FINALLY got a working generator!

[oregano]

So on Wednesday I exchanged one Harbor Freight generator for another. Then it took me two days to break in the engine. Of course, on Friday it died with just 50min of running the air conditioner. So I took it back, got my money back, and headed to Grants Pass where I had bought my Cummins. By the time I got there the heat wave had rolled in and I was hungry, so I ate at a casual sit down dining place and then checked in to the hotel next door.

While I was trying to sleep I decided to check availability of generators at the building supply store. (A local one, not a Big Box one.) Turns out they don't even carry Cummins anymore. Then I remembered seeing a Cummins generator at a Camping World RV sales/service place in Redding. So I checked their Medford location online and sure enough they had one.

The next morning I had to wash my clothes, and the laundromat I wound up at has a stupid prepaid card system that had to be explained to me by the only other person doing laundry at 6am on a Sunday. Later it was off to Medford. Sure enough, I got the generator. I went back to Grants Pass and canceled the third night I bought at the motel since I was headed back home today.

Got back around first light and started the generator up for an "engine break in", then I went to lunch. So I've had my AC on since 1pm and it is now 3pm. The Cummins of course works fine. Turns out it has a fuel filter I didn't know about, and the earlier one had been run until the fuel filter clogged solid and the engine cracked. At least now I know that Camping World services them.

So, FINALLY have AC again. And to think I deliberately insulated my home with the goal of minimizing use of AC and heat. Sigh.

 

[JayCee]

Yaay for AC during heatwaves,glad you scored a generator. Been searching for a good used Honda myself , Hopefully above 4500 watts. Had fantasies about a propane one but they seem yo be particularily rare these days. Even better a electric start. But not holding high hopes for that . But am not , off grid in anyway yet. But did paint part of the roof with the most sun exposure bright white . Seems to have helped

 

[Outdated]

But did paint part of the roof with the most sun exposure bright white . Seems to have helped

I helped a bloke up in the tropics do that, it was a massive roof and took us weeks including all the prep but it did knock a few degrees off the temperature. It wasn't much fun up there doing it though.

 

[Aspychata]

We had our membrane on roof washed, and recoated, made a big difference.

 

[Hazel_1914]

The local Harbor Freight had some engines for sale at cut rate prices. They were 3hp, four-cycle single cylinder gasoline engines and had been returned without being damaged, by people who are not mechanically inclined.

Those might be a good idea to figure out repowering a generator for you.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

The generators where I come from were saved special for NFL nights where the whole valley would be invited, and Saturday Morning Cartoons.

How nice to have AC off grid!

 

[JayCee]

Yes the prep on the roof was harder than actually coating it . And building a generator from a harbour frieght motor is quite brilliant if you can find out how to rewire a high output Alternator, or track down a old generator from a much older car . Then Harbour frieght also has larger 12 volt to 110 volt ac inverters for sale . Bolt it all to a thick piece of plywood , sized well .And insta generator. Might need a fan belt to hook them together too.

 

[Jumpinbare]

When I was living in a school bus on a remote piece of property, I had an AC Delco heavy duty car alternator driven by a 3.5 hp horizontal shaft motor. The alternator charged a 110 amp hour deep cycle lead-acid battery (lithium ion batteries were years away at the time). Inside the bus, I had a 500 Watt inverter to get 120 Volts AC when I needed it. But my lighting and fan ran directly on 12 volts DC. I had a remote kill switch for the motor so I didn't have to go outside to turn it off when I was ready for bed.

 

[JayCee]

Well now, if,n I can get a propane generator type deal ..then if you are patient and build a food digestor / methane generator , am thinking if you can generate , and maybe even compress alittle of it , after awhile , just maybe you could give your propane alittle methane assist ? And depending how far you wanna go into left feild ? hydrolize some water . And split that water with low voltage .in a sealed container with a bleed off tube and bleed off some hydrogen.to add to the mix to help you run that generator maybe?

 

[oregano]

My mains power is 7 solar panels (5 200w, 2 100w, used to have 6 200w until a cow stepped on one) that power a 100Ah lithium ion battery which then feeds several inverters for different purposes. And yes all lights are 12vDC. It is against the battery warranty to run a compressor driven anything off it bc it will destroy the battery.

 

[Outdated]

It is against the battery warranty to run a compressor driven anything off it bc it will destroy the battery.

So no fridge either? That's rough.

