Power Outage Protection

[Hammerhead]

Im looking for a gen as well. Most recommend Honda but the name adds 500$ to the price. I will go with a quality none brand name gen. that can handle 4k watts. I have been looking for awhile now. There are so many. Make A list of what the gen has to have. The one I want needs to have a 30a outlet 240v this is what my lights run off of, 120v wont work for me. I need some 120v outlet as well. So make a list of requirements you need to keep things running at a bare min until the power comes back on. you dont need to have everything on while the power is out. Only run what is a must....

Peace

 

[rives]

You misunderstood me. "Well yea, that's what I'm saying..isn't it? I think the dark schedule (or day/night sched in general) is important. Sooo just like you said you want to "not have additional dark when it should be light", as would happen in a power outage."

In my experience, some dark time inserted during the time when the lights are supposed to be on has never caused a problem. Problems result from having some light inserted into what should be the dark time - this can & will result in hermies, reverting to veg, etc.

As I mentioned earlier, if you need air & water pumps, then that it is a different issue. From what I've seen over the last 30+ years, the plants simply don't react quickly enough to lighting changes to have sporadic darkness bother them. It usually takes at least a week, and usually more, for flowering to be initiated by long nights. Your results may be different, though.

*edit* For your air/water pump needs, you might want to check into a system based on an inverter and batteries. It will be silent, replenishes itself when the power comes back on, and can easily do the transfer switching.

 

[rives]

Im looking for a gen as well. Most recommend Honda but the name adds 500$ to the price. I will go with a quality none brand name gen. that can handle 4k watts. I have been looking for awhile now. There are so many. Make A list of what the gen has to have. The one I want needs to have a 30a outlet 240v this is what my lights run off of, 120v wont work for me. I need some 120v outlet as well. So make a list of requirements you need to keep things running at a bare min until the power comes back on. you dont need to have everything on while the power is out. Only run what is a must....

Peace

The good Japanese generators (Honda, Yamaha, Kubota, etc) as well as the quality US made ones (Onan, etc) are well worth the cost difference if you are going to use them much. The Briggs & Stratton-powered ones, and the Chinese versions, will have a very limited life in comparison. They are also so damn noisy that your neighbors will probably shoot you if they have to listen to them very long.

 

[Hammerhead]

The one I like is made by Husqvarna but uses a Honda Motor.

http://www.amazon.com/Husqvarna-Generator-Engine-Control-1935/dp/B00FQU0FUE

 

[420somewhere]

That's a different animal

That's a different animal

That is a nice generator, very powerful and has 7 gallon gas tank that will run 10 hours at half load.

The Honda is an inverter so you can run electronics, it is only 2000 watts. You can hook up 2 together for running 240 volts.

The real benefit besides being quiet is it goes 9 hours a gallon at half load. I have a 3 1/2 gallon tank which can be plugged in and run all day and night.

It works well for me.

Good Luck

 

[Inspired333]

...The Honda is an inverter so you can run electronics, it is only 2000 watts. You can hook up 2 together for running 240 volts.

The real benefit besides being quiet is it goes 9 hours a gallon at half load. I have a 3 1/2 gallon tank which can be plugged in and run all day and night...

@Frostbyte:
What he said^^
And just from my research so far, I wouldn't trust any other type than an inverter genny.. for the purpose of running digital ballasts and your other 'sensitive' electronic/equipment.

The Honda 2000 and Yamaha 2000 are both 1600 rated/2000 max inverter generators. They have similar specs with some differing features.
If you're interested in one of them (or others) check out wisesales.com I think it's called; No Tax + Free Shipping in the U.S.
Damn near 300 customer reviews on the Honda and at pretty much 5/5* rating. The Yamaha is pretty much all positive there as well, it's more recent I think, but near 300 4 and 5* reviews on amazon.
They make larger models (more watts) too - I'd check out the Yamaha's as they have "in between" models. But if you need 4000Watts, well, that's a lot.

Look into propane generators if that is feasible to you. Also, from what I understand, any generator (or engine that runs on gas even) can be converted to run on propane. It's definitely true for the larger generators - check YouTube on that.

Peace.

 

[trichrider]

*edit* For your air/water pump needs, you might want to check into a system based on an inverter and batteries. It will be silent, replenishes itself when the power comes back on, and can easily do the transfer switching.

for your needs this is the most frugal combination.

 

[Hammerhead]

Im not interested in the Honda 2000.. The one I posted is the one I will buy. It has a 240v outlet on it

 

[Inspired333]

for your needs this is the most frugal combination.

Wonder if by inverter "inverter generator" was meant. I originally was thinking of trying to do this with a 12 volt battery..deep cycle or something. But I don't know exactly how this would be set up, and safely used for that purpose.

Im not interested in the Honda 2000.. The one I posted is the one I will buy. It has a 240v outlet on it

Ok, cool.
Obviously you know what you want and I'm far from an expert on this stuff but depending what equipment you're gonna want to run on a generator...you might want to look into "inverter genertors". They do cost more though... much more.

Peace

 

[Hammerhead]

Some do that but its a huge setup. they had like 50 batteries with a big gen/inverter. If I remember they ran the flower room off of the batteries. They would recharge in the daytime. They also had a huge solar array that also recharged the batteries. .. I was reading this in some mag at the grow store. I believe this is in CO somewhere.

 

[coldcanna]

You can find a 5k geny on craigslist for under $500 bucks if you keep your eyes open. I would think that'd be your best bet and with such a small space you could prob heat it with a standard 1500 watt space heater which runs about $50 bucks. Those propane deals are about $100 for one to heat a 10x10 but then you need to get the regulators, hose, tanks, and various attachments, seems to me that if its only for temporary outages it'd be simpler to use an electric heater.

 

[rives]

Wonder if by inverter "inverter generator" was meant. I originally was thinking of trying to do this with a 12 volt battery..deep cycle or something. But I don't know exactly how this would be set up, and safely used for that purpose.

No. What I was talking about, and the system that I use for the primary backup of low-power loads, utilizes (4) golf cart batteries, a true sine wave computer grade inverter, and a "smart" battery charger. It is basically a UPS on steroids - the inverter is capable of pushing 1000 watts full-time, the batteries give me a couple of days of back up power with the loads that I have connected, and the batteries recharge automatically when the power comes back on or I fire up a generator. I built my own, but a couple of commercial offerings that are similar can be found here -


TrippLite 1250 watt -
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...INC&cisrccode=cii_9927774&cpncode=33-28698869

Xantrex 1800 watt -
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200332587_200332587?cm_mmc=Google-pla-_-Alternative%20%2B%20Renewable%20Energy-_-Complete%20Power%20Packages-_-457000&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=457000&gclid=CKjM9pOd-rsCFZdrfgodP0kAdg