Originally Posted by Cookie Monster
https://tinytach.com These serve as both a tachometer and hour meter and hold up pretty well
Amazon has several, search "small hour meter"
https://tinytach.com These serve as both a tachometer and hour meter and hold up pretty well
Amazon has several, search "small hour meter"
One of my generators is delayed, so I did a quick check of the one I do have yesterday. Worked fine.
I did learn something new: starting a gennie on Propane is not like using gas - you don't fill it with fuel, set it to choke, and pull the cord.
Nope.
What you do (I learned by reading the manual - odd concept for me - heh) is:
- Open the valve on the propane bottle
- Set selector to "choke"
- Pull starter cord slowly, 3-5 times, to prime the engine
- Set selector to "run"
- Pull starter cord enthusiastically.
Who knew?
On the subject of hour meters, I sourced this inductive one, and am probably going to order it to try:
https://www.amazon.com/cart/smart-wa...G3TJBR9GWGXJ61
Will post back how it works.
...which finally (long story short) arrived today.
Running, they are not as loud as I thought they might be. Rats, forgot to take a dB measurement. Ah well.
The square gizmo at the top of the one is the "ParaLINK", connecting the outputs in parallel to support the TT-30R RV connection on the left of the front panel. For running them in, I just used a spare 20# bottle I have from Lowe's.
All I have to do is wait till the inductive hour meters get here, install them, then source a Y and a couple hoses to run this rig off the Aux / BBQ grill output of my camper, and I should be in business.
I also need to work out whether to tie the ground, to ground, or let the supply float. I suspicion my camper electronics would prefer a grounded ground, not floating (and I think I would, too). So I'll probably get a copper rod or similar, and some ought ought copper wire, and bond both grounds of the gennies to that.
I got both of these installed on gennie A and B today. It works by looping 5 coils of hook up wire around the plug, inductively sending a timer pulse back to the unit. Joe Henry would be proud.(*) No batteries, it must have a very low current requirement and a capacitor of some kind to hold charge "for a long time".
I found the trickiest part was making the loops stay in place. I ended up putting a figure 8 knot in one end of the wire, then sliding a partially closed zip tie over both ends. Loop through five times (needle nose here), pull taught, being careful to capture the figure 8 knot within the zip tie, as you slowly cinch it all down. Trim the plug side wire and zip tie neatly.
I didn't have a good hole to feed the wire in the Champions, so I just drilled a 9/64" at a suitable location and fed the wire up neatly, then slipped it into the channel of the pickup unit. I attached the pickup unit with double sided velcro.
Ran both at least 6 minutes to make sure the loops were sensing (little hour meter flashes) and the counter advanced to 0.1.
* I'm sorry, only an EE would get this joke.I'll see myself out.
We have a couple of different dealers coming for a home visit to see about a Generac whole house generator setup. It will run off LP gas. We already have a 500 gallon LP tank for the furnace, range, etc. During the recent ice storm, we didn't lose power but thousands in our area did. It will be worth the expense to not worry.
Great thread--thanks, all. For me, this is looking like the easy button. Purchase two of these and the serial cords. My purpose is for emergency back-up home power in the unlikely/infrequent event of a power outage in my No. Colorado suburb. We could absolutely get by with powering the 2 fridges a few hours/day, recharging the iPad/iPhones, and fans in the summer. If winter and also in a real cold snap, would need to run the heat long enough to keep pipes from freezing. Furnace and hot water heater are gas=powered, so it would just be the furnace fan drawing power. In heat of summer we could manage with fans and basement-dwelling. Would want to have an electrician add the plug/circuit work.
Also looking to purchase a ~22' travel trailer. Being able to pack one of these along seems like a no-brainer. All of our camping is remote, and while we have never needed a genny before, we were always in a pop-up camper, and the amenities are quite different.
Anyone see anything I'm missing? I generally believe in "buy once, cry once," but the Honda surcharge is enough to likely keep me from purchasing a genny at all.
Actually, re-reading the thread, I think RJ’s solution is even better. A couple hundred more, but adds the dual-fuel capability and is Amazon easy.
my only suggestion, would be if you can swing bigger than the 2200 sized units, i'd do it. I didn't look, do RJ's parallel to 220 also? if you *might* need it (i.e.: well pump) I'd make sure that feature is there.
I'm sure you already sat down and charted your actual usage (not just power consumption, but absolutes/needs/wants) requirements. that'd obviously answer the question.
Cross posting from my RV thread, I have my rig in the back of the truck now, set up as it will be for our summer trip. What's in the picture ran me around $1,475.00.
- 2xChampion 2,500W dual fuel portable (39 lb) generators, #200961 (1,655W running on propane, ea)
- 1xChampion Paralink Adapter (bridges gennies to provide a single 30A RV-30 outlet for camper)
- 20# propane bottle, Y-connection with gauge
- Progressive Industries SSP-30XL Surge Suppressor
- Green ground wire, 25' of #10, ground stake, clamp
This all sits nicely on a 4x4 mat made of Harbor Freight Interlocking foam Gym flooring 1/2", pack of four tiles, ea 25"x25". I was pleasantly surprised to discover this fit without cutting, and actually dampens the noise/vibration from the running generators quite a bit.
Since I took this picture I have this all locked/secured against the forward truck bed with a locked safety chain. I'm not thrilled leaving it in the back of the pickup but hopefully that will keep honest people out. It isn't visible since I have a fabric-trifold over the bed.
In testing the galvanized steel 1' stake is not working really well, I haven't measured the R to it but suspect it is well over my preferred ground impedance. I will look at other options including a copper / longer stake, as well as finding a convenient water pipe to clamp to when on the road. My Progressive SP is "on" but is indicating an open ground (which makes sense) at the moment.
Last edited by RJ; 03-21-2022 at 08:15 AM.
Y'know, I've occasionally mused about picking up one of those $6,000 or under beat up Priuses (Priusii? Prius?) that end up as cabs in their third or fourth life to use as dedicated and mildly expensive generator for the house and certain tools that really hate power-interrupts... But with this thread going as it is, does anyone know of a dedicated and purpose-built generator combining demand-based self-start\self-stop and a battery stack?
Jules
Runcible Works
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