Opinions? North Star Generators..
steamer
electric start so SWMBO can get it going if I'm not home. North Star uses
Honda engines, which, AFAIK, are quiet and reliable. Soooo has anyone here
had experience with 'em? Are there pros/cons to keep in mind?
--TIA,
--
"Steamboat Ed" Haas : Time flies like an arrow;
Hacking the Trailing Edge! : fruit flies like a banana...
www.nmpproducts.com
---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---
Jon Elson
steamer wrote:
> --Have decided I gotta have a back-up genny for the house; one with
>electric start so SWMBO can get it going if I'm not home. North Star uses
>Honda engines, which, AFAIK, are quiet and reliable. Soooo has anyone here
>had experience with 'em? Are there pros/cons to keep in mind?
>
>
I bought a cheap 5600 W generator some years ago and have rarely used
it. I did
fire it up twice, I think, to run some garden tools, and put a little
time on the engine.
I had not run it in probably 3 years when we had our first real outage.
I went out
about 6 AM to fire it up, and almost fell on my rear when I pulled the
cord. I'm
used to yanking the rope on my brush chipper/shredder with the same B&S
engine,
but it has that huge disc with lots of rotational inertia, and a carb
that doesn't like
to prime. The generator fired up in the middle of the first pull and
roared to life
(it has no idle setting, just off and 3600 RPM).
So, I really don't think you need electric start unless you are getting
something
with a much larger engine.
Jon
Pete C.
I haven't used them myself, but I've seen some at construction sites so
presumably they get the job done.
Pete C.
Don Foreman
returns usually end up, and they sell a bunch of 'em. They probably
sold 50 of 'em out of each of the several stores in the Twin Cities
area during the first two days of the extended power outage in '05.
The storm was on a Tuesday evening. By Friday morning there wasn't a
Northstar to be found within 100 miles of the cities.
Gerry
What ever you do stay away from the crap B&S engines. Had one on a gen
and one on a pressure washer. Neither would ever crank without
fiddling with the carbs. Even if it had been run the previous day! I
was happy when some lowlife stole them both-he deserved what he stole!
My Honda engine, on the other hand, cranks first pull with old gas
even if it has not been run in a year!
Too_Many_Tools
Don, I heard MN just got hit with a big storm this week...did anyone
lose power?
TMT
Don Foreman
<too_man...@yahoo.com> wrote:
Not that I know of. We got some snow, but no ice storms or high
winds. No big deal.
sk
> On 2 Mar 2007 18:42:44 -0800, "Too_Many_Tools"
> Not that I know of. We got some snow, but no ice storms or high
> winds. No big deal.
power outages here in eastern Iowa, and a few in southern Minn.
There's still (as of Friday evening) more the 25000 homes without
power (it was 150000 homes Monday morning). Down here that storm came
down as freezing rain all day Saturday and most of Sunday. Power
poles collapsed, 3800 have to be replaced.
I too am looking for a backup. I don't like the 3600 RPM units, they
roar, burn lot's of fuel, and I can't imagine running them for 1 day
during these big power outages. I've looked for quiet 1800 or 1200
RPM units. 1800 are available as RV gensets from Onan, and are multi-
fuel (LP and Gasoline). 1200 RPM available are diesel units.
I like the idea of an inverter generator as it is variable speed. The
largest one found last year was only 3Kwatts (Yamaha $1800 this years
price, these were $2400 last year). I just looked and Honda has a
6Kwatt unit for $4000, ouch. They list the sound level as 60dB(A) @
full load.
Steve
JR North
your nose up at a 3600RPM genny. I don't mind mine one little itty-bitty
bit when the power goes out.
JR
Dweller in the cellar
sk wrote:
> Don, I'm just south of you 250 miles, that storm last weekend had
> power outages here in eastern Iowa, and a few in southern Minn.
> There's still (as of Friday evening) more the 25000 homes without
> power (it was 150000 homes Monday morning). Down here that storm came
> down as freezing rain all day Saturday and most of Sunday. Power
> poles collapsed, 3800 have to be replaced.
