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Inexpensive load bank

C

cstumpf750

Member
41
85
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Location
The Jersey Shore
So I bought three 5000 watt 240v heaters from Amazon. I went with these because they were only $65 at the time. $95 now

KEN BROWN 3000/4000/5000 Watt Electric Garage Heater, 240V Hardwired Fan-Forced Ceiling Mount Shop Heater with 3 Heat Levels & Thermostat, Ideal for Garage, Workshop, Greenhouse https://a.co/d/5Ru9d8b

But, they are chinesium. So just search for whatever is cheapest as they are all the same. I then bought a hand truck from Harbor Freight, welded up a gram from 1” x 1/8” mild steel. I still need to complete the wiring to make connecting to the generator fast and easy. Gonna make a trip to Home Depot today. When I got the heaters, I had not considered putting them on a cart like this and wired them up via a knockout on the side As that was the most direct route to the connections inside. But I would use the rear knockout if I were to do it again as it will make it easier to remove a unit to service or replace it.

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2

2Pbfeet

Well-known member
694
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Location
Mt. Hamilton, CA
cstumpf750 said:
So I bought three 5000 watt 240v heaters from Amazon. I went with these because they were only $65 at the time. $95 now

KEN BROWN 3000/4000/5000 Watt Electric Garage Heater, 240V Hardwired Fan-Forced Ceiling Mount Shop Heater with 3 Heat Levels & Thermostat, Ideal for Garage, Workshop, Greenhouse https://a.co/d/5Ru9d8b

But, they are chinesium. So just search for whatever is cheapest as they are all the same. I then bought a hand truck from Harbor Freight, welded up a gram from 1” x 1/8” mild steel. I still need to complete the wiring to make connecting to the generator fast and easy. Gonna make a trip to Home Depot today. When I got the heaters, I had not considered putting them on a cart like this and wired them up via a knockout on the side As that was the most direct route to the connections inside. But I would use the rear knockout if I were to do it again as it will make it easier to remove a unit to service or replace it.

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Nice job! Way nicer than my version.

We live with fire risk most of the year, and I realize that the Jersey shore is usually wetter, but, that lower heater runs a risk of baking the ground in front of it. If it were me, I'd make sure to have it on concrete, or with the louvers pointing up.

I put mine on a spare patio umbrella weight to get it 4' up in the air. It works, but it isn't as easy to move around as yours.

All the best,

2Pbfeet
 
C

cstumpf750

Member
41
85
18
Location
The Jersey Shore
2Pbfeet said:
We live with fire risk most of the year, and I realize that the Jersey shore is usually wetter, but, that lower heater runs a risk of baking the ground in front of it. If it were me, I'd make sure to have it on concrete, or with the louvers pointing up.
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I’m aware of the potential fire hazard, but plant to keep the louvers pointed up. Also, winter the the only time I’d need to use it to keep the 803 from wet stacking as we use a gas furnace for hot water baseboard heat and an air tight wood stove. Usually burn 3 cords of wood a winter, so electrical load is pretty low. Summer is much higher with the AC running. We shall see what hurricane season brings.
 
C

cstumpf750

Member
41
85
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Location
The Jersey Shore
I still need to get the cord and connectors to hook it up to the generator, but I’m happy with how it turned out. I can lean it back against the trailer, which allev the worry of setting the grass on fire and makes getting to the controls for the bottom heater easier.
IMG_5767.jpeg
 
C

cstumpf750

Member
41
85
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Location
The Jersey Shore
Tinstar said:
What is the cost so far?

Looks To be at least the $500 mark.
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The hand truck was $60 at Harbor Freight. The heaters were $65 each on Amazon. The panel and breakers were about $90. The metal for the frame was less than $10 from my local metal supply. And I have a 10ft cord coming for about $65. So that’s a total of $420. So while not insignificant, much, much less expensive than any load bank I’ve seen for sale or auction. The cheapest of which was a non-functional unit that was missing parts for $2000.
 
2

2Pbfeet

Well-known member
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Location
Mt. Hamilton, CA
Tinstar said:
Not comparing this to a true load bank.

Just curious on the costs so far.

Those heaters are now $95+ each
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Surplus load banks around here are never inexpensive.

You might have a look for scratch and dent.
My 10kW heater was $60 (Amazon scratch and dent, and the dents took all of ten minutes to straighten/flatten),
the used IEC 60309 plug was $70,
the 6ga type W cord was $25,
the strain relief was $30, yeah, 🙄,
three switches and a relay (to rewire heater to be a variable load of 1650/3300/4950/6600/10kW) were another $25,
some high temp wire and fiberglass sleeves to fix some issues in the original design (wires routed over sharp edges) $30
So, $240, plus labor, a few hours searching for things on the web, a few terminal connectors, and a weighted patio umbrella base that I had around for a base.

In hindsight, a couple of 5kW heaters might have been better. YMMV.

All the best,

2Pbfeet
 
Guyfang

Guyfang

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Since some of you seem to live in the Military scrap yards, Keep your eye out for something like this.
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Or this.
1752433904421.png
The top Load bank was for the MEP-006A. Terrible design, piece of crap. But if you could find 1-2 of them, you could make a very good load bank. It had a ventilator to cool it. Not that it ever worked well. So it over heated and burnt the paint off. Then rusted into a lump of steel.

The bottom picture was the MEP-005A load bank. Very good design. It mounted on the front of the set. Very good equipment. It used the cooling air from the gen set, to blow through the load bank.
 
S

sliderhd

Member
13
37
13
Location
Vidalia, Georgia
I built one, on a hand cart, very similar to yours. Been working fine for several years. Mine will only load generator to 95% power. Wanting more and not wanting to buy another heater, I went to a friend who owns a heating/ac company. I asked him if he had any scrap air handlers I could buy/steal. He pointed to a pile and told me to get what I needed. I did. I have not built another one yet, but I fully intend to. This one will have switching so I csn control what the load is better.
 
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