Electric Generator to Power your computer

[seaside995]

I have an electric generator which I plan to use to power my computer, printer, a few lights and my modem during a power outage. The generator will crank out about 6000W.

What problems, or pitfalls might be involved in trying to use an electric generator to power your computers?

Thanks.

[chdude3]

Most decent PC (and in fact decent consumer electronics) power supplies should not have many (if any) problems dealing with the less than perfect sinusoids that a generator is going to spit out. When going from 120Vac to 12Vdc and less, there's room for crappy (noisy) input.

What it won't be able to handle is if the voltage from the generator drifts too far from 120V. Spikes can be handled by a surge suppressor (and things should generally be fine once the generator is up), but too much overvoltage and you're going to have a problem.

Why not fire up the generator and take a look at its output to see what exactly you'll be dealing with?

[Nightgod]

The best thing is get a ups on top of the generator that way you know the power is pure and steady

[Silver Bullet]

The best thing is get a ups on top of the generator that way you know the power is pure and steady

Ya, if your going to switch between wall AC power and a generator i would get a UPS to smooth the transfer.

[hp]

that and the fact it usually takes time for the generator to kick in. You defintely need a decent UPS, at least one that will last for few seconds.

hp

[RideGuy]

My wife turned off my computer and modem during the start of the "Power Out of 2003". When I got home from work (almost 24 hours after the power out began) I decided to turn on my computer and Rogers modem. I guess the Rogers routers were down cause there was no Internet.


RideGuy

[bionicbadger]

You still have to be careful with the UPS though, lots of them will kick in if the power isn't clean. If your generator varies frequency or voltage to much the ups will kick in and drain its batteries. The variences usually only come when some load is added or removed to the generator though.

[john widow]

There are electric generators? I want one, so you dont have to pay an electric bill and you can make your own electricity? sw33t!

[corrupt123]

There are electric generators? I want one, so you dont have to pay an electric bill and you can make your own electricity? sw33t!

no, you can pay for gas instead.

do you live under a rock?

[RideGuy]

There are electric generators? I want one, so you dont have to pay an electric bill and you can make your own electricity? sw33t!

You're joking, right?

[matkun]

My wife turned off my computer and modem during the start of the "Power Out of 2003". When I got home from work (almost 24 hours after the power out began) I decided to turn on my computer and Rogers modem. I guess the Rogers routers were down cause there was no Internet.

That just shows Rogers had poor blackout backups.. :P I was working during the Blackout and our site actually had several diesel generators, so we were back on full power within 15 minutes of the blackout.

Was fun checking which ISPs webpages flopped and which ones were still running. A surprising amount of ones that advertised 99%+ up times with redudancy, power failure tolerance, etc. were down.

[RideGuy]

That just shows Rogers had poor blackout backups.. :P I was working during the Blackout and our site actually had several diesel generators, so we were back on full power within 15 minutes of the blackout.

Was fun checking which ISPs webpages flopped and which ones were still running. A surprising amount of ones that advertised 99%+ up times with redudancy, power failure tolerance, etc. were down.

We didn't have our own generator. We had to wait till CAT was finished supplying hospitals and communications before we got ours. We had no transfer switch or any easy hook ups so we took the fuses out and attached our generator feeders right to the mains. Our power requirements were quite high (around 675KVA). The fuel it took to feed that beast was unreal. We were able to save about $300K worth of product, and get our data center back on its feet.


RideGuy


RideGuy

[gman]

That just shows Rogers had poor blackout backups.. :P I was working during the Blackout and our site actually had several diesel generators, so we were back on full power within 15 minutes of the blackout.

Was fun checking which ISPs webpages flopped and which ones were still running. A surprising amount of ones that advertised 99%+ up times with redudancy, power failure tolerance, etc. were down.

There are a few device between you and your ISP requires power to stay on. The ISP site may stay on but the devices in between may not.

[gman]

You're joking, right?

No, he just keeps on biking on the generator.

[Wrocky]

There are electric generators? I want one, so you dont have to pay an electric bill and you can make your own electricity? sw33t!

LOL .. I get your point. Which I beleive is lost judging by most of the replies.


People, People, relax. What the original poster is looking for is either a:
Gas powered Generator or an Electricity Generator.. Having an electric generator would be ... well, like having an Electric Lawn Mower only it doesn't cut grass, it generates electricity.