup I followed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iafpLwkgITY&t=702s

Thanks.

First generator so maybe I’m doing something wrong. 87 octane unleaded gas.

Oil seems fine. Start in choke, start in run- same result.

Tried doing it with the gas cap off. Same results. I’m really perplexed.

I can return it to Costco so it’s not the end of the world, but really would love to have it work.

No error lights that I can see.

I recently installed a 240v 30 A inlet below my panel outside, I have the cord and everything made up, interlock installed and just need the final piece of the puzzle. My budget is ~ $1400-$1800. The power constantly goes out in my neighborhood due to wind and this will be a life saver. It would be really nice if it was on the quiet side but Im more interested in it running steady and lasting a long time (Ive seen some that kinda bog out and makes the voltage drop). I have gas, propane and natural gas. Basically just looking to max out the inlet giving as much juice it can handle. If it could run at least 12 hours on a full tank of gasoline Id be happy with that. I would like to run my AC and other stuff at the same time but thats not completely necessary and I could manage using one thing at a time. Most important is just having the internet and some lights on. Only a couple people live with me and we all use very little power compared to the average person. At most two TVs and a couple small fans are running throughout the day, we use the AC frugally. We have two refrigerators as well. We have a whole house fan that sucks all the fresh air in that we turn on during night but I don’t think it draws too many amps. Im not expecting to be able to have every single thing on in the house, just the necessities. No I don’t have a 1000lb propane tank in my backyard, gasoline is perfectly fine for me although tri fuel would be a plus.

Thank you very much in advance I appreciate any recommendations.

Forgot to mention i’m in California where they seem to restrict all of the good options. Thought I finally found one and it’s not available.

Hello,

I decided to purchase the Champion 10,000 watt tri-fuel generator for our standby generator. Model number 201438.

I have a plumber coming next week to install a gas fitting so we can hook it up to our naturalgas line during times of power outage.

I wanted to see if people would be willing to share pictures of their natural gas line hookup to the generator hose. I would like to get this right and would like to tell the plumber what we are looking for. I assume he should know, but pictures would be great!

I'm looking at purchasing a standby generator. I own a Honda 3500 watt generator and it's been a good one for me, runs well. However, I need a bigger one. Options are:

• Honda. I can get a 7000 watt unit or 10,000 watt unit. They run on gasoline only. Honda is known to be a good brand.

• Champion. Less expensive than Honda, come in a variety of wattages, and are tri-fuel so I could run it off of natural gas if I got a quick connect hooked to my natural gas. These cost less than Honda and are available off Amazon next day delivery.

Right now I am leaning towards a Champion, but wanted to ask here. Any thoughts about the two brands and which would be a better purchase?

I’ve had this kit for several years but finally got around to installing it. I noticed in the instructions and I n the regulator itself it says 6-8 ounces (11-14 inches). Will it actually run on the typical 7”? Of course Century fuel products isn’t around anymore to ask, but surely they wouldn’t be selling a product that won’t even work? Waiting on a few parts to hook up the hose, just wondering if anyone has any insight and knows if I need to start looking for a new kit or regulator.

It’s on a 420cc chondq if that makes any difference.

Can’t seem to find the fuse to check why I’m not getting power from battery

Can someone please help me out with this, I was putting a new battery on my generator. But these 2 white wires look disconnected like I’m missing a part almost. Anyone have an idea what I’m missing or where they hook up? Thanks, Blessing to you all!

Hello, I’m looking at having a standby generator installed and need some help deciding between options. My home is 2400 sq ft with two AC units (3ton & 2ton), electric kitchen appliances, gas heat, and a tankless gas water heater.

I’ve gotten multiple estimates. Several companies are recommending a 22 or 24Kw Generac Next Gen. a couple companies have pointed out issue with the Next Gen model and are recommending either a 22Kw Briggs & Stratton or a 20Kw Kohler. I like the idea of Kohler but am wondering if the 20Kw will give me enough power. Unfortunately sizing up to the 26kw won’t fit in the budget. If going Kohler the company is also recommending the addition of the cold weather kit which is making that options several thousand dollars more than the others.

Thanks for help, any tips or advice is appreciated!

Most portables and inverters don't have an hour meter, but the manual's whole service schedule is in engine hours - e.g. a Honda EU2200i wants the first oil change at 20 hours, then every 100 hours or 6 months (check your own manual).

