Thread: Small Diesel Generator

Yes Honda makes very good generators and they are available here. If you want gas powered.

Originally Posted by Digby Fantona

Diesel generators are very noisy....

Would disagree strongly on this one. Years ago, yes they were screamers.

But they're whisper quiet these days, off course you'll pay more for sets that have the "silent pack" treatment and are mounted in a sound-proof case with multiple mufflers though. But at work sites where all our power is our own, it's possible to stand right next to the gensets ranging from 10kva to 300kva without needing ear protection or having to raise your voice to talk. Then there's the low fuel burn (compared to industrial petrol engines if there's really such a thing) and the ease of servicing and the long life span and the ability to not overheat that make diesel generators the only way to go.

^ Agreed.

Low RPM constant use/high duty cycle diesel gen-sets are recommended.

I would look for a low RPM non turbo stone cold simple diesel unit with easily available spares.

Gas units scream and are fuckin loud.

kuboto diesel 8ish kva 85,000baht, from main dealers (udon thani) said that they will/could order. been trying to get the wife to dig into her pocket for one for a while now...

Same deal with pure sine wave inverters they're 3 times more expensive.

It's the feed into the supply that over heats the switchmode at a guess that would be first to fail and then if it over volts to the secondary side of the board say bye bye or expect bad news from your repair shop.

Originally Posted by baldrick

why wouldn't a genset altenator produce a pure sine wave ?

They do. Rotation makes it impossible for the waveform to become a square wave.

Originally Posted by brisie

It's the feed into the supply that over heats the switchmode

Bollox. The incoming supply is AC and the first step in a switch mode power supply is to rectify it, making DC of it.
This makles the input supply frequency completely irrelevant.

as soon as it passes through a diode it changes to DC it's a stepped wave that fucks things up you've just cut the leg off the sine wave thats all.

Originally Posted by Headworx

Would disagree strongly on this one. Years ago, yes they were screamers.

I named a specific model. Will you please do the same for a diesel generator so a direct comparison of the specifications may be made ?

Originally Posted by Digby Fantona

I named a specific model.

Thats so small it would barely power a kettle & hotplate. 3000w? Yeah I'm sure thats pretty quiet. How that would be used in any legitimate capacity for a home during a power outage is beyond me.

Apples and Oranges.

Originally Posted by Vettronics

Yes Honda makes very good generators and they are available here. If you want gas powered.

After doing some research, I am not stuck on diesel powered. I do agree with buying quality and one huge benefit of buying Honda is that some of the larger motors are the same as many motorbikes here. Articles even state that the neighborhood motorbike mechanic can work on them and parts are readily available. That is a huge selling point for me here in Thailand. I still need to do more research.

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

I would like to have the capability of keeping two fridges running, some house lights, possibly a couple small house appliances and one ac unit during any power outages. These outages can be anywhere from one to 24 hours. In the last four days, we have had two outages, one lasting two hours and the other lasting 3 and a half hours. I currently have three ACs in each 25 sq meter bedroom and would use a designated bedroom that has a TV for the outages.

I do not consider a single fan as comfortable while in an outage during a warm and humid day. I would prefer to have the use of a fridge so I can be sipping on a cold beer while watching TV. Pampered, I know, but I would rather be comfortable during my retirement years,

That sounds exactly like my FL hurricane setup all the way down to the 1 air conditioned room with the electronics in it & shit. I had a window unit that I put in there for when the power went out

But how many BTU's is the one aircon you wanna use? Thats the important bit really they are pretty serious current draws.

Should be on that green sticker thingy on the wall unit.

I know very little about these things. My only experience of generators was in the army many, many years ago.

So, a question, if I may.

Can you set up a gen. so that it automatically comes on when the mains power goes down?

Originally Posted by Slick

Rick, what exactly are you wanting to run on the generator and for what theoretical time periods?

EDIT:

I guess the important bit is how many BTU's the 1 aircon you wanna run is?

Slick, it looks like my Panasonic AC rating is 13,000 BTUs.

Originally Posted by crackerjack101

I know very little about these things. My only experience of generators was in the army many, many years ago.

So, a question, if I may.

Can you set up a gen. so that it automatically comes on when the mains power goes down?

The answer to your question is yes. Some gen sets will automatically kick in when there is a loss of power and then shut down when external electricity returns. It seems this is standard on many larger gen sets.

When I worked out the aircon I needed I used KW it's a lot easier to work out than BTU sorry can't remember where I found the formula web page.
if you look at my beer thread I just made that burner produces 200,000 BTU in the pic BTU is confusing trying to convert back to watt.

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

Slick, it looks like my Panasonic AC rating is 13,000 BTUs.

Well/pump as well?

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

Originally Posted by crackerjack101

I know very little about these things. My only experience of generators was in the army many, many years ago.

So, a question, if I may.

Can you set up a gen. so that it automatically comes on when the mains power goes down?

The answer to your question is yes. Some gen sets will automatically kick in when there is a loss of power and then shut down when external electricity returns. It seems this is standard on many larger gen sets.

Excellent. Thank you.

Originally Posted by crackerjack101

I know very little about these things. My only experience of generators was in the army many, many years ago.

So, a question, if I may.

Can you set up a gen. so that it automatically comes on when the mains power goes down?

Yes, you need an automatic transfer switch but these are expensive. It is much cheaper to change from mains supply to generator supply by doing it manually. There are lots of videos on Youtube which show the various ways it can be done.





I am not pretending that am fully conversant with this. I think the sensible way is to get a local electrician who is used to installing generators to do the work for you. You have to ensure that he fits it in such a way so as to prevent the generator working at the same time as the mains supply is on.

The automatic switches are expensive and, although there will be electricians in Thailand who can fit these things, few Thais would go to the large additional expense. As a consequence competent electricians will be few and far between. So, I would go for the much cheaper manual switching.

Yep...they're costly. I got the much less expensive maid option on mine.

Originally Posted by Davis Knowlton

Yep...they're costly. I got the much less expensive maid option on mine.

Davis you have a 10KW unit and can run 1 split unit aircon, along with all your other stuff no problem?

I saw you said you just run fans but could you if you wanted to?

Originally Posted by Slick

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

Slick, it looks like my Panasonic AC rating is 13,000 BTUs.

Well/pump as well?

No, our well dried up. I have gone back to village water and a 2000L storage tank for outages. No assist pump needed yet and my master toilet is gravity fed from the tank.

Originally Posted by Slick

Originally Posted by Davis Knowlton

Yep...they're costly. I got the much less expensive maid option on mine.

Davis you have a 10KW unit and can run 1 split unit aircon, along with all your other stuff no problem?

I saw you said you just run fans but could you if you wanted to?

Sure. It's 9KW, but it could carry that easily.