What will you run with limited power in a grid down??

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If you have a spring that does not flow enough to power a water wheel build a dam, use it to drop water over a paddle wheel and use an old truck transmission with a heavy fly wheel and spin weight brake governor to get constant a 540 RPM for a tractor pto alternator.
To run a PTO generator, you're going to need a very large water wheel.
I used this site for the calculation.
http://www.timbertoolbox.com/Calcs/waterwheelHP.htm
You can play with the numbers but using my entries, you're going to need a 20-foot wheel, and at least 5000 gallons per minute to power a moderate size generator.
 
To run a PTO generator, you're going to need a very large water wheel.
I used this site for the calculation.
http://www.timbertoolbox.com/Calcs/waterwheelHP.htm
You can play with the numbers but using my entries, you're going to need a 20-foot wheel, and at least 5000 gallons per minute to power a moderate size generator.
And do you really NEED that kind of wattage. Personally if I was designing something like that I would use multiple automotive alternators run through a small battery bank into inverters for clean fairly stable power. A straight up A/C gen head is very speed sensitive and it is hard to get clean power for sensitive stuff.
 
This is what I plan on powering, but I can manually get water from the well if needed.
I can GET water a lot of ways.

But its very handy to have running water in the house....my household water runs off a 12 volt pump hooked up to a storage tank....so even a little solar system keeps the water running.

Now my well is handy as well, but that is hundreds of feet deep. Luckily with a storage tank, I can run a propane generator for an hour a month to fill the storage tank, and then have day to day running water from solar.
 
Blackout curtains and or window coverings to keep the light from escaping if I had neighbors. Since I don't all the usual stuff with life as normal. One of the many advantages of living two miles behind a locked gate.
 
My first thought would be to keep the refrigerator in the kitchen running. We could consolidate the important things into that freezer, so what we would lose would not be important.

Would the time of year have any impact on your decision? It wouldn't for me, but my logic is that if the power was out in the dead of Winter you might be able to store some freezer items outside, and you may want to be more focused on heat.
 
Living in hurricane central we are used to power outages.
But, praise God, they are usually relatively short.
As long as I had gasoline stored, I would keep the four freezers cold, running them alternately in series as we do now.
Plus a fan and a light or two.
Our well pumps have also had their circuits modified to run off the 220 side of the generator. They are only run when we need water for us or the animals.

Why four freezers? We have a half of a cow, half a pig, and two deer in there among other things.
For gasoline storage... I have a Suburban with a 40 gallon gas tank. :D

I should install fittings on gas tank to feed my generator.
 
A lot of small generator talk here, things to think about: older flat head small engines burn a lot more fuel than overhead valve engines,: non filtered oiling systems need frequent oil changes with higher sulfur oil. or at least the lowest number of CD (diesel) oil you can find. and get some paint straining funnel liners, to keep the junk out of the fuel tank.
 
A lot of small generator talk here, things to think about: older flat head small engines burn a lot more fuel than overhead valve engines,: non filtered oiling systems need frequent oil changes with higher sulfur oil. or at least the lowest number of CD (diesel) oil you can find. and get some paint straining funnel liners, to keep the junk out of the fuel tank.
The trick I think, is to design your system, so that you only need very little, high power electricity and only for short periods of time. Trying to run a generator for 24 or even 6-8 hours a day, is a dead end after a few days.

But for many things a small generator is the best solution....as long as its only needed briefly.
 
The trick I think, is to design your system, so that you only need very little, high power electricity and only for short periods of time. Trying to run a generator for 24 or even 6-8 hours a day, is a dead end after a few days.

But for many things a small generator is the best solution....as long as its only needed briefly.
I've personally had 3) Honda EU2000i generators go over 20,000 hours each yes you read that correctly twenty thousand hours each. The only way you rack up hours like that is running them 24/7/365 which we did for a couple years before we had enough solar and battery power. Interesting fact switching to synthetic oil increased the fuel economy by about 1/5th to 1/4th after the break in period of 100 to 500 hours.
 
