Emergency Best Posts in Thread: BROWN-OUT AGAIN!

Im currently in bali indonesia ,which is a developing country to the phils ,similar problems but at least the power is stable with the occasional cut ,the last one around 6 months ago for an hour so ,the voltage is rock solid less than a couple of %.
If this place can do it why not the phils ,your power cuts remind me of somalia 30 years ago ,boring always on and off ,the boring rumble of generators ,what is wrong with the philipines it should be better than a broken country like somalia .

 

Hello Glenda, just to go online you can use a 1kw small generator that runs outside with an extension cord. I used to see these “portable” generators at Handyman and ACE at City Mall. I think I may have seen them at Citi Hardware.

Citi hardware and ACE also have intermediate models in the 2.5kw range.

If you wish to power the whole house with an AIRCON or two, you will need a 5-10 Kw generator. I purchased mine at Polaris but have seen them at UyMatio too.

The higher power ones (usually with electric start) are the generators we have been discussing. They are in the 50-100k price range.

My suggestions: Buy a generator made by a Japanese manufacturer, especially if it is manual pull-start. My 2.5 kw Honda gen in Siquijor starts on the first pull or maybe the second (after several years use). American and other country’s models usually require a lot more effort to start after a while.

Or, at least have a Japanese-made engine like the Philippine made Promates at Polaris. Those are very good higher power generators and Polaris backs their warranty.

Change the oil regularly, use synthetic auto oil (the difference is amazing in my experience).

Never try to energize the house by plugging a portable generator into a household receptacle; that can put the 220 Volts onto the outside power lines and endanger utility workers. That could be done safely but most people do not know (or may forget) to shut-off the main power before doing that. The transfer switch we were talking about for larger generators prevents that.

If all you want to do is power a PC and a router for internet, you only need a small generator but in that case you need an extension cord to run it from outside to inside the house.

For any generator make sure it is well ventilated outside so the exhaust fumes do not get into the house.

Very important! The exhaust fumes are deadly.

Gasoline is dangerous and must be handled carefully as well. A spark can set it off while refilling. There are less volatile diesel versions with electric start but those are mostly the larger models.


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Actually it is not like that. Here is a simplified inverter generator (conceptual) circuit:

The 3-PH alternator is rectified to DC anyway so RPM, number of poles etc. has nothing to do with the generated output wave. In fact, the output current is sensed and feeds back to the RPM control, only turning the alternator as fast as output power demands. This saves a lot of gas and also lets it run more quietly. The output frequency is determined by the switching frequency of the power transistors above (i.e. 50/60 Hz, which can sometimes even be electronically selected by the user). The PWM control above is usually an IC circuit; you can see that it senses the output voltage. As the generator load increases, the voltage decreases, so, the voltage is fed back to the PWM which tells the base drive circuit to provide wider pulses to the bases of the transistors; this in turn provides more energy that brings the output voltage back up again. This is the standard inverter circuit (DC to AC) configuration found in other products like switch mode power supplies. So, it senses both output current, to control alternator RPM as needed for current load, and output voltage, to ensure sufficient energy is provided to the inverter to keep the output voltage constant. The actual shape of the generated wave is defined in the above circuit section labeled FILTER. It can be cheap or expensive depending on the components used; the transistors switch on and off providing a square wave which must be shaped into something sinusoidal to allow appliances to work properly.

End of EE 101 lesson for today. A quiz will be given next session (LOL).

 

75php per hour isn’t so bad for a temporary condition. It depends upon how you ended up here in the Phils. If you came here because your spouse was Pinay and she has family, and you agreed to move after retiring as long as you could meet certain conditions including mitigating the oppressive heat and humidity with aircon, fine that is your plan. If you came maybe because you could live a better life on a limited pension and are willing to do so without power temporarily, that is fine too. You get used to the heat and live like a native in many ways including sans AIRCON. I can respect that.

In my case, I never would have agreed to move here without aircon so I bought a whole house generator and pay for the gas maintenance and oil, it is worth it. Whatever people decide to do, they should decide what they will want in advance of moving here and make sure they have the budget before making the move. Having said that, I do find myself getting more and more used to the heat and find myself using it less and less, especially at night here in Valencia, but to me those 10-12 hour blackouts are a bit too much, especially considering that they are not as rare as a typhoon or earthquake; they happen every few months. To each his or her own.


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Dumaguete is now known as a City of Brown-outs. Tomorrow, Sunday, a brown-out has been scheduled from morning 'til early evening. You know what that means---everything stops. Those without generators (which is majority of the population) will head off to beaches or those who have the budget will check into hotels, people will feel antsy and will all want to go out to have some air.
I wonder when NORECO II will improve its services. It does nothing but disappoint its consumers.

 

What you said is true for a conventional generator.
With the inverter type generator is different. The rotor/stator will produce AC at a frequency that varies with the speed of the gasoline motor. The AC gets rectified to DC. The DC gets chopped up (pulse width modulated) into 60 Hz AC output.
The overall result is if your load is only 1 hp the gas engine will only turn as fast as is required to produce 1 hp. If the load increase to say 1.5 hp the gas engine will speed up to the level required to produce 1.5 hp.
There is some pretty slick (and cool) stuff out there nowadays.

 

DU EK SAM used to sell a 2 kw Honda generator. The 2000i is an inverter type generator. The gas engine runs only as fast as is required to meet the Kw load. They are very fuel efficient and quiet. You can parallel two units if the load is too big.
I would have bought a couple when I built my house but they were expensive.

 

It is a small domestic, gas or diesel powered, electrical set that makes electricity, short for "generator set". The one I have is a "Best and Strong 5,000". The ones you will see today are not really generator, they are actually alternators. Mine is up and running now powering the hole house.

 

1.5L of petrol (more or less) per hour, plus the cost of purchasing and maintenance. Seems an awful lot of expense just to have a some power. Wouldn't it be easier just to find somewhere with a nice breeze/ somewhere to take a dip and just read a book and have a beer?