Generator questions

[LKSF]

Sorry, a lot of questions, not something I know much about.
I've seen a Pramac 6Kva diesel genny with 9k hrs Edit: sorry, 900 on it for £450 ONO, guy took it on as part of a clearance and it doesn't start, battery is buggered, it only turns over slowly and doesn't start.

Are they any good?
I know it's a gamble, hopefully he's honest about it and it looks like It might just need a new battery or maybe something simple

We get occasional power cuts so I wonder how easy it would be to plug it into the house to put us on for a few hrs?

 

[bobthebuilder]

you can buy them running for not much more

 

[V8Druid]

Sorry, a lot of questions, not something I know much about.
I've seen a Pramac 6Kva diesel genny with 9k hrs on it for £450 ONO, guy took it on as part of a clearance and it doesn't start, battery is buggered, it only turns over slowly and doesn't start.

View attachment 67943

Are they any good?
I know it's a gamble, hopefully he's honest about it and it looks like It might just need a new battery or maybe something simple

We get occasional power cuts so I wonder how easy it would be to plug it into the house to put us on for a few hrs?

's a lot of hours for a little genny - what engine?

 

[Gecko]

Pramac currently only list petrol engines - is that what you want?
That one looks to be 3ph - are you able to use 3ph, or will you only use one?

Real money (plus battery) for a non-working, high hour unit doesn't sound like a bargin to me.

 

[Steve]

If it is only for the occasional power cut it would be easier to run extension leads to individual appliances. Otherwise you need to have a change over switch wired in between the meter & consumer unit. That generator looks to be single phase to me with 16 amp & 32 amp sockets so it would be suitable. Another reason to not hard wire it to the house is you can choose which circuits are plugged in, so for example I would only plug in anything that isn’t voltage sensitive because things like tablets, I pads etc don’t like the type of surge you get from generators.

 

[TiltyShaun]

Stick some jump leads on it before committing!! For emergency use a smaller newer unit might be a better bet!!

 

[LKSF]

It's a diesel, sorry got the hours wrong! 900 hrs
It'll be old that's why there is little info on it. In comparison to these it's cheap:

Pardon our interruption...

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Can't see any for sale running at that price, if you do, let me know.

It's more a handy thing to have for the money than anything else really. I could also use it to power other things if needed.

Problem with trying to get it running before buying is when it fires up the sale could be off. You've got to knock the price down and take a risk that it's cheap/simple.

That reminds me of the time I once went to buy a non-running car, it was a model I knew well and the car dealer didn't. They couldn't get it started so I rocked up with my trailer, set the issue correcting itself under the bonnet and went into the sales office. Paid them, got the docs put into my name then asked if I could borrow their starter pack. Fired it up and drove it onto the trailer

 

[LKSF]

If it is only for the occasional power cut it would be easier to run extension leads to individual appliances. Otherwise you need to have a change over switch wired in between the meter & consumer unit. That generator looks to be single phase to me with 16 amp & 32 amp sockets so it would be suitable. Another reason to not hard wire it to the house is you can choose which circuits are plugged in, so for example I would only plug in anything that isn’t voltage sensitive because things like tablets, I pads etc don’t like the type of surge you get from generators.

Thanks
There is a fuse between the incoming supply and meter, surely I could just unplug that and it'll isolate us from the grid?
If I ran a lead from it to a power socket then flicked all the trip switches off that would power up only the circuit(s) I was plugged into or switched on wouldn't it?
Good point on the surge, but when does this happen, on start up only?

 

[Lancs Lad]

Thanks
There is a fuse between the incoming supply and meter, surely I could just unplug that and it'll isolate us from the grid?
If I ran a lead from it to a power socket then flicked all the trip switches off that would power up only the circuit(s) I was plugged into or switched on wouldn't it?
Good point on the surge, but when does this happen, on start up only?

