Emergency Power/Storms/Prepping etc

Back to power tests, some very good results. Those who have issues with power out of their light tower either doesn't have enough load on it, or they have some kind of problem they should address. Voltage only really seems to be an issue at very, very low loads.

Plugging in the double conversion UPS in the house (APC SRT3000RMXLA) of course worked fine given its double conversion, but it did complain "Bypass not in range ; distorted waveform." which I do not care about, I will turn off that alert email. I bought a double conversion so I don't have to use grid power, so why would I want to bypass? Duh.

With only the UPS plugged in, the voltage was low, around 105v

That 800-900w load was enough to convince the other loads to work properly however. Plugged in the Ecoflow Delta 2 and it started charging at 1200w no problem right away. So for my needs, there is no issue there as my UPS will ALWAYS be on if on generator

With the Ecoflow now plugged in, we got to normal 120v~

I tested some more lights with this stuff plugged in. Half way through the tests the Ecoflow charged fully, however no difference in lighting output. Here are the results

GTC LED L8ECOA19927 - FAIL - Flickers - Very, very cheap, very very old LED Light bulb from Grocery store HEB

Feit Electric LED CEOM100/SCCT/4 "100w" LED Bulb - PASS - Sold at Costco, zero flicker, correct brightness

HALO Canless LED HLB6099FS1EMWR, SLDSL6069S1EMWR, HLA406FL9FS1EMWR - PASS - Sold at Home Depot, zero flicker, correct brightness

CDL CDLPS190R13 LED Can Light - PASS - Sold at Home Depot under "Commercial Electric Brand" , zero flicker, correct brightness

Videos


View: https://youtu.be/qR29jrBnBfE



View: https://youtu.be/UPedYFzZZmo


Now, the Ecoflow works good


View: https://youtu.be/7S0uOLSSD5A
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Broachoski
More rust removed, soon I'll be a paint expert. My goal is to improve something small every day

1750465753881.png

1750465759592.png

1750465765926.png

Wheels were a bit rusty but I sprayed them with some flat black

1750465785705.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: Broachoski and looney2ns
I installed a switch between the Ground to Neutral connection, so if I'm using it on its own, I can flip it to bonded, and if plugged into a house, I can leave it floating

Waiting for my label maker to arrive so I can make some instruction



1750465893399.png

1750465898950.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: Broachoski
Just tested it with the interlock powering the whole house, everything worked fine.

1750465919529.png

I did not test the main AC however since I have a soft-start I bet it would work. There is no point running a 4 ton AC when on Backup of my backup generator, it will put you too close to the limit and use too much fuel

I did test all my mini split AC's, and they worked fine, no lights flickered, fridge and freezer worked fine, pretty much nothing to write home about. Everything just worked...

The ONE thing that was a bit off, was a really old ceiling fan worked but made a slight humming sound. I just turned it off, no biggie. All of my other ceiling fans worked fine

Video, not of inside because I don't want anyone seeing the inside of my house. Ignore the tools, I was neatening up some wiring



Stats on my short test. think I should bump up the engine speed a hair? Started at 60.3 and ended 59.1

1750465949217.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: Broachoski, looney2ns and Timokreon
More junky looking parts re-painted

1750466059836.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: looney2ns
Okay, done for now!
 
  • Like
Reactions: looney2ns and fergenheimer
  • Like
Reactions: Broachoski
First time I've used a coupler like it, bit so far it seems to work pretty good. I am missing the pin though, only noticed after driving back 60 miles :D
 
Great update and alot of testing and work on it for sure. I would definitely make some adjustments so that your frequency never falls below 60hz and also that voltage drop is a killer for any circuit boards so not sure if there’s an adjustment for voltage regulation on the generator head or not. Some of the flickering and humming sounds like it could be THD related but really hard to tell without throwing a power meter on it. Seriously if I wasn’t up in Canada I’d just throw it in the mail for you.
 
Met with a certified Kohler installer last week and mailed him down payment yesterday for a Kohler 26kW propane air-cooled whole house generator with 200A auto transfer switch, whole house utility company surge protection with protection policy.

Engines and generators are assembled next door in Mississippi. Should start the install in about 2 weeks, weather permitting.

