Of course, haven't had a power outage since!
The latest Aldi promo ad has a 650W generator - 65GBP!
Seems to be good value. However, what's the recommended wattage for power tools use? Will 650W be man enough for a hand drill, or angle
grinder?
At least it'll be better than nothing.
most hand tools are in the 350 - 750 Watt range apart from stuff like big angle grinders, but you could only run one thing at a time & don't
even dream of putting on the kettle, vacuum cleaner or a heater!
I would imagine they are probably aimed more at running, fridge, freezer, lights & possibly computer & Tv.
Does anyone know if you can use 2 generators together or do you need something to align the phases???
im a generator engineer and 650w is next to useless for anything with a motor, if you an angle grinder and it "jams" your likely to stall
the engine and being that small it would be a 2 stroke so you could damage it.
best look for a 2 - 3 KVA generator if your intending to run power tools
you can use two generators together its called syncronisation but however you have to get the voltage and frequency a prefect match to within 0.010 of
a v/Hz if they are not perfectly matched one will turn the alternator on the other into a motor and drive the engine, again causing damage, generally
when we do it we use computer regulated engines with motorised breakers to prevent accidental "reverse power" damage.
I've got a similar 650w genny and it powers my oil boiler fan and oil pump, gentral heating water pump and fridge all at once. Uses 2 stroke, is
a bugger to start but will run all day on a tankfull.
You can get a 4 stroke 2kw genny from mackro for £99 plus vat. I'd spend the extra just for the easy starting and you have the extra capacity as
well
Cheers
David
Thanks for such useful advice. Gotta start looking elsewhere. For the nearest Makro, for starters!
B&Q (I think) in Gloucester had 750W generators for around £35 a couple of years ago. Couldn't resist it, so I bought one, just to keep the
freezer going and to have a light or two in the event of power failure...
Of course, haven't had a power outage since!
As said, more than one generator need to be run in synchro with each other. They won't always run the other as a motor, unless one is a lot
bigger than the other, but it will reduce the power output a lot!
Makro did a 2.2kv diesel genny a year or two back for just over £150 IIRC.
I've played with the cheapo Chinese sets (often stickered as German or even UK products!) and you get what you pay for!
quote:
Originally posted by owelly
As said, more than one generator need to be run in synchro with each other. They won't always run the other as a motor, unless one is a lot bigger than the other, but it will reduce the power output a lot!