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<p>One other suggestion is, whatever internal combustion device you
have, switch at first oil change to 100% full synthetic engine
lube and never go back. Guaranteed 50% longer between changes and
far better performance. My 2 ¢...<br>
</p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72"><b><font size="+1">Jim Duncan
Solar Acres Farm
817.917.0527
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:solarguy2004@gmail.com">solarguy2004@gmail.com</a></font></b></pre>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2/27/2020 9:24 PM, Maverick Brown
wrote:<br>
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<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:3E57147D-F307-4E23-B2BD-386F1DAE70BE@mavericksolar.com">
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">Ray
Your list mirrors mine.
Never. Ever. Ever. Buy or believe you\u2019ll get support of any kind from Generac. I fell for the lure of the ECO GEN and it ate itself one night while helping our off grid home get through a hot cloudy summer day.
For my off grid experience since 2005, I would vote for:
1. For Big Systems, I\u2019d vote for a Cummins 1800 water cooled unit. 20kw is great genny for a double stack or more of Radians. They work. Period. After a few tries, a couple customers agreed to water cooled and life is grand.
Kohler RES-14 and RES-20 air-cooled units have also been great. For those customers there are big battery banks and the generator is less needed.
2. Kubota GL11000 or GL7000. I have a few in my customer group. I have the GL6000 at my shop. It can be made auto start. Diesel is man-potable. They always start and run and they are water cooled even though they are 3600 rpms, they are quiet.
3. Honda inverter generators. I have several customers with different wattages. I love these. Won\u2019t do much good to put a EU2000i on a 2400Ah bank, but the EU7000i can be auto started in some climates with a 3-wire controller like a XW-AGS. Keep the oil changed.
Also. The key here is use vs capacity for use. If you design a system that needs the generator to run every. single. day., you might want to spec a generator that costs more than the solar array. Or have enough battery for a 8x load and solar for 2x or more.
The old adage you get what you pay for is still valid in the off grid world.
Thank you,
Maverick
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<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">On Feb 27, 2020, at 4:25 PM, Ray <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:ray@solarray.com"><ray@solarray.com></a> wrote:
\ufeffI know we have covered this before, but I just continue to be disappointed with the Generac Ecogen. Very high failure rate, and support is poor. Service requires expensive on site service. Also the no load AC draw and programming setup is just not off grid ready at all. I'm still not seeing any other great choices, though. Here's some other possibilities:
1) Quality portable, like the Honda EU 7000i or Northstar with Honda motor. Not the best choice especially for autostart, no propane, but at least they can take it in to the shop if it goes down.
2) Kubota (or MQ) diesel. expensive, and possible cold weather start issues?
3) 20+ kW water cooled, 1800 rpm propane model. Overkill, expensive, but probably will last a really long time.
4) Similar Home standby unit, but Kohler brand. Kohler used to be great, but now a days I'm not so sure.
I just can't keep recommending a generator I know has been giving other customers trouble. Any new ideas on this age old problem?
--
Ray Walters
Remote Solar
303 505-8760
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