Home Generator line conditioner

[wesdor]

We are currently experiencing a pretty heavy ice storm in northern Illinois and wonder if all the ice will cause power outages.  Last summer the July storm took out our electricity for 4 days.  We lost everything in the freezer and fridge and other damage.  At that time my wife strongly suggested (one of those you don't dare say no) that we purchase a generator.

I ended up getting a baumalight 12Kw PTO generator.  As I understand it, all home generators produce "dirty electricity".  Anticipating this ice storm, I purchased a Belkin Surge Protector yesterday.  This unit has 12 outlets and has 4320 Joules of surge protection.

My question is whether the Belkin will actually do anything to "condition" the electricity coming from the generator.  Our intention is to run some electric heaters, the refrigerator and freezer - just enough to get by.

Any body have some words of wisdom?

Thanks in advance

[scsmith42]

Wesdor, I've used generators to provide home electricity quite a bit, and have not had any problems with them.  My wife's veterinary practice operates two mobile surgery units, and they operate off of generator about 75% of the time (equivalent to 3 days a week).

The main thing that you need to do is check your voltage to make sure that it's within specs.

The surge arrestors will help in case you have some type of surge, but I don't think that they will do anything if you have a dip in voltage.

The items that you listed are fairly forgiving in terms of voltage.

[DanG]

I don't think the surge protector will do anything to clean up the waveform of your juice.  I also don't think the slightly sloppy waveform will hurt anything anyway.  It certainly won't hurt heaters, lights, motors and such, and should have little effect on your electronic stuff.  Most all electronic gizmoes today convert the AC power to DC to operate all the circuits, and the rectifiers don't care much about the waveform.  You may notice a little noise in audio circuits, and maybe a bit of fuzz on video, but other than that you should just kick back and enjoy your investment.  The only concern I would have on a PTO genset is to make sure the rpm is close to correct.  Does the generator have a frequency meter?

[PineNut]

Biggest problem I have had is the voltage. It can apparently get high with no load or a very light load. I make sure that I have about 200 watts load (light bulbs) on it before connecting any appliances. I know the appliances will pull more than that but under some conditions, it will damage them. I have had problems with both a refrigerator and computer.

[wesdor]

Thanks for the quick replies.

DanG - yes the generator does have a frequency meter.  I do know that I need to adjust the PTO speed so it is in the green range.  You make me feel much better about using the generator.  I think I'll take that surge protector back - it was $53 and still in the box with the receipt.

If we get really lucky, we won't lose power, but I'm glad the generator is out in the shed waiting to be used if needed.

Thanks again everyone

[WH_Conley]

On another note, a neighbor of mine bought a PTO generator, worked great. Til the mounting bolts to the little trailer came loose. Was not pretty. Might want to, just for the heck of it take those bolts loose and put some lock-tite on them. I have heard of this happening a couple of times.

[DanG]

You might want to hang onto that surge protector, Wes.  What Pinenut was talking about is exactly what it is for.  You could get a pretty good surge of excess voltage when a heavy user, like a heater, cycles off. ;)  I didn't think about that factor when typing my previous post.

[Ianab]

Surge protector is a good idea for your electonics, computers etc. Running them through an Online UPS is even better.

But keeping the generator under a steady load, like a 1kw electric heater at all times + whatever else, will do a lot to smooth out the power. It gets messy if you are only drawing 200w from a big genset. But put some base load on the system and it will be a lot smoother. A 1 or 2 kW Electric heater is a pretty good surge protector.

Ian

[wesdor]

Almost 7:00 a.m. here and we still have power, but lots of ice. About 6:15 I saw a flash of lightening followed the the thunder.  We are experiencing that unusual event called thunder snow.  Everything is closed around here but I'm hoping to make it out to the machine shed by foot to work today (about 150 feet smile).

Thanks for the comment on the bolts - you are correct, that wouldn't be pretty.

The surge when a heater turns off is something I hadn't thought about.  If we don't use the generator today, I'll probably take that surge protector back and get a UPS like Ianab suggests.

Thanks again for all the replies.

[jdtuttle]

Install a transfer switch & hook up the necessary circuits to run the home, Lights, microwave, fridge, well if you have one. It's the safest way & easiest way to transfer power.
Jim

[al77]

The appliances you mentioned should not be very sensitive to small voltage fluctuations. If you plan to run a tv or computer or anything of the like you would want to use an inverter type generator. Honda makes them for just such a purpose. I'm sure there are other brands too.

I fried my microwave during hurricane Isabel on my 30Kw pto generator. luckily I learned on a $150 dollar microwave and not an expensive computer or tv. On such a large generator as mine I would suspect the chances of this happening are worse. Having a good ground i.e. ground rod on your generator is a good idea too.

A power inverter is a cheap alternative. You could get one to run off your tractor's battery for your sensitive equipment while the generator could handle the heavy draw appliances that are not so sensitive. I'd look at that before I  bought a second generator. The surge protecter is not going to protect against "brown" or low voltage- most inverters have protection. Generators are great for the things you mentioned. 

I mean I wouldn't plug my plasma into an inverter, but would my kitchen tv to see what was going on if in the middle of an ice storm, hurricane etc...