| Author | Message | ||
| Jim Gibson (River_rat)
Registered Member Username: River_rat Post Number: 96 Registered: 1-2009 Posted From: 75.95.96.192 Rating: N/A |
Just an FYI I have an older 7.5 Onan and was setting it up. The first step is to set the frequency at 60 cycles, but most meters that do this are expensive. On an Onan forum elsewhere, they pointed me to a little $20 unit called a Kill A Watt meter, typically used to help manage your power usage. You plug it into an outlet, plug a fan or whatever into it, and it will tell you how much power, the line voltage, power factor - about 6 things - AND the frequency of your A/C. Worked like a champ to set my genny govenor, which sets the frequency on my Onan. I'm 59.9 hertz - pretty close - it was 55 before I started which can play hell on some things. I used it yesterday to compare two fans - one turned out to be 66 watts, the other 34 watts - guess which one I will run off my inverter. Handy tool. I bought mine and Newegg, but they are avaiable lots of places. Heres a link. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882715001&Tpk=kill%20a%20watt Jim | ||
| R.C.Bishop (Chuckllb)
Registered Member Username: Chuckllb Post Number: 798 Registered: 7-2006 Posted From: 75.210.55.85 Rating: N/A |
Thanx for the heads up, Jim! RCB | ||
| Roger Baughman (Roger)
Registered Member Username: Roger Post Number: 110 Registered: 11-2006 Posted From: 69.232.65.139  Rating: N/A |
Thanks, from me too. Roger | ||
| FAST FRED (Fast_fred)
Registered Member Username: Fast_fred Post Number: 826 Registered: 10-2006 Posted From: 76.195.79.226 Rating: N/A |
For folks wishing to set up a bus camper to boondock the KAW is a great tool. Install it inline with the items you will be frequently using TV fridge? microwave ,and find out your 24 hour needs. Then you can size the battset to create that much AC using 30% of the battery cap. Great tool! FF | ||
| Jim Gibson (River_rat)
Registered Member Username: River_rat Post Number: 99 Registered: 1-2009 Posted From: 75.95.96.192 Rating: N/A |
FF, It really is a great tool! I am using it on all the things I might use on the bus. I just bought one of those Red Bull store display coolers off Craigslist ($40) - they are about 16" diameter and about 4 feet tall with a r-34 compressor - for the kids in the patio. They will hold a ton of cans, probably 3 full cases of beer (not for the kids!) and keeps them super cold. I plugged in the meter and it used 612 watts on start, but has been running ever since, all night and only draws 160-180 watts when running, but has less than a 50% on-time! Idles at 1 watt. Means it might be a bus-friendly cooler - I was pretty impressed at how efficient it was - expected 300W all the time! Great tool - I'm having fun with it. Jim | ||
| Dave (Virtual)
Registered Member Username: Virtual Post Number: 38 Registered: 5-2009 Posted From: 67.186.253.131 Rating: N/A |
I've had one of those for a couple of years- a great tool. Like others, I bought it for determining total power used by items I might wish to use. I hadn't thought of using it to actually set up a genset, but it seems like it would be perfect. | ||
| Bill Gerrie (Bill_gerrie)
Registered Member Username: Bill_gerrie Post Number: 274 Registered: 3-2006 Posted From: 216.198.139.38 Rating: N/A |
Jim Thanks for the info. I just ordered two of them. Seems like a great tool. Bill | ||
| Jim Gibson (River_rat)
Registered Member Username: River_rat Post Number: 104 Registered: 1-2009 Posted From: 75.95.96.192 Rating: N/A |
Hey folks, glad I could help! You-all have done so much for me, it's kind of fun to find something usefull to pass back, other than asking a million questions! Jim |