I've personally had 3) Honda EU2000i generators go over 20,000 hours each yes you read that correctly twenty thousand hours each. The only way you rack up hours like that is running them 24/7/365 which we did for a couple years before we had enough solar and battery power. Interesting fact switching to synthetic oil increased the fuel economy by about 1/5th to 1/4th after the break in period of 100 to 500 hours.
Impressive. If that was a car engine, it would be on the order of a million miles. Those must be some of the most reliable engines known to man.
 
Impressive. If that was a car engine, it would be on the order of a million miles. Those must be some of the most reliable engines known to man.
They all quit between 23 and 24,000 hours and I decided they weren't worth fixing at that point. They all got new a cam gear and timing belt between 12 and 15,000 hours they also got regular oil changes every Sunday so every 168 hours roughly with Mobil 1 synthetic 10w30 oil. Closer to 1.3 million miles the way I figured it @Aerindel .
 
A lot of small generator talk here, things to think about: older flat head small engines burn a lot more fuel than overhead valve engines,: non filtered oiling systems need frequent oil changes with higher sulfur oil. or at least the lowest number of CD (diesel) oil you can find. and get some paint straining funnel liners, to keep the junk out of the fuel tank.
That's what I have, but it's kind of work horse. I think? Coleman Model #534502
Watts: 4000 ... Volts: 120/240 ... Amps 33.3/16.7
8 hp. Briggs & Stratton industrial/commercial engine.

What ya all think.... okay?
I mean I bought used in good condition and it's a runner. Haven't had to use it yet, but tested and keep it running. These carbureted engines need to be run once in a while (as with all engines) and of course oil changes.

ETA: Okay... it's a half-assed work horse and not meant for long term service. sigh
 
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That's what I have, but it's kind of work horse. I think? Coleman Model #534502
Watts: 4000 ... Volts: 120/240 ... Amps 33.3/16.7
8 hp. Briggs & Stratton industrial/commercial engine.

What ya all think.... okay?
I mean I bought used in good condition and it's a runner. Haven't had to use it yet, but tested and keep it running. These carbureted engines need to be run once in a while (as with all engines) and of course oil changes.
Briggs engines seldom make it much past 5,000 hours.
 
We live 100% off grid. I run the house, shop, fur shed and chicken coop on solar. Two of our gates have electric openers powered by solar. I've got a backup 12kw Perkins diesel for times when solar isn't enough. The backup generator averages about an hour per day over a 12 month period, and burns about a quart an hour. It's plumbed to a 55 gallon day tank. Outside the generator shed is a 300 gallon bulk diesel tank and a 300 gallon non ethanol premium bulk tank.
Our well pump is powered by a 12kw Winco propane generator plumbed to a 500 gallon tank. It also has an auto start and runs around 20 minutes per day to provide all the water we need. I'm very pleased with our solar setup. It's been providing us with all the power we need and has been working great for several years now.
 
I hear ya. You just missed my edit: ETA: Okay... it's a half-assed work horse and not meant for long term service. sigh
I have a half dozen or so briggs engines and generators they serve a purpose and do it well. You and I and everyone has a budget and Honda's are pricey especially the larger ones. I know I never could afford $4-5k for a 4000 - 5000 watt inverter generator. Little as I use them the $800 Briggs generators are just fine with me for running the welder and large tools the Little Honda's can't run.
 
I have a half dozen or so briggs engines and generators they serve a purpose and do it well. You and I and everyone has a budget and Honda's are pricey especially the larger ones. I know I never could afford $4-5k for a 4000 - 5000 watt inverter generator. Little as I use them the $800 Briggs generators are just fine with me for running the welder and large tools the Little Honda's can't run.
I paid $200 for mine, and from a city-dweller that bought it new. It wasn't used often. The seller up-graded to a whole house back-up system.
 
We live 100% off grid. I run the house, shop, fur shed and chicken coop on solar. Two of our gates have electric openers powered by solar. I've got a backup 12kw Perkins diesel for times when solar isn't enough. The backup generator averages about an hour per day over a 12 month period, and burns about a quart an hour. It's plumbed to a 55 gallon day tank. Outside the generator shed is a 300 gallon bulk diesel tank and a 300 gallon non ethanol premium bulk tank.
Our well pump is powered by a 12kw Winco propane generator plumbed to a 500 gallon tank. It also has an auto start and runs around 20 minutes per day to provide all the water we need. I'm very pleased with our solar setup. It's been providing us with all the power we need and has been working great for several years now.
Just curious, with the 2 12kw generators (without fuel), your solar panels, batteries, controllers and inverters, how many dollars have you invested in your setup?
 
