DIESEL GENERATOR, (as your primary power source)

[C#1]

Thats a good idea about the smaller gen.. im just looking for ways to save costs im not going with that way yet 100% just sumthin to look into...doin my homework before I jump in knee deep...I have been searching local adds and have come across more then a few cheap 20-30kw used gen set for a couple grand! know if I only knew what to look for in them So i dont buy a POS...And moving the thing is sumthin I been trying to figure out since there at least 1500kgs+...I like the one that you can hook right up to the trailer hitch and tow around! you could move the whole op or at least get out your expensive equip quickly

 

[pico]

Yep, even with the solar and wind power they are really trying to improve the battery and transformer technology. If they can make that part of the system more efficient it makes solar/wind start to look a lot better. Efficiency of the solar panel itself is starting to improve as well.

 

[Guest]

If your going to buy a Diesel Generator to run long hours or 24/7. You want a bushless unit and one that turns 1800RPM or less. Those units that run at 3600RPM's are not going to last. The slow turning 1800 and less RPM. Will last a long time. As long as you change oil and fuel filters like you should.

As posted, flip flop boxes will help with the load to the generator. It will keep you more at a lower load. As long as you don't go over board. I think members have posted 80% load and you should be good. As for the unit I have in storage now. It's a 12kW units and I had a planning build to use a total of 12 600HPS lights and a few outlets for water pumps, etc. Load should be at about 7500kW's, so I should be more then good. Big thing with these units is oil and fuel filter changes. Use good oil also. Follow these rules and you'll be good to grow for a long time. OH, one other thing also. Try to stay away from shit diesel sources. The one with alot of water in them. Some places have older ground tanks and they tend to get more water in them, then others. This can kill a fuel filter quickly.

As for the sound levels. Most of the units that have these sound proof housings. Are running at about 73-79 DB's at about 7 meters, so your not really seeing anything to special. They all run about the same levels. I'm going to place my in a room design for the unit and sound proof that room. Then the generator will be in the factory sound proof box and you shouldn't hear anything. Well, that's about it for me tonight. Good luck to all and remember to check the fuel/load. See how much the unit that you are looking at. Is burning at 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and full loads. Some burn allot more then others. While others burn allot less. You want that fuel cost as low as possible.
Take care,
BG

 

[jarff]

Good to see this thread still alive
How,s it goin,for you GDW.....Myself I took ill and haven,t set up my generator yet but hope to get it done before the snow flies.....Got all my plans together but can,t get the shelter built til I,m up to snuff again....It,s a bear when you don,t know when you are going to get sick for months or if you are going to be feeling good for a few months.I won,t give up and will get the gen goin,soon.Will post some pix when it,s done.
All the best to those getting ready to fire up the machine for the first go-around...
good luck
jarff

 

[Guest]

Hey jarff,

Sorry to hear your sick. I hope you get better soon. Nothing worst then getting sick right before a project and you can't start it. I'm sure you'll be back on your feet soon. Take care and get some rest.

Looking forward to your pictures and input. Can't wait to see your setup. I've been hitting the BioDiesel site pretty hard lately and think I'm going to try one of these systems. Going to see once I get settled. If I can find a place that will give me their used cooking oil. I'm sure someone will, since they have to pay for it to be removed. Either way, farm diesel is also cheaper. Can't wait to get me a place and get my unit setup. Looking forward to have my own power supply. lol. Got a couple of idea's on my setup, but waiting to see what i end up with a place. Should be fun in the end. Well good, luck and take care. Let us know when you get rolling and please. BE SAFE, those units can KILL you.
Later,
BG

 

[DrBudGreengenes]

Since you bump the thread up. I will post something new. lolol
What he's doing, is filtering the particles out with a 10 or so micron filter and mixing it up with some Kerosene to a 50/50 ratio. He's running his truck all week long with no bad effects. He's also running the same mixture in a diesel generator at his fishing camp. He uses a small 5-6Kw generator to run his lights, and fridge. Says it works just great. Just thought I would share that info.

Remember, this is unprocessed oil. This is not BioDiesel. Just plain used fryer oil filtered for particles and then mixed with Kerosene.

