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Need your advice on best dual fuel generator for 12K Sol-Ark

I hope that's right. I'll let you know. :)
I picked my new generator up last week and got it hooked up on propane for a test run. It started right up using the remote fob and ran smooth and quiet. The remote only reaches out about 20ft. so it will be of little use since my garage is more like 75' from my front porch. It looks to be well built and came with a battery tender. Sure glad to be retiring the old manual start troybilt.
 
I picked my new generator up last week and got it hooked up on propane for a test run. It started right up using the remote fob and ran smooth and quiet. The remote only reaches out about 20ft. so it will be of little use since my garage is more like 75' from my front porch. It looks to be well built and came with a battery tender. Sure glad to be retiring the old manual start troybilt.
Cool and congrats! Have you already tested (or do you soon plan to test it) with a Sol-Ark?
 
Cool and congrats! Have you already tested (or do you soon plan to test it) with a Sol-Ark?
I've shot my wad for 2022 with the purchase of the new DuroMax Inverter/gen and 2-12k btu Mr. Cool mini split heat pumps. We just got them installed a couple of weeks ago and just in time for the heat wave that set in over the Midwest. Our Saturday temps hit 105º and the mini splits did their job and kept my shack @74º. ;) I have batteries, more solar and an all-in-one inverter on the list for 2023 upgrades.
 

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I've shot my wad for 2022 with the purchase of the new DuroMax Inverter/gen and 2-12k btu Mr. Cool mini split heat pumps. We just got them installed a couple of weeks ago and just in time for the heat wave that set in over the Midwest. Our Saturday temps hit 105º and the mini splits did their job and kept my shack @74º. ;) I have batteries, more solar and an all-in-one inverter on the list for 2023 upgrades.
Congrats! Yeah we also were hitting 105 here and our central ACs were not keeping up so I bit the bullet and put in 2 15 CEER 12K BTU AC units for supplemental & emergency cooling:


I originally wanted to put in some mini-splits but we have decided we are not staying in this home long term and thus I didn't want to invest more than necessary. Our insurance approved the replacement of our upstairs central AC so likely the window unit(s) won't be necessary at that point.

With the additions we were really cool and can be fine even with these crazy hot temps (I could even keep the house at 66-68 when it was 105 after the additions). If we do put in solar/battery here then we could focus on cooling at least 1-2 rooms (likely not going to be able to run our central ACs).
 
Does anyone have any information on how to hook up the champion 8.5 stand by generator to the sol ark? How does one acheive the two wire start, and how does one bypass the need for the ATS since its OFF GRID and fed directly to the solark grid input (using gen as smart load)

thanks in advance. I also phoned practical preppers and champion waiting for calls back, will post here to help others when done.
 
Does anyone have any information on how to hook up the champion 8.5 stand by generator to the sol ark? How does one acheive the two wire start, and how does one bypass the need for the ATS since its OFF GRID and fed directly to the solark grid input (using gen as smart load)

thanks in advance. I also phoned practical preppers and champion waiting for calls back, will post here to help others when done.
Screen Shot 2022-09-17 at 12.25.21 AM.png
 
There is a company that sells generator conversion kits so that you can run any gas generator on propane.


@NEpowerandlight :
The NG conversion is exactly what I did, purchased 2 Inverter Generators as I wanted 240V and low THD. The trick is that I'm able to connect them parallel. I'm OK with them being manual as they're for power backup, which will only be when I'm at home. I wanted 240v so I can back feed (with Interlock) both legs of panel then get down line to a subpanel (50 breakers to feed overall). What I like is that I can run 1 and save fuel or run both if need be. I even have an inverter and LiFePO4 part to the plan so my sump pump has UPS backup element (that's another story).

Also set up a nice dual manifold NG in my garage with 3/4" ID quick connects, so I have no fear of outages and no cans of gas to worry about. Even added a wheel kit and handle as well as quick change oil hose. These run about 100#, so not unreasonable to throw in back of a car, not to mention I like option this stays with me if I move.

