Actually, Champion has a Lifan engine. Lifan made Honda and Yamaha engines for years.
I have a Champ that is 6 years old, never had an issue.
Well this sucks
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I have a Champ that is 6 years old, never had an issue.
Hope you are able to resurrect your generator. Today I had scheduled an appt with the local electrical/generator repair guy that has been working to solve the start stop problems mine has had for the last couple years. (But he didn't come, rain.) It is a 30 plus year old Dayton, which was bought out by Generac. Besides fixing mine I wanted to talk to him about what might be new in generators, batteries, solar etc. I have solar panels but the required inverters shut off if there is a power failure from Consumers Energy, since I feed excess power back to the grid. This is fine as long as backup generator works. I never wanted to deal with a battery and full time generator etc, but I'm rethinking that.
To make a long story shorter, repair of both yours and mine is necessary. He just sent me a text that I'd be better off waiting until next year. Generators ordered now would not ship until February. They handle two brands, Generac and Briggs I think.
To make a long story shorter, repair of both yours and mine is necessary. He just sent me a text that I'd be better off waiting until next year. Generators ordered now would not ship until February. They handle two brands, Generac and Briggs I think.
Well it seems now hose filters and valve are not the problem. I am going to ask if any one knows if this carb is vented? If I pull the line off after the filter gas runs free, put the line back on and the motor runs on whats in the line and filter then dies. and there is no fuel going into the filter. So does anyone know if these carbs are vented some how maybe through the crank case?
Doing your e-gas separation right now in the shop. Gallon jug with a tight fitting top and a pint of water with red food coloring in it. The alcohol goes to the bottom with the water and the food coloring gives it clarity.
Shake it up and let it sit....
I'll give it a day or so and siphon off the 'clean gas' and refill the jug with more e-gas.
My small engines will no longer get 'weasel pee'
Interesting top watch the alcohol drop out of the gasoline.
Shake it up and let it sit....
I'll give it a day or so and siphon off the 'clean gas' and refill the jug with more e-gas.
My small engines will no longer get 'weasel pee'
Interesting top watch the alcohol drop out of the gasoline.
So you have solar (that you paid a reduced price for) but if consumers is off line (which is frequent it seems), then your solar shuts down as well? That in my view is phooey. Think I'd be investing in a battery bank (Li-Ion) and an inverter and switch gear so when Consumers goes off line, you can still have power.
I have had zero issues with my 27 KW Generac over the last 15 years, just maintain it but mine is diesel powered. The gas and NG/Propane fired units are 2 pole, 3600 rpm, mine is 4 pole 1800 rpm.
Be a cold day in hell before I went solar anything except on the RV. My issue with solar, besides the cost is, if the sun don't shine, there is no power and the lifespan on PV panels is finite and then they have to be disposed of as hazardous waste.
Neighbors have Consumers, we have DTE. They can be dark while we have power and they are dark a lot more than we are.
armylifer
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Equipment
BX1860, FEL, RCK54P MMM, BB1548 Box Scraper, Quick Hitch, Piranha Bar, BX6315
Octane can be boosted by adding acetone to the gas. I add 1 ounce of acetone to each 3 gallons of regular non-ethanol gas for my Harley to prevent pinging.
Yes, I do. I use AR500 additive. Just a few drops per gallon. Amazing process to watch. The water 'grows' with every load of e-gas. I put in red food coloring so it's easy to tell where the water and fuel separate.
I wouldn't do it for the vehicles but for the small engines, separating a couple gallons is pretty easy.
You can see the ethanol precipitate out of the fuel in the jug. I use a gallon clear water jug with a tight fitting top. Shake it up and let it sit a day and siphon it off.
Saves your carbs from the dreaded gunk.
A Grid Tie inverter (which is the most common type) needs to synchronise to the grid, the result being no grid, no output
Some "hybrid" inverters have the ability to provide backup power but most dont
Ive been on the solar/off grid journey for the last 5 or so years.
I started with 5kw of grid tied solar that came with the house.
We monitor this using software, in fact every circuit is monitored for power use.
