He-Man was a wuss, although I might need him to lift this thing around.
A little while back, The Mom called me up to ask if I was still looking for a generator. I told her if it was of decent size, sure. And that was how I came to be the owner of my new toy.
It is a Generac 5000 Watt portable generator. You can see a red one here.
Portable is relative: If you count the wheels, it is portable, but unless I was in a real pinch, I don’t know that I could lift into the back of my truck by myself.
You can see the features printed on the side plate in the above photo. Needless to say it has just about everything I’ll be needing.
Back in August, The Geek w/a 45 had a lack of communication problem with his local electricity supply company and had to revert to generator power for a short while. He and the family made the best of it and you can read about it in this post.
After things settled down in FreedomHouse, he sized up just how much juice he’d need to run the place at 6000W. The wife and I, with no yard-apes of our own, could probably get along with just a bit less, which is why, once I get the firing up sequence down to where I can do it in the dark, I’ll be fully set.
OK, so I also want to try and tame the noise this beast makes down a bit too. But that will just take some creative engine exhaust parts sourcing/fabrication, something I find very enjoyable.
The previous owner of this unit lives in the same retirement community as The Mom. He, like so many other folks, bought this shortly after Hurricane Katrina. He got it home, fired it up once and kept it ready for emergencies.
Recently, his doctor informed him that he should never fire it up again as it would probably have quite the bad effect on his recent pacemaker implant. Combining that along with his planned wintering with his children in California, he decided to sell it to pay for the gas during the trip.
And now it is in my garage. The sale price was $350, which is around half of what they go for new. And because I forgot to break a $20 bill so as to make the exact amount, the guy tossed in a 50ft, 3/4in dia, three prong extension cord with triple outlet head along with it.
Score one for sloth!
Coupla things you want to do with these construction-site generators.
First, make it so it can be run on an external (boat) tank. This is easy, as you need only plumb in a “Y” fitting in the fuel line from the tank, and wire a small electric fuel pump into the 12-volt loop (if it has one). If it has no 12 volt loop, you will have to have a stand for the boat tank to keep it at carb level or above (siphoning). With the quick-disconnect boat tank fittings, you can change tanks without shutting down the genset.
Talk to Generac about a hush kit for the generator. They might very well have one, but if they don’t, get a local muffler shop to modify the muffler with a flange that will accept flexible exhaust pipe, then use a Walker muffler to bust the racket with.
Eventually, you might want to equip your service panel with a changeover switch and a direct plug so you can use your house wiring and accept all the watts the Generac puts out.
In my baliwick, an electrician will put that in for about $500 plus the cost of the permit.
You might consider building a hush-house for the generator out in the back yard, and on that same electrical permit, trench for, and bury and hook up an
8-3 line to the hush house.
Oh, and basics. Put about 20 hours on the engine, drain the oil and put in synthetic. It’ll stretch your gas a bit, and make the engine last MUCH longer. during the 20-hour run, try to rate both the gas AND oil consumption for record.
No lifting, you need a ramp for gettin’ it up in the truck, go to a dirtbike dealership and get a steel one – the aluminum ones’ are too bendy.