PG&E gave me a kit of a free Bluetti AC200P and Yeti 1500X battery plus a free backup power transfer meter and a 20-foot long thick NEMA L14-30 (30-amp, 120/240-V twist-lock) cable to connect a portable generator.
But PG&E rebated only $300 dollars toward a portable generator that met
their standards, so I bought the DuroMax XP5500EH which works fine except
it blows the instant that the water pressure booster pump kicks on.
The well water tanks are only a dozen or two dozen feet above the house so there's not enough head for more than a few psi of water pressure so
there's a large blue pressure tank and a 220VAC pump that runs it.
General Electric AC Motor Thermally Protected Jet Pump Motor
Mod: 5KC39QN1157AX HP: 1 HZ: 60 V: 115/230 PH: 1 RPM: 3450 CODE: L
The problem is that the DuroMax 30-amp fast-blow breaker kicks off the instant the water pressure booster pump kicks on, even as the 30-amp slow-blow fuses on the PG&E proprietary cable never blow.
What happens is the generator is humming along just fine, and then I hear whoooooom as it slows down and then it speeds back up after the circuit breaker trips. I tried physically holding the circuit breaker on, but that was doomed to fail so I only tried that a couple of time before giving up.
Do you think an additional startup capacitor on the booster pump will help?
Do you think an additional startup capacitor on the booster pump will help?
Why such a big booster pump?
Douche Nozzle wrote:
The plumbing came with the house. That's all I know about the "why".Do you think an additional startup capacitor on the booster pump will help? >> Why such a big booster pump?
The booster jet pump is wired for 220VAC. The placard says this:
General Electric AC Motor Thermally Protected Jet Pump Motor
Mod: 5KC39QN1157AX HP: 1 HZ: 60 V: 115/230 PH: 1 RPM: 3450 CODE: L
There's a separate well pump five hundred (or so) feed underground.
The well pump fills separate five-thousand gallon (or so) water tanks.
The pressure at the bottom of a 12-foot tall (or so) tank is low.
The booster pump boost that ~5psi (or so) to about ~50psi (or so).
There is a four-foot tall (or so) blue steel rubber bladder pressure tank.
I think it reduces the number of times the booster pump has to run.
When I run a garden hose, for example, the booster pump turns on every five minutes (or so) for about 30 seconds (or so), so that's all I can tell you.
There's an irrigation system, a pool, a barn, and a house it has to feed.
How big are the pumps to boost well-water pressure in other normal homes?
How big are the pumps to boost well-water pressure in other normal homes?
FWIW, my drilled well is 100 ft with a 240v, 1/2hp submersible pump set at 70 feet.
The pump feeds directly into a 40/60psi pressurized bladder tank. It draws about 1500 watts.
During a power outage, a Honda eu7000i generator starts/runs it easily.
I just learned NEMA code L means a high locked-rotor kVA per hp
Am I correct in assuming you have only 1 pump which does all 3 jobs?
1. The pump pulls water out of the well "on demand"
2. The 30-feet of 70'-100' cylinder "is" your water "tank" (so to speak) >> 3. The same pump pressurizes the bladder tank for the whole system
Yup! I failed to mention that the well's static water level is at about 40 ft.
I guess the 1/2 hp submersible pump is pumping against a 50 foot column of water and 60 psi tank pressure. We don't have an irrigation system or
a pool but the pump always seems to keep up with our water demands.
According to the water softener meter, we use about 120 gallons/day
Notice they're seemingly close, but the Honda is way (way!) better.
The Honda has sustained surge capability & excellent voltage regulation.
Honda vs Duromax vs Champion vs Harbor Freight vs SumTingWongZapPow.
I'm not sure what the right choice is or if there even is a difference. If/when the Honda poops, I might replace it with a pair of DuroMax gens and a parallel kit.
redacted wrote:
Thanks for that real-world input as I don't have the experience of others.How big are the pumps to boost well-water pressure in other normal homes? >>FWIW, my drilled well is 100 ft with a 240v, 1/2hp submersible pump set at 70 feet.
The pump feeds directly into a 40/60psi pressurized bladder tank. It draws about 1500 watts.
During a power outage, a Honda eu7000i generator starts/runs it easily.
Your setup is interesting. You have lots of water. You must. If you don't need to fill up tanks, I'm assuming you have lots of water to tap into.
We have in the Santa Cruz mountains only water pockets here & there.
So we drill much deeper and the well pump runs only for a minute or so.
10 When the well pump free spins, it turns off automatically.
20 Within a given interval (usually set to an hour or so) it restarts.
30 IF storage tank = FULL, then stop, else GOTO 10
The point being it takes a few days to fill up a water tank for us.
You seem to getting the volume on demand. So that knocks out one pump.
Am I correct in assuming you have only 1 pump which does all 3 jobs?
1. The pump pulls water out of the well "on demand"
2. The 30-feet of 70'-100' cylinder "is" your water "tank" (so to speak)
3. The same pump pressurizes the bladder tank for the whole system
It's interesting your pump is half the size of mine (in terms of HP),
yet it does all 3 jobs at the same time (storage + pressure + volume).
I wonder which takes the most pump energy (pressure or volume)?
But even so, your Honda has surge current capacity my DuroMax doesn't have.
Honda EU7000iS
a. Honda EU7000iS has 7000 surge watts (DuroMaqx XP5500EH is 6900 on gas)
b. Honda EU7000iS has 5500 rated watts (DuroMax XP5500EH is 5500)
c. Honda EU7000iS has an inverter (DuroMax XP5500EH is not an inverter)
d. Honda EU7000iS has ~35-iV40 A surge (DuroMax XP5500EH is 30A max)
<https://www.northerntool.com/products/honda-inverter-generator-7000-surge-watts-5500-rated-watts-electric-start-model-eu7000isnan-100557>
<https://www.duromaxpower.com/products/duromax-xp5000eh-5000-watt-electric-start-dual-fuel-hybrid-portable-generator>
Notice they're seemingly close, but the Honda is way (way!) better.
The Honda has sustained surge capability & excellent voltage regulation.
My Duromax XP5500EH generator noticeably slows down (whoooom...) and within
a second (or so) speeds up when it trips from the booster turning on.
10 Generator is humming along but booster is ready to kick on
20 All of a sudden, the generator bogs down audibly
30 The generator RPM drops audibly due to a voltage sag I guess
40 Then the generator fast-breaker trips
50 And the generator goes back to fast RPM (but no output power)
My neighbor told me that since my booster pump already starts but the
breaker trips within seconds as it kicks on, I'm not torque-limited.
a. The generator can supply the initial inrush,
b. But it cannot sustain the surge long enough to reach full speed.
He says an electronic soft-starter reduces the peak inrush current in half. He said he has a Variable Frequency Drive but that's more expensive.
PS: I just learned NEMA code L means a high locked-rotor kVA per hp
a. Locked-rotor kVA per HP is about 10
b. So at 240VAC, that's ~40 amps inrush current
Looking this up, it seems
a. The generator almost gets the motor through startup
b. But the problem is duration, not peak
c. So a soft-starter may reduce the duration & severity of the inrush
d. Which lets the motor reach speed before the breaker gives up
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