Generators - again

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I was saw a good deal on one 3500 running watts I thought it might be a little light for home use
3500 would be light .. that's 30A .. probably enough for basic lighting and a refrigerator, but I need one to handle the well pump (20A @ 240v) and the furnace/blowers/HW as well (Furnace and Hot Water heater both on 20A circuits). I got it on sale for around $700 if I recall, about 5 years ago. Costco used to carry them .. the Honda engine made up my mind.
 
I raced motocross for many years and did a lot of camping at the track. I have seen people use many generators over the years. I can't tell you how many times someone's bargain brand geny would fail.
I myself have owned several brands and types of generators over the years and I now only own 2 Honda EU 3000is units and wouldn't use any other brand. I've had one over 10 years with thousands of hours on it and it still runs great.
Both have inverters so there safe to use on electronics.
Changing the type of fuel will not save you any money. Propane works great but uses more fuel then gas.
The cheap bargain brands tend to use a lot of fuel and are generally very noisy. Honda's are expensive but are great on gas millage and you will save more money in the long run in gas cost to run the unit. There also one of the quietest generators out there. Witch is great for gig's where ambient sound is an issue. You don't want a generator screaming in the background.

As for renting it out, I can promis you people will abuse it to no end, I wouldn't do it. Your repair and replacement cost will keep you from making much money by renting it out. Trust me if you rent it out, it will get abused.
 
The same reason I wouldn't recommend a venue buy portable lights or sound equipment.

You won't use it very often and it will lose value especially if you go the cheap route.

People will rent from a rental place. The odds of them looking for a rental generator from a DJ/photographer is minimal

Just as your custumers can find DJ's and photographer for much less than you charge, so are the differences between the generators.

Specs can be misleading and easy to manipulate. Long term reputation is not
 
3500 would be light .. that's 30A .. probably enough for basic lighting and a refrigerator, but I need one to handle the well pump (20A @ 240v) and the furnace/blowers/HW as well (Furnace and Hot Water heater both on 20A circuits). I got it on sale for around $700 if I recall, about 5 years ago. Costco used to carry them .. the Honda engine made up my mind.

I was thinking it would be a bit light. I'd be mainly running a couple of heaters and lights and in a long term outage freezer and fridge. The way my pump is configured I can't run it and I have heat pumps so that's a no go too

I'm kind of feeling this one but I'm still up in the air on it

Costco Wholesale - (https://www.costco.ca/Firman-P08004-10%2c000W-Gas-Powered-Portable-Generator-with-remote.product.100323500.html)
 
I was thinking it would be a bit light. I'd be mainly running a couple of heaters and lights and in a long term outage freezer and fridge. The way my pump is configured I can't run it and I have heat pumps so that's a no go too

I'm kind of feeling this one but I'm still up in the air on it

Costco Wholesale - (https://www.costco.ca/Firman-P08004-10%2c000W-Gas-Powered-Portable-Generator-with-remote.product.100323500.html)

The one great thing about Costco from a consumer standpoint is that their return policy is AWESOME.

If you don't like it, they will take it back.

I was in Costco twice this week. The other day, I saw a guy bringing in 3 carts full of CHRISTMAS REEFS. 3 cart fulls. He obviously used the reefs. Most had no boxes, and the ones that did have boxes with them had the reefs stuffed back in and were obviously used. Now we are 3 weeks after Christmas.

This guy got all his money returned. NO questions asked.

Customers like this basically, and PROBABLY do the same thing every year. Purchase the Xmas decorations. Use them, and take them all back and get their money completely refunded. NO cost Xmas decorations, FREE every year. I bet this type of customer does that, and does not care! LOL

...I am positive, if you buy that generator, and it sucks, or not what you want, you can return it for a full refund no questions asked as long as it's within their length of return policy. ...I am pretty sure Costco gives you 90 days on ALL Electronics. ...Probably the most generous return policy out there.
 
