Not earthing a generator

[TonyS]

On 25/02/2011 10:46 PM, fritz wrote:

"Sylvia Else"<sylvia@not.here.invalid> wrote in message news:8spkfqFgpuU1@mid.individual.net...
On 25/02/2011 10:16 PM, who where wrote:
On Fri, 25 Feb 2011 12:49:38 +1100, Sylvia Else
sylvia@not.here.invalid> wrote:

I've sourced a couple of padlocks, chain, and a way to lock one end of
the chain to a brick wall. All case-hardened steel, or better.

The attachment to the generator is really the weak spot. The generator
casing is plastic, and there's no obvious place I can attach anthing to
the interior. The best I can do is thread the chain through the casing
in such a way that so much damage would be done in removing it that a
thief wouldn't bother.

So assuming that any thief would want an intact generator, it should be
secure against anyone not armed with either heavy-duty bolt cutters, or
power tools.

We've had a number of cases of theft on comms sites where it was
evident that the thieves had visited more than once. First time they
were just looking around to see what they could nick. Second time
they brought the tools to remove all sorts of stuff. Used gas-axes to
cut through the legs of aluminium equipment cabinets.

There is a chain material that is reputedly beyond even the 36"
bolt-cutters. Unfortunately its plating - which looks like a
cad/passivation - seems to fall off and allow rusting. But it DOES
take about half an hour and several hacksaw blades to cut through the
10mm links in a vice. I guess a motorised angle-grinder wouldn't take
long though.

Unfortunately, if the crims are that organised, it's going to be impossible to prevent the theft by any means that's economic. But
I hope that if they're into those sort of techniques, they'll go after something more valuable than my generator.

As a last resort, I'm insured.

Sylvia.

I deleted the start of this thread, would you mind telling me what
model generator you have, the brief specs and the price ?
Thanks !

Nobody home?

Here you go:
***************
After much soul searching I went for a Kipor GS2600 (rated output
2300W), bought from Sparky Direct. It may not (with emphasis on may)
have the run-time longevity of a Honda or Yamaha, but I don't need that
in this application. I'll probably die of old age before it reaches 50
hours. The twenty hour run-in, while a bit of a pain, gives me a chance
to let it burn-in while it's in warranty. I checked with Kipor in
Australia, and they claim that spare parts are available for it here.

In some quarters they seem to have a reputation for being a bit smokey,
but in fact once mine has warmed up, there's no smoke visible even if I
set out to look for it.

Yes, it's an inverter air-conditioner (Daikin). I called Daikin and they
hadn't a clue about starting current, so I measured it directly. It's
very well behaved.

I did some more searching regarding earthing. This seems to be a
contentious and hotly debated issue.

Sylvia.
*******************
Tony

 

[Sylvia Else]

On 26/02/2011 10:59 AM, TonyS wrote:

On 25/02/2011 10:46 PM, fritz wrote:

"Sylvia Else"<sylvia@not.here.invalid> wrote in message
news:8spkfqFgpuU1@mid.individual.net...
On 25/02/2011 10:16 PM, who where wrote:
On Fri, 25 Feb 2011 12:49:38 +1100, Sylvia Else
sylvia@not.here.invalid> wrote:

I've sourced a couple of padlocks, chain, and a way to lock one end of
the chain to a brick wall. All case-hardened steel, or better.

The attachment to the generator is really the weak spot. The generator
casing is plastic, and there's no obvious place I can attach
anthing to
the interior. The best I can do is thread the chain through the casing
in such a way that so much damage would be done in removing it that a
thief wouldn't bother.

So assuming that any thief would want an intact generator, it
should be
secure against anyone not armed with either heavy-duty bolt
cutters, or
power tools.

We've had a number of cases of theft on comms sites where it was
evident that the thieves had visited more than once. First time they
were just looking around to see what they could nick. Second time
they brought the tools to remove all sorts of stuff. Used gas-axes to
cut through the legs of aluminium equipment cabinets.

There is a chain material that is reputedly beyond even the 36"
bolt-cutters. Unfortunately its plating - which looks like a
cad/passivation - seems to fall off and allow rusting. But it DOES
take about half an hour and several hacksaw blades to cut through the
10mm links in a vice. I guess a motorised angle-grinder wouldn't take
long though.

Unfortunately, if the crims are that organised, it's going to be
impossible to prevent the theft by any means that's economic. But
I hope that if they're into those sort of techniques, they'll go
after something more valuable than my generator.

As a last resort, I'm insured.

Sylvia.

I deleted the start of this thread, would you mind telling me what
model generator you have, the brief specs and the price ?
Thanks !

Nobody home?
Here you go:
***************
After much soul searching I went for a Kipor GS2600 (rated output
2300W), bought from Sparky Direct. It may not (with emphasis on may)
have the run-time longevity of a Honda or Yamaha, but I don't need that
in this application. I'll probably die of old age before it reaches 50
hours. The twenty hour run-in, while a bit of a pain, gives me a chance
to let it burn-in while it's in warranty. I checked with Kipor in
Australia, and they claim that spare parts are available for it here.

