Emergency Generator Systems

[billmayo]

I have a 5250 watt portable.
Works fine for my needs, pull the main breaker plug it into a 220 outlet and fire it up.
All we really use in times of blackouts is lights, heat, refrigeration, and microwave. maybe a radio.
It's simple enough my sweet wonderful wife can do it.
The only problem is it's used so seldom the carburetor dries out, just a quick spray of Gumout to get er started.
When the power is out for a long period gas becomes a problem the stations have no power to pump it.

An emergency generator needs some maintenance just like the Shopsmith. I have a fuel shut off in the gas line so I turn the gas off and run the generator until the engine dies each time I operate the generator for about 10-20 minutes. I only put about a half gallon of gas in the tank each June after I drain the tank. I use 2 oz of STA-BIL fuel stablizer in each 5 gal of gas when I buy it. This has been a normal maintenance procedure twice a year for me since 2005.

[charlese]

Our emergency generator is installed in our motor home. It is powered by a 3 cylinder diesel and runs a 7.5 KW gen. Our most likely need will be following an earthquake.

Two concerns - - The motor home must remain upright and fresh water supply in the MH will be smaller during winter months of Dec thru Feb. 100 gallons of fuel will keep it running quite a while, but things will be better if roads/highways will be good enough to allow movement.

[billmayo]

Our emergency generator is installed in our motor home. It is powered by a 3 cylinder diesel and runs a 7.5 KW gen. Our most likely need will be following an earthquake.

Two concerns - - The motor home must remain upright and fresh water supply in the MH will be smaller during winter months of Dec thru Feb. 100 gallons of fuel will keep it running quite a while, but things will be better if roads/highways will be good enough to allow movement.

Have you set up a system from the MH to transfer power to your home electrical panel. I believe your home is more comfortable than the MH and during a storm. There are different ways, both legal and non-legal ways (code) to connect an external power source to your home elecrtical panel. During our 2 week power outgage in 2004, I had several electrical company reps stop by to insure/check I was not feeding power back into their power lines and had an approved set up. They heard the very under powered generator on extension cords I had at that time. The told me the fines can be quite high but I never checked the fines as I was always legal (code).

You may want to see how difficult it is and how to remove the MH generator and operate the MH generator as a separate unit if a tree falls on your motor home or other serious damage. I try to look a how many ways Mr. Murhey might try to visit me.

[charlese]

Have you set up a system from the MH to transfer power to your home electrical panel. I believe your home is more comfortable than the MH and during a storm. There are different ways, both legal and non-legal ways (code) to connect an external power source to your home elecrtical panel. During our 2 week power outgage in 2004, I had several electrical company reps stop by to insure/check I was not feeding power back into their power lines and had an approved set up. They heard the very under powered generator on extension cords I had at that time. The told me the fines can be quite high but I never checked the fines as I was always legal (code).

You may want to see how difficult it is and how to remove the MH generator and operate the MH generator as a separate unit if a tree falls on your motor home or other serious damage. I try to look a how many ways Mr. Murhey might try to visit me.

I appreciate your thoughts, however we will stay with the way it is. There are no trees any where near our home nor the MH. And while touring the U.S. several years ago we rode out some pretty healthy storms. Earthquake rather than storms are the more likely disaster we would have here. We are only a few miles from the San Andreas Fault. Hopefully Mr. Murphy will keep his distance.