Read up on the power inverter post, and I need some help/clarification. My wife has a CPAC along with an O2 concentrator that will probably not handle the dirty sine waves that come off of my 5500W nominal/6500W peak gas generator. A few years back, I managed to keep the central heater going after the circuit board fried because of the generator, but we survived. Now with this equipment, no way I'd hook it to the gas generator. I have it set up whereas it backfeeds into the house via a 240V/40 Amp connection. This generator also has a DC charge post on the control panel. I have my Interstate 850 CCA boat battery in the garage. If I got an inverter, say around 800W, probably 6-7 Amps, hooked it to the battery, then the battery to the generator and just run extension cords to CPAC and O2 concentrator, would that work?? Could I overcharge that battery? I'm pretty sure there is no type of DC output protection, it has a meter that just shows how much DC output power it's sending to the poles on the panel. I know another option is to just buy a 1000W generator, but geesh, I already got this stuff and would like to somehow make it work without dumping more money. But, if it won't work, it won't work.
Gas generators and inverters
- Thread starter Schmoe
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Unless your invertor is a good one your wave is probably going to be poor as well. There's a lot of conversations on the topic trying to run pellet stoves as the better ones have a pretty good computer running them. I have one stove that starts going into a shutdown if it senses the square wave put out by most invertors on most UPS systems.
I would bet the DC output of your gennys board is around 8 amps. I have 4 gensets and that's what they have
I would bet the DC output of your gennys board is around 8 amps. I have 4 gensets and that's what they have
What might do the trick is a computer backup power supply/battery. You need to find out how much current the medical unit draws. Better quality computer backups from outfits like APC have
decent quality waveforms. lots of them around surplus now because computers can shut themselves down in the event of power failure without damage.
decent quality waveforms. lots of them around surplus now because computers can shut themselves down in the event of power failure without damage.
Please describe things upon first use rather than assuming everyone knows what your acronym refers to. What is a CPAC?
If it's a medical device, get a medical-grade power supply and power the device with that (ie generator ->Medical Grade Power Supply -> Mysterious CPAC - whatever that is - device.
If it's a medical device, get a medical-grade power supply and power the device with that (ie generator ->Medical Grade Power Supply -> Mysterious CPAC - whatever that is - device.
Does the CPAC have a cord with a power supply inline? I'm wondering if it needs something like 12V DC. In which case it might be trivial. A step up would be if it needed 19V; but DC to DC convertors do exist, and which may make the job easier.
Use gas generator to run battery charger that charges the battery that you use your inverter on.
Jethro Bodine ciphering.
Jethro Bodine ciphering.
What about a universal power supply for computers? They must publish their power output specs and I wouldn't get an inverter that doesn't. I guess the question is if they can handle being charged by a regular generator? Or maybe you can charge them with 12v?
The CPAC does have a power converter in-line, which converts the AC to DC. I know the O2 machine doesn't have that, or at least it's not on the power supply cord. I know it has a compressor in it. Been reading up on some of the inverters and their are some that specifically say to not run a refrigerator or AC unit with it.
I think youre way overthinking this ...usually appliances toast on a generator when the voltage is BELOW rated and current goes UP. This is like a brownout condition.
So as long as you're not overloading the gens rating the voltage should be OK. Most non inductive devices connected to AC power rectify and filter the power so how clean the sine wave is is irrelevant.
Connecting innefficient battery chargers and inverters from the DC out just loads the gen down MORE and puts you into overload quicker because of the losses.
Save your money on gadgetry and get a bigger Gen if you need more power. The gen outputs a genuine sine wave which bypasses all the switching PS issues.
So as long as you're not overloading the gens rating the voltage should be OK. Most non inductive devices connected to AC power rectify and filter the power so how clean the sine wave is is irrelevant.
Connecting innefficient battery chargers and inverters from the DC out just loads the gen down MORE and puts you into overload quicker because of the losses.
Save your money on gadgetry and get a bigger Gen if you need more power. The gen outputs a genuine sine wave which bypasses all the switching PS issues.
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http://www.ebay.com/itm/BESTEK-2000W-4600-Watt-Power-Inverter-12V-DC-to-110V-AC-Adapter-Charger-Supply-/142005852995?hash=item2110355b43:g:k10AAOSw6n5XqAav
Would it be possible to get something like this, run it off that marine battery and then having the generator charge the battery WHILE I'm still using the generator or lights and other stuff. I know not to exceed the overall wattage, which I shouldn't. With this inverter, I could use it on a TV or laptop as well.
Would it be possible to get something like this, run it off that marine battery and then having the generator charge the battery WHILE I'm still using the generator or lights and other stuff. I know not to exceed the overall wattage, which I shouldn't. With this inverter, I could use it on a TV or laptop as well.
Op, i have no experience, sorry, but:
maybe you can call the manufacturers of the cpac and O2 machines and ask about their preferred power backup solutions they know about/use/recommend.
i think you will probably need to get to somebody level 3 in support.... but why not?
maybe you can call the manufacturers of the cpac and O2 machines and ask about their preferred power backup solutions they know about/use/recommend.
i think you will probably need to get to somebody level 3 in support.... but why not?
Schmoe ...A generator produces natural AC sine waves and so the DC out is just rectified AC within the generator. Also the inherent inefficiency of converting pure AC to DC in the genset then inverting DC back to AC suffers power losses each inversion. So a 10K watt gen loses ~20% in the process. And the resulting inverted AC can have other problems that have been pointed out like switching power supplies not liking the inverted power and floating neutral/grounds etc...
AC power gets rectified DC and filtered inside every device with control electronics to the level that device needs to not explode or electrocute you by the device manufacturer and are certified by UL testing on AC power which can vary wildly in quality.
Call the manufacturer of any device and ask them what the power requirement is and theyll tell you exactly what it is. So monkeying around with inverters they wont have a clue about that youre on your own.
AC power gets rectified DC and filtered inside every device with control electronics to the level that device needs to not explode or electrocute you by the device manufacturer and are certified by UL testing on AC power which can vary wildly in quality.
Call the manufacturer of any device and ask them what the power requirement is and theyll tell you exactly what it is. So monkeying around with inverters they wont have a clue about that youre on your own.
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JHZR2
Staff member
How big is the load from the CPAC (CPAP?) and O2 concentrator?
Id guess pretty meager loads.
Id probably look to buy a decent UPS that filters the input and makes its own pure sine output.
Id guess pretty meager loads.
Id probably look to buy a decent UPS that filters the input and makes its own pure sine output.
My guess, the medical devices will work just fine on generator power. Just about anything that uses a power supply converts AC power to regulated DC. Many will accept anything from 50HZ+/-5 to 60HZ+/-5 and 90V to 250V without any change in performance.
Furthermore, a generator wired into the house, with a few items creating a load, has much cleaner power (less distortion) then when completely unloaded.
Try it, I think you will be satisfied.
Furthermore, a generator wired into the house, with a few items creating a load, has much cleaner power (less distortion) then when completely unloaded.
Try it, I think you will be satisfied.
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