>
> I too am looking for a backup. I don't like the 3600 RPM units, they
> roar, burn lot's of fuel, and I can't imagine running them for 1 day
> during these big power outages. I've looked for quiet 1800 or 1200
> RPM units. 1800 are available as RV gensets from Onan, and are multi-
> fuel (LP and Gasoline). 1200 RPM available are diesel units.
> I like the idea of an inverter generator as it is variable speed. The
> largest one found last year was only 3Kwatts (Yamaha $1800 this years
> price, these were $2400 last year). I just looked and Honda has a
> 6Kwatt unit for $4000, ouch. They list the sound level as 60dB(A) @
> full load.
> Steve
>
>
--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth
If you're not the lead dog, the view never changes
Doubt yourself, and the real world will eat you alive
The world doesn't revolve around you, it revolves around me
No skeletons in the closet; just decomposing corpses
--------------------------------------------------------------
Dependence is Vulnerability:
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Open the Pod Bay Doors please, Hal"
"I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.."
Gunner
As a practicing survivalist, Im fascinated by the various threads that
crop up after the fact on the numbers of people who NOW need a gen
set/portable heater/food storage etc etc.
They are likely the same folks who are asking how to fix a bad roof,
after the rain started..but didnt give a damn when it was sunny
<G>
Like discovering you need a fire extinguisher NOW..its a bit late if you
dont have one.
Shrug
However..Im glad to see folks are actually actively looking to take care
of problems before they happen to them.
Gunner
"Liberalism is a philosophy of consolation for Western civilization as it commits suicide"
- James Burnham
Too_Many_Tools
> Not that I know of. We got some snow, but no ice storms or high
> winds. No big deal.
LOL
You are a tough one Don....
TMT
15 deaths reported in Midwest snowstorm By DOUG GLASS, Associated
Press Writer
Sat Mar 3
Fierce wind blew snow across roads and stranded hundreds of drivers on
Midwestern highways Friday, as thousands shivered without power and
airlines were forced to call off hundreds of flights.
At least 15 storm-related deaths have been reported since the snow
began falling Wednesday, including a 10-year-old Wisconsin boy who
died Friday in a car accident.
The storm left more than a foot of snow in some areas Friday. Even as
the flakes stopped falling by afternoon, gusts of 40 mph prompted
blizzard warnings and prevented major highways from reopening.
Officials at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport canceled 500
flights, blaming bad weather elsewhere.
In the Northeast, a storm dumped snow across northern New England,
while areas to the south were left with a messy mix of snow, sleet and
freezing rain.
Hundreds of miles of interstate highway in Iowa, Minnesota and South
Dakota remained closed for much of Friday, with plow drivers forced to
pull off roads because of the wind-blown snow.
More than 100 vehicles were abandoned as their stranded drivers were
rescued in Iowa, where blizzard warnings were extended into Saturday.
"Mobility and visibility are horrendous right now with wind chills
hovering around zero - conditions are very treacherous," Lt. Col. Greg
Hapgood, a spokesman for the Iowa National Guard, said Friday
afternoon.
Close to 400 rigs crowded the parking lot of the Trails Truck and
Travel Center, where Interstates 90 and 35 converge at Albert Lea,
Minn.
"All I see is trucks. It's just a sea of trucks," manager Rick Boyer
said.
"Everybody's standing around watching weather reports on our display
TVs. They're blocking up the aisles," he said.
In North Dakota, a section of Interstate 94 was shut down.
The weather knocked out power to close to 80,000 Michigan homes and
businesses, and about half were still in the dark Friday, utility
officials said.
"It's a whale of a storm," Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said. "Overall,
things are going as well as they could."
Pawlenty mobilized the National Guard, and the governors of Iowa and
South Dakota issued disaster declarations.
In Wisconsin, a 10-year-old child died of injuries suffered in a two-
vehicle crash on a slippery road on Friday, and a 16-year-old girl
died when her car skidded on a highway and collided with a truck.
