Posted: 7/25/2015 6:22:05 PM EDT
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I was just given a free gas powered generator. Been sitting in a garage since Hurricane Wilma and was never run except for a test run from the original owner. This should produce enough juice to run the fridge, a small window unit AC, and a light ot two right?     |
| Depending on the power draw of the actual equipment I would think it would do the job. I had a 5500 watt generator running a frige, stand up freezer, TV, cable box, 2 box fans, a lamp, a coffee maker, and charging several cell phones after Hurricane Ike. That was about all it could handle. If we tried to add in the microwave it would bog down quite a bit. |
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Test it out and see! I'd run it no load for 30 min. or so just to get it warmed up and see if it's gonna crap out- before dirty power kills anything inside. Then add loads slowly until you hear it start to struggle- does it pick up the load or is whatever just too much? Also take note of gas consumption- they seem to use a set amount no load or about half-load, then they get kinda thirsty.
My best tip: Use fresh gas with Sta-Bil, and then run at all dry. Pour about half a jug of FRESH TruFuel in and run that completely dry. Does a good job of cleaning out all the ethanol crap. With gennys is more of a "When was this last started?" more than "How many hours does this thing have on it?" |
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Quoted:
I was just given a free gas powered generator. Been sitting in a garage since Hurricane Wilma and was never run except for a test run from the original owner. This should produce enough juice to run the fridge, a small window unit AC, and a light ot two right? Good deal! I don't think you'll have any problem running those things and a coffee maker, too. |
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you can run most of your appliances with 5000 watts, just not at one time. you should do fine with this generator for most home use, my 4000 would run my well pump but not much else at the same time, run my hot water tank but nothing else at one time, just be aware what is hooked up, better yet get a transfer panel put in so you can manage your load from one spot.
alex |
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Is that 5250 watt rating surge or continuous?
How many watts is your ac window unit? Your fridge? If your fridge and ac total more wants than your generator, you can plug in the fridge, let the compressor cycle on enough to cool it down, then unplug it and run the ac unit and just switch back and forth. If you run cfls or led lights it will give you more headroom compared to incandescent lights. |
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Quoted: Is that 5250 watt rating surge or continuous? How many watts is your ac window unit? Your fridge? If your fridge and ac total more wants than your generator, you can plug in the fridge, let the compressor cycle on enough to cool it down, then unplug it and run the ac unit and just switch back and forth. If you run cfls or led lights it will give you more headroom compared to incandescent lights. If it is a 5250 SURGE, it is likely about a 3500 to 4500 watt constant output. Either way, unless you are running a very large window A/C and fridge, you should be OK. Best way to find out is to test it  |
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Yep, plenty of power.....if used wisely.
I have a 10HP Coleman with a Subaru motor, 5000 watts that got me through Wilma just fine (11 days). Keep in mind fuel consumption, these things are thirsty. Best to have a power plan and stick to it, meaning you should only run it a few hours at time during strategic hours to keep the Fridge/Chest freezer and window units going. If you try to run that unit 24/7 you will run out of fuel quickly, that 5 gallon tank is only good for approx 10-11 hours @ 50% load.....barely 5 hours at 90-100% load (its easy to overload). So, 10 gallons of gas will barely get you through the first 24 hours........sometimes, its best to run the big generator for a few hours a day and then switch to a smaller generator to keep the fuel consumption down. Checkout the smaller Champion 2k watt generators or even consider the Harbor Freight 2 stroke as a backup. http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_18/632490_Review_of_the__79_Harbor_Freight_Generator__with_pics__56k_noway____update_page_14.html&page=43 |