You Might Be a Floridian If….?

admin — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 09:48:06 +0000

...You exhibit a slight twitch when introduced to anyone with the first names of Charley, Frances, Ivan, or Jeanne.

...Your freezer never has more than $20 worth of food in it any given time.

..You're looking at paint swatches for the plywood on your windows to accent the house color.

...You think of your hall closet/saferoom as "cozy".

...Your pool is more accurately described as "framed in" than "screened in".

...Your freezer in the garage now only has homemade ice in it.

...You no longer worry about relatives visiting during the summer months.

...You too haven't heard back from the insurance adjuster.

...You now understand what that little "2% hurricane deductible" phrase really means in your homeowner's policy.

...You're putting a collage together on your driveway of roof shingles from your neighborhood.

...You were once proud of your 16" electric chain saw.

...Your street has more than 3 "NO WAKE" signs posted.

...You now own more than 5 large ice chests.

...Your parrot can now say "hammered, pounded and hunker down".

...You recognize people in line at the free ice, gas and plywood locations.

...You stop what you're doing and clap and wave when you see a convoy of power company trucks come down your street.

...You have the personal cell phone numbers of the managers for: plywood, roofing supplies and generators at Home Depot on your speed dialer.

...You've spent more than $20 on "tall white kitchen bags" to make your own sand bags.

...You're considering upgrading your chainsaw from 16" to 20".

...You know what "bar chain oil" is.

...You're thinking of getting your wife the hardhat with the ear protector and face shield for Christmas.

...You now think the $6000 whole house generator seems like a reasonable investment.

...You look forward to discussions about the merits of "cubed, block and dry ice".

...Your therapist refers to your condition as "generator envy".

...You fight the urge to put on your winter coat and wool cap and parade around in front of your picture window, when you finally get power and your neighbor across the street with the noisy generator doesn't....

I live in Northwest Florida. Yesterday was the 2 year anniversary of Hurricane Ivan. Can you believe there are still some people rebuilding from that? I can!

Thank goodness for those generators no matter how much noise they make.

We have several chainsaws, but not nearly as many trees as we once did. I guess we'll spend our time helping neighbors who still have trees. We'll even bring our own bar oil.

When the power company convoy came into our neighborhood people sat out in their front yards and watched them. They had a TANGLED mess to clean up. A tornado went through a wooded area and tied knots in the power lines.

During Ivan we didn't sustain any damage that we needed the insurance adjuster, but Hurricane Dennis in 2005 made up for lost time. Our adjuster was out right away too. I guess we're fortunate in that regards. We're still working on getting things back to "normal" though.

I don't have a parrot, but if I did, I would teach him to say "hunker down". My mother has a phrase "WE'RE GONNA DIE!" that she says with sarcasm about the time the panic hits the town drama queens... I would teach the parrot to say that too. I just can't do it justice here.

Ya just gotta love this place!

step by step directions on how to install a 20k Generic natural gas generator?

admin — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 09:48:05 +0000

sorry takes to long to do that on here. better to order instruction manual from company

Zhejiang Robot Power Machinery Co.. Ltd. generator?

admin — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 09:48:03 +0000

I have a friend who is looking for some parts fo a 1000 watt generator made by the Zhejiang Robot Power Machinery Co., ltd in China. This generator was recently sold through Heartland America company in Chaska, MN.
Anybody got any ideas on how to get the starter recoil mechanism and the DC circuit breaker?

Good luck finding anything or getting proper after sales support from China. This is one of the points I make against purchasing cheap Chinese generators. It appears to be a great deal up front, but support afterwards is essentially non existant. Spend a few extra dollars for a product from an established and reputable manufacturer.

I suspect you will rebuild the starter recoil mechanism with whatever parts you can find or make. The circuit breaker will have to be replaced with the closest match you can find.

I have other generator information on my web page...
http://members.rennlist.org/warren/generator.html

I need help on an Electrical Circuit Design ( 12V DC )?

admin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 22:22:20 +0000

I have a Whole House Generator and I just installed a Solar Battery Charger. What I am trying to design is to be able to read the Voltage from the Solar Panel and from the Battery. I want to be able to read each source ( Solar Panel & Battery ) separately using only one panel mounted DC Voltmeter and one switch if possible. I want the meter to be off until you flip the switch. The Solar Panel will alway be charging the Battery until you read the volts on the meter.

