Generator Reviews.

savage said:
Yup - portable generators are called portable for a reason. You are supposed to connect appliances directly to the generator, not connect the generator to your household grid... That's also why they come with plug sockets, to plug your appliances into the generator :D

Anything over a 3kVA generator connected to a plug socket through an extension cord is asking for trouble IMHO. And then yes, you still have the issue with serious backfeed as well without a transfer switch and/or manually isolating your house from the grid through your mains isolator.
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I have 30 m of cable to connect a decent size generator to my home - if needed. For now its a dead man's cable (And will only be used in a real emergency). But next month the electrician is wiring a caravan style hook up and a transfer switch to my DB.
 
Compton_effect said:
I have 30 m of cable to connect a decent size generator to my home - if needed. For now its a dead man's cable (And will only be used in a real emergency). But next month the electrician is wiring a caravan style hook up and a transfer switch to my DB.
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Welding Socket :D And yes, those can carry serious power. The bigger ones can take well over 200A if I'm not mistaken. The big thing is the transfer switch though, so good on you for getting that sorted out (it's basically a contactor - or a large relay).
 
savage said:
Welding Socket :D And yes, those can carry serious power. The bigger ones can take well over 200A if I'm not mistaken. The big thing is the transfer switch though, so good on you for getting that sorted out (it's basically a contactor - or a large relay).
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I don't **** around when it comes to electricity. All the sensitive hardware are on UPS with AVR and there is a surge protector fitted to the main DB.
Problem is - my house is a mixture of add-ons. It was half the size then got built on to, at least three times - long before I bought it. And the owner owned a factory in town, used to get his electrician out to do the wiring for a few beers. I have a main DB, a sub board for the gate and koi pond, a sub-board for the master bathroom (Its own Geyser), and a sub board in the Lapa for the pool pump and borehole. I had a electrician check everything for me - took the poor guy a whole day. Still - Rule of thumb is - even if the mains is off - I test the wires before doing anything.
 
savage said:
Welding Socket :D And yes, those can carry serious power. The bigger ones can take well over 200A if I'm not mistaken. The big thing is the transfer switch though, so good on you for getting that sorted out (it's basically a contactor - or a large relay).
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Generally the power coming into a normal house these days is about 60 - 80amps, single phase like the caravan cables can handle this fine.

Anything more than 100amps and youll need to go for 3 phase.

BTW is this going to be an automatic transfer switch or a manual transfer switch?
 
Compton_effect said:
I don't **** around when it comes to electricity.
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Not saying you do / are :)

I've already spend 5K on cable trays outside my house for armoured cable, and I'm signing off on my new 1m x 1.5m DB today (14K just for the custom manufactured enclosure). The the massive rewire happens to move everything off the old DB into the new DB before my 10kVA UPS and 13kVA Gennie can be purchased...

And yes - not 'strictly' only a residential installation - run a business from home, so my requirements are a little bit more than joe average. It does really help with a father in law that is a master electrician however, and myself having quite a bit of knowledge on the electrical side.
 
heartbroken said:
Lol, Eskom is being too reliable - no load shedding yet. I will do a quick test tonight and let you know. Pinky swear!
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So it poured down like a mother biatch last night, so I tested jack squat. But it looks like load shedding is on the cards for today.

@BuckRogers so here is my initial review of the Tradepower 2kw Inverter Generator:

1002517.jpg

http://www.outdoorwarehouse.co.za/f...pure-sine-wave-petrol-inverter-generator.html

Okay, TRADEPOWER 2Kw INVERTER generator. I bought one from a local supplier a while back, came in at R 6750.00. It has a 24 month repair warranty, hopefully it's decent enough. It came with no fluids, so I had to buy 2x 500ml bottles of oil, it takes slightly less, but it is stated in the manual. According to the supplier I need to give it a service after the first 10 hours to remove all debris etc left over from manufacturing. The manual also has a nifty service schedule in it, showing which items needs to be serviced at what interval.

Takes about 5.7L of petrol and promises a runtime of about 4.6 hours on that - so will work out to about R15 an hour to run, including cost of oil. I think that is reasonable for backup power, for normal usage much less so. Fully fuelled up, I am still able to carry it by using the handle, but I doubt a wife or girlfriend would be able to move it around.It has 4 thick rubber pads on the feet, you can see them absorbing quite a lot of vibrations when the generator is running.

I first tested it on a lamp with a energy saver globe, on both the eco and normal settings it bounces between 230 - 232V, but did not deviate further than that. I added a 500w drill to the equation. While running the drill at full speed the voltage also stays around 230V, but for the initial start-up of the drill - first second or so, the voltage drops alarmingly low to about 200V but then picks up and runs fine. I think the start-up wattage of the drill is a bit much for the generator. Also note that the continuous rating is 1.8Kw, with 2Kw being the max. When using it I will add my appliances one by one to avoid a large start-up current on the generator.

Next I connected up a sound bar to test. There is a noticeable hum from the speaker when on the generator. Which should not happen as the generator is pure sine wave. A bit disappointed about that - bought the pure sine wave especially to run some audio equipment in my office during load shedding. Will take it to a friend over the weekend to test the waveform on his equipment. Might take it back to the supplier if there is a noticeable issue.

