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A year ago I purchased a Generac GP6500 generator. Recently someone said I could have problems with some electronic devices like a computer. Do I need to replace it or is that not necessary. I'm sure we have some electrical engineers on here.
Thank you.
Get a scope and take a look at the quality of the power coming out of the generator... it's much nastier than the smooth stuff coming from the local plant. The easiest / cheapest solution is to get a power conditioner installed... if you have a small subset of circuits you'd like to power for electronic equipment, you can get away with a smaller conditioner (read, less expensive). Motors and such don't care too much about the line quality, so an old A/C unit might be just fine, but newer ones with heavy control electronics would have more issue. A good electronic piece will have some heavy conditioning on its own... some computer power supplies might be okay, cheaper units might not handle the nastier issues on the line.
YMMV...
We had problems with that with our old Generac portable. I had two UPS's fail shortly after using the generator and a microwave. It also made my alarm clock run fast--gaining about 5-10 minutes per hour. Most portable generators have a pretty bad waveform. If you want something clean, look to Honda's inverter generators ($,$$$) or a stationary standby unit ($,$$$-$$,$$$)
Our standby is working awesome. We haven't had a single utility failure lasting more than 10s since we put it in this spring :rolleyes: Last several years we had them regularly.
I bought the Honda 6500 watt portable inverter generator and love it. It puts out a clean waveform and it runs very quietly. It cost me a little over $3000. It is very heavy but I can take it with me if I move.