Power out around 4:20pm 8/4

Power out? How about an inverter connected to your car?
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: Power out around 4:20pm 8/4

Post by kevm14 »

So I wanted to recap a few things that I learned this time.

- Engine is still using oil despite switching to SAE30. That is too bad and I probably scored the cylinders running it on the inferior 15W-40 (after they switched the formulation for fuel economy/emissions, SMH). However I ordered Engine Restore and will give that a try. I bet it will do something. The engine still ran fine and produced adequate power but I don't like the oil consumption and it is really hard on the oil due to extra blow by. It gets nasty pretty fast.

- I can run 3 window A/C units and keep the house comfortable even in the summer. I can probably do the mini split and my main downstairs 12k BTU unit. Not sure if I could add the master bed A/C but I'm sure I'll find out. The mini-split at 18k is a 240V load which is the best kind for the generator (evenly split between legs). Plus they are quite efficient and will throttle down as needed rather than turning on and off.

- My load balancing worked pretty well but when I tried Ian's window unit as the third, that was no good. It dropped a leg and got all glitchy. But it turns out that A/C is on the same leg as my main 12k unit which was just too much. So instead I turned on Owen's unit which is shared with the master bed and that combo was fine. This makes sense because instead of 8k on one leg and 12k + like 6k I had 8k + 5.6k and 12k. Better balanced. Which is what load balancing is all about. I had to select ONE of the following loads to use at the same time and ONLY one: toaster, coffee maker, microwave, 12k BTU dining room window A/C. If I used only one at a time, it worked. Again this is per my original load balancing routine and list that I stuck to my fridge. If I kept to it I was not let down. So all of that analysis paid off. The well pump, hot water heater, two refrigerators and TV loads basically I just let them do what they needed and the highest load I saw was 90% and that was typically only a minute or two. I just left the basement dehumidifier breaker off and I think that was the right call.

- You can actually hear the generator pick up a little load when the plasma TV shows a brighter image (vs dark). That's funny. It should just be a couple hundred watts but it is detectable.

- My lithium ion BackUPS for my internet stuff is REQUIRED on the generator especially with all the inductive loads coming on and off. The momentary flicker would cause it all to reset and I'd lose wireless AND wired internet. Very annoying. The battery failed and APC is actually sending a replacing under the 3 year warranty. Not bad for something I bought for $50 in Dec 2017. But yeah this is really something that is necessary in my setup.

- I noticed that cellular stuff was glitchy. Seems like all the providers had issues. Kind of interesting. This would be OK if my wireless was solid and I could do wifi calling with Mint/T-Mobile. But since that was also glitchy it caused some issues occasionally. I can control one of those somewhat...

- At some point I could see something like a 7000W generator in my future. But I'm not done with this one yet. I would upgrade to a 30A receptacle and breaker. The wire I ran is already 10 gauge because I planned ahead. That said, there really isn't anything I couldn't do on 4000W that I could do on 7000W, except obviously more things at the same time. But it's not like it would go from heavily sweating load balancing to never thinking about it and that's because of how I choose to connect my generators - to the whole panel not just specific circuits so I will always need to load balance unless I get a stationary 20kW unit or something like that. It's still superior to being limited to a static number of circuits though admittedly less wife friendly but that has never come up fortunately. Point is, 4000W can power a whole house, with caveats. I don't know what I'd get to replace it. Ryobi with EFI? Predator? Auction special (construction site lighting trailer) with an 1800 rpm diesel run from my home heating oil tank? Don't worry, it's been done. Maybe I should start planning now...
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