A pickup truck driver died in Michigan after colliding with a delivery
truck on a slick road. A 75-year-old man also died when his car
collided with a semi-truck, authorities said.
A truck driver died in Massachusetts when his tractor-trailer rolled
down an embankment, and a 16-year-old driver in Minnesota was killed
when he passed a semi, spun out and was hit by the truck.
A teenage girl and a man were killed in North Dakota in a crash
between a sport utility vehicle and a car on an ice-covered highway,
the Highway Patrol said Friday.
Traffic accidents Wednesday and Thursday also killed another person in
Michigan, a couple in North Dakota and a woman and two teenagers in
Wisconsin. A ninth person died while shoveling snow in Nebraska.
Minneapolis had 11 inches of snow by sunrise Friday. Western Iowa got
up to 17 inches, and strong wind built up drifts 10 feet high. The
eastern Dakotas had up to 18 inches.
The storm, the area's second major winter blast in a week, was part of
a larger line of thunderstorms and snowstorms that stretched from
Minnesota to the Gulf Coast. Tornadoes killed 20 people in Missouri,
Georgia and Alabama, including eight students in an Alabama high
school, authorities said.
In Maine, a woman was critically injured when her car spun into a
canal, stranding her for three hours, and a plow driver had to swim to
safety after his vehicle smashed through a guardrail and into a
river.
New York City got 2 1/2 inches of rain, and drivers in northern
suburbs found flooded highways and water that rose above park benches.
A mudslide stopped a commuter train, but no one was hurt.
___
Associated Press writers Mike Wilson in Des Moines, Iowa, Timberly
Ross in Omaha, Neb., Jerry Harkavy in Portland, Maine, David N.
Goodman in Detroit and Dave Kolpack in Fargo, N.D., contributed to
this report.
___
On the Net:
Weather Underground: http://www.wunderground.com
National Weather Service: http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov
Intellicast: http://www.intellicast.com
On Mar 2, 10:04 pm, Don Foreman <dfore...@NOSPAMgoldengate.net> wrote:
> On 2 Mar 2007 18:42:44 -0800, "Too_Many_Tools"
>
Don Foreman
wrote:
Next step is understanding the difference between needs and wants.
We've never in 40 years "needed" electricity, because we've never had
an extended power outage during dangerously cold weather. However, the
extended outage of '05 got me thinking about "what if..." so I bought
a genny some weeks after the outage, when normal competitive pricing
was back in gear.
Don Foreman
wrote:
>On Mar 2, 10:04 pm, Don Foreman <dfore...@NOSPAMgoldengate.net> wrote:
Onan makes some excellent gen$et$.
>
Jerry Foster
"Don Foreman" <dfor...@NOSPAMgoldengate.net> wrote in message
news:ttcju2lra36r4es6s...@4ax.com...
Onans can often be salvaged from junk motorhomes...
Jerry
Jerry Foster
"JR North" <jason...@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:geOdnRmgxKBlGnTY...@seanet.com...
> When your house is dark, and 42° inside, you will be less likely to turn
> your nose up at a 3600RPM genny. I don't mind mine one little itty-bitty
> bit when the power goes out.
> JR
> Dweller in the cellar
>
> sk wrote:
>
>
Have had some experience with this... Three and a half day outage ended
yesterday. All time record outage was about a week and a half...
First of all, don't make yourself totally dependant on electricity. You
need an independent heat source. A modern, glass front, high efficiency
wood stove looks good in almost any living room. Or, if you have a forced
air furnace, maybe augment it with a simple wall furnace.
Second, you can get by on a small generator. Mine is a 3000 watt unit that
will only run a couple hours on its small tank of gas. But we only need to
run it twice a day to take care of the refrigerator and freezer.
When I was a little twerp, my grandparents lived for a while on a farm that
had no electricity. I remember sitting in Grandma's kitchen one evening
watching her iron clothes by the light of a kerosene lamp, heating her flat
irons on a wood-burning cook-stove. While my grandparents had lived for
many years in houses that did have electricity, they had spent the early
years of their married life before electric power was readily available. Of
course, they knew well the skills needed to live just fine without it. So,
anyone who lives where power is unreliable needs to learn some of these
skills and acquire the necessary (relatively inexpensive) infrastructure as
well...
