Jeff said; "I have also found that in order to meet the new Federal Pollution Regulations, all generator manufacturers have stopped making the more reliable 1800 RPM models as they could not get the slower speed heavy cast iron engines to meet these new regulations."
Jeff this is somewhat BS. It's true that you wont find a small kW generator in 1800 RPM. Anything that runs 1800 RPM will be of a liquid-cooled design, these usually start around 18-20kW for most mfgs. In the past, some mfgs. Have attempted to run air-cooled engines at 1800 RPM without much success; they dont burn efficiently, and do not produce enough power/torque at the slower speeds to have any efficiency gain. As a rule of thumb, it takes 2HP to produce 1kW. The smallest liquid-cooled engine that youll find used in most generators running at 1800RPM is a 1.6 liter engine capable of producing about 40-50HP at 1800RPM. Liquid cooleds can be fine-tuned a bit more to produce greater power at lower speeds whereas most air-cooled generators use engines that were designed to run at 3600RPM and are economical to produce. Because the majority of my projects are Off-grid and we use the nice big Surrette series 5000 (4ks25ps) I don't spec anything smaller than a 20kw genny (otherwise equalizing takes forever). Keep in mind that you only want to use about 30% of the genny when charging in order to get the long life out of the unit. I'm sure there are many out there that will disagree with this. Also by only using 30% of the genny's capacity your propane consumption is lower. Stay liquid and stay 1800 rpm. Hope this helps. Chris Schaefer Solar and Wind FX Inc. 5115 South Hill Road Canandaigua(Bristol Center) New York 14424 585.229.2083 Cell 748.1870 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.solarandwindfx.com/ Where Knowledge Equals Power Independence ***CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE*** The information in this email may be confidential and/or privileged. This email is intended to be reviewed by only the individual or organization named above. If you are not the intended recipient or an authorized representative of the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any review, dissemination or copying of this email and its attachments, if any, or the information contained herein is prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please immediately notify the sender by return email and delete this message from your system. ________________________________________ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jeff Yago Sent: 03 September, 2008 11:43 To: RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Remote generator start I know this subject has come up from time to time in small pieces, but would like a collective set of answers. As you know, some generators are very easy to remote start from an inverter using only a simple relay and 2-wire connection. Make the contact and the generator starts and runs, break the contact and it stops. The Kohler line of generators have this start and stop control and was easy to connect to the spare relay in the old Trace SW40 inverter and the newer Outback inverters. I have heard some other generator brands are next to impossible to remote start, or require a sophiscated multi-relay programmed controller and a bundle of wires to the generator. What generators in the 8 to 15 kW range have you found easy to remote start from an inverter, and which models or brands were a nightmare? What other hardware or controls were required to get it to work? How many control wires were required out to the generator? I have also found that in order to meet the new Federal Pollution Regulations, all generator manufacturers have stopped making the more reliable 1800 RPM models as they could not get the slower speed heavy cast iron engines to meet these new regulations. Their solution was to just stop making them and now all residential size generators are 3600 RPM. This of course means higher noise level and shorter engine life. We recently replaced an aging 1800 RPM generator that worked great with a 4 kW inverter system, with the same model and size generator now made with a 3600 RPM engine and had nothing but problems with the inverter battery charging after the switch. It appears the higher speed engine just did not have the torque to handle the heavy start loads that the 1800 RPM engine easily handled. Any other generator issues we should watch out for? I ask because many new clients that call us now already have a stand-by generator and many are models and brands I have never seen before. Which are easy and which are hard to remote control? Thanks, Jeff Yago ________________________________________ Netscape. Just the Net You Need. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.6.14/1647 - Release Date: 02-Sep-08 06:02 No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. 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