Need advice. How long will a generator last?
- Thread starter Little legs
- Start date
Little legs
Member
Fumes were a worry! Thank you. Could you run the generators from out of the room and run the cables through the roof?
It seems most people thinks it's a bad idea.
Theres opportunity to brick it up to make it into an room like youd find in a house. If the generator was in a separate section, where more air got to it, and was in a safe position, would that be any good? does your god father run a hobby mine with power? If so, what does he use?
Little legs
Member
It's so confusing when I get this advice.
I've attached a picture of a diesal generator. It is built to last upto 30hours running time(so completely intended for continuous use).
can you tell me why you think it wouldnt power anything for longer than an hour or 2?
with a full tank of diesal what I'm showing you icould 100% power a 1000w light for 18hours right?
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reza92
Well-Known Member
No the only safe place for a generator is outside the mine well away from any entrances/air intakes. My godfather runs a petrol 7kva generator which is approximately 30m from his main vertical shaft, this feeds a Distribution board (similar to what you’d find in most houses without a metre), this than distributes power as needed for lights/tools around the mine.
reza92
Well-Known Member
yeah it can run for 30 hours but what’s the rest time before it can do another 30hrs. What’re doing during this downtime for power?
for the price of a generator like this you could rent a decent place and set it up to grow and have cash left over.
Little legs
Member
Dont worry about kids finding it.. that's not happening.
So are you saying, a 1000w light, couldnt run of a 7.5kWh diesal generator with a 30l capacity?
When you say wont yield dick, have you ever tried to grow without overestimating what you need? I.e grew in shit conditions?. Because I think alot of people would be surprised at what you can do. 1 example is I've got a friend who grows about 800grams every 2 months of a 250 halogen bulb and crappy conditions. Only difference is he has power.
Little legs
Member
Ok brilliant. So that could easily work then, just got to have the generator out of the shaft.
Yeah I was looking at 7.5kwh diesal generator.
Is his generator easily enough to power everything for the day? I.e would what I'm suggesting last 18hours with a 1000w light and couple of other bits at most? I think it will stay on aslong as i want, if i top up the diesal right?
Little legs
Member
It's a long running high powerd diesal generator, so as far as I'm aware, the down time is when you switch it off, and the on time is when you fill it with diesal, oil and coolant, and let it do its thing.
That really isn't a cheaper way.
I'd have to buy all the same equipment for a room in the house apart from the one off generator purchase. So rent which would be around a grand a month on a house, blows the price of a generator out the water, and the bill's would be near enough the same as red diesel for the generator. So definitely no cash to spare, it would be more expensive.
One off payment for a generator, and then about 230pm for red diesel. Or 1000 pound a month, and all bills on top...
reza92
Well-Known Member
you also get to live in a house and don’t have to worry about things like cave ins or suffocating because of gas buildup
but are you an electrician, can you safely run the power from the generator (which needs to be above ground) into the mine to the grow and distribute it as needed. Because my god fathers son is an electrician which is why it hasn’t cost them thousands to wire their mine up.
also no way that thing can run non stop for 30hours, stop for fuel and start up for another 30. That kind of constant work and it’ll need maintenance at least once a month assuming it doesn’t die.
Little legs
Member
Ok mate thanks for the advice.
I'm not an electrician no, I'm more on the plumbing side of things. I do have a friend tho who's trust worthy enough(saying that tho, you never 100% know if theyll keep quiet do you)
I get to live in a house pretty much free of charge, so that's why it's not an major deal spending elsewhere. I feel pretty confident with the cave ins aspect, evrythings well set out.
It's just the fumes I was worried about, but that's obviously something I can work around.
I wouldnt actually need it on for 30hours straight, so what do you reckon the affect on the generator would be, if it was on for 18hours and off for 6hours each time? Would only switching it off for 6hours a day still be too much for it to handle?
2 generators on for 9hrs each and off for 15 would be ok, but obviously got the price of an extra generator.
reza92
Well-Known Member
fumes as you put it are the biggest issue and the most expensive to deal with. Even the equipment to know if it’s unsafe for you you breathe is expensive (go look up the price on a decent carbon dioxide/monoxide/methane/othe dangerous gas detectors cost. Trust me if growing in a mine was feasible I’d already have one down my godfathers.
