PREP Harbor Freight's Predator 5000 Duel Fuel Inverter Generator

[Walrus]

Great thread!

 

[Millwright]

@Macgyver here's some discussion on the old Detroit Diesel rail gensets.

Detroit Diesel 2-53 hp?

Not sure where to post this question, but does anyone have a chart showing the hp vs rpm for a 2-53 Detroit Diesel? Have not been able to locate this info. Thinking about using one of these "little" engines @ 1,200 rpm with a 12.5 KW gen end. Just not sure if there is enough HP at this speed...

www.smokstak.com

 

[BH]

I have just successfully powered my internet connection, wifi network and TV behind the bar for right at 48 hours without any grid supplied power. I'm using an EcoFlow solar generator and a 900 watt (non-optimized) solar array. It is using about 40% of the battery capacity for 24 hours, so I can have 2 days of internet before charging is required, i.e. a day without sunshine.

Yesterday, the solar easily topped of the battery and it looks like it will again today. The Predator 3500 can provide a 2 hour complete recharge on the EcoFlow, quietly. Now to replace my cable modem and router with a Starlink receiver and I'll have internet access immune from local interruptions.

 

[mechanic 217]

I have just successfully powered my internet connection, wifi network and TV behind the bar for right at 48 hours without any grid supplied power. I'm using an EcoFlow solar generator and a 900 watt (non-optimized) solar array. It is using about 40% of the battery capacity for 24 hours, so I can have 2 days of internet before charging is required, i.e. a day without sunshine.

Yesterday, the solar easily topped of the battery and it looks like it will again today. The Predator 3500 can provide a 2 hour complete recharge on the EcoFlow, quietly. Now to replace my cable modem and router with a Starlink receiver and I'll have internet access immune from local interruptions.

Just bought a Bluetti AC180. arrives today waitng for Santa and his brown box sleigh, hoping it works as well as yours.

 

[BH]

Just bought a Bluetti AC180. arrives today waitng for Santa and his brown box sleigh, hoping it works as well as yours.

Cool deal. Hope it works for what you wanted.

I'm changing my setup around some. Off to Lowes to buy some parts to make a couple of custom power cords. Figured out how to get my fridge and freezer hooked up to my 2nd solar generator and use it as a UPS (until I add another solar array).

 

[mawmaw]

Cool deal. Hope it works for what you wanted.

I'm changing my setup around some. Off to Lowes to buy some parts to make a couple of custom power cords. Figured out how to get my fridge and freezer hooked up to my 2nd solar generator and use it as a UPS (until I add another solar array).

Looking into solar gens to at least power my fridge and 2 freezers what size do you have? We are very confused and don't understand all the different watts and all the ins and outs of solar

 

[Kewpie]

I haven’t read the whole thread, but we have a couple of these same generators. At this point, my SO is a genius at diagnosing, I’ll send this thread to him when I sober up, lol!

 

[nebb]

Cool deal. Hope it works for what you wanted.

I'm changing my setup around some. Off to Lowes to buy some parts to make a couple of custom power cords. Figured out how to get my fridge and freezer hooked up to my 2nd solar generator and use it as a UPS (until I add another solar array).

I have the Bluetti 2000w, Ecoflow 1400w, 700w, and just bought the 256w, changed all our light bulbs to led so went from 60-100w draw to 15w. Have a couple solar panels and a Honda 2000w to recharge things as needed. I like the convenience of not needing to get the genny running right away and being able to leave the fridge plugged in all night without the genny running

 

[tech]

I really hope the "solar generator" users are trying out what you wish to power to see how long the items will actually run.
At a glance most won't run at full output for more than about half an hour.

 

[Toosh]

We purchased from Costco, the Firman 7500 Tri-Fuel. It was a DIY project. It sits outside full-time, in a DIY shed that conceals, protects, adds greatly reduces noise. Wired directly to the service panel with a throw switch. Natural gas is my normal fuel but have backups. I like the electric start and start it each month to keep the battery charged. I also had a slow-starter added to the air conditioning so 7500w will start the unit with no issues. It's a poor-gal's Generac except I don't have auto-detection-and-start or the fancy diagnosis.

I've had to use it 2 or 3 times a year for, usually, winter/spring power failures. I run it 2 hours in the morning + 2 hours in the evening to return the house/freezers to temperature, do laundry, cook dinner in my regular kitchen and recharge batteries.

The Batt-Mobile is another DIY project on the cheap: a sturdy tote with Faraday protection, on wheels. Inside are 3 100amp marine, deep cycle batteries (yep I know, I need to upgrade them), a 3,500w inverter and various plug-ins. This runs the security system and home office, or whatever when off-grid. It's re-chargeable via A/C/gen or 800w solar. In my area, 800w solar will fully recharge my batteries in about 5 hours in summer but not in winter.

The combination seems to work well for me. I like the redundancy. The real key, IMHO, is to have a power-use plan when off-grid.

 

[BH]

I really hope the "solar generator" users are trying out what you wish to power to see how long the items will actually run.
At a glance most won't run at full output for more than about half an hour.

In my case, it is all pretty much trial and error. I load up my wanna-keep-runnings and see if it the boxes will keep them running. What I consider my entertainment things have demonstrated a 2 day life on a full battery (about 1440w / day actual) with a complete daily recovery on the battery with about 3-4 hours of decent sun. Currently feeding that system with about 70v and 15a of solar off 9 x 100w panels. Might can get by with 6-8 panels for this system.

My other system is targeting a full size fridge, commercial upright freezer and the igniter on our gas oven. Both have seemed to be power hogs, but cleaned the coils on the fridge yesterday (nasty, so hope that helps with efficiency some). Right now it is looking like adding another 3600w of battery (7.2kw total) may get me close to 2 days normal use.

The space I am using for my panels will accomodate 24 x 100w panels to be divided between the 2 systems. With the 100w panels, I can get 15 panels on one box (110v and 15a) which will max out the charge controller (160v, 15a, 1600w). So I will be limited to 1500w solar on the fridge system.

With these boxes, they can be set to charge from the grid at specific battery levels which I will set appropriately to allow max solar usage while providing grid support if available and needed. In a power out situation, we will be able to restrict usage in order to stretch what we have. Our house uses 60-90kw per day, so having 7.2+3.6K=10.8kw is just a fraction of what we normally use.

What I am doing should accomplish the limited things I am trying to do, but I will also warn others that the solar generator technology is not like turning on a 7000w generator hooked into your main panel. My original concept also wanted to power the well, and although possible, isn't possible with the configurations I settled on.