I hope someone can help.

Thank You,
Ned

For starters, you need a double pole, 3 position switch.

In Position "1" - pole 1 connects the solar cell to the battery. Probably with a diode or whatever, for night time when the battery voltage exceeds solar cell voltage. Pole 2 is not connected.

In Position "2" - pole 1 disconnects the solar cell. Pole 2 connects the cell to the meter.

In Position "3" - pole 1 disconnects the solar cell. Pole 2 connects the Battery to the meter.

Hope that helps ...

Where can I find a generator that runs on natural gas?

admin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 22:22:19 +0000

I've been told that you can buy kits to convert regular gasoline fueled generators (like what you'd find in Home Depot or Lowes) to run off of natural gas.

I'd like to find one that already has this kit attached but if I can't, anyone know where to find these kits and what kind of Pro I should ask to attach it?

I don't need a whole house generator, just something to run a furnace blower fan or a fridge...

Thanks!

You can try this one. It runs on LP or NG. Hope this helps.

what is the best configuration to power a campervan rv?

admin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 22:22:19 +0000

i already have a 1000 watt generator, i heard you can install 2 extra house dual cycle batteries 2 power your electronics but what is the best way to keep charging them and keep everything running properly , without running out of electricity over and over?

the mission impossible! When you drain the batteries, they will have to be re-charged somehow. You might look into solar panels to charge the batteries during the day. An expensive solution.

What size Generator, just running basics.?

admin — Thu, 20 May 2010 22:35:49 +0000

With winter coming on and a big ice storm just hit it got me to thinking once again about getting a generator. What size generator do you recommend for running just the basics. I'm not wanting to power up the whole house, just fridge, freezer, a few plug in heaters and some lights, mabye a tv and some other minor stuff.

If you are serious about purchasing a generator for backup power, don't go anything less than 5kW for what you've listed. Consider installing a proper transfer panel so that connection is quick and safe.
Read through my home generator page for ideas and suggestions.
http://members.rennlist.org/warren/generator.html

Do feminists know what size natural gas generator would be appropriate to run a residential 120/240v ,100 amp?

admin — Thu, 20 May 2010 22:35:48 +0000

service.
Some of you are down right paranoid !
Hidden agendas, ulterior motives LOL !
I'll bet Victoria would know

I'm not a feminist but I can tell you this, it doesn't matter what size your home is what matters is how much a load you want to put on the generator. Will you be running bare necessities? Or will you want things up and running like normal? If it's short term it's best to run bare necessities, that's what we do here and we have a rather small gas generator.

how do i get a generator off a engine?

admin — Thu, 20 May 2010 22:35:48 +0000

i bought a 1000 watt generator and the generator part is burned out i just wanted the engine its a 2.4 hp how do i get it apart do i beat it off or does it unscrew from the engine i have it fully took apart except for the shaft and cant figure out if it screws out and which direction it screws

It likely uses a tapered shaft to hold the rotor to the engine shaft. Remove the covers to expose the end of the rotor shaft. It should have a threaded rod which tightens into the engine shaft.
I've had to remove the rotor from a Coleman Powermate generator and have pictures on my web page.

Can I make a wind turbine using a gas generator?

admin — Tue, 04 May 2010 14:02:37 +0000

I have access to a small gas-powered generator that can run a few appliances. It doesn't run anymore, so I was wondering if I could put windmill blades on it. If it is possible to do it, could i plug it right into an outlet and feed power into our system? I know it can't run the whole house, but it could reduce our elec. bill right?

Mr Tippy is right about the speed issue but you can overcome this by getting an inverter. Most wind turbines run at variable speeds so they use an inverter to convert the "wild ac" current to a usable form normally 240 volt for home systems. These inverters come in many different sizes to match your generator and can be purchased from many of the online green energy supply places. Sunny boy is a popular brand.

You will also need to figure out how big the blades need to be for your size generator. My wind turbine is 20kw and has a 31 foot diameter blade span. This is huge for a home system and I often get a check from the power company. So you will probably need to research the proper blade size.

One concern that I would have is the bearings in the generator, are they heavy enough to handle the weight and stress of the blades.