dont know that im gonna go this route...but i have the task force 5 ton splitter..electric....if i were to come across a generator at a flea market or something...what size would i require to run this thing?
generator help
- Thread starter steeltowninwv
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steeltowninwv said:
Look on the motor of your splitter, it should give a rating in Amps.
Amps x Volts = Watts
Your generator's continuous (not surge) rating should exceed the watts the splitter draws by some margin.
Example:
15 Amps x 120 Volts = 1800 Watts
I would say a generator rated to output 2000 watts continuously would handle that load just fine.
What amps does it pull?
I have a 4KW gen set for my house... it runs everything in the house within reason. I even used my welder while being "off the grid" one just to see if it would work. Did trip the breaker on the gen set when the boiler kicked on though.
I have a 4KW gen set for my house... it runs everything in the house within reason. I even used my welder while being "off the grid" one just to see if it would work. Did trip the breaker on the gen set when the boiler kicked on though.
MasterMech said:
That sort of capacity matching would work fine for resistive loads (lights/heaters) but can be waaaaay off for motors.
Motors draw a surge of current on starting, that can exceed their steady-state run current by a factor of 2.5.
Single-phase motors are much more pronounced than three-phase.
For the example given, you might need 40a. for starting.
If you can find a Grainger catalog, they routinely contain advice on this for sizing generators to loads.
CTYank said:
I'd like to retract my previous example... :shut: The example is valid for the running watts of the motor however...
Also matters if the motor is capacitor-start or induction-start. Most generator sizing charts for my previous example put the start-up current at anywhere from 3600 watts up to 5500 depending on the motor. Fortunately an electric splitter shouldn't be starting under a heavy load and you may never see 'maximum' start-up current.
Do you have a meter that you can plug into and monitor the actual power consumption? Might give you a more practical indication of start-up current.
bluedogz
Minister of Fire
steeltowninwv said:
I have a Homelite electric splitter, which is obviously a different model but similar to yours. A 2000W genset would probably serve for your continuous load, but your startup load is radically different. I could not find any reference to the surge amperage of mine in the manual nor on the motor.
Google helped, though: http://www.diy-forum.net/electric-logsplitter-and-generator-t147416p2.html
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