The generator is really quiet compared to others and you can have a conversation next to it without raising your voice. I stuck it around back of the house under the shadeport and it is barely audible inside my office. I ran 2 long heavy duty extension leads round the house and through a window. No intention of wiring the generator into the house - it's just too small, it's purely for running the office.

Currently running the following in the office without hiccups:

4x laptops
1x adsl router
1x 5 port gigabit switch
2x 27" LCD screen
1x 23" LCD screen

Unfortunately I cannot use my studio monitors as I intended, it has a noticeable buzz. I still need to test on my desktop computer to see if it will run.

Overall it looks good enough, the build quality seems okay, although a bit plasticy. I think if properly serviced it should not blow up. I am very disappointed in the 'buzz' caused in audio equipment though, I bought pure sine wave especially for that.
 
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Does anyone have a review/feedback on the Power Master generators that Agrinet sell?
 
Just be careful how you treat your inverter generators as they dont like surges, the inverter board blows and to replace it costs the same as a new generator, there are tones standing at Kipor with this problem and the job card just says "Uneconomical To Repair"
 
dillinger said:
Just be careful how you treat your inverter generators as they dont like surges, the inverter board blows and to replace it costs the same as a new generator, there are tones standing at Kipor with this problem and the job card just says "Uneconomical To Repair"
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Thanks for the warning, I also assumed it might get damaged. Will never use mine for anything other than office equipment. I think plugging in laptops one by one should ease the 'surge'?
 
heartbroken said:
Thanks for the warning, I also assumed it might get damaged. Will never use mine for anything other than office equipment. I think plugging in laptops one by one should ease the 'surge'?
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Spot on, switch on one thing at a time and switch off one thing at a time, dont wack it all in one go.
 
Bumperstickers!

Alright guys, this thread seems to have quietened down lately.

I need a generator which produces between 2 and 5.5Kw. Electric start would be nice since my wife is a stay at home mom and doubt she'll like a a recoil start while I'm at work.. The problem I see is electric start is only found on the 5Kw+ models . My thinking was to build a shed-type jobbie against my rear boundary wall and then either buy or build a remote start mechanism so she can start it with a key fob.

So I'm slightly leaning toward the higher wattage units, but not excluding the lower end models.

Any specials you guys know of?

I'd say 8k is my absolute max.
 
wonduhboy said:
Does anyone have a review/feedback on the Power Master generators that Agrinet sell?
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I have the 1.2Kv Power Master Inverter generator. During load shedding I use a 40" led smart TV, External hard drive, 1 pc with 18" flat screen monitor, Router and 2 20watt lights simultaneously. It powers these on Eco mode. 3 liter fuel tank on 4 stroke motor. Noise is 50db and it uses 300ml of unleaded fuel per hour for powering my setup. Will use more if I connect more as it adjusts the amount of power being generated. I bought mine from Brights in Cape Town who also have bigger Inverter generator models. I paid R3999.95.
I am very happy with it and feel like telling Eishcom "Bring it on!" I am using this only for load shedding on light appliances.
 
This 2.5 KVA Powermaster Inverter Generator was available at Chamberlains Silver Lakes for R6995 two weeks ago and for R7 xxx at Agrinet Centurion.
I have bought one and used it with a 2000W steam-iron and later with a 2000W kettle for a few hours just to test. It runs both the fridge and deep-freeze together quite happily. On a low load it changes to a power saving mode automatically which drops the speed of the engine.
I just hope that, with some TLC, it will give a good service as it is just a chingchong. :)

Agents of Powermaster
 
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Gas Generator Review

Hi, about a month ago I bought and installed a Gas Generator - Generac 8KVA model, here's my review:

Firstly the feautures and specs:
- Maximum 8.8kVA, 230v, 3000RPM
- Weatherproof, sturdy enclosure with rhinocoat finish for weather protection
- External indicator lights
- Fuel (LPG)
- 3 yr / 1000 hr Warranty
- Canopy design with easy access
- Environmentally friendly
- Automatic transfer swicth (not included)

See link for more detail. http://www.generac.com/for-homeowners/home-backup-power

Pros:
- Runs much softer than a normal diesel generator (although I think slightly more noisy than those really expensive very soft running R150k generators, like Cummins )
- No exhaust gasses, so you could even put it in your garage (although I wouldnt recommend as in that closed environment it would appear much more noisy)
- Runs relatively inexpensively I think. I calculated that if I get load shedded for 2-4 hours per week, every week, for a year, running at full load, I should use about x2 48kg LPG cylinders
- If you already use gas e.g. for cooking or fireplace, then simply hook it up to those cylinders
- You dont need to build an enclosure (to soften the noise or to keep children safe from touching a hot generator or to protect from rain)
- It looks cooler than a diesel generator :)

Cons:
- Still expensive, I paid about R36k for the 8kva gen (ex vat, installation and ATS)
- Not silent, as they claim - if you stand next to it you cant hear yourself speak, but when I'm in the house I cant hear it
- you need x2 cylinders feeding it, to ensure a certain min flow

cheers
 
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