In some quarters they seem to have a reputation for being a bit smokey,
but in fact once mine has warmed up, there's no smoke visible even if I
set out to look for it.

Yes, it's an inverter air-conditioner (Daikin). I called Daikin and they
hadn't a clue about starting current, so I measured it directly. It's
very well behaved.

I did some more searching regarding earthing. This seems to be a
contentious and hotly debated issue.

Sylvia.
*******************
Tony

$1,407.94 including freight to a Sydney address. It arrived in a few days.

Minor issue was that it had clearly been shipped on its side at some
point. Its display packaging has a "this way up" indication, but the
exterior plain carton did not. Some of the residual engine oil had
leaked out (it's shipped without oil but clearly they had to put some in
to test it). Kipor in Australia confirmed that this would not be an
technical problem, but offered to replace the generator if I felt the
oil had messed up the interior of the casing. In the event, I just
cleaned it up.

Sylvia.

 

[fritz]

"Sylvia Else" <sylvia@not.here.invalid> wrote in message news:8sr0d8FmjfU1@mid.individual.net...

On 26/02/2011 10:59 AM, TonyS wrote:
On 25/02/2011 10:46 PM, fritz wrote:

"Sylvia Else"<sylvia@not.here.invalid> wrote in message
news:8spkfqFgpuU1@mid.individual.net...
On 25/02/2011 10:16 PM, who where wrote:
On Fri, 25 Feb 2011 12:49:38 +1100, Sylvia Else
sylvia@not.here.invalid> wrote:

I've sourced a couple of padlocks, chain, and a way to lock one end of
the chain to a brick wall. All case-hardened steel, or better.

The attachment to the generator is really the weak spot. The generator
casing is plastic, and there's no obvious place I can attach
anthing to
the interior. The best I can do is thread the chain through the casing
in such a way that so much damage would be done in removing it that a
thief wouldn't bother.

So assuming that any thief would want an intact generator, it
should be
secure against anyone not armed with either heavy-duty bolt
cutters, or
power tools.

We've had a number of cases of theft on comms sites where it was
evident that the thieves had visited more than once. First time they
were just looking around to see what they could nick. Second time
they brought the tools to remove all sorts of stuff. Used gas-axes to
cut through the legs of aluminium equipment cabinets.

There is a chain material that is reputedly beyond even the 36"
bolt-cutters. Unfortunately its plating - which looks like a
cad/passivation - seems to fall off and allow rusting. But it DOES
take about half an hour and several hacksaw blades to cut through the
10mm links in a vice. I guess a motorised angle-grinder wouldn't take
long though.

Unfortunately, if the crims are that organised, it's going to be
impossible to prevent the theft by any means that's economic. But
I hope that if they're into those sort of techniques, they'll go
after something more valuable than my generator.

As a last resort, I'm insured.

Sylvia.

I deleted the start of this thread, would you mind telling me what
model generator you have, the brief specs and the price ?
Thanks !

Nobody home?
Here you go:
***************
After much soul searching I went for a Kipor GS2600 (rated output
2300W), bought from Sparky Direct. It may not (with emphasis on may)
have the run-time longevity of a Honda or Yamaha, but I don't need that
in this application. I'll probably die of old age before it reaches 50
hours. The twenty hour run-in, while a bit of a pain, gives me a chance
to let it burn-in while it's in warranty. I checked with Kipor in
Australia, and they claim that spare parts are available for it here.

In some quarters they seem to have a reputation for being a bit smokey,
but in fact once mine has warmed up, there's no smoke visible even if I
set out to look for it.

Yes, it's an inverter air-conditioner (Daikin). I called Daikin and they
hadn't a clue about starting current, so I measured it directly. It's
very well behaved.

I did some more searching regarding earthing. This seems to be a
contentious and hotly debated issue.

Sylvia.
*******************
Tony

$1,407.94 including freight to a Sydney address. It arrived in a few days.

Minor issue was that it had clearly been shipped on its side at some point. Its display packaging has a "this way up" indication,
but the exterior plain carton did not. Some of the residual engine oil had leaked out (it's shipped without oil but clearly they
had to put some in to test it). Kipor in Australia confirmed that this would not be an technical problem, but offered to replace
the generator if I felt the oil had messed up the interior of the casing. In the event, I just cleaned it up.

Sylvia.

I was curious because the local supermarket has a generator on
special for 199 Euro - seemed a bit too cheap. I checked and the
normal price is more like 280 Euro - still sounds a bit fishy ?
It's not an inverter type, but is rated at 2.5kW and you can chain
it down easily.
http://www.matrix-direct.net/en/index.php?ac=2020&prodID=431&parent=13&product_search=generator