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paulz
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# Posted: 31 Jan 2022 11:40am
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Got back from Vegas vacation itching to get back to serene cabin life, only my wife wanted to watch the football playoffs yesterday. Not to be deterred, I grabbed the TV out of the den, brought it out to the cabin and stuck it in a window. Gave me a chance to fire up the new mini generator I bought.
First the new genny, got it on sale at Tractor Supply for $200 during the holidays. 800 running watts. 22lbs., lighter than car batt and smaller than a 5g gas can. 40cc, takes under a cup of oil! Love it.
We watched the TV for about 3 hours. Could have used the cabin inverter but I wasn't sure the draw and wanted to break in the genny.
Found my Kill A Watt and tried it this morning on the inverter. Shows .96A and 61W. Shouldn't it be 120W? Either way lower than I expected. I do expect the wife isn't going to let go of this cabin add.
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gcrank1
Member
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# Posted: 31 Jan 2022 12:04pm - Edited by: gcrank1
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Iirc, One of the chaps told me last fall? that you have to have a load on the inverter to get a read and that we'd need a high-end special vom to get an accurately read anyway. So I wouldnt expect the Kill A Watt to do as well as a typical vom off the inverter, just ballpark.
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lburners
Member
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# Posted: 31 Jan 2022 01:35pm
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Looks nicer than that Tailgator they used to have at Harbor Freight. Going to take a look at this little thing.
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FishHog
Member
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# Posted: 31 Jan 2022 01:51pm
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What a cute little generator. And the dogs ok too
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Nate R
Member
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# Posted: 31 Jan 2022 02:03pm
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Your difference in amps and watts is likely explained by the power factor. The the Kill-a-watt reads this, too. (The hz/PF button)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv_7XWf96gg
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jhp
Member
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# Posted: 31 Jan 2022 02:35pm
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I had one of these for a while. Four stroke, low oil shutdown, lots of great features for the price. I didn't put a ton of hours on it but it was 100% reliable, easy to start and bang-for-the-buck factor super high.
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Brettny
Member
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# Posted: 31 Jan 2022 03:20pm
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Is that the 1kw sportsman? I have had one for a bit over a year. It's for sure a fuel sipper. I'm getting about 9+hrs on 0.55gal (tank full). Its only job is to charge my battery bank, 12v at 30a.
There very very quiet and almost silent at the end of a 100ft cord.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 31 Jan 2022 04:04pm
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Yes, Sportsman 1000i, Brett mentioned having one awhile ago. Similar size and weight to the 2 stroke tailgaters but no smoke, quiet and pure sine. Yeah ran it for 3 house yesterday and barely used any gas.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 31 Jan 2022 04:07pm - Edited by: paulz
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Thanks Nate. Despite the beer analogy in the video being the best way to explain it to me, still confused on what's happening. I powered it up again, the PF says .55, so I guess that explains the difference, but what is it actually costing me at the batt bank, 1A or 60W? Quoting: Nate R Your difference in amps and watts is likely explained by the power factor. The the Kill-a-watt reads this, too. (The hz/PF button)
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gcrank1
Member
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# Posted: 31 Jan 2022 04:44pm
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Brett, what are you using for a charger and is it suitable for lfp?
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Brettny
Member
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# Posted: 31 Jan 2022 08:02pm
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Paul did you break it in? Mine had alot of metal in the oil the first 30min of run time. And after the second change at 2 or 3hr it still had to much I washed out the crank case with brake clean and did a fill start and dump. I have 38hr on it now, I also put an NGK plug in.
Sorry I'm on flooded lead accid batteries. But I'm useing a iota RV onboard charger.
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Brettny
Member
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# Posted: 31 Jan 2022 08:04pm
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I should note that I found my KillAwatt so in accurate that I wont be replacing it. I have seen voltage and amp creap up right out of the wall.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 31 Jan 2022 08:54pm
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Quoting: Brettny Paul did you break it in?
I ran it for 20 minutes unladen, I think they mentioned that, though it didn't even rev up running the TV. Drained the oil, just a bit of black oil at the bottom. I am going to send in the 1 year warranty card though. 
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Aklogcabin
Member
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# Posted: 2 Feb 2022 01:08pm
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Them little ones are nice. I bought a coleman 1000 watt 20 years old at a garage sale. Fiddy bucks. Still using it. I can get back from hunting n sit in my lazy boy with a heat pad for my back and a couple lights going.
I did find out the hard way. That when you leave the generator in the cold. And want to use it before it warms up by the fire. To drain the oil when you're done using it. Then when you get back n it's 25 below n you want to use the generator. Heat the oil up n add it back into the genny. Just like bush pilots do
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