The first thing I did was add a 21kw 3 phase diesel genset. Enough to power the whole property
I then added an ATS to switch on the genset when the grid was out and changeover to the genset
This is a 4PRO ATS-63A-4P-RSC
I logged the solar for the first 2 years before upgrading it
My best production was 35Kwh/Day and the worst (during a 3 days of a cyclone) was 8.5kwh/Day
On the consumption side we average 22kw/h day (8Kwh at night). So no issue with the genset.
My next step was adding more solar and battery
I went with a 48v Lifepo4 battery bank (400ah cells) giving me 22kw/h of storage or enough for one day
Using the data of my worst day I added 2 more 5kw solar systems. This guarantees me 24Kwh of energy per day or more than enough to get full charge every day.
To make all this work I added a selectronic inverter charger. This sits between the grid and the inverters & loads. I also connects the battery bank and genset.
On a normal day I have full charge by 10am and am exporting energy to the grid from 9am. On average I export 90kwh a day.
3 years down the track with battery no additional costs we are half way to covering the investment with saving from no power bills. As it breaks down 6 years to pay back to the investment in savings. another 3 to cover cost of replacing battery and panels at 15 years. the last 6 years are free. That all assumes grid power prices does not go up (not likley) and battery/solar does not come down in price (no likley either)
Oh yeah have never needed the genset to top up the battery. I have started it for 3 phase power during a storm however. With the power out the grid tied solar still charges the battery and the the inverter charger supplies power from solar and battery. If the battery gets to 50% charge the genset will start and top up the battery with the solar still running.
In terms of costs it all was the about the same as a new BX23s
Thanks! That gives me a place to start. I was thinking I'd have to start with a different kind of inverter. Not sure if I can install them given what I understood was the deal with Consumers. I own the array (a lot are leased around here). But given the situation around here I'd like to be power independent regardless of the cost. Our problem is at the time for greatest power useage (winter) there is the least amount of sunlight. I added electric heat pumps for heating and cooling, so watching the supply demand for a year or two would be a good idea.
You can use any grid connected inverter with batteries if you have the right gear between it and the grid
This is called an inverter charger.
Regards power use you need measure three things in kw/h to work it out
First is your solar production, how much your current inverter supplies to the switchboard
Second is the exported power. IE how much of the power produced is sent to the grid
Third is the imported power or how much you draw from the grid
The second an third can be done with a single meter and the first with with an extra meter or the inverter data.
With these numbers you also have how much you consume but you can also put a meter on the loads directly.
Assuming your power company meter can show you import and exported power you can also do this manually. Your worst production is going to be in the middle of winter either side of the solstice. You can do some meter & inverter readings around this time to get your numbers. Pick a bad day to get the lowest production.
For ease of use, assume your worst production is 5kwh and you have a 5kw system now.
Lets say you use 20kw/day. 20/5=4 so if you add another 15kw you will cover your use every day.
Lets say the 5kwh is only on a few days a year and you normally get 10kwh in winter.
Assuming your prepared to run the genset or buy from the grid on occasion.
20kwh use/ 10kwh production = 2 systems or add one more 5kw solar
As for battery you will hear people talk about 3 days of autonomy.
In other words if you use 20kwh/day you need 60kwh of battery for when you have bad weather.
This was true when solar was much more expensive than battery, not any more
Just get the battery to cover your use. So if you use 20kwh per day and 10 is at night you can get as little as 10kw of battery. Id get the 20 but that's me.
I simple terms for a 16 cell lifepo4 battery bank 10kwh = 200ah batteries
Data is you friend here and knowing the numbers before you buy is critical to getting a good result
Too complex for my taste and my diesel genset (powers the entire farm) is on a vacuum breaker ATS anyway. 45 seconds after the utility drops out, I'm back online. The ATS allows the genset engine to warm a bit before it assumes the load. It's plumbed into my bulk 500 gallon diesel tank next to the shop.
Not 'green' enough for solar, never will be, nor wind power either. If the wind don't blow, no juice. If the sun don't shine, no juice either. Not my thing.
Not 'green' enough for solar, never will be, nor wind power either. If the wind don't blow, no juice. If the sun don't shine, no juice either. Not my thing.