There's another thread on this topic recently iirc.
Yes there's a main fuse but it will be fitted with tamper evident wires by the DNO.
But you may be lucky and have an isolator after the meter as they do seem to be fitting them more often.
A suicide plug is last resort and best avoided imo.
Without sounding pompous unless you confident of your leccy abilities get a sparky to sort either a proper changeover or a simple way of isolating certain circuits. Messing with mains feeds can end in bangs and unpleasantness.

 

[Stroppymonkey]

Thanks
There is a fuse between the incoming supply and meter, surely I could just unplug that and it'll isolate us from the grid?
If I ran a lead from it to a power socket then flicked all the trip switches off that would power up only the circuit(s) I was plugged into or switched on wouldn't it?
Good point on the surge, but when does this happen, on start up only?

Jesus!

Please do it properly . Changeover switch not that dear and running a death plug or suicide plug to back feed into your own system is just plain stupid in anything other than life and death situations

 

[LKSF]

Relax, we're only at the ideas stage atm before I get a Sparky in.
The fuse has already had it's wire cut by someone else, maybe the electrician I got in to sort a faulty trip switch out.

 

[Steve]

Thanks
There is a fuse between the incoming supply and meter, surely I could just unplug that and it'll isolate us from the grid?
If I ran a lead from it to a power socket then flicked all the trip switches off that would power up only the circuit(s) I was plugged into or switched on wouldn't it?
Good point on the surge, but when does this happen, on start up only?

So the surge you can get would depend on things like the quality of the generator AVR or the load that the generator has on it. So for example you could have something sensitive running then boil a kettle & you would get an under voltage + over voltage.

 

[LKSF]

So the surge you can get would depend on things like the quality of the generator AVR or the load that the generator has on it. So for example you could have something sensitive running then boil a kettle & you would get an under voltage + over voltage.

Thanks. I'm with you, so basically the generator is reacting to the current drawn and it can over compensate a bit before settling down.

 

[pettsy]

Saw the same generator myself when browsing. Looking for a diesel one to power my unit but anything less than 1k seems battered rubbish!

 

[Gecko]

It's a diesel, sorry got the hours wrong! 900 hrs

That's sounding a lot more interesting.
The Yanma engine is solid a nd shouldn't be showing problems at 900h.
When it 'cranked slowly', were you using the decompression?
I'd haggle with the price, but it's probably a good buy.

As the only person on this forum who admits to using a suicide lead, I have to say - Don't Do It.

 

[V8Druid]

That's sounding a lot more interesting.
The Yanma engine is solid a nd shouldn't be showing problems at 900h.
When it 'cranked slowly', were you using the decompression?
I'd haggle with the price, but it's probably a good buy.

As the only person on this forum who admits to using a suicide lead, I have to say - Don't Do It.

I'd have no qualms ...
's only me that'd ever be near it ..
16/32A chassis plug on the wall ..
32A isolator between it and the dis. board incoming tails ..
empty line socket lives on the chassis plug as a cover. ..
80/100A isolator between the incomer and dis. board, from the supplier.
all clearly marked - job done
conventional 16/32A line plug/socket extension lead from the genny as needed
for belt and braces, secure isolators in a lockable enclosure and / or fit pad lockable isolators with their respective counterpart's keys locked to them, so one could not be operated, before the other
's not publicly accessible and a fully controllable situation ..... be fine 'til dementia sets in

 

[Gecko]

fit pad lockable isolators with their respective counterpart's keys locked to them, so one could not be operated, before the other

That's quite elegent, but if you are going the trouble of fitting something like that, a Change-Over switch is simpler and idiot(*)/dementure proof.

* As soon as you make something idiot proof, the world will come up with a better idiot.

 

[LKSF]

That's sounding a lot more interesting.
The Yanma engine is solid a nd shouldn't be showing problems at 900h.
When it 'cranked slowly', were you using the decompression?
I'd haggle with the price, but it's probably a good buy.

As the only person on this forum who admits to using a suicide lead, I have to say - Don't Do It.

It's on his video so I don't know. I can probably find a manual online and check out starting procedure to see whether it should auto decompression or not maybe?