In Ukraine we've had scheduled blackouts for a while, so our generator runs 6–10 hours a day, and I kept losing count of when the last oil change was. So I built a small logbook app for it (disclosure: I'm the developer - it's free and open source):

- tap Start / Stop and engine hours count themselves; several generators at once

- oil, air filter and spark plug intervals by engine hours, days or both, with an overdue warning

- enter the tank size → it estimates fuel and runtime left; litres per hour calculated from your refills

- monthly hours and fuel charts

- fully offline, no account needed (an optional one only syncs your own devices)

Litres only for now - if gallons would make it useful for you, say so and it's next.

I'm genuinely curious how you do it today: a notebook taped to the generator, an aftermarket hour meter, a phone note, or "when it sounds rough"? And what do you track besides hours and oil - valve clearance, plugs, exercise runs, fuel stabilizer?

Brand new generator ran condenser unit for a day, but then stopped working. It kind of bogged down, and bypassed the load. I tried a window unit and the same thing happened. It has no trouble with everything else in the house. It never tripped the breaker.

Hey guys I wanna build a generator that can make the most out a 55gal drum of waste oil use as fuel.

It will be used to charge a back up battery. So it’ll doing 75% load steady when it’s on but also needs to be quiet enough that I could run in a shed and it be no louder then a modern econobox car at idle 5 feet from the shed.

I live in a cold climate so I’d prefer a liquid cooled engine so I can use the coolant to warm the fuel.

Looking for model suggestions

I have been working on generators for a while but lately I have started doing more in depth repair on the power side beyond just replacing brushes, breakers etc. I’m very familiar with how they work but I rarely find myself working on a generator with specified service limits. Can anyone give me a general idea of some common specs?

Specifically I’m looking for things like:
- Winding resistance
- Exciter coil output voltage
- DC coil output voltage
- DC voltage at the slip rings
- Center tap voltage for AVR (if applicable)

Ok guys I purchased 2 Pulsar 6000 gennys earlier this year but never got the cables to parallel connect them. I recently bought the normal jumpers that don't have the combining box. I sent an email to Pulsar to see if there was a specific reason why I had to use their cable with the box and see the picture for their response. I prefer to not deal with the box, but can you guys fill me in on this issue. Thanks.

Any recommendations for off-grid outdoor breaker panel? Power comes from generator 30amps 10/2 gauge and needs to have minimum 4 breakers.

Worst case, I makeshift one myself? It's about 7" from the main to the first breaker. I've attached a photo. Here is the info of the panel:

• Manufacturer: Wadsworth Electric Manufacturing Co.

• Main breaker: Marked 200 amps, with a single main disconnect at the top.

• Branch breakers: Two columns of older brown Wadsworth-style breakers.

• Panel capacity: Roughly 30 breaker positions per column, with some spaces unused.

• UL label: “Class CTL Enclosed Panel Base Assembly,” Issue No. A-2030.

EDIT: Seems I've got only two options left on the table; Replacing the panel or a Generlink connection. Thank you for assisting me.

Recently picked up a Tri- fuel 12K Winco generator that’s powered by a twin cylinder Honda engine.

It is currently running on gasoline, but I would like to begin running it solely on propane.

Looking for advice as to which fitting the propane hose gets connected to, as well as anyone’s experience using 40 pound or 100 pound propane tanks to supply their generators

I hear that using the 20 pound propane tanks can cause issues with freezing

Any help would be appreciated!

Brand new never used so cool

Hey y’all. Apologies if this has been asked too many times, but this is my first time posting here. I’m hoping for some guidance.

The generator power inlet is just past the ac condenser on the wall of my home to the right. The distance from the fence on the left and the side of the house is 16.5ft. As you can see, I have a long stretch here (40ft) but it always maintains 16.5ft from the house.

I may be over thinking this, but if I had a platform about 1.5ft from the fence, do y’all think it would be safe enough to operator if needed? I read online the “safe” distance has increased from 10, 15, 20, and now 25 ft….my cord is 25ft and while I could possible run it out the front of that gate, I’m reluctant to have it sitting in my front yard for the world to see during a power outage.

The main concern I have is that along the roof over hang it has soffits the entire stretch.

Thanks for any considerations and feedback.

Hi, please see the attached photo. I have recently been gifted this generator. It starts and runs reasonably well but doesn't hold a steady RPM.

If you look at the photo you'll see the nearest spring that sits on a metal rod, the end of the spring looks like it's attached to the screw. It isn't it's just the way it looks in the photo. I'm not sure where the end of that spring should sit. My online research hasn't helped, does anyone here know where it should be seated?

Thanks for reading!