Jerry
Ignoramus12968
>
> "Don Foreman" <dfor...@NOSPAMgoldengate.net> wrote in message
>>
>
> Onans can often be salvaged from junk motorhomes...
>
I have an old Onan generator.
http://igor.chudov.com/tmp/onan/Diesel/
Parts are expen$ive. But available.
iA
Andy Asberry
wrote:
>On Mar 2, 10:04 pm, Don Foreman <dfore...@NOSPAMgoldengate.net> wrote:
It seems 500 watts is the normal output per horsepower. I've wondered
about using a belt driven generator head of whatever capacity you need
and driving it with a engine of twice the recommended HP. Get the
engine in its sweet spot and gear (pulley?) for 60 Hz. Any reason this
won't work?
Second question about adjusting frequency. Any simple, cheap meter
that someone of lesser training than Don or Jeff can
read/operate/build?
--Andy Asberry--
------Texas-----
Too_Many_Tools
TMT
On Mar 3, 1:56 pm, "Jerry Foster" <jmfoster711NOS...@sbcglobal.net>
wrote:
> "JR North" <jasonrno...@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
Gunner
<dfor...@NOSPAMgoldengate.net> wrote:
>>
>>However..Im glad to see folks are actually actively looking to take care
>>of problems before they happen to them.
>>
>>Gunner
>>
>>"Liberalism is a philosophy of consolation for Western civilization as it commits suicide"
>>- James Burnham
>
>Next step is understanding the difference between needs and wants.
>We've never in 40 years "needed" electricity, because we've never had
>an extended power outage during dangerously cold weather. However, the
>extended outage of '05 got me thinking about "what if..." so I bought
>a genny some weeks after the outage, when normal competitive pricing
>was back in gear.
Ive never had a car accident in 30 yrs/10 million miles of driving..but
I keep my car insurance up...<G>
Shit does happen sooner or later. If not..you arent out much.
Gunner
Political Correctness
A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical liberal minority and
rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media,
which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible
to pick up a turd by the clean end.
dca...@krl.org
> I too am looking for a backup. I don't like the 3600 RPM units, they
> roar, burn lot's of fuel, and I can't imagine running them for 1 day
> during these big power outages. I've looked for quiet 1800 or 1200
> RPM units. 1800 are available as RV gensets from Onan, and are multi-
> fuel (LP and Gasoline). 1200 RPM available are diesel units.
> I like the idea of an inverter generator as it is variable speed. The
> largest one found last year was only 3Kwatts (Yamaha $1800 this years
> price, these were $2400 last year). I just looked and Honda has a
> 6Kwatt unit for $4000, ouch. They list the sound level as 60dB(A) @
> full load.
> Steve
If you search on Ebay for " generator head ", you will find several
vendors selling 1800 rpm generators made in China and touted as being
designed to run thousands of hours. You then get to choose your own
engine. And put it together. I would think you could make a simple
frequency detector by using a neon lamp and a strobe disk on a
constant speed motor from a CD Rom.
I have thought about it, but we don't have much of a problem. Have
several propane lanterns, a thingy to refill small bottles from a 5
gallon tank, wood stove, and a battery operated radio.
I have also thought about making an inverter generator to run the
fridge, well and TV. Just a automobile alternator, small engine, a
battery and a power inverter. Has anyone bought a 6.5 hp motor from
Harbor Freight for $150?.
Dan
Don Foreman
wrote:
>On Sat, 03 Mar 2007 11:43:11 -0600, Don Foreman
><dfor...@NOSPAMgoldengate.net> wrote:
>
>>>
>>>However..Im glad to see folks are actually actively looking to take care
>>>of problems before they happen to them.
>>Next step is understanding the difference between needs and wants.
