Purchased generator

[oleblu72]

I have a Champion generator that looks identical to your Westinghouse unit. I made a useful modification as I found moving the thing to be quite awkward to move due to it weighing over 200 lbs. and the angle and height of the folding handle didn't allow one to get easy leverage. My fix was to install two swivel casters with brakes in place of the supplied brackets and rubber feet.

3 Inch Maroon Polyurethane Swivel 3/8 Inch Stem Caster with Total Lock Brake SCC | eBay

Listing is for one (1) Service Caster Series #20 swivel caster with a 3" diameter by 1-1/4" wide maroon polyurethane wheel and a 3/8" threaded stem with a total lock brake capable of supporting 300 lbs./caster.

www.ebay.com

That sounds like a good idea there, thanks Brodie.

Mark

 

[Iowa409]

I am retired now and one thing we wanted was a whole houseback up generator, we both use C-pap machines at night, we have kids, with kids, we wanted a safe place with all the storms and Tornados her in the Midwest, so I bought a GENERAC 22KW, transfer switch, cold weather kit, strong CCA battery, all ran by the smart software to your phone and email. I needed about 11 KW to run my essentials, but 22 KW will run my whole operation with no loss of anything, 3 AC's, 3 furnaces, 3 fridges, washer dryers, all lights, shop all of it, I love it, it comes on every Wednesday runs for 20 minutes and sends me a report, I chose natural gas fuel..... because I work with Natural gas everyday, I am licensed and have installed gas to a few of these in my area and always liked the quality. I cannot do the electrical work because I am not a master Electrician, but because it was my home the City Inspector let me test to check my competence and I passed the test, so he let me do the work on my own home as a homeowner permit, passed and was certified, now I enjoy the benefits and the assurance it will look after me and my wife in our old age, I love it.

If you hire a contractor to do this your looking at $12-15K total, but I bought everything for$5K from my wholesale house, did all the labor, saved the mark up........... I hope it was not made in china, its stamped USA all over it.

 

[oleblu72]

I am retired now and one thing we wanted was a whole houseback up generator, we both use C-pap machines at night, we have kids, with kids, we wanted a safe place with all the storms and Tornados her in the Midwest, so I bought a GENERAC 22KW, transfer switch, cold weather kit, strong CCA battery, all ran by the smart software to your phone and email. I needed about 11 KW to run my essentials, but 22 KW will run my whole operation with no loss of anything, 3 AC's, 3 furnaces, 3 fridges, washer dryers, all lights, shop all of it, I love it, it comes on every Wednesday runs for 20 minutes and sends me a report, I chose natural gas fuel..... because I work with Natural gas everyday, I am licensed and have installed gas to a few of these in my area and always liked the quality. I cannot do the electrical work because I am not a master Electrician, but because it was my home the City Inspector let me test to check my competence and I passed the test, so he let me do the work on my own home as a homeowner permit, passed and was certified, now I enjoy the benefits and the assurance it will look after me and my wife in our old age, I love it.

If you hire a contractor to do this your looking at $12-15K total, but I bought everything for$5K from my wholesale house, did all the labor, saved the mark up........... I hope it was not made in china, its stamped USA all over it.

This is a serious system you have here, plus being its run-on natural gas you don't have to worry about the fuel for it to keep it running. Where I live we don't have that much trouble with foul weather that knocks out the electric but with the current administration you never know what could happen and when I ran across this generator for this price I figured it can't hurt to have a backup.

Mark

 

[1958 delivery]

I am retired now and one thing we wanted was a whole houseback up generator, we both use C-pap machines at night, we have kids, with kids, we wanted a safe place with all the storms and Tornados her in the Midwest, so I bought a GENERAC 22KW, transfer switch, cold weather kit, strong CCA battery, all ran by the smart software to your phone and email. I needed about 11 KW to run my essentials, but 22 KW will run my whole operation with no loss of anything, 3 AC's, 3 furnaces, 3 fridges, washer dryers, all lights, shop all of it, I love it, it comes on every Wednesday runs for 20 minutes and sends me a report, I chose natural gas fuel..... because I work with Natural gas everyday, I am licensed and have installed gas to a few of these in my area and always liked the quality. I cannot do the electrical work because I am not a master Electrician, but because it was my home the City Inspector let me test to check my competence and I passed the test, so he let me do the work on my own home as a homeowner permit, passed and was certified, now I enjoy the benefits and the assurance it will look after me and my wife in our old age, I love it.

If you hire a contractor to do this your looking at $12-15K total, but I bought everything for$5K from my wholesale house, did all the labor, saved the mark up........... I hope it was not made in china, its stamped USA all over it.

3 AC's, 3 refrig, 3 furnaces Sounds like an entire city in Iowa

 

[Iowa409]

3 AC's, 3 refrig, 3 furnaces Sounds like an entire city in Iowa

I am a retired HVAC Contractor, lol.
Equipment was very cheap for me.

 

[La Hot Rods]

Doesn't the natural gas burn kinda dirty?

 

[Iowa409]

Doesn't the natural gas burn kinda dirty?

Not in my opinion, around here we have propane, natural gas or diesel, gas or kerosene..... I like NG, I think it burns the cleanest, its readily available and its already piped into my property. Now my property was sized for 345K BTU, I had to double pipe size and pressure to get it up to 725K required BTU, but no problem for me, went from 3/4" line to 1 1/4" line and a new higher output meter.