I paid $200 for mine, and from a city-dweller that bought it new. It wasn't used often. The seller up-graded to a whole house back-up system.
Lol I got all of mine used also. I also ran a small engine shop for several years and know a little about them.
 
Lol I got all of mine used also. I also ran a small engine shop for several years and know a little about them.
I'm a mechanic by nature, or it's in my blood.... something like that. Anyway, I know it's the valves that goes first on those engines. The trick is keeping the valves adjusted, when there is no valve adjustment. gaah
 
I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but after I get a decent piece of equipment others seem to follow, I have a couple of RV gen set take offs, one is an 1800 rpm head, and from a different source a baby kubota 3 cyl diesel, if needed I can build a pretty efficient unit.
 
I'm a mechanic by nature, or it's in my blood.... something like that. Anyway, I know it's the valves that goes first on those engines. The trick is keeping the valves adjusted, when there is no valve adjustment. gaah
a few carefull file strokes between the tappit and valve tip, followed by a magnet, and an couple of quick oil changes (its going to burn the valve or seat anyway so what can you hurt.
 
a few carefull file strokes between the tappit and valve tip, followed by a magnet, and an couple of quick oil changes (its going to burn the valve or seat anyway so what can you hurt.
Yep, I hear ya. Works to get a few more hours out 'em. The thing is the vales get pounded in-to the seats, as you know... It's actually not a bad job to pull the valves, clean-up the seat area, grind sharp edges off the valve and take a few thousands off the valve length. Final adjust is hand lapping the valves into the seat and/or use valve seat grinder until there's about 8 thousands valve-lifter gap. The trick is catching it before the valves burn.
 
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Yep, I hear ya. Works to get a few more hours out 'em. The thing is the vales get pounded in-to the seats, as you know... It's actually not a bad job to pull the valves, clean-up the seat area, grind sharp edges off the valve and take a few thousands off the valve length. Final adjust is hand lapping the valves into the seat and/or use valve seat grinder until there's about 8 thousands valve-lifter gap.
Believe it or not some of the newer stuff has hydraulic lifters and zero lash. Older OHV engine B&S, Tec, Koh .006 int .008 ex honda .004 int .006 ex
 
Believe it or not some of the newer stuff has hydraulic lifters and zero lash. Older B&S, Tec, Koh .006 int .008 ex honda .004 int .006 ex
I believe it, in fact I know. But the older B&S with purely mechanical valve lifters are actually pretty forgiving with valve lash... and it's better to go with more gap as the valves will settle-in and you'll get more hours of run time before having to go thru all that again.
 
I believe it. But the older B&S with purely mechanical valve lifters are actually pretty forgiving with valve lash... and it's better to go with more gap as the valves will settle-in and you'll get more hours of run time before having to go thru all that again.
What always surprised me was the fact that you could have the same exact two engines in side by side with valve lash issues and one would be no lash and the other might have .060 lash. It just depends on which parts are wearing faster. Which tends to lean in the direction of oil changes. The ones that got regular oil changes would slowly get deeper in the seats. The ones with less frequent oil changes would wipe the cam lobes and grow a larger lash pretty quick.

ANOTHER BELIEVE IT OR NOT IS HONDA EU2000'S AND MANY OTHER HONDAS USE A PLASTIC TIMING GEAR WITH A SINGLE LOBE FOR BOTH VALVES
 
What always surprised me was the fact that you could have the same exact two engines in side by side with valve lash issues and one would be no lash and the other might have .060 lash. It just depends on which parts are wearing faster. Which tends to lean in the direction of oil changes. The ones that got regular oil changes would slowly get deeper in the seats. The ones with less frequent oil changes would wipe the cam lobes and grow a larger lash pretty quick.

ANOTHER BELIEVE IT OR NOT IS HONDA EU2000'S AND MANY OTHER HONDAS USE A PLASTIC TIMING GEAR WITH A SINGLE LOBE FOR BOTH VALVES
That I did not know. I haven't had to dig that deep into a Honda engine. Well, except for a 900cc inline 4 bike engine.
 
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