# Life goes on - Winter 2023
**URL:** http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/life-goes-on-winter-2023/7540
**Category:** Off Topic
**Tags:** life
**Created:** [October 24, 2023, 12:41pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/life-goes-on-winter-2023/7540 "2023-10-24T12:41:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 30
### Author:  [@Marty](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/Marty)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2024, 12:08pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/life-goes-on-winter-2023/7540/586 "2024-02-20T12:08:53Z")
I was running probably about 2000w on a 3.8kva generator. And those were led lights. I think I had the same flicker at 1000w too.
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### Author:  [@Wayne](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/Wayne)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2024, 1:02pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/life-goes-on-winter-2023/7540/587 "2024-02-20T13:02:52Z")
Establishing fire breaks so I can burn off my pasture .
My son showed me how to use the heat to create a chimney effect and draw air in at the outer base of the fire for easy control making the fire break.
Very easy to stomp or whip out the perimeter while the inter part of the fire will quickly burn the fuel leaving a 20 foot fire break .
After the break is made we strip burned it which quickly makes the brakes wider .
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMVrMNWhJv4)
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtKwCVzWPxo)
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### Author:  [@Tone](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/Tone)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2024, 2:31pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/life-goes-on-winter-2023/7540/588 "2024-02-20T14:31:39Z")
Voltage fluctuation on the generator:
- your generator is definitely a synchronous generator, in which the desired voltage is maintained by magnetizing the rotor
- if the electronics, which regulate the excitation current, do not work well, oscillations occur
- you can try to disconnect the existing circuit and connect the excitation current for the rotor to the 12 V battery (probably the excitation voltage is much higher, …) and the lights should light up stably
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### Author:  [@SteveUnruh](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/SteveUnruh)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2024, 6:12pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/life-goes-on-winter-2023/7540/589 "2024-02-20T18:12:43Z")
Here MartinS is a good visual about what you are seeing. Scroll forwards to the three-way split screen at 3:24 minutes:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/wbjD8Apk5GM?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque
You can go back and see/read other significant differences points made at 2:19 and 3:05 minutes.
The whole video is only an easy watched 3:53 minutes.
There are other presentations findable about the why’s, and wherefores between conventional fixed RPM synchorous electrical generators versus the newer more expensive variable RPM Inverter-generator types. I could only find worded explanations. Opinions.
Here is the reality. The advantage of open frame directly engine driven sycnorous is much cheaper to buy; or a fellow already has one.
IF the device you are powering has a wall-wart power adapter it will generally filter and smooth enough to be safe for the electronics it is suppling.
Direct line useages of a fixed RPM scream-o’-matic’s power to some sensitive expecting clean power devices like your LED lighting; and the video guy’s household lists . . . they may performance squawk a lot with the fuzzy wave form pattern. Act weird. Even shut down. They are reading the fuzzy micro-spikes as triggering points I-O signals. And if forced to work, eat the fuzzy wave form long term, then be damaged.
So taking this route you will have to match your consumers to that generators power capability.
Inverter-gnerators do cost more. And many say too complex. Too hard to ever repair.
True. True. And true. Munch up some expensive to repair electrical consumer items; then without; or having to expensively replace them out one at time; then the inverter-generator’s up-front costs will seem worth it.
Others will say it is totally unessary to go with an inverter-generator for corded electric motor power tools. That is true too.
No rule of Life saying you cannot have both types.
Regards
Steve unruh
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### Author:  [@madflower69](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/madflower69)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2024, 8:41pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/life-goes-on-winter-2023/7540/590 "2024-02-20T20:41:01Z")
> [@Marty](#):
>
> I was running probably about 2000w on a 3.8kva generator. And those were led lights. I think I had the same flicker at 1000w too.
I am guessing you are pushing the limit of the generator on chargas, and the voltage is dropping.
Try what @Tone said. It very well could be the excitation circuit and it is fairly easy to test and a fairly common issue.
You can also add a circuit to measure the voltage. The opto-isolated ones are a fairly inexpensive. something like the ZMPT101B AC Voltage Sensor Module. However that is 5v analog output so depending on your microcontroller it may not work without some additional circuitry. And there may be a better one on the market. It was just the first one I saw.
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### Author:  [@Marty](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/Marty)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2024, 11:11pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/life-goes-on-winter-2023/7540/591 "2024-02-20T23:11:51Z")
Tone, that’s a good thought, I’ll have to see if that makes a difference.