the longer something works the more maintenance it requires and the more likely it is that something will break and that likelihood that “thing” is something critical/expensive increases
reza92
Well-Known Member
To put it simply my godfather has a mine in inland Australia. Even with a decent solar system, battery bank and backup generator it’s not worth the money time or effort to set up a grow in a mine. Your always fighting loosing battles with things like humidity, literal bugs etc. I see it being less feasible somewhere that solar is way less effective
Little legs
Member
Thanks for tha advice pal. I'll make sure I take eveything into consideration, especially the fumes aspect. I wint be spending much money until ive
Little legs
Member
Oh wow, still not enough sunlight to make it work in Australia. Does seem like this will be tough
Kerovan
Well-Known Member
It can run "up to 30 hours" on one tank of fuel. That doesn't mean that it's rated to continuously run for months at a time. You can get big industrial generators that are designed to run continuously, and this one you linked may even be fine. But that doesn't guarantee that it will be. Most small generators that are sold to the general public are only intended to run for a few hours a year, not continuous day in, day out use. And inverters like you mentioned originally are only for short term quick emergency use.
printer
Well-Known Member
How far from the outside to the grow site? Just wondering about the wire size, whether you can keep the generator at the entrance of the mine, if there is some kind of structure there to shield the generator from the elements. For a short run you can use your plumbing skills to duct the exhaust outside. How about a small greenhouse outside and supplemental lighting? Even some reflectors to concentrate the limited sunlight? Just trying to think outside the box/mine shaft to reduce costs and make practical.
I am an Electrician and I have done many many UPS's (has many more tasks, but assume just a battery backup) jobs. That power supply you listed will not last you 12 hours, probably closer to 5 with no fans no nothing. It will take you 10 hours to charge and your parents hydro bill will be the same as if you just did it in your house. Also keep in mind that the colder it gets, the less power they have available and will eventually just shut down. Your biggest problem, legally, is that you will need to go back and forth to the site with batteries every few hours and eventually someone will catch you.
I tried to go this route as a kid - now keep in mind prices are much cheaper now - but to have enough solar energy and battery storage it would have cost me $13,000. I decided as some suggested to just wait for summer and toss them outside on crown land as to not implicate my family.
If you are dead set on taking your chances, you would be best to set up a diesel generator and have a scrubber attached to it. Blow the fumes into another enclosure and exhaust them out and I would be buying an air quality monitor so when you go down you make sure you're coming back. Any generator will run continuously, but diesel will be cheaper and the engine will last longer. We have cheap 5000W gas dewalt generators at work for small water pumps that have been running continuously for 3 years and no issues. You could have a Y fitting from the exhaust with a temperature controlled solenoid so during lights out/cold days the exhaust can be ducted through the room to radiate heat.
I can help elaborate more if need be.
I tried to go this route as a kid - now keep in mind prices are much cheaper now - but to have enough solar energy and battery storage it would have cost me $13,000. I decided as some suggested to just wait for summer and toss them outside on crown land as to not implicate my family.
If you are dead set on taking your chances, you would be best to set up a diesel generator and have a scrubber attached to it. Blow the fumes into another enclosure and exhaust them out and I would be buying an air quality monitor so when you go down you make sure you're coming back. Any generator will run continuously, but diesel will be cheaper and the engine will last longer. We have cheap 5000W gas dewalt generators at work for small water pumps that have been running continuously for 3 years and no issues. You could have a Y fitting from the exhaust with a temperature controlled solenoid so during lights out/cold days the exhaust can be ducted through the room to radiate heat.
I can help elaborate more if need be.
Little legs
Member
I think you're right with diesel being the way to go.
With rechargable generators, I think id need to have eight 10ah batterys, have 4 running, 4 charging and rotate them, but it would be too often, too expensive, and not really powerful enough.
I think diesel will be best, like you say just make sure fumes are being blown into a different area/into the open. Will definitely get monitors for different gases, make sure I'm being safe etc.
I'm quite good with structure and stuff like that, so I think I'd build a smal pit next to the room(shaft) that gets plenty of air, have the genny in there, and run wires through the ground into the room.
It's going to be a pretty long project, but I'll be sure to ask questions and fill you in how I'm getting on.
Cheers pal!
Ya electric is cool and all and is making great strides but it's not there yet. Even a tesla loses what 20% battery at -10C? Tesla has a heater to heat up those batteries when its cold because they won't even work otherwise. I can kill a 5AH battery drill in a half hour if used really hard - 18V mind you. Point being, with batteries they have a very precise point in which they like to run and when run hard they do not last and they lose charge capacity each and every time they are run below optimal (typically 20-30%) although new batteries, such a tesla I believe is 5%.
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PS. The alibaba is for information only. Don't buy from there if you don't know what your doing. It's like the dark web of products LOL