engel fridge on GMC generators
Submitted: Tuesday, Jan 26, 2010 at 09:21
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B & T with BT
Does anybody know if it is safe to run engel or waeco compressor fridges on the cheap GMC 2 stroke 750 or 850 w generators that you can purchase from Bunnings. I have been advised that the Eui20 honda generators are most suitable due to full sinewave output. however no one has been able to advise the suitability of the 240 vlt output of the GMC gensets. The reason for my question is my boys are going camping up to Cape York in July and are taking my engel fridges and their GMC gensets. Is the output of the GMC full wave or half wave ??.
B&T
Reply By: Innkeepers - Tuesday, Jan 26, 2010 at 17:36
Tuesday, Jan 26, 2010 at 17:36
"I have been advised that the Eui20 honda generators are most suitable due to full sinewave output."
Not entirely accurate information- All generators put out a full wave output but some will be nothing like mains power in shape.
The suitablity of the Honda EU20i, and other Inverter type generators is that they deliver REGULATED 240 volts AC. This menas that regardless of load or off load, the output voltage is always 240 Volts AC.
In the other older technology gen sets they use a system of UNREGULATED output. In an old Honda EM-500 we once had, I monitored the output voltage whilst using different appliances and it could swing from 160 Volts AC - 280 Volts AC.
I saw a contractor burn out his hammer drill on a remote building site one day and yes the over voltage killed it.
The other problem that the unregulated type have is that you need to set them up for the correct cycles to be delivered. Australian Standard is 50 Cycles per second and in the US it is 60 CPS. This is usually achieved by increasing the throttle while monitoring a small meter on the gen set that has these 2 graduations on it and usually a little white needle will swing side to side when 50 or 60 CPS is attained .
However, if the load is heavy, the revs drop and the cycles could be who knows what???? And the voltage will drop too.
The new inverter gen sets are just that....they take the output of the generator and use that as their input and regulate the output to 240 VAC @ 50CPS. regardless of load until it becomes too big a load and then the control circuit just shuts off the generator to protect itself and your gear.
If you want to help your lads out, lend them your Honda Inverter genset as well as the Engels and then make them swear to use the Engels on the Honda.
Hope this helps
Cheers
Rick
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Reply By: B & T with BT - Tuesday, Jan 26, 2010 at 17:53
Tuesday, Jan 26, 2010 at 17:53
Thanks Rick you confirmed what I suspected. You get what you pay for. We will use the Honda and hope the boys bring it back in one piece.
B&T
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579710
Follow Up By: Innkeepers - Tuesday, Jan 26, 2010 at 19:17
Tuesday, Jan 26, 2010 at 19:17
Yes, we've always looked at the cheaper options and weighed them up, but over the years our decision to by quality equipment has held us in good stead in terms of longevity and reliability.
Good Luck
Cheers
Rick
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