Steve, that video is a real eye opener. I never thought the power on a generator could be so dirty. If I got an inverter generator, my wife would probably never allow me to put wood gas through it. 🙁
Sean, I am using an Arduino to monitor the system and am actually using a ZMPT101B to measure the frequency. I don’t think the Arduino can sample fast enough to catch the roughness of the waveform though. I’ll have to check.
Muchas gracias for all the replies.
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### Author:  [@Marty](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/Marty)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2024, 11:32pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/life-goes-on-winter-2023/7540/592 "2024-02-20T23:32:25Z")
Ultimately I plan on getting a battery bank charged by solar during the summer, and hydro during the winter. We are on an east facing mountain, so there is little solar in the winter. I would use the gasifier/generator to charge the batteries if the solar or hydro is insufficient. The power output would be clean through the inverter.
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### Author:  [@madflower69](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/madflower69)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2024, 12:21am UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/life-goes-on-winter-2023/7540/593 "2024-02-21T00:21:54Z")
> [@Marty](#):
>
> I don’t think the Arduino can sample fast enough to catch the roughness of the waveform though. I’ll have to check.
You can have a look see at this:
> **[Interfacing ZMPT101B Voltage Sensor with Arduino \[full guide\]](https://electropeak.com/learn/interfacing-zmpt101b-voltage-sensor-with-arduino/)**
>
> Learn How to interface ZMPT101B Voltage Sensor Module with Arduino.This guide provides step-by-step instructions, circuit, code implementation
I think you are correct, it doesn’t sample fast enough. I just glanced at it, but he said he is measuring peak to peak, but peak to peak, gives you an idea on if there is a voltage drop.
If it is producing dirty waves, and you are planning on going solar already. You could get the solar inverter with the generator input, and it will clean up the signal.
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### Author:  [@KristijanL](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/KristijanL)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2024, 3:10am UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/life-goes-on-winter-2023/7540/594 "2024-02-21T03:10:49Z")
Mr Wayne, thanks for this tip. Might come handy someday.
Do you burn the pasture each winter?
Our land thugh is severely sloped so this requires a different aproach. Usualy l fust spray a fire break with water, its amazing how litle water it takes to completely stop the fire.
Well. If you remember to actualy wet the grass where it shuld be wetted 😄 a few days back l too burned the land and since the top of the plot being burnt is neighbouring a clean hayfeald l saw no reason to make a fire break here. Well, l may or may not have forgoten there is my wrecked old Škoda parked there 😄
No harm done… had no engine, tires and the fuel tank dry.
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### Author:  [@FruitvaleFarmer](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/FruitvaleFarmer)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2024, 4:07am UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/life-goes-on-winter-2023/7540/595 "2024-02-21T04:07:43Z")
> [@madflower69](#):
>
> If it is producing dirty waves, and you are planning on going solar already. You could get the solar inverter with the generator input, and it will clean up the signal.
Some inverters have contactors that connect shore power (or generator) to the output when it’s available, using some to charge the batteries. Ours will add power from the batteries to support a weak AC input, but I don’t think it would clean up dirty generator power. You could rectify the generator output and run it through a charge controller, or use a mains-supply battery charger to charge the batteries and then through the inverter, but that’s more complication and expense.
I think our inverter uses the switching mosfets as rectifiers in charging mode, so it’s one or the other.
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### Author:  [@Marty](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/Marty)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2024, 11:16am UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/life-goes-on-winter-2023/7540/596 "2024-02-21T11:16:17Z")
I think I would go with a dedicated charge controller and a separate inverter. Back in the late '90s I once had an emergency backup system using an inverter that kept the batteries charged with line power. It cooked the batteries. Maybe inverter chargers have gotten better, but charge controllers are relatively inexpensive and I would get the best since batteries are now the most costly part of the system.
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### Author:  [@SteveUnruh](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/SteveUnruh)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2024, 1:32pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/life-goes-on-winter-2023/7540/597 "2024-02-21T13:32:51Z")
Hi MartinS.
Try watching this one and think a bit.
This guy is specifically addressing his personal experience in a GRID power outage switching to his portable back up engine driven sychonous generator.
He has an excellent presentation style imho.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgH_51KXA6o)
Personal home engine driven generators are all pretty much 2-pole synchronous. Unless you paid much more for a much heavier lower RPM four-pole generator head.
And as he said they will all feed a little bit of the made output power to the magnetic fields making coils.
The inverter-generator all I seen are very much diffnert in that they have rare-earth permanert magnet field. Many, many of these in multiple pole arrangements. They generate in a three phase windings set up.