I too struggled with concern of keeping THD low as I didn't want to find out the hard way that I just cooked some or all the electronics... I also struggled with Northern Tool version of a parallel box - and ended up making my own parallel box. In the end it worked great! Recent power outage and all I heard was all the other geni's in the neighborhood after only 20 feet from mine!

One last thing to consider if converting to NG is that generator (or inverter) should be derated about 20%, or figure about 80% of published power. Therefore, in my case I figure these units are providing 3kw or 6kw if parallel.

Other options like Honda or Northern Tool's Power Horse 7500 are really nice, with a really nice price tag running double and then some. And, the Honda didn't have option for tri-fuel like I have now.

I too looked at the Duromax you got - very interesting setup. I think it was out of stock when I decided to order what I went with mine.

Here's before and after adding the NG kit.
1665795357909.png


Here's the parallel box before and after that I ended up making myself (added couple of volt/amp meters):
1665795476141.png

Here's the link for the Norther Tool model I went with:
 
Does anyone have any information on how to hook up the champion 8.5 stand by generator to the sol ark? How does one acheive the two wire start, and how does one bypass the need for the ATS since its OFF GRID and fed directly to the solark grid input (using gen as smart load)

thanks in advance. I also phoned practical preppers and champion waiting for calls back, will post here to help others when done.
I recently purchased the Champion 8.5 Standby Generator. I haven't hooked it up yet. I have two MPPSolar LV6048 Hybrid Inverters. I was wondering which wire in the transfer switch communication was the one that initiated the generator startup. I'd like to hook it up to a battery voltage switch that would start and stop the generator when the battery bank is at determined voltages. The loss of grid power is what's supposed to start the generator, but I'd like to use this as if it were not connected to the grid. I have everything I need (I hope), I just need to know which communication wire should be wired to the voltage switch.
 

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Looks to me like "switch to generator signal" is what's supposed to start generator as soon as grid fails.

To start only based on lower SoC or voltage, it wouldn't be any signal from the transfer switch. Inverter should have some programmable relays which can be assigned for that purpose.

Otherwise, a separate battery voltage monitor. But voltage of lithium is flat except beyond knees of curve at quite high and low Soc. Something that knows SoC would be preferable to voltage alone. The algorithms in my inverter consider time of day as well as SoC, to avoid running at night if possible.
 
Looks to me like "switch to generator signal" is what's supposed to start generator as soon as grid fails.

To start only based on lower SoC or voltage, it wouldn't be any signal from the transfer switch. Inverter should have some programmable relays which can be assigned for that purpose.

Otherwise, a separate battery voltage monitor. But voltage of lithium is flat except beyond knees of curve at quite high and low Soc. Something that knows SoC would be preferable to voltage alone. The algorithms in my inverter consider time of day as well as SoC, to avoid running at night if possible.
I have AGM lead-acid batteries. I had a generator set up at one time and the dry contacts on the LV6048 were unreliable, so I used a voltage switch (that's a completely different story that I don't want to get into). The auto transfer switch is what tells the generator to switch from grid to the generator. I'd like to stay connected to the grid, but I don't want the generator to pop on if the grid power goes out and I'm running on batteries.
 
AGM may be good for 10 year shelf life, and 200 to 700 cycles depending on model. Cost is around $0.50/kWh of cycle life.
I think they should be used for standby waiting for grid failure, not cycled unnecessarily because they cost more than grid.

To keep healthy, they need to be fully charged and then held at absorption voltage for a couple hours. If on grid, then dropped to float and kept there. Can't do that just based on voltage, need an intelligent battery charger. Bulk charge should be an optimal current, but for occasional generator use it may be OK to charge at a higher rate, since they can accept fast charge.

Don't want to run generator excessively, so for occasional grid down use maybe just complete bulk and quit (or even less in the event PV is available), wait for grid to return for full absorb.

Do you have PV panels? They could be the best/most economical way to provide power to properly finish charge after generator shuts off.

Dry contacts should be reliable for a million cycles. If they aren't, I'd suspect arcing due to inductive load. That should be addressed with a "snubber" circuit. Can you replace the failed relay?
 
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