Take care,
BG

~~~What your friend is doing can be taken 1 step farther and set-up to run the SVO (the original Diesel engine invented by Mr.Diesel ran on peanut oil)
All ya' need is dual tanks....
Ya' startup on Diesel then when the engine is warm ya' switch and run on SVO all day long.
and then switch back to Diesel for the last 5 min. B4 shut down to clear the fuel lines.
search SVO its FREE~~~

 

[Blunted22]

hey golddustwomen is it possible to get a 1800rpm deisel gen with a auto start function so didnt have to go to the house every day at the same time?

 

[NiteTiger]

Absolutely Blunted! Almost all serious genny's have some sort of autostart available, whether it be built in or through an add-on.

 

[skin]

i had a bit of trouble getting my timed start stop feature added to my genny , it should of been easy but the genny main dealer told a few lies about what it could do !
so the local dealer had to make it right , which he did in the end !!!!!!!!!

also in hind sight i should of gone with the slightly more expensive made to my spec genny offered by another company , a few grows with this unit and i will be .

 

[Guest]

Absolutely Blunted! Almost all serious genny's have some sort of autostart available, whether it be built in or through an add-on.

Hey NiteTiger, thanks for helping out.

Like NT has stated already. Most of the nice units and allot of them. Will have a timer system. It is for starting and stopping the units. Very easy to setup and run. You can program your light cycles, "BUT" you want to make sure your unit warms up some. Before you slam your light loads on the unit. Most of the time. You want about a 10-15 min warm up and cool down time. This helps with the life of the genset. A panel with a time for the lights can be wired. It's a panel that have a constate power to the timer. It trips the light once it hits the right time. You then have the timer on the genset. The genset fires up, and feeds the panel. You let it warm up and then the other timer trips and lets the lights come on. Pretty easy and nice setup.

Yes, you got to watch which units you buy. You want to make sure it can do what you want. Watch out for these cheap Chinese units. There are some that are good and there are allot that are shit. Always read up on them or even ask someone. Tell them your using the unit to power a hunting cabin or something like that. Easy lie.lolol
Take care,
BG

 

[Blunted22]

Gold agian thanks do you have any idea of how big a gen has to be to come with a auto start( i know itll depend maybe a round about area) This is not a country house and has no use for a gen and it will be inside the house.

 

[Guest]

Gold agian thanks do you have any idea of how big a gen has to be to come with a auto start( i know itll depend maybe a round about area) This is not a country house and has no use for a gen and it will be inside the house.

Well, I've seen the 7kW units and I think there is a DIY kit for a small 3.5kW. It really doesn't matter. If the units have a two wire start setup. You can buy a unit that will turn it on. It's just a timer for the generator is all, but the nice units are starting at about 7kW.

The Cabin statement was your little white lie if you needed to talk to a sale's man. Your just saying you got a hunting cabin you need some power to. It doesn't matter that your stashing it inside for your grow. Just make sure you vent and also get fresh air in the room. You don't want to die from CO2 poison or a fire. check out the link generatorsales.com. They got some nice stuff and nice people and another thing. FREE shipping.
Take care,
BG

 

[Blunted22]

thanks again and kudos to you for the help i would loove something i could just run like 3k lights on and keep everythign else on the grid. THat woudl give me 3k more light and totally fill my room so i can get rid of all the light rails.

 

[Guest]

thanks again and kudos to you for the help i would loove something i could just run like 3k lights on and keep everythign else on the grid. THat woudl give me 3k more light and totally fill my room so i can get rid of all the light rails.

Good luck. The units you need are out there. Just make sure it's a 1800 RPM or less motor. Those high RPM motors are loud and don't last long.
Good luck,
BG

 

[kevlar99]

Hola im new to these forums, how is everyone? Just in the process of lighting up a 30 by 30 area with a generator. while shopping for a generator i have heard all the arguments back and forth over propane versus diesel. Wondering if anyone has any good advice on the subject? IT seems that u get a closer output to the actual rated output with a propane unit and they seem to be cracking down on people using diesel fuel to power such operations around here because of enviromental concerns. Need a 45kw unit if anyone has any suggestions that would be sweet. Thanks

 

[DB2004]

Hi Kevlar

If you're in need of a custom power panel, flip, or timerboard, check out www.nowirenuts.ca.

Best Regards

DB

 

[yamaha_1fan]

a 45KW genny is going to use alot of fuel either way. How are you going to get that much propane to your generator? I have considered a diesel generator and figured I would just put a tank in my truck and fill it up, then fill up my generator tank. I could visit a few different stations and never create suspiscion. But for the propane, you would have to have it delivered wouldnt you? A delivery every few days would raise a few eyebrows

 

[rr14]

has anyone came to any conclusions on using LPG from the gas company for a generator? How does cost compare to diesel? Would it be a bust to use this much LPG?

Also, it is my understanding that you can setup a solar system to buy back electricity. Is it possible to do something similar with generators so that you don't have to spend tons of dough on batteries to store the power, or run the genny full time?

 

[yamaha_1fan]

Also, it is my understanding that you can setup a solar system to buy back electricity. Is it possible to do something similar with generators so that you don't have to spend tons of dough on batteries to store the power, or run the genny full time?

I dont understand. In theory, you run the genny 24/7, flip flopping between flower rooms. That way its always running and being efficient.No need for batteries, etc

You can tap into the grid at your house and sell back electricity. Basically your meter would run backwards and you would earn a credit. I would avoid this as the benefit is not that much and it opens a whole new can of worms with the power company. I

 

[JamesChong]

Well, I've been posting on this thread for sometime now. My old screen name was Golddustwomen. That was my girlfriends account and deleted it. Here's what I got to say about it all.

Well, I've been working around 100K Diesel units. They run pretty well and produce large amount of juice. Once they are warmed up, they really don't harm the enviromental as they say. They are cracking down, because of the amount of oil that is being shipped into the USA and Canada. There is worries of shortage and propane is in large supplies these days.

As for running a 45kW genset. Your better off going with a diesel. These are my reason and others have already stated this. It's allot easier to fuel the system then having a truck come out to your house and pump propane into a tank. You can get a 265 or 550 gallon heating oil tank and use that for the generator. Then you can call for one order from heating company and keep topping weekly. Then you don't have to worry about ordering from the heating oil company and them thinking anything.

Best way to top your tank. Get a fuel work tank for your truck. I use them for the job sites and like the 91 or 95 gallon fuel tank with tool box. I've got a 12 volt pump with nozzel and just pump from my truck to my oil tank. It's that easy and no one will know. When your at a gas station. No one will even think. They will just see a normal work truck. I like going to different stations, so not to draw any attentions. Plus, prices are better at two different stations. I also might throw a couple of plastic 55 gallon drum in also. I like to do that at night sometimes. High the truck stop with the high follow pumps and run both nozzel at the same time.

As for using propane. Your going to be running a large unit. Your going to burn through allot of fuel. I would stay away from it, because. You are going to have to have a truck come out to your place. Why would you want that. When you can get your own fuel with diesel.

If you need a panel. DB2004 is the shit and builds super nice panels. I bought a 12kW stand alone panel and it's awesome. I'll be ordering more panels from him again in the future.

Well, I'll answer any questions. OH, I'm going to be setting up my unit and will post a thread with pictures. Should be sometime around may.
Take care,
BG