 

[JayCee]

yes..? no fridge ? and no luxury of ice, and cooking things can draw much current if on electricity... And as you get older , handling propane bottles can be a real pain. But Oregano is on it.. He gots the right idea. Gather me up some solar panels 800 watts worth and 5000 watt inverter but not sure how serious of a loss level that will cause a un necessary drain ,have high hopes,
and one smaller 300 watt one. But am hung up on the battery situation. Having enough batt storage. Is a issue . Battery tech. is constantly changing , various lithiums types and onto new salt batteries? And am not up on how to judge the capacitors,have thought to put in the system ? Super Caps?...Me thinks me brains need the extra capacity.

 

[Outdated]

But am hung up on the battery situation. Having enough batt storage. Is a issue .

I lived that life for a while. Living in the bush with little money and resources. I collected old panels from the local dump and kept the best of them and put together a few car batteries. It didn't give me a lot of power but I could recharge my laptop, have a fan, and a small fridge - 70 watts, 700 watts to kick it over and make it start.

During the wet season with dense cloud cover I only got enough power to run the fridge for a couple of hours each day but that was still very useful. During the dry season it was enough to run everything all day.

various lithiums types and onto new salt batteries?

If you can get them go for the Sodium Ion batteries. Cheaper, lighter, higher energy density, and most importantly, they don't get hot and catch fire if you mistreat them.

 

[JayCee]

Thank you , this is great info. still alittle stuck on the Capacitor issue, so intial start up load
can be absorbed by the Caps . Without quite enough technical knowledge of them ,( am sure its available somewhere) So may do what I do, it test and test again,and read more.
Already have a larger capacitor bank ? but possibly not adequate ? Its a work in progress
then again , Not too smart about solar charge controllers or heavier guage wire to help line loss? or is it wire in series for higher voltage vs smaller guage lines to converter. This kinda stuff can get expensive if too many mistakes. And the secondary market for solar panels is big here . No such thing as those showing up in a dump in the US that I am aware of?

Worse is hours of daylight , many tall trees surround the property .

 

[Outdated]

No such thing as those showing up in a dump in the US that I am aware of?

Where I was living was very remote, not bitumen roads, no town supplied electricity, no town. In places like that there are also no recycling centres, just a local dump that the people manage themselves.

Instead of looking at capacitors I just went for a bigger inverter. Learning how to properly connect my chain of batteries made a big difference. Positive from the panel controller to one end of the chain and negative to the other end instead of connecting both to just one battery at the front.

 

[JayCee]

Thank you very interesting ...Think that may work, may I ask ,What guage wire you had used?

 

[Outdated]

Thank you very interesting ...Think that may work, may I ask ,What guage wire you had used?

Because it was cheap and readily available, the standard 20 amp wire that we use for wiring houses in Australia - we're a 240 volt country.

Just thought I should point out - standard wiring in the US is probably a heavier guage wire than what we use in Australia specifically because the US is only 110 volt. So if you want to run a 1700 watt microwave you'd be pulling twice the amperage down those wires as what we do. That's the reason most countries use 240 volt, less amperage so less danger of house fires.

 

[Mary Terry]

In the US, standard voltage in houses is 120/240 with a split system. 120 volts is used for typical outlets and low power consuming appliances. 240 volts is used for larger appliances such as electric stove ovens, clothes dryers, refrigerators, etc. We do not have merely 120 volt systems here.

 

[Aspychata]

Thank you, Mary Terry, l was wondering why appliance outlets were different. Great @grommet, you powered thru, and you are doing okay again. l just was looking at tire inflators for my car tire because we have so much new construction, meaning a flat tire for me. l think there are three different types that l had to choose from. Anything you buy means reading a manual so that you don't ignite, burn-out, blow-up whatever it is that your trying to do. 

 

[JayCee]

Lolzzz... Thank you Outdated...understood ...And Thank You Mary interesting how , you are both are actually correct.. Yes standard appliance outlets and wall outlets are known to be standardized to 110 ,heavier duty appliances ,like dryers Air Cond units and in house Water heaters are generally built with 220 in mind ...was actually wondering what guage wire to run , If the solar was about 50-60 ft away from the panels, had read that needed consideration of what the output voltage of the solar array was to be ? relating to whether the array was wired in series or parralel .ie. 12, 24, 36 or 48 volt depending on amount of panels , Snd unfortunately the inverter needs to match output of panel wiring.
ut the easiest standard, that most people in solar , seem to lean towards 12vdc. Had read that prefers heavier guage wire , but was actually hoping like Outdated had first person experience, with a working system, and yes had hoped a lower wattage. microwave could be a potential future option.