Gas Generator

[The Grebe]

I know very little about electricity, except the very basics...a light bulb screws in to the right, out to the left, there are two positions for a switch, on and off, if your grounded and you touch a hot wire, you are immediately in some extremely deep guano!

That being said, does anyone out there know of a good place to buy ground beef?

Really, has anyone out there had any experience with a Coleman Powermate generator 3500 watt? You find that it is okay for emergencies? Keep the fridge, furnace and a couple of lights running? Maybe the tube?

[Roofer]

It should run it, but the noise level could be good or bad, I don't know.

I ran my Honda EU2000 and kept a fridge, freezer, and tv running, as long as the fridge and freezer didn't kick on at the same exact time.

Not sure what kind of power a furnace would take????

Have had a coleman in the past and it did have very good power and wasn't too bad in the noise department. Not sure if it's the same as what you are talking about though.

[bottomdweller]

I have the coleman 5000 and that is more than enough to run the items you mentioned. When I purchased mine I went the economical route and bought the coleman. Honda has a lot nicer generator. Less weight and much quieter. I have had good luck with my coleman, just make sure you keep an eye on the oil level.

[Eric Wettschreck]

 Originally Posted By: The Grebe

That being said, does anyone out there know of a good place to buy ground beef?

I've found it easier to just shoot a cow.

I have a powermate 3500. It's a loud little bugger but when you're cold and no electricity, who cares?

Unless your furnace is older than the both of us, it should run it just fine. A couple of lights also, no prob. Tube and furnace? I don't see why not. Furnace, lights, tube, Fender strat with a whammy bar and a Marshall stack, and your fridge I'm thinking not so much. However, if it's winter time, mother nature provides plenty of cooling.

[The Grebe]

Boiler...Well, I bought the 3500 from HomeDepot....the thing has a 3 year warrenty...2 years better then any of the others I looked at in my price range. Of course I would much rather have one of the more expensive, quieter Hondas, but for what I will use it for, or hopefully not, this one will suffice.

One of the check out dudes at CheckerAuto told me that if you need repairs on one of the more garden variety Chinese knockoffs, you have to get the parts from the manufacturer....in China!

The Coleman may also have some Chinese ties, but it has a Subaru engine and a 1-800 number here in the states to get some action, if action is needed.

According to the info provided with the unit, this thing has enough surge amps and running amps to power the fridge and a few other neccessities.

The thermostate for the furnace needs elect. and the furnace itself has an electric igniter, I don't think either draws very much power. The very biggest power drainer in surge and running awatts is an elect. stove....we don't have one...we have a fire pit in the middle of the kitchen with a steel tripod and a big black kettle!

Now I have to get someone to put something in our breaker box that I can plug into if the need arises. Something that will keep the current contained and stop it from going back out the incomming lines. Thats my next endeavor. I don't even know if there is such an animal? Not the installer, the unit.

[Eric Wettschreck]

You can buy the switch gear at Menards for just this occasion. If you arn't pretty darn good with handling volts I'd suggest hiring this one out to an electrician. Nothing but bad can happen if improperly installed.

Not only does your furnace have an electric ignitor, but it has a fan motor also. If it's a newer style, high efficiency unit it has a combustion fan to boot. The voltage supplied to your thermostat should come from your furnace controls, unless it's some fancy schmancy unit I don't know about. Still not a prob, pretty low power draw there. If your plan is to use for emergency use this generator will work for you juuuuuuust fine. It will provide enough electricity to power your furnace and some lights no prob. Your fridge is the big power thief. If it can't handle it (and it should be able to) you will know if your lights dim. If that's the case, shut off the lights or toss your perishables outside if it's winter time.

Mine has been a dependable unit. The only thing I don't like is it's louder than your average generator. But, once again, when we go into survival mode who gives a giddy about the noise.

I don't see it powering a Marshall stack and if you are isolated for days that may become a problem.

On an upnote, these generators are made not too far from my house.

[sparcebag]

Rather than going with a expensive transfer box,I use on furnace a 20V twist lock male/female plugs,I have a cord with matching twist lock,then any necessory conections are extension cords.After all these are only for emergency,if I have to get generator out and start it why not extension cords,I ve only used it once and that was after power was out an hour and house was cooling.But I'm ready especially with electronic fired furnace,I can do with out most other appliances.frig & freezer would be next.

[kunk]

A few years back I was finishing my basement and had the electrician out. I had also purchased a generator for work at the lake, so asked him to fix me up for the house. He just put in another circuit on the box with a breaker, a 220 outlet, and made me a double male ended 220 cord to hook up the generator to the box (which is in the garage). If I need it I shut down the main switch and turn on the switch going to the generator and start it up. Cost me $100. It would probably be more with a special trip out. Works great.

[The Grebe]

You know what? I already have a 220 outlet connected to my breaker box. I had a friend of mine put it in years ago, I plug my welder into it.

So you are saying that if I shut off the main, the power can't go back out the utility line and I can in essense, run the electricity backwards, from the generator, into the 220 outlit and it will energize the the rest of the system?

If I'm understanding this correctly and this is how it works that is way cool and I don't have to have anything installed.. I'd be good to go!

On top of that, if it does work like that, I owe you lunch and a couple of beers when we meet up at Lake Wobegon!

[Roofer]

I haven't tried this myself, but yes, I have been told that it will work. You would have to check what is on that circuit. The power can run either way. You will just have to make a cord with two male ends.

With a cord like this you could plug into any outlet. Just make sure whatever is on that circuit has wiring that is applicable.

I'm no electrician, but I would shut down the breaker for the circuit that you plug into.

[The Grebe]

If you shut down the breaker, wouldn't that keep the power from going through?

I don't know, I think I best get an electrician to look at this...I may wind up burning down my house!

[kunk]

If you use a generator at all you'd best shut off the main switch where the power comes into the house. That would keep power from going back down the lines and getting to anyone working on them. If your using your generator, there's probably an outage and someone is trying to fix it. I believe then you can connect to any outlet, but all that is hot is that circuit. I have to issue a disclaimer here that I'm not an electrician either, and would advise that you consult one. If your 220 is on a circuit by itself it may not work. This one is apparently connected to the whole house. I've had to use it twice and the whole house was hot. 4000 watts lit up the whole house and the refrigerator. If you have a cord made for this I would have it made long enough to run the generator outside. Mine's 20 ft. You don't want to run that thing too long in the garage. Hope this helps. I had the basement done in 1999. The only reason I did this was all the talk about Y2K and having an electrician right there. Seemed like the prudent thing to do at the time, but worth it.

[The Grebe]

We were without power for 4-5 days a couple of years ago, during the summer when a bad storm came through and brought down alot of trees, which in turn, brought down alot of electrical service.

I was going to get a generator after that incident, but never did. Earlier this winter, I heard about that ice storm they had out east and how it messed up the electrical power grid. I started seriously looking shortly after that and now we own the Coleman.

Just to be on the safe side, I'm going to have an electrican look the breaker box and install what we need. As far as the unit, I'll sink an anchor to chain it to and I figured I'd build it a little collapsable A-frame of its own and just leave it running in the back yard.

If the noise stops, the lights go out and someone is maybe trying to take it? Break out the night vision scope, see where they are at and how many, call 911 and then insert the clip in the rifle!

P.S. Thanks for the input yall.