I know nothing about generators

[Aerovette]

Two questions.

Is it normal/ok for lamps to fluctuate brightness? The lamps I light as I enter a room are pulsing.

Second, it has been running since 1:00pm. How long can it run without rest or cooling off? I may not have power until Tuesday. I can't imagine an air cooled motor running in 95 degrees and not being damaged.

It is a North Star 8000 watt max output. I have roughly a 15 amp load on each phase.

Thanks in advance.

[DDSLT5]

The lamps shouldn't pulse. It can run non-stop as long as needed.

[Aerovette]

Originally Posted by DDSLT5

The lamps shouldn't pulse. It can run non-stop as long as needed.

What could be wrong?

[DDSLT5]

Originally Posted by Aerovette

What could be wrong?

It won't hurt anything - just not continuous flow of power - likely just getting older on the generator side of things. Is the engine running smoothly or 'galloping'?

[Big bob]

That one has a half load 10 hour run time. And lights can flicker with the l load. Don't fill hot you have enough problems.

[Bill]

Fluctuating voltage is an indicator you shouldn't be plugging in sensitive electronics like TV's, computers, etc. I personally wouldn't just keep running the thing non stop. You need to think about your essentials, which basically is the refrigerator and all the expensive food in it. Everything else is more or less a luxury. You have natural gas, as I recall, so you've got hot water for showering, sewer service, you can cook on your grill or gas stove, make coffee with a percolator if you have one, or pour boiling water over grounds. battery powered radio and flashlights fill in the gap. If you're a baller, you can run a window AC to at least cool off one room overnight

Having said all that, if you need a place with air conditioning to simply get a good night's sleep, you're welcome to drive to this side of town and I'll put you up.

We were without power for 15 days after Ike. After a while, you get used to living a spartan lifestyle.

[Aerovette]

I'm running a window AC and TV in my room. The refigerators are running. Everything else is off. TVs are cheap. If it dies, it dies.

[ZipZap]

While folks sell generators on wattage, unless it's a camp generator, you should also look at power quality if you plan to run the home. I used to have a portable that would fluctuate at low demand. Once over 2kW demand or so, it would run solid. If you spend money buying Onan portables, or the top end Hondas, then it should not fluctuate at any level you can see in lighting.

My whole house only fluctuates at the wait for turn on. It is solid running, as well as measuring quality of line supply before switching back. I don't even see any variation in my Edison deck lighting.

[Swany00]

you're probably getting a little flicker with the fridge's cycling (they can draw quite a bit in heat), I wouldn't worry about it. You can shut it off if it cools down, just stay out of the fridges, gotta look at the long game if you only have 1 genny.

That generator is pricy, should be good to go with what you're running

[Aerovette]

It's a Honda engine, but who knows what the rest is.

[Aerovette]

Originally Posted by Swany00

you're probably getting a little flicker with the fridge's cycling (they can draw quite a bit in heat), I wouldn't worry about it. You can shut it off if it cools down, just stay out of the fridges, gotta look at the long game if you only have 1 genny.

Power return is sonetime between Tuesday and a couple weeks. Nice tight window.

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Aerovette

I'm running a window AC and TV in my room. The refigerators are running. Everything else is off. TVs are cheap. If it dies, it dies.

Sensible. I'm going to pick up a window unit ac for this exact situation during the upcoming Memorial Day tax free weekend. I will say that early on during the Ike outage, I didn't have a generator, so my neighbor was nice enough to let me run about 300' of extension cord to his generator so I could keep the fridge cold every few hours. I used it for a light, fan, and eventually a tube TV even though I knew it might be problematic. The picture tube went out a few weeks later, but the fridge is still going strong all these years later.

[Swany00]

Originally Posted by Aerovette

Power return is sonetime between Tuesday and a couple weeks. Nice tight window.

****, that sucks...that generator has a honda engine, mofo should easily get you through this.

We ended up going whole house generator after all the blackouts we had out here, now I have a sweet 9500 4 plugger (with 220) and a 2 plugger honda in the event the shit really hits the fan. Good luck man!

[ZipZap]

Originally Posted by ZipZap

While folks sell generators on wattage, unless it's a camp generator, you should also look at power quality if you plan to run the home. I used to have a portable that would fluctuate at low demand. Once over 2kW demand or so, it would run solid. If you spend money buying Onan portables, or the top end Hondas, then it should not fluctuate at any level you can see in lighting.

My whole house only fluctuates at the wait for turn on. It is solid running, as well as measuring quality of line supply before switching back. I don't even see any variation in my Edison deck lighting.

Went back and read again... How did you calculate your loads? Are you just wired in at the box and balancing sides? Generator may be laughing at you like mine did under low loads. Have you tried to put it under ~6kW and see how it responds? Also, if some of your loads are motor loads (like a/c and fridge compressors), you will see a short voltage dip on the supply side as the revs catch up to those inductive loads.

[Aerovette]

Originally Posted by ZipZap

Went back and read again... How did you calculate your loads? Are you just wired in at the box and balancing sides? Generator may be laughing at you like mine did under low loads. Have you tried to put it under ~6kW and see how it responds? Also, if some of your loads are motor loads (like a/c and fridge compressors), you will see a short voltage dip on the supply side as the revs catch up to those inductive loads.

Current clamp and meter for determining load.

It is wired into the breaker box through the dryer circuit.

[TheHammer]

Is the power cord wrapped and twisted, or laid flat?

[Bill]

Originally Posted by ZipZap

Went back and read again... How did you calculate your loads? Are you just wired in at the box and balancing sides? Generator may be laughing at you like mine did under low loads. Have you tried to put it under ~6kW and see how it responds? Also, if some of your loads are motor loads (like a/c and fridge compressors), you will see a short voltage dip on the supply side as the revs catch up to those inductive loads.

When I did the generator thing, I just ran outdoor extension cords to what I wanted to run. Was that wrong?

[Aerovette]

Originally Posted by TheHammer

Is the power cord wrapped and twisted, or laid flat?

It's a bit haphazardly strung from the generator to the box. all directions. No intentional loops.

It "seems" to be RPM related. I know my mower motor has a certain rhythm to it. Kind of a Wahhhhh - Waahhhhh - Wahhhhh sort of thing. I have always chalked it up to the removal of the old Turtle / Rabbit lever. Automatic throttles seem to do this.

[TheHammer]

Originally Posted by Aerovette

It's a bit haphazardly strung from the generator to the box. all directions. No intentional loops.

It "seems" to be RPM related. I know my mower motor has a certain rhythm to it. Kind of a Wahhhhh - Waahhhhh - Wahhhhh sort of thing. I have always chalked it up to the removal of the old Turtle / Rabbit lever. Automatic throttles seem to do this.

On my cheapo 8750 watt HF generator, their is an adjustment screw that has backed off. Take a look at the throttle lever connected to the carb, you'll see it moving back and forth, not sure on a Honda.
Anyway, mine has a screw that can shorten the throw of the throttle lever from moving back and forth creating the "Wah, Wah".

[Bruze]

Originally Posted by Aerovette

Two questions.

Is it normal/ok for lamps to fluctuate brightness? The lamps I light as I enter a room are pulsing.

Second, it has been running since 1:00pm. How long can it run without rest or cooling off? I may not have power until Tuesday. I can't imagine an air cooled motor running in 95 degrees and not being damaged.

It is a North Star 8000 watt max output. I have roughly a 15 amp load on each phase.

Thanks in advance.

I thought you were the resident Electron Guy?