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The gauge doesn't know what the PF of the load is. All the %load gauge knows is amount of current flowing through the generator output windings. That's real power (actual work being done by the load), not imaginary power. The gauge face is calibrated so that it reads 20% low relative to the...

People have trouble with the ideas behind real and imaginary power mostly, I think, because they're usually presented as mathematical abstractions rather than with a physical metaphor (remember how successful the hydraulic metaphor is for DC systems). The names used don't help either -...

I'm pretty sure that the output meter is calibrated assuming a load power factor of 0.8. So it will indicate 100% when it is pushing rated power into a 0.8 PF load. When it is pushing rated power into a 1.0 PF load (like a resistive load bank, lots of incandescent light bulbs, space heaters...

I bet your unmeasured factor is the reactive load of the air compressor. It's a big inductive load, so your power factor is not very close to 1 any more. Depending on the ballasts, the fluoro lights may or may not be a neutral load either. The generator is rated at a power factor of 0.8. The...

You positively would want to use an air motor without the impact function, and yes, I'm certain there's a crank plate with the usual helical teeth on it that the crank engages - can't have the crank spinning when the engine is running - it's both dangerous and unbalanced. That said, I bet it's...

Hand crank (for a 12KW generator!), magneto ignition, and three-phase only output except for the convenience outlet. It's obviously meant to be left alone, unused for years somewhere without regular maintenance (but presumably with a big tank of preserved gasoline) and then be pressed into...

Another factor I don't think anybody has mentioned: You're in Pennsylvania. There's this phenomenon known as 'winter' there in which the temperature gets very low for months at a time, and it's usually accompanied by a lot of water, frozen and otherwise, falling out of the sky. Cold and damp...

I wanted to throw another 2 cents worth in here because I was reading a TM last night and I noticed something interesting (well, to me anyway). The data plates for my 'new' generator (MEP016B) specify OE30 (or OE10 or OEA, for extreme temperatures) just like every other green machine I've ever...

See critical edit made above. Basically, steel-on-steel rubbing (shear) must be below a particular maximum PSI in oils without enough ZDDP or similar EP friction modifiers. Newer engines use roller lifters/followers/tappets partially to get more aggressive valve timing, but also to remove the...

Mine's currently on the asphalt parking pad, which isn't especially level, and it shakes quite a bit. It has run about 65 hours that way with no noticeable harm. I do intend to put it down on rubber biscuits at some point to even the load out between the four corners of the skid. In the long...

There are a lot of cool things about this site. Definitely the coolest for me, though is the folks you meet and the stories they tell. Talk about FiFi and other warbirds is always fun. But having FiFi's crew chief posting a travelogue = just outstanding. The last time I saw FiFi (and Diamond...

You mean use the gen set to clean up the inverter wave form? Nope, but it might work. I don't know how you'd keep the two synchronized, though. If you want to clean up an inverter output, a better, cheaper, and more efficient solution would be a ferrorresonant transformer (basically a normal...

So there was a separate automatic transfer switch as part of the installation. That actually makes sense. The auto transfer switch would wait for good power from the gen set before switching from utility to generator power. I suspect you're right about the heaters all working off utility...

So advance the timing too far and blow holes in the pistons. Makes sense, I guess. That's the same thing that happens to an Otto-cycle (sparkplug) engine when you advance the ignition timing too far as well. So the question is: will you keep getting a lower BSFC (better fuel consumption) if...

That sounds probably true. It's worth looking into getting the stock VR fixed, though - it's probably very simple electronically speaking because this unit falls in just the right age range: new enough to be transistorized, but not so new that everything is a potted, unrepairable custom IC...

The whole point of this sort of disaster management planning is that you can't really predict what the next disaster will be, nor when it will be, nor what the worst one you'll experience will be. That said, you can play the odds and make worthwhile compromises. In my case, I live on top of a...

I clipped some stuff out of your post for emphasis. My doctor neighbors went with turnkey autostart LPG Generac systems and buried LPG tanks...which would make sense, except that only one of them has bothered to put in so much as a gas stove. The other uses the LPG only for running the...

As would I. You could do it like MegaSquirt, where you get a board and can order a standard BOM from DigiKey or Newark with all the components required.

Don't sweat the muffler design too much. Back in WWII, they didn't really do tuned chambers on 2 strokes yet, so all you need is a damping chamber and then a restrictor in/as the outlet pipe. By the shape of the space by the exhaust port, the original was probably a thin can or box muffler...

Quoted for truth - unless it's above 80 F at night, you're just not going to want to run the (expensive, loud) generator all night. I have a (very) little generator (Sawafuji "Onan" K450) which is just big enough to charge batteries, run a few lights, and run the wood heater blower. The 1/2...