[RE-wrenches] generator suggestions

[Dan Fink]

Jay;
The "standard" seems to be 2-3% derate for every 1000 feet above sea level
for gasoline, diesel or LP gas generators, and supposedly more like 5% for
natural gas. (in general we don't work in areas that have natural gas
service, we only do off-grid). So the propane de-rate for altitude is no
worse than the diesel or gasoline de-rate, it's just added on top of it. In
practice, we are not seeing that big a hit, but it is hard to really
judge. Also, air-cooled generators don't cool as well at high altitudes and
tend to run hot.

A fairly common troubleshooting call we've seen in the past is clients who
have purchased cheap portable generators from Home Depot, Harbor Freight
etc. and then find that they can't tune them for anything above 6000 feet
-- the carb adjustment screws don't go that far, and the fine print in the
warranty actually says 6000 ft max. Ouch! They run so poorly that very few
modern inverter/chargers will even look at their input. I've been a local
firefighter for 14 years now, even worse problem with chainsaws (2-stroke).
We've learned how to bust out the plastic "EPA stops" on the carb adjust
screws, with the of course unofficial instructions to throw the saw into
the fire if the EPA shows up......

Never had the slightest high-altitude issues with the Honda x000i series
running OK, and I have no idea why. The de-rate factor is certainly still
there, but no issues idling or running, no matter what the draw. My Honda
3000i issues are from a different cause I think; there is an extensive
thread on that in the archives here that I started in July 2011 I think.

DAN FINK

On Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 1:12 PM, Jay Peltz <jay at asis.com> wrote:

> Hi Dan
>
> So true. But never had it explained to me why propane is different than
> gasoline or diesel at altitude.
>
> Thx
>
> Jay
> Peltz power
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jan 30, 2013, at 11:42 AM, Dan Fink <danbob88 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> And because of our Colorado location here, we are always dealing with
> altitude de-rate factors. We are usually installing at 7000 - 10000 feet
> elevation, which is a big hit. Propane de-rates gennys even further.
> --
> Dan Fink,
> Executive Director;
> Otherpower
> Buckville Energy Consulting
> Buckville Publications LLC
> NABCEP / IREC accredited Continuing Education Providers
> 970.672.4342 (voicemail)
>
>
> On Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 12:38 PM, Jay Peltz <jay at asis.com> wrote:
>
>> > Hi all
>>
>> I've found through hard experience that all generators except diesels
>> seem to be smaller than name plate rating.
>>
>> And while the charging maybe reduced if I am conservative in telling the
>> inverter how large the genny is I rarely get the genny to trip its breaker.
>>
>>
>> Jay
>>
>> Peltz power
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
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-- 
Dan Fink,
Executive Director;
Otherpower
Buckville Energy Consulting
Buckville Publications LLC
NABCEP / IREC accredited Continuing Education Providers
970.672.4342 (voicemail)
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