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I was thinking it would be a bit light. I'd be mainly running a couple of heaters and lights and in a long term outage freezer and fridge. The way my pump is configured I can't run it and I have heat pumps so that's a no go too

I'm kind of feeling this one but I'm still up in the air on it

Costco Wholesale - (https://www.costco.ca/Firman-P08004-10%2c000W-Gas-Powered-Portable-Generator-with-remote.product.100323500.html)


A couple of things to think about with that unit. See how big the gas tank is? My guess is it will suck gas like a 18 wheeler.
Secondly, it doesn't have an inverter so it's not safe for sensitive electronics like Tv's and PC's.
The next issue is my bet is it runs full blast and doesn't power down according to how much power you use.
I also bet it is VERY noisy.

I had 2 generators one time when a hurricane knocked out our power for 14 days. I used 2 generators to power 2 houses, One was a 5000w from tractor supply and the other was my first Honda EU3000is. The 5000w from TS used 4 times the fuel that the Honda did.
The 5000w from TS ran 8 hours on 5 gallons of gas, the Honda would run 14 hours on 3 gallons of gas.
The Honda's have a power saver mode that allows it to power (idle) down according to how much power you pull.
The one from TS was extremely noisy and can be heard from 100 yards away. The Honda is so quiet you can't here it at all from 20 feet away.

If you store it for long periods of time you will need to use ethanol free fuel and treat it with a fuel treatment.
 
A couple of things to think about with that unit. See how big the gas tank is? My guess is it will suck gas like a 18 wheeler.
Secondly, it doesn't have an inverter so it's not safe for sensitive electronics like Tv's and PC's.
The next issue is my bet is it runs full blast and doesn't power down according to how much power you use.
I also bet it is VERY noisy.

I had 2 generators one time when a hurricane knocked out our power for 14 days. I used 2 generators to power 2 houses, One was a 5000w from tractor supply and the other was my first Honda EU3000is. The 5000w from TS used 4 times the fuel that the Honda did.
The 5000w from TS ran 8 hours on 5 gallons of gas, the Honda would run 14 hours on 3 gallons of gas.
The Honda's have a power saver mode that allows it to power (idle) down according to how much power you pull.
The one from TS was extremely noisy and can be heard from 100 yards away. The Honda is so quiet you can't here it at all from 20 feet away.

If you store it for long periods of time you will need to use ethanol free fuel and treat it with a fuel treatment.

I appreciate the advice I really don’t know a lot about generators


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I say for now just keep renting the ones you've been renting since they've worked well for you in the past. I agree using them 3 times a year isn't worth you buying one.
 
Really this from the guy buys useless stuff for just one gig all the time
Over the years , I do believe Mix has somebody ( Partner maybe) using his account.
I have referred to this as having a ghost writer ,
 
Every month I crank up the genarators and run the house on them for about an hour. Then I turn off the fuel and let them run till they run out of fuel. That helps keep varnish from building up in the carburetor. Ethanol fuels are corrosive and can let water build up in the fuel system. The reason it collects water is ethanol is alcohol and can absorb water. The water mixes with the alcohol and the alcohol mixes with the gas. Thats how you remove water from a fuel system by mixing in a little alcohol. Water and fuel don't mix, but water and alcohol do. You can still buy ethanol free fuels and it's best to use that in small motors that sit a long time between uses.
 
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Mix, if you own a car rental business that owns 5 cars and you are not able to rent them enough to pay for them, then you have wasted your money. If you then buy more cars - then you're buying useless stuff. Same idea.

In this scenario, you have at least 5 cars that you (or a renter) can use more than once - the problem is that you have no customers - and you keep spending and not making anything.

How's that business plan coming along?
 
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honda. or yamaha.
I got a powerstroke from costco, $450 or so. 1700w continous, light, quiet and very handy.

I've run two dxr12 tops, two etx18 subs, 2 laptops, mixer, mic, lighting (all led) and string lights - when cranked to 9 volume wise you can see the sring lights 'flash' the beat...so it's close to max. But that's a LOT to run off one genny.