>>We've never in 40 years "needed" electricity, because we've never had
>>an extended power outage during dangerously cold weather. However, the
>>extended outage of '05 got me thinking about "what if..." so I bought
>>a genny some weeks after the outage, when normal competitive pricing
>>was back in gear.
>
>
>Ive never had a car accident in 30 yrs/10 million miles of driving..but
>I keep my car insurance up...<G>
>
>Shit does happen sooner or later. If not..you arent out much.
Yupper! Trouble can come to visit even if ya don't get out much or go
where dragons be.
"Hope is not a strategy" -- Massad Ayoob
Jerry Foster
"Gunner" <gun...@lightspeed.net> wrote in message
news:lefku2tco5nqe45q3...@4ax.com...
Hmmmm......
10 million miles in 30 years, that's 333,000 miles a year. And, if you were
to average 50 miles an hour, that's 6600 hours a year. And, since a year
only has 8760 hours..... POOR BABY!!!!
Don Foreman
wrote:
Definition of "sweet spot" aside, this should work nicely. It'd be
bigger, heavier and would cost more to manufacture and sell, but it
should work fine and last a long time. Smaller engines produce more
power at higher RPM, but they very likely produce at least half of
rated HP at half rated RPM and probably a bit more. My gas-fueled
Chevy 5.7 liter V8 pickup cruises at 1800 RPM or a bit less.
>
>Second question about adjusting frequency. Any simple, cheap meter
>that someone of lesser training than Don or Jeff can
>read/operate/build?
>
>--Andy Asberry--
>------Texas-----
Have a look at
This particular one is not the right freq range if you want 60 Hz, but
60 Hz versions are available. No electronics here, just a simple
rugged freq meter that works very nicely on a genny. Watch EBay
and/or surplus outlets. These are just a few vibrating reeds of
differing resonant frequencies, excited by a coil. The blurry reed
indicates the freq.
Don
Gunner
<dfor...@NOSPAMgoldengate.net> wrote:
>On Sun, 04 Mar 2007 03:33:54 GMT, Gunner <gun...@lightspeed.net>
>wrote:
>
>>On Sat, 03 Mar 2007 11:43:11 -0600, Don Foreman
>><dfor...@NOSPAMgoldengate.net> wrote:
>>
>>>>
>>>>However..Im glad to see folks are actually actively looking to take care
>>>>of problems before they happen to them.
>
>>>Next step is understanding the difference between needs and wants.
>>>We've never in 40 years "needed" electricity, because we've never had
>>>an extended power outage during dangerously cold weather. However, the
>>>extended outage of '05 got me thinking about "what if..." so I bought
>>>a genny some weeks after the outage, when normal competitive pricing
>>>was back in gear.
>>
>>
>>Ive never had a car accident in 30 yrs/10 million miles of driving..but
>>I keep my car insurance up...<G>
>>
>>Shit does happen sooner or later. If not..you arent out much.
>
>Yupper! Trouble can come to visit even if ya don't get out much or go
>where dragons be.
>
>"Hope is not a strategy" -- Massad Ayoob
Which is why many people carry a concealed weapon. None of them are out
looking for trouble. The weapon is for when trouble finds them.
Gunner
Sure your numbers are correct?
I average 65,000 miles a year. I may have been wrong about the totals. I
woke from a nap not long before posting.
Sorry.
Gunner
<jmfoster...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>>
>> Ive never had a car accident in 30 yrs/10 million miles of driving..but
>> I keep my car insurance up...<G>
>>
>> Shit does happen sooner or later. If not..you arent out much.
>>
>> Gunner
>>
>> Political Correctness
>>
>> A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical liberal minority and
>> rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media,
>> which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible
>> to pick up a turd by the clean end.
>
>
>Hmmmm......
>
>10 million miles in 30 years, that's 333,000 miles a year. And, if you were
>to average 50 miles an hour, that's 6600 hours a year. And, since a year
>only has 8760 hours..... POOR BABY!!!!
>
You are absolutely correct. It should have been nearly 2 million miles.
My apologies.
John
thats a hell of a tax deduction at .33 per mile.
John