Need Consoling.....

[CapePrep]

Guys, need a little bit of a pep talk to feel better. A friend of mine had what I thought all along was an 803a that he was giving to me. He brought it over from Germany, been on it's original pallet for the last 5 years at least. I finally picked it up today, very excited! Got it home, opened it up and to my surprise it is an 802!!!!!! Kind of bummed and was all set to get going on the 803! So, feeling like a spoiled brat, but not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I am going to use this as back up for my home. No huge electrical draw other than oven/stove, clothes dryer and my big compressor. But don't need that during a storm. Please tell me it will all be ok....!!! I know that the 802 sips half the fuel as the 803 and I am pretty sure I will be ok, but just need some love! Going to make another thread with some questions regarding getting this thing up and running. Thanks for all the future consoling!

 

[98G]

A bit of load management may be in order, but it should generally be fine.

Depending on how big and bad your compressor is, it might choke it.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Youll be fine. If in an emergency management of loads will be needed as stated, but it shouldn't have any issues.

 

[frank8003]

Your killin me....
and anyhow there is no pictures of a NEW unit on a pallet all
the way from Germany so this did not happen.

 

[kloppk]

CapePrep,
Your load situation is similar to mine here in Mass.
I've had an 802 for a few years and it has been more than adequate for my needs.
I find I can get by on 1.5 KW to keep the lights on, heat on, fridge running, computers and entertainment center humming along during a storm outage.
Occasionally I need more than 1.5 kw to run the coffee make, microwave, dishwasher, electric range, toaster, etc
A little bit of load management and you'll be fine.
I think you'll appreciate it's fuel economy and smaller size of the 802.
Better to be keeping an 802 moderately to fully loaded rather than an 803 loafing along and wet stacking.

 

[Triple Jim]

Yes, the only time my 003A is maxed out is when my industrial 5hp 2-stage compressor starts. At other times it's difficult to get it up to 5 kW at this house, even with the air conditioner and various other loads going. I'm sure I could get by fine with an 002A or an 802A, and the much lower fuel consumption is a meaningful advantage.

 

[Suprman]

People often over estimate their power draw. The 5k is a good gen. Better to run a 5 a capacity than a 10 at half capacity. And the 5 is better on fuel. Only downfall is they vibrate a bit more than the 10k.

 

[jaxbill]

People often over estimate their power draw.

I agree and have experienced that myself.

I installed the Sense Monitor in my main panel a few weeks ago. Excluding my appliances but counting my fridge, I only use ~500W and that's not even trying to be conservative about power usage. That's with a few computers always on, the fridge, and all of the typical appliances that constantly draw some current. During an outage I bet that's only 300W after turning things off.

I've found that my hot water is by far the biggest normal power draw problem I have. I couldn't find a 4500W replacement and it's a solid 5500W when it's on. But in MA, I'm sure you have gas hot water, right?

I have a 3.5 ton heat pump with a 112 LRA. Excluding the fan it's still only ~3000W. Since I added a hard start kit, the compressor kicking on is still around 6000W but the time is reduced so much the CTs don't always pick it up and report it. It's not as bad as I thought.

Electric heat has been my biggest miscalculation because I didn't expect the condenser to trigger it every single time it does a defrost. That could be every hour in certain conditions. I just figured I would disable it at the thermostat but didn't understand the defrost cycle at the time. But, again, you're not going to have electric heat in MA.

 

[justacitizen]

i run my whole ranch on an 002A. most i have run it at one time was 32 days continuous. 5K is only 5K but continuous and can load much more intermittently. you will be surprised i think.

 

[CapePrep]

Thanks guys-I am getting over it, slowly! I am a bigger is better kind of person! But, age is helping me thru that. There is so much good info here that I know it will be fine. I recently acquired a Generac 7500 watt generator that was left out in the weather and the owner couldn't get it going. A $20 carb rebuild kit has it up and running perfectly. But, I still think that the 802 will outrun that thing in the long haul and let's not even talk about gasoline stability vs. diesel! And frank003, your right! And real unless pics! Better ones to come!

 

[frank8003]

OK, consider yourself consoled.
All years past with the outages and I had the washer/dryer reefer and all but the AC up and running and such off a generator.
A few refrigerators ago I designed a toggle switch arrangement to shut off the refrigerator heaters, (about a dozen of them) and stop the defrost cycle entirely. That was about half the power the thing was using. Now with all the motherboards and embedded electronics in Her new refrigerator I find that impossible for me to do.
We will now run a propane 10K generator as I got real tired of moving and storing gasoline. I would like a diesel, or a whole house natural gas unit but the economics are just not there and I have other things to do. I could maintain a MEP 002 or 003 but why bother, I will still be running a gas car to go get diesel at pumps that don't work because there is no power. I was trying to figure out how to get his Volt to run my house. Goes on and on.

