On Aug 19, 11:13*pm, Claude Hopper
wrote:
Dottie wrote:
We bought a Troy-bilt portable generator with Briggs & Stratton
engine. *It is 5000 watt with electric start. *The book says it will
run 10 hours on 1/2 load - but it doesn't say how to set it on 1/2
load. *My neighbor has a different brand of generator and it has a
place to set it on 1/2 load. *Anybody here familiar with Troy-bilt?
Does anyone know of a book with "how to" instructions ... the one that
came with this thing assumes the user knows a lot more than we do.

There is NO half load setting. The load is what you put on it. If you
draw 2500 watts that's *half load. It's approximate though, not many
things run continuously. *Refrigerators and freezers are on and off.
Well pumps are on and off. Cooking is on and off. Heating systems are on
and off. Your load will fluctuate in other words.

--
Claude Hopper *? 3 * * *7/8
.
The OP is making it too complicated!

If you can get ten loaves of bread out of 7 pounds of flour you'll get
about for to five loaves from 3.5 pounds of flour etc. etc.

They probably give the half load (2500 watts) consumption just as an
example and also perhaps because the unit will be fairly economical at
that 50% loading.

If it use all its fuel in 10 hours on half load it might get anywhere
from 6 to 4 hours on full load???? It all depends.

It's a bit like saying a truck with a full tank of gas will go 1000
miles half loaded. And maybe 400 miles absolutely fully loaded!

Depending on the type of electrical loads plugged into the generator
it may or may not handle a full load; especially it it involves
anything with motors that stop and start such as fridges, freezers.
air conditioners water pumps etc.

Electric motors can have starting currents several times those of when
they running steadily or of something that has the same wattage but
operates without a motor.

So if the generator is running at say 75% (three quarters) of full
load and some motor cuts in as well, the generator could slow right,
trip out or even stall and stop. Rather like trying to drive car up
too steep a hill. And stalling the engine!

Experience will advise just what and how much can be plugged in and
used off the generator at one time!

If someone in the house has medical/life maintaining equipment to be
operated during a power outage one would not run the risk of the spare
beer fridge in the garage cutting in or someone plugging in an extra
coffee pot and shutting down the generator and killing the person. But
that's the kind of foolishness that can happen!