Inverter Generator

[Dennis Alwon]

Best tip for any small engine by far.

I have used ethanol free gas for many years and it makes an incredible difference in keeping the carburetor clean. I also turn the fuel off and run it till the engine stops.... I have a log splitter that has a Honda engine. That thing can sit for two years and it will start on the 2-3 pull.

 

[jaggedben]

I really wish the Honda inverter generators could be linked in such a way as to produce 240 volts.

Theoretically another advantage of inverter generators ought to be to allow many generators to easily sync up into a micro-grid. But so far I'm unaware of any serious attempts to make such a thing real.

 

[Todd0x1]

Well, in my experience it's more than a sputtering generator about to run out of fuel. During extended power outages here I have had UPSs refuse to operate off the power supplied by a normally running generator. They constantly switched back and forth between battery and line. One time I had to reluctantly remove one from use and connect a server directly in order to get it to work. It did somehow survive, but the fact that the UPS determined that the power was so dirty to cause a transfer makes me wonder how.

This makes my wonder about whole house generators and the quality of power they produce.

-Hal

I'll have to try to find it, some time ago there was a discussion (i think on here) about problems with UPS on small generator and I had found a whitepaper from APC detailing the issue. Basically what happens is they constantly cycle. With no load the generator output will be clean, but it distorts under load. So the UPS sees the bad power and switches to battery. Once on battery the load is removed from the generator the power is now clean. Seeing the clean power the UPS goes off battery which puts load on the generator causing distortion which causes the UPS to go back on battery. Then the cycle repeats.

 

[Todd0x1]

Theoretically another advantage of inverter generators ought to be to allow many generators to easily sync up into a micro-grid. But so far I'm unaware of any serious attempts to make such a thing real.

I saw a guy who paralleled three hondas. Shouldn't be a reason (other than making sure you get the wiring right) that you can't do more.