Looking for a Generator to Borrow

[DanRo]

Long story short, just found out that my street has electrical issues during the winter. At some point (2-3 years ago) there was no power for about 2 weeks. If anything like this happens, the heating system will not work - I have gas / forced air (we did not have power for 3h couple of days ago). Since we have a little baby in the house, I am looking for alternatives if that happens ....

So, I'm looking for an electric generator. Ideally just to borrow it for the winter months. Not planning to use it unless there is an emergency. The heating system seems pretty straight forward and easy to plug in (has already 2 electrical plugs that are plugged into an outlet).

Please know if you have a somehow reliable generator that you are willing to borrow or sell it ...


Thanks,
Dan

[nhbubba]

Unfortunately I need mine for the same reasons. Pretty rural area here and we seem to lose power for extended periods more and more these days.

Word of caution, it sounds like you want to back-feed into your system. Please. Please. Please make sure you ALWAYS disconnect the main breaker before you back-feed like this. Overall, back-feeding is not the safest technique to power the house off a generator. Worst case scenario involves fire, death, destruction. But if you choose to do this, at least disconnect yourself from the grid before doing so. Wicked important.

/rant

Sounds like you don't have any 220 loads and your needs may be pretty reasonable. If so, maybe consider one of those smaller capacity Honda (ie EU2000i) generators. Super quiet and easy to handle, even for the missus should you be out of town or unavailable. And useful for running warmers at track days later.

[Mr. Kurtz]

Word of caution, it sounds like you want to back-feed into your system.

I think I read Dan as saying his furnace has a cord sticking out of it, plugged into an outlet, and that he can just plug that cord into a generator.

[nhbubba]

My mistake. Carry on.

[jwm2k3]

I 2nd the Honda EU2000, good recommendation.

[DanRo]

Thanks guys. I'll prob go for the Honda EU2000.

[jwm2k3]

Shop around, some honda motorcycle dealers sell the generators also. When i worked at cycles128 we would discount them sometimes.

GBM, which is close to you Dan, also has them.

[DanRo]

Shop around, some honda motorcycle dealers sell the generators also. When i worked at cycles128 we would discount them sometimes.

GBM, which is close to you Dan, also has them.

Cool. We can talk about this tonight. I'll try to make it to Seacoast . If I do, it will prob be around 8.

[GingahNinjah]

Dan hold off of buying until next week you may be able to get a Black Friday steal on a generator if you play your cards right and shop around some.

[Garandman]

I would buy the EU2000 Companion as more flexible. And you need it to daisy chains two.

[nhbubba]

And you need it to daisy chains two.

No you don't.

[jasnmar]

Better to parallel them than to daisy chain them, but that's just me being an ass.

[Garandman]

I'll clarify. "Daisy chain" was a particularly poor choice of words.

The Companion has a 30A outlet. If you don't have a Companion, you need the parallel kit, not just the parallel cables. I think the total cost difference between two EU2000i and a parallel kit versus EU2000i, Companion, and parallel cables is a few bucks.

Honda Generators - EU Series Parallel Capability

All our feed cables have 30A [twist locking] plugs so we have a Companion. We can run it solo to keep the fridge and heater circulation pump running overnight. We can run the two of them during the day for more items. We discovered by test that we could also keep our servers running with the EU2000i Companion in lieu of the EU3000iS we bought for that purpose. Doesn't sound like the OP needs a Companion.

We also added the metal security handles to slow down a thief (handle is thick plastic), the 12V charging cables (come standard with The Yamaha but not Honda), spare spark plug for each, and motor oil. We store 10-15 gallons of gas and top off the bikes and lawn mower so we have additional fuel there.

Sale pricing now through Dec 11 - Honda Holiday Sales Event: Great savings on Honda Generators

[zxme]

check out the KIPOR ones that are just as small as the Honda, Not saying they are better but I have seen one run a Boiler for 4 day's and all was perfect

[nhbubba]

Sigh. The shit we choose to argue about here on this internet.

No, I got what you meant. I meant that you don't need the special companion unit to gang the gennys and run them in parallel. I looked into this when I considered buying a set. The "kit" honda sells is obscenely over priced. But it does the job.

Also if you are the least bit handy with a knife and wire nuts, you can build your own kit for a few $ and a quick visit to your hardware store. Buy a 30A RV plug, a small electrical box and a 30A push-button breaker. Cut the cross link cable in half, wire in parallel to the breaker, then to the RV plug and you have the same thing. There is nothing particularly rocket-science about it. Either way, you don't need the special unit.

As I recall, the "companion" unit just gives you one genny that only has one plug you can use at a time. The standard unit has 2 you can use when run standalone. Making the "companion" unit lame.

IIRC the Yamaha and Generac equivalents can also be ganged. They don't bother with special "companion" versions.

None of these can be used for 220V applications like my well though. So I have an 8500W wheelbarrow unit I got used instead.

Glad this came up. Got me to dig my genny out and try to fire it up. Some dipshit left the fuel on and didn't drain the bowl after last use. Got to pull the jet and clean. But she runs now. We be ready for ice storms.

[jasnmar]

15ish years ago I was working on a metropolitan hospital, a project to update their emergency system.

At that time they had 2 2500kW gen sets, both of which started when then power failed, but didn't take on any load, as they had to be manually synchronized. These weren't "inverter type" generators, but motor / generator type.

There was a syncroscope (which showed the phase difference between the 2 signals). You would adjust the speed of generator B until it was close to the speed of generator A (but not the same) and you would manually close the breaker connecting the 2 generators when the syncroscope was between - 5 and +5 degrees of 0. If everything happened successfully then you would bring the emergency system "online" to the hospital.

There had to be 3 people trained to do this on site at all times. They had me try it once. I was terrified.

It certainly can be done without the Honda cable. Hell, you can even cogen in sync with the utility if you know what you're doing. The Honda thing just makes it easy.

[nhbubba]

I think I mis-described. Google it. I'm probably incapable of describing it accurately. Electrically speaking the DIY solution works just like 2 non "companion" units + a cable or just like 1 companion unit + 1 non unit + cable + kit. The issue is they use a 10A outlet and breaker on the unit. The cable forces the phase sink when used in the DIY setup or sanctioned Honda kit.

Just because it says "Honda" on the side doesn't make it do anything unique.