 

[Light in the Dark]

What do you want a backup generator for, when you really think about it? Do you need every last amenity in your home to work during a power outage, or do you need your lights, heat, tv, etc to ride it out? An 802 is a fine machine for those who have less draw needs, or those who simply want less fuel consumption (or those folks who worry about long term grid concerns... stable clean power with quiet performance and low fuel consumption).

I see NO issue, especially with the price. You ever want to sell it, Id be happy to pay twice your purchase price

 

[Light in the Dark]

Do you have a generator hookup on your home already? If so, its probably 30A... which is exactly what the max output is basically of an 802A. The 803A will require either a hardwire, or a 50A interlock.

I live life well with a 5k personally.

 

[Shark Bait]

Shortly after we built our house we had our electrical contractor come out to see about a backup home generator. We live out in the sticks and on top of a mountain and would lose power regularly for extended periods of time. They brought a technician and rep from Kohler with them and upon testing and figuring, their conclusion was 56kw to run our house. Lol. Needless to say we passed and let it go. We have four heat pumps and a CT cabinet on our house with three 200 amp breaker panels and a 100 amp breaker panel. We bought a few 5kw gas to get by with the crucial stuff. We also have propane and their 60kw that it called for wouldn't run very long off of our existing tank. Lol.

 

[dependable]

Also nearby and use and 802 as primary back up generator, can run all house essentials and then some; well pump, laundry, lots of lights(best to go to LED), multiple food/beverage refrigeration units, a few window A/Cs. This may not be true if you have and electric cook stove, dryer or heavy AC unit. With those you would need to use some load management.

Also, 10KW may or may not be enough to run your compressor. I know some can run theirs off an 003, but never could get my 5HP industrial to start without the magnetic start unit timing out.

 

[Bmxenbrett]

I can use my electric clothes dryer with my 802a. It will put out about 25-27a. I can also take a hot shower with a well and heat pump water heater. At the time i had both a 802 and 803 at my house. After testing my house on the 802 i sold the 803 with out even hooking it up.

What kind of electrical loads do you have that you need to run off the generator?

 

[CapePrep]

Well, got the generator up and running today. Was keeping an eye on gauges and looking for leaks. Oil pressure gauge is not working and just stays at 50LBS. Did get convenience outlet working and had a heat gun plugged into that. It is rated at 12.5 amps and had my usage gauge at almost 75%. I found that odd. Than I hooked up a 4K watt space heater. It was really making the generator struggle. It was pegging the gauge at 130%. Than it started to trip the overload. With my math, that should only draw 16.6 amps. Far cry from what others are saying they can do with an 802. 5KW/240V=20.8amps. So, with the heater, I should have been at 80%, not 130%! I did find some issues with a wiring terminal strip and need to resolve that. Trying to read the schematic and determine what those wires on this strip do and whether it is part of the problem.

 

[kloppk]

You may need to "exercise" the reconnection switch. The contacts may be oxidized from sitting so long and not making good contact.
Only exercise the switch with the set shut down.

 

[Bmxenbrett]

That gauge means nothing until you have learned what your specific set will put out. Just by what that heat gun showed on the gauge should tell you that the gauge is not correct.
How long have you ran the set?
Are you sure the oil pressure gauge is wrong? Thats a bad gauge to guess on.
There are many small and many large issues that can cause a set to be underpowered. There are many threads about those issues. One simple one that comes to mind is the air filter.

 

[jamawieb]

Well, got the generator up and running today. Was keeping an eye on gauges and looking for leaks. Oil pressure gauge is not working and just stays at 50LBS. Did get convenience outlet working and had a heat gun plugged into that. It is rated at 12.5 amps and had my usage gauge at almost 75%. I found that odd. Than I hooked up a 4K watt space heater. It was really making the generator struggle. It was pegging the gauge at 130%. Than it started to trip the overload. With my math, that should only draw 16.6 amps. Far cry from what others are saying they can do with an 802. 5KW/240V=20.8amps. So, with the heater, I should have been at 80%, not 130%! I did find some issues with a wiring terminal strip and need to resolve that. Trying to read the schematic and determine what those wires on this strip do and whether it is part of the problem. View attachment 716417

The strip is your main generator leads coming in from the generator head. Yes, this could be the problem, I've had bad or loose connections on that board which would cause your problem (clean the connections). That is where all the mice and rats make their nest , their urine is horrible on the connections. Also, exercise the reconnection switch several dozen times while spraying an electrical cleaner. Just FYI, a pure resistance load like your space heater would be about 70-75% on your load gauge at 4kw, 130% would be around 8kw.