Electric power generators ?
Hi there, I saw an article posted about "shortages" of electric power generators and other Y2K "survival" goods, such as grains in airtight drums. My reading of the article gave me a feel that those products are bullshit products geared towards naive losers, and can be easily replaced with much cheaper products that can be bought at discount stores. More careful reading of the article showed that only certain high power diesel generators are scarce. A visit to my local discount retailer has shown that there are 10KW gasoline generators available for as little as $500. 10KW is far more than I would need in an emergency. (I will probably need about 2KW). Questions: 1) Aside from probably lower power, are those cheaper generators somehow worse? 2) How reliable are those cheaper generators? 3) What is their expected lifetime, in hours of operation? 4) How hard is it to service them? 5) How do you connect them to the electric system, to properly use them as backup? (this may be a stupid question, but I am not very familiar with American system of electric wiring). 6) How much gasoline do they consume if you draw 2KW power from them? Thank you. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- char*p="char*p=%c%s%c;main(){printf(p,34,p,34);}";main(){printf(p,34,p,34);} \=/, _-===-_-====-_-===-_-==========-_-====-_ | @___oo ( )_ /\ /\ / (___,,,}_--= ) ) /^\) ^\/ _) =__ Anything is good and useful if ) ) /^\/ _) (_ ) ) _ / / _) ( it's made of chocolate. ) /\ )/\/ || | )_) (_ ) < > |(,,) )__) ( http://www.algebra.com/~ichudov ) || / \)___)\ (_ _) | \____( )___) )___ -==-_____-=====-_____-=====-___== \______(_______;;; __;;;
At 3:52 PM -0800 11/7/98, Igor Chudov @ home wrote:
1) Aside from probably lower power, are those cheaper generators somehow worse?
2) How reliable are those cheaper generators?
3) What is their expected lifetime, in hours of operation?
4) How hard is it to service them?
The answer to all of the above is that the nickname for Briggs and Stratton engines, the ones commonly found in the $500 generators sold by local hardware and home supply stores, is "Breaks and Scrap 'Em." Coleman and Generac generators are notorious for short running life. See misc.survivalism for many comments, including comments by equipment rental folks, who say the Coleman, Generac, and other B & S or Tecumseh-based generators have low lifetimes. If one's need is for very short-term, occasional use, the B & S-based generators are OK. Cheap, that's for sure. Better engines are Honda and Kohler (and a few of the Coleman generators are now starting to feature Honda overhead valve (OHV) engines. Again, look to misc.survivalism, not the Cypherpunks list!
5) How do you connect them to the electric system, to properly use them as backup? (this may be a stupid question, but I am not very familiar with American system of electric wiring).
See above. Also, use the Web.
6) How much gasoline do they consume if you draw 2KW power from them?
My Honda 2.5 KW generator is rated at consuming one third of a gallon per hour. A 3-gallon tank running for 9 hours. I haven't done exhaustive tests, but this is, so far, about what I am seeing. All of this is contained in manfacturers specs, available on the Web and commented upon in groups like misc.survivalism. Cypherpunks is not a good place to ask. --Tim May Y2K: A good chance to reformat America's hard drive and empty the trash. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, ComSec 3DES: 831-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments.
participants (2)
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Igor Chudov ＠ home -
Tim May