Stuart wrote:

No, and although it all sounded very clever it failed to answer any of the
questions! OK it did answer the one about lights but then again I answered
that myself!

Cheeky sod ;-)

The only "question" not directly addressed that I can see, was the
varying power factor attributable to different types of electric motor.

So, Power Tools - "0.8 - 0.95" If the 520Watts equates to 0.8 (80%) Is that
a min or max, what is the 0.95?

And is this only power tools without electric motors? Such as an incredibly
big soldering iron?

This will be most common tools with universal motors. Things with
heaters can be somewhat inductive, so even your soldering iron may not
have a power factor of 1.

Just out of interest I connected my 750watt jig saw and it worked just fine,
even under load! It also works the water pump at the low setting which is
40watts, so what exactly is "Electric Motors" (0.4 - 0.75) 220W represent.

Try this one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_motor

As you can see there are in fact a large number of permutations of
"electric motor" - not just "with brushes", and "induction". As you can
imagine, as you start adding field coils to the load in addition to the
motor windings, the electrical load starts getting ever more complex.
Add to that the fact that many induction motors have a capacitor used to
help them start which is switched out when running, you get a load that
will have a dynamic power factor that changes as the motor starts, and
runs, and also changes with (mechanical) load.

There is also the separate issue of the inrush current required by your
appliance at switch on. If the generator is not able to meet the demands
for that, then you may never get the thing running in the first place,
even if in theory the generator should be able to supply it once it is
up and running.

--
Cheers,

John.

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