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#234023 - 10/19/11 11:34 PM Generator Autothrottle Vs. Refrigerator
MartinFocazio Offline

Pooh-Bah

Registered: 01/21/03
Posts: 2203
Loc: Bucks County PA
So - is this a coincidence or a problem.

In the recent hurricane/tropical storm, my home was running on generator for a few days. It's a Honda, older model (from 1998), and it's got an "auto-throttle" feature to save gas when there's no load.

Now, two of my loads are a refrigerator and a freezer. The others are just pumps that come on based on pressure or float switches.

About 2 days after the power came back on, we noticed the refrigerator wasn't quite keeping stuff as cold as it should and soon after we had a service technician come in and the compressor motor was dead. Cost to repair was near cost to replace, it was 11 years old, so we replaced it.

But I've been thinking about how auto-throttle works and was wondering if I may have accidentally killed my refrigerator. The generator drops the voltage and slows down until it detects a load of a bit more than 1 amp. This fridge had an "energy saving mode" that drew less than an amp at times - I wonder if there could have been some kind of issue with the compressor attempting to run on 50 volts while the generator was in slow mode.

Does anyone think/know if this is possible or is it just bad luck.

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#234033 - 10/20/11 03:49 AM Re: Generator Autothrottle Vs. Refrigerator [Re: MartinFocazio]
Richlacal Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 02/11/10
Posts: 778
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Refridgerators/Freezers can survive for 20 yrs or more if one provides a little simple maintenance,very easy to do!#1- Pull fridge away from the wall,aprox. 4',place yourself right or left side of fridge,place your foot at the lower back corner & push/tilt the fridge towards the wall 45 degrees or more,so the fridge stays tilted on it own,leaning against the wall,If you hear a rattling noise,No worries,it's the condenser fan,of which is mounted on a pinion,no harm done!.#2-get a vacuum cleaner with hose&attachments(HEPA filter type works best),& vacuum the entire bottom of the fridge(the crevice attachment & a paintbrush works well here) you will see alot of hair,dust,etc. built up on the condensor coil,usually lower back end(looks like a radiator),Suck all that stuff off with the vacuum,usually takes about 5 mins.,& if you can't get all the fur out,reverse the vac hose to the blow side & blow out all that fur,etc. you may want to wear a particle mask or bandana to cover your nose/mouth while doing so,when it is clean,reverse the hose to vacuum up all the debris,gently pull fridge back down on all fours.That simple task will give much extra life to your fridge,especially if done annualy!If you see water behind the fridge on the floor,that is water from the condenser pan in the backside,you can also clean that area as well,removing the thick cardboard cover,usually 5/16" or 3/8" hexscrews(be sure to vacuum the cover,it will be dirty as well)& be careful,slow,deliberate (there are alot of sharp edges waiting to ambush your fingers)just make sure you unplug the fridge 1st,you do not have to unplug the fridge for the above 1st task.If you clean the condenser pan,& Fan blades,you will notice almost immediately afterward that,Your fridge is smelling a whole lot better,& much colder air going into the freezer as well!The #1 chief cause for compressor failure is a clogged condensor coil & dirty fan motor/blades!Also many fridges/freezers are mis-diagnosed as having a burnt compressor motor,when in fact it is merely a burnt out capacitor-$10.00 part( the little black rectangle-1"x3" with 2-wires attached to it,(usually located leftside of compressor tank,mounted to the pan w 1/4" hexhead screws,use insulated needlenose pliers to extract the wires from the capacitor,& do not touch the contacts with your fingers,you may get Zapped,capacitors sometimes hold a charge.Place the pliers onto both contacts,if there is a charge,it will pop/spark,it is now de-energized,take capacitor off,& take it with you for a replacement at the appliance shop/Sears/etc. 9 times outa' 10 any voltage problems are going to burn out the capacitor,1st/foremost,a mere $10 part!The above info or $750+,Your choice!

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#234050 - 10/20/11 03:19 PM Re: Generator Autothrottle Vs. Refrigerator [Re: MartinFocazio]
Jeanette_Isabelle Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 11/13/06
Posts: 2946
Loc: Nacogdoches, Texas
The only thing I can think of is using a battery backup unit with a voltage regulator. The ones with a voltage regulator cost a little more than $100. They are sold at computer stores since it is best to supply a computer with reasonably constant voltage.

