Electricity Generator(s): advice & help selecting

ld13 said:
PC1's Power supply size + PC2's Power supply size + 2PC's Screen power requirements + Dot Matrix Watt rating on the back = X Watt

If you get a Gennie with at least about X Watt + some headroom, you should be ok.
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IMHO the size of the power supply is irrelevant. What you should look at is how much power the PC actually consumes. I think 200 Watt should be ample to run most midrange PCs and certainly enough to run any normal office PC.

In my case, for instance, my PCs power supply is rated at 600 Watt but the machine is not using even close to that. Here's what I'm running off my little 650 Watt genny:

1 x Pentium D 805 PC (overclocked) with 2GB RAM
1 x Radeon X1950 Pro 512MB card
3 x HDD (2 x SATA, 1 x ATA)
2 x Optical drives
1 x Acer 19 inch widescreen LCD
1 x set Sound Blaster 2.1 amplified speakers
1 x SMC 24 port 10/100 hub
1 x Telkom Mega 100WR ADSL router
1 x 500GB NAS drive
1 x twin tube 1 meter fluorescent workstation light
1 x Logik 30cm desktop fan
2 x UPS Direct 1000VA UPSes
1 x Nokia phone charger

So far the little genny seems to be humming along just fine. One thing that does not work is my Laserjet 3055 printer. The moment I plugged it in I heard both UPSes going click-click and the genny started to run erratically. I know that laser printers use huge amounts of power, especially when powering up and I was expecting just too much of the little genny in that case.
 
The_Librarian said:
One comment - buy a genny with a proper earthing system.

The earth system is there for a purpose.
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I've been worried about that. I see that my genny's manual also warns that you should earth it but it does not actually say how. There's a little picture that shows a strap running from the genny to a nail moer-ed into the ground. Is that adequate?
 
StrongTurd said:
I've been worried about that. I see that my genny's manual also warns that you should earth it but it does not actually say how. There's a little picture that shows a strap running from the genny to a nail moer-ed into the ground. Is that adequate?
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Thats a requirement for one, secondly the earth from the generator must be well connected the the earth of the domestic dwelling and run through the earth leakage unit. Else you are playing with with the life 's of the occupants!
 
NoADSLyet said:
Thats a requirement for one, secondly the earth from the generator must be well connected the the earth of the domestic dwelling and run through the earth leakage unit. Else you are playing with with the life 's of the occupants!
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Okay, so my genny is sitting on the lawn outside my back yard. How do I earth it?
 
StrongTurd said:
Okay, so my genny is sitting on the lawn outside my back yard. How do I earth it?
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Well go to any TV shop or Makro/Builders TV aerial shelve and you should find a long copper spike, some bare copper wire and a clamp. You hit the copper spike in the ground as deep as you can with only a inch or two sticking out, or hide below the surface, at a convenient and safe place like next to wall where no-one can step on it. Clamp the bare copper wire on the spike. The other end of the copper wire should be routed to where the Gen is and clamped or connected to the frame of the gen. Three electrical wires or cable with a protected, preferably armour, casing must be connected from the Gen to the DB board where it should be properly connected as outlined above. A change over switch is recommended for safety reasons. Remember a Gen is less safe than the domestic wiring in your house for many reasons. Also make sure the gen can never get wet!
 
StrongTurd said:
I've been worried about that. I see that my genny's manual also warns that you should earth it but it does not actually say how. There's a little picture that shows a strap running from the genny to a nail moer-ed into the ground. Is that adequate?
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Yes, but you should test it first to make sure - and to avoid any nasty surprises :)

^^ as per the posts above, the long copper spike and copper wire for an earthing system will be good enough.

Also, make sure the genny is bolted down, or else it'll skedaddle off somewhere else :D
 
Re: earthing of genny

if you plug the genny outlet into your house's outlet (ofcourse tripping the mains etc as previously suggested) to power the house through the existing wiring, then you don't need an additional earth for the generator as it is now earthed via you house's earth. right? One more reason to not use extension cords I think.
 
Anyone got this generator from Makro, Honda HSAF6500 output of 5,5kva (max). It's on special at R5,999. I can't find more details on this, as the product number doesn't appear on the Honda website, or even google (very weird). I think it's petrol.

There's also a Faraday FG6500E petrol generator, that produces 6,5kva for R5,499 which seems pretty cheap (too cheap?)

This is my kinda price range, are there any other decent generators around the R6,000 mark that can produce 3,000W+, and are safe with sensitive equipment like computers, routers, sounds system( and maybe xbox)?
 
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Denouncer said:
This is my kinda price range, are there any other decent generators around the R6,000 mark that can produce 3,000W+, and are safe with sensitive equipment like computers, routers, sounds system( and maybe xbox)?
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Nope. I don't think you get those - but I can be wrong. You need to put something in between the Gennie and the Equipment. Like a protector/UPS etc.
 
Denouncer said:
Anyone got this generator from Makro, Honda HSAF6500 output of 5,5kva (max). It's on special at R5,999. I can't find more details on this, as the product number doesn't appear on the Honda website, or even google (very weird). I think it's petrol.

There's also a Faraday FG6500E petrol generator, that produces 6,5kva for R5,499 which seems pretty cheap (too cheap?)

This is my kinda price range, are there any other decent generators around the R6,000 mark that can produce 3,000W+, and are safe with sensitive equipment like computers, routers, sounds system( and maybe xbox)?
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Get one that has an Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR). Those are spceifiec for sensitive equipment like pc and routers and so on.
 
Goobie said:
Re: earthing of genny

if you plug the genny outlet into your house's outlet (ofcourse tripping the mains etc as previously suggested) to power the house through the existing wiring, then you don't need an additional earth for the generator as it is now earthed via you house's earth. right? One more reason to not use extension cords I think.
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One more reason to get yourself jailed if you accidental kill someone with that "extension" concept. Your life is also in danger if you make an error with the connection timing between you and eScum!
 
Just had two okes to supply us with a genset at the company here.

At last... damagement will get this done ASAP as all this downtime is costing them money, plus penalties of course...
 
so i have a Akera,

3,5 kva genset,

I had a small 600W ups at it worked fine though it, now i got a larger 800w mecer thingy and it only works on battery, says something about the power being bad, the genset does have a AVR regulator in it, so how can i clean my power so my new ups does not complain;
 
I recently bought a Friman SPG6500E2 generator, but it did not come with any instructions/manual, my problem being I am not sure how often I should service the unit, and what type of oil it uses, any help on a manual or info would be greatly appreciated.
 
Acidburn21 said:
I recently bought a Friman SPG6500E2 generator, but it did not come with any instructions/manual, my problem being I am not sure how often I should service the unit, and what type of oil it uses, any help on a manual or info would be greatly appreciated.
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Don't they have a web site?
 
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