You can hook 2 honda's together to get 220...something mine can't do.

mine has been great - no issues and i've run power tools off it, tripeed the breaker many times - stuff you're not supposed to do with it (so i recently read).
 
honda. or yamaha.
I got a powerstroke from costco, $450 or so. 1700w continous, light, quiet and very handy.

I've run two dxr12 tops, two etx18 subs, 2 laptops, mixer, mic, lighting (all led) and string lights - when cranked to 9 volume wise you can see the sring lights 'flash' the beat...so it's close to max. But that's a LOT to run off one genny.

You can hook 2 honda's together to get 220...something mine can't do.

mine has been great - no issues and i've run power tools off it, tripeed the breaker many times - stuff you're not supposed to do with it (so i recently read).


I have 2 of the honda eu3000is units. You can link two units together and double the wattage but you can't get 220, it's still 110.
Mine are rated at 3000 watts each. If I hook them together I get 6000 watts but it still only 110.
Same with the eu1000 eu2000 and eu3000. Some of there other models do have 110 and 220, but if it's not designed to run 220, hooking 2 together still only gets you 110.
You have to make sure it can start things like ac units, refrigerators and freezers. These appliances have a power surge when they first start up.
Say your ac unit is rated at 3000 watts, when it first starts up it can actually pull 3500/4000 watts for a moment till it gets going.
So make sure you generator can handle power surges.
 
I'm not debating what you state ... I'm adding to it for clarification.

Many pieces of equipment have a 'startup surge' - AC, Servers, PC's, Laptops, etc. This 'surge' is displayed as a max power rating / wattage on the power supply. If the max power rating / wattage of your AC unit is 3000 watts, then the AC cannot ask for any more power - because it would be impossible for the supply to deliver it. Additionally, properly designed circuits do not use any more than 80% of the expected load. For a 20 amp circuit, you should be below 16amps. For a 15 amp circuit, you should be below 12 amps. 60 amp circuit, you should be below 48 amps. As applies to a piece of equipment, this means if 3000W is the max rating, it should not normally use any more than 2400W (3000W - 600W). If you are using more than this, you need a different piece of equipment.

'Running' or 'Continuous' load markings are different - as they do not account for the additional 'startup surge', which can be calculated by using a best practice method of adding 20% to it (3000 x 20% = 3600W).
 
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I'm not debating what you state ... I'm adding to it for clarification.

Many pieces of equipment have a 'startup surge' - AC, Servers, PC's, Laptops, etc. This 'surge' is displayed as a max power rating / wattage on the power supply. If the max power rating / wattage of your AC unit is 3000 watts, then the AC cannot ask for any more power - because it would be impossible for the supply to deliver it. Additionally, properly designed circuits do not use any more than 80% of the expected load. For a 20 amp circuit, you should be below 16amps. For a 15 amp circuit, you should be below 12 amps. 60 amp circuit, you should be below 48 amps. As applies to a piece of equipment, this means if 3000W is the max rating, it should not normally use any more than 2400W (3000W - 600W). If you are using more than this, you need a different piece of equipment.

'Running' or 'Continuous' load markings are different - as they do not account for the additional 'startup surge', which can be calculated by using a best practice method of adding 20% to it (3000 x 20% = 3600W).


Yes I agree with most of that, however if you already have other equipment drawing from the gen and the AC kicks on, even though the gen can handle the ac unit on it own, but adding something that surges on top of whats already running can trip the fuses or make the gen shut down or over heat. Rule of thumb is never draw more then 2/3 of the overall rating at any on time. You never want to run a gen at full capacity for very long.
 
Again, I agree. As shown, you need to calculate and know the load prior to plugging it in - and this is true for your normal everyday home outlets as well - as overloading them can cause a fire.

If you buy a 3000W generator - and that's what the max on your AC is, then that's the only thing you'll be plugging in.