Line Conditioner/UPS or Generator
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Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
Doesn't your generator put out ac current?
If our power goes out, we use the generator for refrigerator, deep freezers and water pump. No problems except the generator likes to drink lots of gas.
If our power goes out, we use the generator for refrigerator, deep freezers and water pump. No problems except the generator likes to drink lots of gas.
colebrookman
Minister of Fire
We do the same as Dennis with no problem. More of a problem with computers and other fancy electrical equipment. Be safe.
Ed
Ed
jharkin
Minister of Fire
You see all over the internet that its bad to run electronics off a regular generator. It is true that generators put out dirty power (all the vibrations of the motor turn into jaggies in the sine wave).... However... remember that all modern electronics like computers and audio run on DC internally and the power supply circuitry will filter out that noise anyway.
A bigger problem is the short voltage drops and surges that occur on a cheap generator when you have large load changes. This can be an issue for some equipment, for example it might make a desktop PC reboot if it drops too low.
For that I put my PC behind a UPS, but you will need a high quality one that you can adjust the sensitivity of. I have a couple of APC smart-ups units and out of the box they will just run on battery full time connected to the gen because the voltage fluctuations are too much. I have to turn the sensitivity to low to get it to stay on line power.
Oh and one other thing, avoid running motor loads like hte fridge and blower on a computer UPS. They are not designed for that kind of load.
A bigger problem is the short voltage drops and surges that occur on a cheap generator when you have large load changes. This can be an issue for some equipment, for example it might make a desktop PC reboot if it drops too low.
For that I put my PC behind a UPS, but you will need a high quality one that you can adjust the sensitivity of. I have a couple of APC smart-ups units and out of the box they will just run on battery full time connected to the gen because the voltage fluctuations are too much. I have to turn the sensitivity to low to get it to stay on line power.
Oh and one other thing, avoid running motor loads like hte fridge and blower on a computer UPS. They are not designed for that kind of load.
Backwoods Savage
Minister of Fire
I fully agree on the UPS for the computer although if the power is off, I simply turn the computer off. I still can live without it with no inconvenience.
btuser
Minister of Fire
If you're looking for a 5k ups its going to cost you between $1500-$6000 depending on what kind of storage you're looking for. I was looking into it because I wanted to use the governor on my gen-set to go at 1/2 speed when there was no substantial draw (maybe some lights or a laptop) but then kick up to charge the UPS when needed. This way I could get clean power and save a few gallons of gas.
Even at $1500 it would be cheaper to roll the dice and buy a new fridge. Most everything electronic now can handle 100-240v. Laptops have a battery so in fact already have a built-in UPS. Motors are still in danger but as long as you don't overload the gen-set it should be all right for the occasional power outage. Throw an oscilloscope on your generator and try running it under a typical load. I think there are even cell phone apps for this. Worth a shot to see if you do indeed need it.
Even at $1500 it would be cheaper to roll the dice and buy a new fridge. Most everything electronic now can handle 100-240v. Laptops have a battery so in fact already have a built-in UPS. Motors are still in danger but as long as you don't overload the gen-set it should be all right for the occasional power outage. Throw an oscilloscope on your generator and try running it under a typical load. I think there are even cell phone apps for this. Worth a shot to see if you do indeed need it.
I have the same problem with my boiler (these controllers are very sensitive electronics), and don't use it during power outs. The problem is that the feed from a typical non-inverter genset has too much harmonic distortion, and the effects of this HD shows up very clearly on these controllers. I found some conditioners, but they were all way too much $$. I'm still looking for just a single circuit version at a decent price ($50 or less).
My refrig has a large circuit board in it. The last power surge from National Grid(GREED) blew THAT board and who knows what else on my last fridge. I replaced with same. So I'm concerned about that, my boiler has a small electronic board on it & it sounds different on genny power. Haven't done the pellet stove on generator yet. Not concerned about computers. Have a Xantrex Inverter Sine Wave 600Watt for stove emergency, but like to run off genny. Not looking to "condition" all 5KW, just certain appliances as mentioned above one at a time. May have to suck it up and get small Inverter Generator I guess.....
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