need an emergency hurricane power generator?

[grumpyvette]

if your in one of the areas where hurricanes are a problem, and need a generator its a great time to add to your shop tools, they build good welders that are also good emergency generators
I went thru several hurricanes with a portable back-up generator/welder like this (notice the shop welder/generator cost less than 10%) of what the wife wanted installed below...
http://www.welders-direct.com/merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=WD&Product_Code=K1419-5
it works great as both a shop welder and a generator, btw with the correct options you can TIG weld or ARC weld with it, its a GREAT TOOL!! but its noisy and requires you fill the 5 gallon tank and add a bit of oil every 8-9 hours,the wife loved the power but hated the noise...I was happy she was not..
my local power company had package deals available , I got the price for my generator as a special order from home depot,and it was about 22K alone, the power company wanted $35k to do a package deal,on a similar but cheaper version and a much smaller fuel tank,(I probably would have got cheaper components from them than I did picking parts individually)but I paid over $40k when I was all installed...btw its a large v6 auto engine spinning the generator
Ive got a 45 K watt generator ,with aluminum housing (thats important as RUST is a big problem in florida)that cost a good bit,keep in mind the electrical hook up and permits and the cng/propane tank install,and permits filling it with 2000cf of gas and building a 8' x 6' 8" thick concrete mount pad and permits cost almost as much as the generator alone
http://www.generac.com/Products/LiquidCooled/LiquidCooled.aspx
that being said, its nice to have near instant reserve/replacement power durring any power loss, you can barely hear it run and it comes on within 45 seconds of the power dropping off, keep in mind IM out in the sticks and it usually took 2 weeks to get power restored and women don,t like camping out and eating bar-b-q or packaged food for every meal for two weeks
thrust me I was happy with the welder/generator, Id paid $2500 for ,it was 100% the wifes idea to get a full blown near instant reserve power generator that allows everything in the house to run normally durring extended power outages...at that time I could afford it, so we figured it added to the house value and we got it to keep her happy, I don,t regret it,(keeping the wife happy) but I fully aggree that it was overly expensive

 

[JohnZ]

We got tired of random power failures from Detroit Edison, our mickey-mouse electric utility, and had a Generac 18-KW fully-automatic natural gas-powered standby generator installed. The automatic transfer switch disconnects from utility power when the generator fires up, and re-connects when the utility power comes back on. We don't even have to be home. Timing is everything - had it installed in June, 2003, and six weeks later we had the famous 3-day northeastern grid failure; all we had to do was reset the digital clocks . Photos at the link below.

http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?folder_id=359956

 

[67vet]

JohnZ - looks like a nice setup. How loud is the generator when operating? What would the sound be similiar to? Thanks.

 

[EVIL TWIN]

Thats quite the system you have there !! I'll have to keep you mind during
our next hurricane !! Sounds like you might have some power to spare !

 

[JohnZ]

JohnZ - looks like a nice setup. How loud is the generator when operating? What would the sound be similiar to? Thanks.

It has a good-sized muffler (the top half of the left end of the cabinet is all muffler); the engine is a 990cc 36hp OHV V-twin, and when it's operating under load (3600rpm) the soundproofed cabinet keeps most of the engine noise down, and the exhaust isn't very loud. The latest 2008 models are even quieter. I can hear it running in the background when I'm in my garage office (it's right outside the garage wall), but it's not distracting; can't hear it at all in the house with the windows closed. A little noise isn't an issue when you have power and others don't.

We had another six-hour power failure Wednesday night (5-11 PM), and all we had to do was to reset the digital clocks (it waits for ten seconds after the utility power drops out to start, then lets the engine warm up for ten seconds before applying electrical load the generator). There's great peace of mind knowing we'll NEVER be without power again.

 

[KANE]

I bought one of these for $339 from Amazon. Worked well while I waited for the lights to come back on.

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Max-GEN-..._2?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1221870335&sr=8-2