Another Generator Question

[reb78]

I've seen a few helpful threads on generators on here lately so thought i would ask a question of my own.

A while back i bought a petrol generator with an old (at the time non-working) 5HP Briggs and Stratton engine on it. The seller didnt know much about it and thought it was about 2.5kv. I got it home and with a bit of fettling got it working. It runs drills and garage tools fine and has 110 and 240v outputs.

So, it seems fine for tools etc but how can i determine whether it is safe to use on more sensitive equipment (like TVs or to run my boiler - i.e. things with PCBs) should i ever need to? Do they all have AVRs? Is this enough? Can you put something in line to smooth the output?

 

[the snooper]

Generators are not all avr more of the cheaper small units are capacitor regulated as for running more sensitive things it would probably be best to use an anti surge device and test that it is still running at 50hz as I think Gennys just get used and abused and are rarely given a proper service that will check it's still producing what it should be

 

[WorkshopChris]

An old computer UPS between the generator and your electronics may help.
They take pretty much whatever is thrown at them,if your power is good and within limits they will just sit there but will kick in to cover the highs and lows. Often with generators its helpful to keep a flood light on while running, gives it some load when your not pulling much.

 

[reb78]

Interesting. How much protection would a UPS offer? (i guess thats like asking how long a piece of string is!)

How would you tell it was the right type of UPS? Just based on price? Dad has a couple of Belkin ones that he doesnt use anymore, i could swipe one of those (i dont know the specs off the top of my head though)

A friend mentioned converting to DC and then back to AC somehow as a way of cleaning it up - is this similar to what a UPS would do?

(p.s. you can probably tell, my knowledge of electronics is 'basic' to say the least, so please bear with me!)

 

[the snooper]

Interesting. How much protection would a UPS offer? (i guess thats like asking how long a piece of string is!)

How would you tell it was the right type of UPS? Just based on price? Dad has a couple of Belkin ones that he doesnt use anymore, i could swipe one of those (i dont know the specs off the top of my head though)

A friend mentioned converting to DC and then back to AC somehow as a way of cleaning it up - is this similar to what a UPS would do?

(p.s. you can probably tell, my knowledge of electronics is 'basic' to say the least, so please bear with me!)

ups is basically a battery bank feeding an invertor that then runs your equipment so the type mentioned above would involve the genny running the invertor and then the battery taking over the genny if the genny stopped running

 

[WorkshopChris]

This link explains the main power variations:-
https://www.tripplite.com/support/articles/articleid/common-power-problems

What you would need is a on line ups, they com up on eBay quite often at a good price as companies change and upgrade them often.