We would like to install a generator with automatic start and transfer. To bridge it we would like to have a UPS capable of supplying the entire house (or at least a handful of selected circuits) for the dozen seconds or so it takes the generator to start and stabilize. That doesn't seem unreasonable since even at the rated electrical panel entry point of 100A/240V we would only be talking about less 0.5MJ. Assuming we could get the needed peak current from a car battery (unlikely, but not by much), we are only talking about a battery with a 10Ah capacity. Since we are never operating at, or even very close, to capacity I think a car battery would be more than adequate. I don't know what is available commercially for this, but it seems like it would be a pretty popular option, especially given all the electronics that people have today that don't take kindly to even transient power interruptions.

 

Several years ago we did some major home renovations and I installed a whole house automatic transfer emergency generator that runs on LPG or NG and for use runs on Natural Gas. At 18KW I can support half the street I live on.

Very cool, but why? In the worst power outage I've ever experienced (2 or 3 days), I lost maybe $10 worth of food and had the fun of meeting all the neighbors on the front stoops again.

Now, if I was paying a lot for electricity but not so much for NG...

 

Very cool, but why? In the worst power outage I've ever experienced (2 or 3 days), I lost maybe $10 worth of food and had the fun of meeting all the neighbors on the front stoops again.

Now, if I was paying a lot for electricity but not so much for NG...

The pictured generator was led up to. Years ago my wife's mother had brain surgery which did not go well. Basically she was a vegetable. Eventually home care came about. Over the years more and more machines came about into the house. Initially I had a 4 KW gasoline powered generator and I set up a pony station outside. The scenario involved getting the generator from the shed and dragging it to the house. Turning off mains in the basement and doing a manual change over. More and more machines began to show up, like the oxygen concentrator and vent machine. It became unpractical to use the little 4 KW unit so I just went whole house automatic. The pictured unit has square corners. I bought it at Lowes and got a hell of a deal. I was looking at 12 KW units and saw the 18-20 KW unit. Talking to a real nice manager type who explained the new models were out and they had pretty round corners. A 12 KW unit complete was around $3,000 and he offered to sell me that 18-20 KW floor model for $3,000. The new units in 18-20 KW were $4,500. Brand new and had the box, I took it.

The thing works great and does an exercise routine once a week. During power outages we have the neighbors over, watch movies and drink a few. Anyway, the whole generator thing was more driven by need than nice to have originally. I will say this, I never want to return to not having a good emergency generator. Kathy's mom is gone but my generator lives on.

We do have the computers and some electronics on UPS units but in reality they only have to support things for around 7 to 10 seconds.

Ron

 

I'd like to thank you all for suffering through my curiosity as well as my ignorance. Each one of you has taught me something valuable and I appreciate that greatly.

 

I'd like to thank you all for suffering through my curiosity as well as my ignorance. Each one of you has taught me something valuable and I appreciate that greatly.

Roland, the only dumb question is the question not asked. So now you know.

Ron

 

Roland, the only dumb question is the question not asked. So now you know.

Ron

Thanks Ron.

 

Roland, the only dumb question is the question not asked. So now you know.

Ron

Oh, I don't know about that. I'm pretty sure I've asked some truly dumb questions in my day.

 

Oh, I don't know about that. I'm pretty sure I've asked some truly dumb questions in my day.

Still, I think Ron's point was that the important thing is to ask anyway despite how dumb it may seem in retrospect. I remember asking as a kid all the time, "Why?", "How come?". "What if?'. Guess I'm still that kid at heart when it comes to things I desperately wish to understand when I haven't got a clue. Aren't you still that way too in relation to things you don't know about to this day despite your gathered knowledge throughout the years? Some of the best knowledge I've gained came from really dumb questions I didn't happen to think were dumb at the time. However, in retrospect I look back and still tend to blush!

 

Still, I think Ron's point was that the important thing is to ask anyway despite how dumb it may seem in retrospect. I remember asking as a kid all the time, "Why?", "How come?". "What if?'. Guess I'm still that kid at heart when it comes to things I desperately wish to understand when I haven't got a clue. Aren't you still that way too in relation to things you don't know about to this day despite your gathered knowledge throughout the years? Some of the best knowledge I've gained came from really dumb questions I didn't happen to think were dumb at the time. However, in retrospect I look back and still tend to blush!

Oh, by all means I agree. Even when a question really is "dumb" (however that might be defined), the fact that it was asked means that the person asking can stand to learn something -- even if it's just a matter of needing to look at things from a slightly different perspective before slapping their forehead and blushing.

 

Hmm,

If you attach magnets to the blades and make a ring out of copper wire I guess you COULD make SOME energy. Man that would be a mean ass generator.

 

In Africa they would mount a generator to the botton.

Its not really good since you need voltage regulation, but its just ordinary motor.

 

If you attach magnets to the blades ....

Please don't do that in my neighborhood!
But seriously, the metal of the blades would experience eddy current braking when they passed any coil with current flowing in it, making it less effective. The wind generator guys mount magnets in fiberglass disks, but they spin much slower I don't think they could take the rpm and centrifugal forces of a lawn mower. They'd fly apart and embed themselves in the legs of the operator and and any neighborhood children nearby.

 

If it has a battery, then just take the battery out and use it to power a LED or whatever else. I mean why use a gas engine to make electricity when you already have a battery?

In regards to the original question, would it work if you put a huge capacitor in parallel with the magneto?

no, a capacitor would not work, the magneto is ac not dc.

 

Hmm,

If you attach magnets to the blades and make a ring out of copper wire I guess you COULD make SOME energy. Man that would be a mean ass generator.

While many ideas like this sound good and easy to do on the surface, actually doing them becomes a little more complicated. Things that spin are balanced and need to remain that way. When things that spin become unbalanced bad things can happen as they begin to come apart and pieces and parts fly off at high velocity.

Ron

 

While many ideas like this sound good and easy to do on the surface, actually doing them becomes a little more complicated. Things that spin are balanced and need to remain that way. When things that spin become unbalanced bad things can happen as they begin to come apart and pieces and parts fly off at high velocity.

Ron

Please don't do that in my neighborhood!
But seriously, the metal of the blades would experience eddy current braking when they passed any coil with current flowing in it, making it less effective. The wind generator guys mount magnets in fiberglass disks, but they spin much slower I don't think they could take the rpm and centrifugal forces of a lawn mower. They'd fly apart and embed themselves in the legs of the operator and and any neighborhood children nearby.

Just to make sure we all know, I was joking..