After living here for 19 years and putting up with scores of 1, 2 and 4 hour outages, a few 12 hour ones, a 38 hour one beginning on Saturday June 14th, I said "I'm done." Pull-starting that little Chinese 3500 watt propane portable, even though only 2 or 3 pulls, about killed me, the chemo has weakened me so much. I burned 2 and 3/4 five gal propane tanks in that time.

Not sure why the 4 day outage April 27, 2011 with a record number of tornadoes did did NOT get me off the dime to get one installed...for one thing I was 14 years younger and not fighting rectal cancer....I think that is a pretty good excuse!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Broachoski, looney2ns, IReallyLikePizza2 and 1 other person
MTL4 said:
Great update and alot of testing and work on it for sure. I would definitely make some adjustments so that your frequency never falls below 60hz and also that voltage drop is a killer for any circuit boards so not sure if there’s an adjustment for voltage regulation on the generator head or not. Some of the flickering and humming sounds like it could be THD related but really hard to tell without throwing a power meter on it. Seriously if I wasn’t up in Canada I’d just throw it in the mail for you.
Click to expand...

Voltage is well within range, won't cause any problems

I'm going to adjust it to 61hz idle
 
TonyR said:
Met with a certified Kohler installer last week and mailed him down payment yesterday for a Kohler 26kW propane air-cooled whole house generator with 200A auto transfer switch, whole house utility company surge protection with protection policy.

Engines and generators are assembled next door in Mississippi. Should start the install in about 2 weeks, weather permitting.

After living here for 19 years and putting up with scores of 1, 2 and 4 hour outages, a few 12 hour ones, a 38 hour one beginning on Saturday June 14th, I said "I'm done." Pull-starting that little Chinese 3500 watt propane portable, even though only 2 or 3 pulls, about killed me, the chemo has weakened me so much. I burned 2 and 3/4 five gal propane tanks in that time.

Not sure why the 4 day outage April 27, 2011 with a record number of tornadoes did get me off the dime to get one installed...for one thing I was 14 years younger and not fighting rectal cancer....I think that is a pretty good excuse!
Click to expand...

Nice! Hope you post pictures!
 
  • Like
Reactions: TonyR
IReallyLikePizza2 said:
I installed a switch between the Ground to Neutral connection, so if I'm using it on its own, I can flip it to bonded, and if plugged into a house, I can leave it floating

Waiting for my label maker to arrive so I can make some instruction

Click to expand...

I have the same thing on my generator I built, very handy in case you need it to be portable or to use it on a jobsite. Does need a label to make sure you know which is bonded and which isn’t.
 
IReallyLikePizza2 said:
Voltage is well within range, won't cause any problems

I'm going to adjust it to 61hz idle
Click to expand...
So the voltage didn’t drop as long as you kept it loaded? What was the range you saw?

That frequency should help keep everything happy.
 
Voltage actually increased, seems to be how these capacitor units function

Unloaded is 108v, putting 1000w on there brings it up to around 120v, got to around 124v at 4kw. There will always be at least 2000w on the unit
 
MTL4 said:
I have the same thing on my generator I built, very handy in case you need it to be portable or to use it on a jobsite. Does need a label to make sure you know which is bonded and which isn’t.
Click to expand...

I really don't understand why its not standard on all generators, its such an easy thing to do, and then you can use it properly
 
IReallyLikePizza2 said:
I really don't understand why its not standard on all generators, its such an easy thing to do, and then you can use it properly
Click to expand...
I agree. Most good generators have a way to go from bonded to unbonded (often just removing a screw internally) but I’ve never seen one from the factory switched that way.
 
Adjusted the engine speed, made VEERRRYYY small adjustments

Went to 61.4hz no load, makes it exactly 60.0 at 3000w, voltage was 120v. PERFECT!

1750553200064.jpeg

Put my labels on the control panel

1750553205326.jpeg

More rust gone, seems like the factory black finish just didn't hold up at all

Its so hot out I just do a small section a day

1750553210986.jpeg

1750553219420.jpeg

1750553227722.jpeg

Swapped the capacitor, old one looks to have a 2017 date code, so worth a swap. $140 vs $13 part, sure looks the same to me...

1750553234155.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: TonyR and Timokreon
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom