RE: Grounding Generators
Grounding generators is always interesting. I think we all must love mystery. Here was a exaple. Bobbo has a Winnebago with a bonded gen and I have a Itaska with no bonding. Go figure. Recently I installed a upgrade PD converter with charge wizard. The instructions warned to not bond neutral. So as far as I see my MH has a floating neutral all the way. The green wire from the shore power cord is attached to the frame. Of course the 12v system is frame grounded. Then the mystery continues if a portable genset is used. Being old I remember the fuel trucks throwing sparks from the chain dragging on the road. To this day, its a mystery. So Houston, we are traveling in a MH and have lost ground control contact. Here is another kicker. The rubber tires will protect us, while traveling, from lighting strikes? Hmmm.
RE: Generator Oil Life...
I read it somewhere:D Oil will never die, with use some can be lost but only dirt is it's enemy. Guess that is the why, for the need of oil filters.
RE: 3000W Chinese Gensets Info.
DuroPower has their new 3500w silent DP3500RES electric start with remote, wheels and lots of tools and plugs (caps) for $399 with free shipping. Also they now have what looks just like the Honda 3600w Digital, electric start and remote @ 999 and WOW all the high end units now.
RE: Grounding Generators
Bobbo,
Was just the generator bonded (grounded) to the frame and/or the neutral? I have a Itasca and I opened the junction box from the generator to the RV wiring and found the GREEN wire from the generator was not connected to anything in the junction box. I find no bond of neutral to ground in the genset wiring. There is no bond in my RV sub panel of neutral to ground. I assume this means I have a floating neutral from gen to sub panel and the only time my RV would/could have a ground (earth) would be by connecting the shore power cord to a grounded source.
RE: Do Electronics Need Surge/UPS Protection with Generator?
For a standard generator, I would say surge protection is a MUST. Voltage and Hz are dependant on engine RPM, and a piece of crud in the carb or speed governor could easily cause the engine to over-rev putting out a voltage spike.
An INVERTER generator doesn't need one as it is NOT speed dependant for voltage, and already contains the same voltage regulating circuitry found in a UPS made for electronics.
Hmmm, this is truly great info' both for those owning a standard genset and others who are blessed with owning a Inverter gen.
RE: Measuring Generator Output
Us novice type folks are not versed in such matters of the windings of a portable genset. As one wise fellow said " I'm no "lectrician" so same here. The 'Professor95' put it this way. From a 120v gen either wire could be what is called a ground or neutral. One wire only becomes a ground if grounded either to the frame of the gen and or grounded to ground. Ground being earth. So they come up with a these terms of floating neutral and etc. Anyway, a 120v only gen with no ground will give you one half the voltage on either side. IT IS SIMPLE for some but for a novice like me, well? Not so. They, the PROS, say, all down stream use of a floating neutral gen is to be treated as a safe self insulated piece of equipmant. Tool, heater or RV. Thus no need for a ground. The 'Professor95' states, as do others, we need a GFCI before going down stream with output from a Portable genset.
RE: 3000W Chinese Gensets Info.
Blacksea-7,
Your posts are a mystery. I don't know the percentage of PRO 3000w Chineses genset folks (we are like a family) (sometimes fued about small stuff) but it is truly a high number that are in agreement, the Chinese produce reasonably descent gensets that are a great value. We can not buy a US made genset in this class, so its a no brainer that we never bash what we own as being Chinese made. We try to share our best ideas on improvement and care of the gensets we own. As for the Champion brand, yes it is no doubt the most talked about of the many Chinese gensets. CPE has a proven record of CS which makes it a choice of many of us. I have a C46540 with some upgrades. LPG and electric start and some sound lowering panels. All ideas that are shared on this thread. Marry Chistmas to our beloved Professor95 the creator of this thread.
Floyd
RE: Air leakage from tires
The air is captured within the tire by the integrity of the tire itself, the integrity of the rim, the integrity of bond between the rim and the tire, the integrity of bond between the rim and the valve stem, the integrity of the bond between the valve stem and the valve, and the integrity of the valve.
The most common leakage problems seem to relate to the valve and valve stem.
If there aren't any problems, a tire should hold it's pressure for years.
BTW, some people seem to think that air can somehow pass through the sidewall/tread of a tire. Well built tires are air tight
Fine post. Recently had a tire man out to change an inside rear tire that had gone down after sitting for several months. He changed to the spare and removed the extender valve. His statement was "most extenter valves are trash". He aired the tire and its good to this day. Also, he said perhaps some tires need to be remounted to reseal the tire and rim. The above post says it all. Again, great post.
RE: Report on first use of New Generator!
my attempt to post a link to it:
http://cpeauto.com/C42412.php
Link to it
If you want the syntax of posting links, quote this post (and look at it).
Nice little unit. While looking at others CPE products and at Cabela's website, I see the new black CPE 1000w unit. $100 bucks, easy to carry, WOW. Anyone know, is Champion (CPE) branching out? Lot's of their new gens on Amazon. My Champion C46540, after almost three years runs like a Champ should.
RE: 3000W Chinese Gensets Info.
Prof,
Your idea of bringing along the golf cart starts the wheels turning. My golf cart has 6x8volt batts and with a gen could be a REAL power plant. It's always parked near the MH. So with a gen, WOW. Planed on adding a gen so I would never be stranded around the lake. The old legs are more than SLOW. Is it true the gen inverters produce 48 volts DC to the module?
Floyd
RE: 3000W Chinese Gensets Info.
The question at hand is that the present Chinese carb float may be of plastic to light for safe long term use with the heat and all. And may crack with age. Lot's of plactic parts crack with age. Maybe sometimes a bad batch? A simple change out of a $4.22 part may be worth while?