Jeanette Isabelle
_________________________
I'm not sure whose twisted idea it was to put hundreds of adolescents in underfunded schools run by people whose dreams were crushed years ago, but I admire the sadism. -- Wednesday Adams, Wednesday

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#234052 - 10/20/11 03:32 PM Re: Generator Autothrottle Vs. Refrigerator [Re: Richlacal]
MartinFocazio Offline

Pooh-Bah

Registered: 01/21/03
Posts: 2203
Loc: Bucks County PA
Gee, thanks, that's really a useful set of tips, and I've added them to my checklist of home chores.

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#234053 - 10/20/11 03:35 PM Re: Generator Autothrottle Vs. Refrigerator [Re: ]
MartinFocazio Offline

Pooh-Bah

Registered: 01/21/03
Posts: 2203
Loc: Bucks County PA
Originally Posted By: IzzyJG99
We had a freezer that had a special eco-setting that took up a low amount of voltage and basically ran at 10% power until the temperature got to a certain point and then kicked on instead of staying on constantly or on a frequent cycle.


Yep, same situation. That's a $1,400 mistake I won't make twice.
I'm disabling auto-throttle as soon as it's back from the shop (had the carb & fuel system rebuilt to be ethanol-resistant after some issues cropped up). I'd rather spend an extra $50 on fuel than another $1,400 if we have a power failure that long again.

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#234056 - 10/20/11 03:38 PM Re: Generator Autothrottle Vs. Refrigerator [Re: Jeanette_Isabelle]
Russ Offline
Geezer

Registered: 06/02/06
Posts: 5357
Loc: SOCAL
If I follow what Jeannette is recommending, use a back-up power supply in conjunction with your generator to stabilize the power. Back-up systems like those provided by Xantrex come with an internal power inverter to turn the DC battery voltage into AC power. Get one with a big enough inverter and a big enough battery.

I have the XPower Powerpack 400 and I doubt that it has the reserve power to ensure stable power for a refrigerator. For this application, I'd go bigger.
_________________________
Better is the Enemy of Good Enough.
Okay, what’s your point??

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#234072 - 10/20/11 05:51 PM Re: Generator Autothrottle Vs. Refrigerator [Re: MartinFocazio]
MartinFocazio Offline

Pooh-Bah

Registered: 01/21/03
Posts: 2203
Loc: Bucks County PA
Or....I could just leave auto-throttle off.

After the fridge died, we had a good sense of what it costs to re-stock it, and we also know how much fuel the generator uses when running "full power" - based on that, it's worth running the generator for 4 days in a row before fuel costs exceed food replacement costs. I'm OK with that.

Best of all, if we have a long-term blackout in winter, we just move the food into our attached, unheated garage and don't even plug in the fridge!

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#234169 - 10/21/11 09:14 PM Re: Generator Autothrottle Vs. Refrigerator [Re: Jeanette_Isabelle]
chaosmagnet Offline
Sheriff
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/03/09
Posts: 3819
Loc: USA
Originally Posted By: JeanetteIsabelle
The only thing I can think of is using a battery backup unit with a voltage regulator.


I know from personal experience that good, expensive ($1000+) UPSes are destroyed outright by laser printers and floor buffers. I would definitely not plug anything that had a pump or a condenser in it into a UPS I wanted to keep.

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#234199 - 10/22/11 04:56 PM Re: Generator Autothrottle Vs. Refrigerator [Re: chaosmagnet]
Unca_Walt Offline
Newbie

Registered: 10/03/11
Posts: 27
Loc: Floriduh
Originally Posted By: chaosmagnet
Originally Posted By: JeanetteIsabelle
The only thing I can think of is using a battery backup unit with a voltage regulator.


I know from personal experience that good, expensive ($1000+) UPSes are destroyed outright by laser printers and floor buffers. I would definitely not plug anything that had a pump or a condenser in it into a UPS I wanted to keep.


BINGO.

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#234205 - 10/22/11 06:21 PM Re: Generator Autothrottle Vs. Refrigerator [Re: chaosmagnet]
Jeanette_Isabelle Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 11/13/06
Posts: 2946
Loc: Nacogdoches, Texas
Originally Posted By: chaosmagnet
Originally Posted By: JeanetteIsabelle
The only thing I can think of is using a battery backup unit with a voltage regulator.


I know from personal experience that good, expensive ($1000+) UPSes are destroyed outright by laser printers and floor buffers. I would definitely not plug anything that had a pump or a condenser in it into a UPS I wanted to keep.

I have one for my computer, which uses a laser printer, and I have no problem with it.

I also use one for my home theater. It has worked for years.

Jeanette Isabelle
_________________________
I'm not sure whose twisted idea it was to put hundreds of adolescents in underfunded schools run by people whose dreams were crushed years ago, but I admire the sadism. -- Wednesday Adams, Wednesday

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