 

[Iowa409]

I left the original piping all in place, I did not change a thing there, but coming off the meter the outlet I changed to 1 1/4 to carry the 725k BTU load, then tee into the original 3/4 line, and 1 1/4 the whole way to the GENERAC, problem solved.

 

[oleblu72]

If I may, I would like to ask another question about my generator. I fired it up today for the first time ever and I was running it on propane. I ran it around 30 minutes with no load then I ran it with a 750-watt load for about 20 minutes and then a 1500-watt load for about 30 minutes. So I was going to shut it down so I turned the propane off at the tank but the generator just kept on running. I turned the tank back on & off several times thinking something was stuck but it just kept running, so I then just shut it off and took the line off at the tank and the tank valve was working properly so what's going on here, any ideas?

Mark

 

[1958 delivery]

If I may, I would like to ask another question about my generator. I fired it up today for the first time ever and I was running it on propane. I ran it around 30 minutes with no load then I ran it with a 750-watt load for about 20 minutes and then a 1500-watt load for about 30 minutes. So I was going to shut it down so I turned the propane off at the tank but the generator just kept on running. I turned the tank back on & off several times thinking something was stuck but it just kept running, so I then just shut it off and took the line off at the tank and the tank valve was working properly so what's going on here, any ideas?

Mark

You discovered perpetual motion

 

[Iowa409]

If I may, I would like to ask another question about my generator. I fired it up today for the first time ever and I was running it on propane. I ran it around 30 minutes with no load then I ran it with a 750-watt load for about 20 minutes and then a 1500-watt load for about 30 minutes. So I was going to shut it down so I turned the propane off at the tank but the generator just kept on running. I turned the tank back on & off several times thinking something was stuck but it just kept running, so I then just shut it off and took the line off at the tank and the tank valve was working properly so what's going on here, any ideas?

Mark

Is it possible your tank is allowing liquid instead of vapor? Like it might be TOO FULL Mor just recently filled? Would be my guess assuming the gate valve or ball valve is truly closed, could be a long run full of liquid, might want to get a pro to look at that , or your propane supplier. You can measure that should be 10-12 “ WC. Good luck

 

[oleblu72]

Is it possible your tank is allowing liquid instead of vapor? Like it might be TOO FULL Mor just recently filled? Would be my guess assuming the gate valve or ball valve is truly closed, could be a long run full of liquid, might want to get a pro to look at that , or your propane supplier. You can measure that should be 10-12 “ WC. Good luck

The tank was filled 22 years ago. Like I said when I disconnected the line from the tank I expected to find a faulty leaking valve, but everything appeared normal.

Mark

 

[Iowa409]

Something is off….. when a mechanical valve is closed flow stops. Have you tested inlet or outlet pressure to narrow it down? How many inches are you supplying? What’s it rated for?
Is it just propane or dual fuel need more detail.

 

[oleblu72]

It's a dual fuel generator! Yeah, that's what I was thinking a valve is mechanical, if it's off it's off, but I didn't know if it had like a bypass valve that might have been malfunctioning, I'm not really that familiar with these valves ! I don't have a pressure gauge but I'm thinking about buying one. Are you asking about the specs on the generator? If so it's 9500 working and 12500 surge. I even checked the fuel tank and it appeared to never have any fuel in it, but the tank petcock was in the off position anyway!

Mark

 

[Iowa409]

Well what I was asking if a duel fuel, is it gas or #2 diesel, then is it rated for natural or propane, then of those two it will give a rating for inlet pressure's such as 7" or 10-12"

 

[oleblu72]

Well what I was asking if a duel fuel, is it gas or #2 diesel, then is it rated for natural or propane, then of those two it will give a rating for inlet pressure's such as 7" or 10-12"

It is a dual fuel gas and propane. I can buy a kit so it would burn natural gas but it's ok the way it is right now.

Mark

 

[409newby]

If I may, I would like to ask another question about my generator. I fired it up today for the first time ever and I was running it on propane. I ran it around 30 minutes with no load then I ran it with a 750-watt load for about 20 minutes and then a 1500-watt load for about 30 minutes. So I was going to shut it down so I turned the propane off at the tank but the generator just kept on running. I turned the tank back on & off several times thinking something was stuck but it just kept running, so I then just shut it off and took the line off at the tank and the tank valve was working properly so what's going on here, any ideas?

Mark

When I had a motor home I added a 12 ft rubber line to the outside BBQ when first starting the BBQ it took a few minutes to purge the air out of the 12 ft line and when you turned off flow to the BBQ it would sometimes still burn for up to 20 minutes with what was still in the 12 ft hose, maybe thats what is happening here???

 

[oleblu72]

The lines about 3 foot long, and this theory is about the only one that makes sense. I went out this morning with some soapy water and found the valve is not leaking.

Mark

 

[Iowa409]

Where and how many regulator’s

 

[oleblu72]

Where and how many regulator’s

On the hose from the tank there is a two-stage pressure reducing valve this is what it is called according to the parts book, and it connects to a diaphragm looking device and is called a pressure reducing valve. I didn't see anything that was called a regulator in the parts book. Today I'm going to warm it up for a few minutes and change the oil, it has probably about 1&1/2 hours on this oil. Then I'm going to increase the load on it from 1,500 watts to around 3,000 watts and then change the oil again after an hour run time and see what the oil looks like and eventually switching to Mobile 1 oil.

Mark