Lectron 3500W Pure Sine Inverter Generator 3.5KVA

[Macca50]

All,

Looking to purchase a Lectron 3500W pure sine inverter generator 3.5KVA does anyone own or can advise if these units are reliable, work well etc?

Cheers

Macca

 

[condor22]

You get what you pay for....
Of note this 3500W genny has a 12V output @ 8 amps. The Honda 2000W genny also has the same 8 amp output. As they invert from a 12V generator to 240VAC, I an only assume they have a similar sized generator, the difference being that the 3500W uses a bigger inverter......

The noise is rated at 58 dB (A) (3500W) whereas at 1/4 throttle load the Honda 2kVA is only 53dB (A). Sound power is logorithmic, so every 3dB is twice as noisy as the previous level. So 3 dB is double, another 3 is double that, so 6dB is 4 times as noisy etc.

Question why you need 3500W and how often, they are also a heavy genny. I know someone who bought a similar el cheapo 3500W from Ebay.
It lasted 4 days into his first trip and he piggy backed off my Honda 2kVA for the next 10 days. We ran a caravan and a camper off my Honda genset.
Honda and Yamaha are the only 2 brands of choice and as I said, you get what you pay for....

When things fail, they usually fail when you need them, out there in the bush..

 

[Nightjar]

My motto is buy cheap, buy twice or maybe three or four. Wouldn't touch anything like this.
Also there is a misconception that running all your electronic gadgets from a pure sine wave generator will not harm them.
Maybe not if you are diligent, turning off all equipment before shutting down to refuel etc.
What happens when an engine runs out of fuel? It coughs and splutters, revs up and down and finally stops.
You may get away with this many times or the first time it happens you can blow delicate electronic components, capacitors etc.

Apart from this issue many suppliers including Lectron promote wiring a generator to your home meter box to overcome power outages. Honda have warning against this practice.
Not an expert in this field but someone here may know?
My interpretation is it is highly dangerous because during power outages there are linesmen working on the grid he can be electrocuted by your generated power being fed back into the grid.

 

[Macca50]

Cheers guys

That makes my decision easy its simple Honda or Yamaha both use less fuel/ less noise more output and have a four year warranty and good after sales support.

 

[condor22]

My motto is buy cheap, buy twice or maybe three or four. Wouldn't touch anything like this.
Also there is a misconception that running all your electronic gadgets from a pure sine wave generator will not harm them.
Maybe not if you are diligent, turning off all equipment before shutting down to refuel etc.
What happens when an engine runs out of fuel? It coughs and splutters, revs up and down and finally stops.
You may get away with this many times or the first time it happens you can blow delicate electronic components, capacitors etc.

Apart from this issue many suppliers including Lectron promote wiring a generator to your home meter box to overcome power outages. Honda have warning against this practice.
Not an expert in this field but someone here may know?
My interpretation is it is highly dangerous because during power outages there are linesmen working on the grid he can be electrocuted by your generated power being fed back into the grid.

Apart from the danger, It is Illegal to wire up a generator to any mains supplied household meter box. It is also Illegal to wire anything into a meter box unless you are a licensed electrician.

I use my Honda 2kVA and on occasion the Ryobi 1kVA I have, for the household during longer power outages. However, I run an extension lead inside to a power board to keep the fridges and freezers going plus the TV, DVD and a couple of lights if at night and that totals much less than 2kVA. When refuelling if it coughs and splutters, the power output will generally cut out without damaging the above, but I wouldn't risk it with a computer. The easiest thing (with familiarity of your genny) is to deliberately switch appliances off, disconnect the power board, turn the genny off, refuel/top up before it runs out of fuel. Then do the reconnect/start up again.

Diligence is required, you can make a system fool proof, but you can't make them idiot proof........

 

[condor22]

One more safety tip, Honda actually state this.....NEVER DO A HOT REFUEL.

By that I mean don't refuel when the genny is still running, apart from the heat of the motor, the possibility of electrical arcing etc, static is far more likely when it's going.

Even so, fuelling a hot genny turned off, still needs to be done very carefully.

Edit: Had another thought, in all the years I've run a genny, it's usually to charge up the van battery, run the microwave, watch a bit of TV (when TVs were 240V) etc etc. and the time used has never been long enough to need a refuel, then restart. I make sure I top it up each day I use it when it's still cold.