RE: 3000W Chinese Gensets Info.
Okay, I'll be the genny pig. I ordered a carb float to compare with the Champion C46540. $8.95 for Shipping kinda steep. May be cheap in the end?
RE: 3000W Chinese Gensets Info.
Well, it seems to me that the difference of $52 in the price of a true Honda carb and the clone is cheap insurance. We never hear of a bad Honda carb. Some of the Honda engines have a fuel pump, if I am correct. So some pressure? Anyway, guess it's not true, when there is a will, there is a way. Maybe need a different tree. There goes my hope to see someone use a less expensive replacement for the OEM factory placed gensets by using the fuel line and wires already in place. Well, true hope never dies.:)
RE: Honda or Yamaha Generator?
Hi,
I don't know if it applies to the 2000 watt units--but the Yamaha 2800 watt unit *does* allow the inverter to draw on the starter battery--and the Honda *does not* allow that. It is a clear advantage to temporary overloads.
I'm lazy and love electric start....there are a few Chinese units out there that allow it.
I believe Walmart is now selling Hyundai generators at the 2000 watt level.
2000 watt Hyundai
Is one better than the other or are they both the industry leaders? I am looking at 2000 watt that I will be buying with 2 other friends. We will be using it to power a fish(ice) house in MN. Next year I may end up buying a 2nd 2000 watt so I can connect them and run my 13,500 air condition on my TT.
I can get a Honda EU 2000 at Northern Hydraulics for $810 on Friday. The cheapest I have seen the Yamaha 2000 for is $899.
Anyone know if any good online deals with either of these two generators?
More questions than answers here. Honda, Yamaha or now Hyundai? Looking at the picture of the 3500w Hyundia unit, it looks to be the common Chonda engine not as stated?? What's up?
RE: Generator comparison.Interesting result.
This is a nice way to spend a sunday afternoon. Trying to understand something I know little about. My one wish is, one picture would be worth a thousand words. But. Anyway, this is all quite interesting. We have some Pros and some of the novice class here. All seeking a better understanding of batteries, inverters and generators. All part of the world here and now and the future. All electric. Mobile and portable in the mix. Champion, Honda, plus a host of others. I figure to carry a portable of some kind with my golf cart, used around the lake, can't walk home. Maybe a Honda 1000i? The Champion is kinda a heavy lift.
RE: 3000W Chinese Gensets Info.
Professor... I am sure that there must be some sort of transfer switch. After all, I am planning to connect this generator to the same three wires that I disconnected from the Onan that I removed. I will do some research on this.
Regarding the gas line.. I'm not being stubborn, just curious and adventurous. I wanted to have creative contribution to the process that I could share. Nonetheless, I finally hear you and will set up the return line. I actually bought another 15 feet of fuel line just incase I had to go this route.
I do appreciate the stern advice. I'm not listening, so you gotta say it louder, right?
The transfer switch should be an automatically actuating device. It most likely will have a delay of 20-30 seconds before switching over after the generator starts.
The transfer switch is designed to prevent the possible back feeding of power from the genny to the shore line or shore power to the genny -- which could be quite dangerous. Your shore line power cord will go directly to the transfer switch then to the main breaker panel. The switch is in reality a relay that has a coil actuated by power from the generator only. Thus, your shore power is simply feeding into the coach through the switch "as-is".
Maybe this will help you in your search.
The three wires you mentioned coming out from where the old generator once connected should be green, white and black. The green is the ground or grounding wire, the white is the neutral and the black the "hot" wire.
The schematic for your DuroPower generator does not show a bond between neutral and ground. Your Onan did have a bond between neutral and ground. For an application where the generator is physically mounted in the vehicle and the generator frame is physically attached to the vehicle frame bonding can provide first line fault protection by providing a current path that will trip the generator circuit breaker in a hot to ground fault situation. I personally believe an un-bonded generator with a GFCI between the genny and transfer switch is an even safer approach.
To hook your generator to your 3 wires from the coach ATS you should have a L5-30 twist lock male plug that will fit the L5-30 receptacle on the front of your generator.
On your L5-30R 120 volt twist lock outlet the lug with the blue wire will be the designated neutral and will go to the white wire. Black will go to black and green will go to green.
Based on the information you have supplied, this should get you safely powered.
I'm glad to learn that you are abandoning the single supply line fuel feed. FWIW - I have now totally eliminated gasoline (again) as a fuel for my compartmentalized Chinese genny. Even with gravity feed and external venting I was never comfortable with the fuel present in the carburetor in such a confined, heated, ignition prone environment. So, I am back to LPG with no floats or needles that is controlled by a zero pressure vacuum demand regulator and electric solenoid valve.
Maurice,
It will be interesting to find your results of the loop fuel line to supply the gen a near zero pressure feed to the carb. This system has been mentioned for some time but afaik no one has reported a trial run. Also, perhaps the carb in your DuroPower may be of better quality. The thin plactic floats are a concern. Will a real Honda carb work? We hope no reports come in of a fire.
RE: Generator comparison.Interesting result.
This is an interesting thread. Alot to be learned here. It started out compairing a Champion to a true Honda. Along the way I learned more about rotational mass VS the inverter gens. As a novice, these type questions being covered, very interesting. In the mix it seems we should be able to discuss the difference in the k/o Honda engines and the real or true Honda. I have a question. Has anyone tried to use a true Honda carb on the k/o Honda? It concerns me some of the k/o Honda carb floats are said to be made of thin light plastic which can crack and cause the needle valve to remain open. This is a real fire hazard.