The better manufacturers promoting these inverter-gnerators as safe for all electronics power; then study and build in their own capacitance smoothing-filtering.
The smaller, cheaper home-portable generators have none of this engineering and complexity.
A couple of chants taught to children and youth:
“You get, want you get. And you do not throw a fit!” (some kid will still fit . . . just like some of your sensitive electronics will too)
“As long as you live under my roof you’ll get/use/eat what’s available. You want better, when you grow up you can go out and buy your own!”
Making your own power is you growing up and doing it. With all of the Rights and Responsibilities to go with that. Good parents/guardians want to see this maturing.
This last illustrated well into his earlier, much longer, Dirty Power video he links into. Not exactly the points of the current discussion.
Regards
Steve unruh
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### Author:  [@Wayne](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/Wayne)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2024, 1:43pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/life-goes-on-winter-2023/7540/598 "2024-02-21T13:43:47Z")
> [@KristijanL](#):
>
> Do you burn the pasture each winter?
Good morning Kristijan
It has been a few years since I burned off the pastures and they needed it real bad.
Last night we burned out a 1/4 mile of fire break and will put fire to that patch just before dark tonight .
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### Author:  [@FruitvaleFarmer](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/FruitvaleFarmer)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2024, 5:18pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/life-goes-on-winter-2023/7540/599 "2024-02-21T17:18:43Z")
That’s as problem. Where I used to work, there were lots of servers, and lots of Uninterruptible Power Supplies. One rack-mount brand, though beautifully made, had battery chargers that would fry the sealed batteries, literally melt them. I got several to play with, but you’d never leave them with a battery on float charge. Nice sinewave inverters when almost nobody else had them.
A lot of the better inverter-chargers allow you to set the voltages and currents for charging. If you match these to your battery chemistry, you should be okay. Unless of course,
something goes wrong 🙂
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### Author:  [@MikeR](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/MikeR)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2024, 5:56pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/life-goes-on-winter-2023/7540/600 "2024-02-21T17:56:21Z")
At least until the present time, I have seen way more batteries fried by overcharging or ruined by never discharging than any other destruction vector. Circuits are getting better. Matching charge profile to battery chemistry / size is critical. Charge them up, use them, then charge when needed. Batteries will work fine, last long time. And yes, they are the most expensive installed system components (will need replaced while other parts last years longer.) 🤠
Edit: Of course there is also over-discharging and letting batteries sit around unused in poor conditions for months…Who Me?? 🤕 😰 😭
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### Author:  [@madflower69](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/madflower69)
#### Post date: [February 21, 2024, 6:26pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/life-goes-on-winter-2023/7540/601 "2024-02-21T18:26:14Z")
> [@FruitvaleFarmer](#):
>
> I think our inverter uses the switching mosfets as rectifiers in charging mode, so it’s one or the other.
The mosfets are more efficient then diodes. There is a caveat to using them and I forgot what that was. Probably something to do with leakage. It appears they are used a lot for AC coupling. So it rectifies it, then it immediately adds to it to another AC input so the waves match with another set of mosfets.
But you are correct, you have to find the right inverter.
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### Author:  [@Wayne](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/Wayne)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2024, 3:14am UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/life-goes-on-winter-2023/7540/602 "2024-02-22T03:14:13Z")
Hey Kristijan
Have you ever moped out a grass fire 😀
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS9lu_kUHZA)
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpkMoVyMvdo)
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### Author:  [@KristijanL](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/KristijanL)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2024, 3:33am UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/life-goes-on-winter-2023/7540/603 "2024-02-22T03:33:15Z")
Mr Wayne, l have not. But l have put it out with beer before, once it run trugh the kidneys first 😄
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### Author:  [@Marty](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/Marty)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2024, 1:30pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/life-goes-on-winter-2023/7540/604 "2024-02-22T13:30:51Z")
I’m no electrical engineer and I haven’t a clue about the subject, but couldn’t a charger monitor battery voltage and disconnect when a certain voltage is reached? Isn’t this how an automotive alternator works? I have car batteries that have lasted for years, even with some moderate abuse.
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### Author:  [@ForbiddenTuna](http://forum.driveonwood.com/u/ForbiddenTuna)
#### Post date: [February 22, 2024, 1:50pm UTC](http://forum.driveonwood.com/t/life-goes-on-winter-2023/7540/605 "2024-02-22T13:50:08Z")
AT&T outage today. Guess I won’t be posting during work hours while on break!
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