Seeking some electrical help (Petrol Generators)

jtsystems · Apr 29, 2011

Okay so I'm not an electrician and I would call an electrician but don't think asking for advice about a generator would help them in any way.

So I thought maybe a forum would be a better option and hope that some people can help me...

I run a mobile catering business that has around 5KW peak output if you combine all the equipment together, I have bought a 5KVA generator (Clarke Power).

I just want to make sure that I am doing the correct things to ensure that I don't blow any of my equipment etc.

It has yellow (115 IIRC) and blue (230v) plugs, I believe I need to use my 3 guage cable and adaptor and plug this into that socket.

I then have an extension cable which connects my equipment together,.

In the interest of safety, is this safe?
In the interest of money and not blowing equipment is this the correct way of doing things?

Just wondering if you could be so kind as to shed some light with KVA vs KW etc.

Thanks

johnboy6083 · Apr 29, 2011

i believe KVA takes into account power factor, on 3ph loads

telectrix · Apr 29, 2011

think first you have to ignore the 110v socket ( yellow ) that is for 110v power tools as allowed on construction sites. 5kva is 22Amps, so you would need to ensure that your cable plugged in is 2.5mm. ( in actual fact, with diversity, you would not normally pull this full amount, but 2.5mm ensures it's adequate. ). there may be a requirement for an earth rod and RCD protection though, but to be honest, i'm not that well up on gennys. someone else can advise you better on the last bit.

johnboy6083 · Apr 29, 2011

most gennys ive used come with rods, to ensure there is not a floating neutral potential.

Paul.M · Apr 29, 2011

Nice post tel but you forgot to ask for some free food for us all

.

Is the yellow socket supplying 110V or 230V? Just check on that before plugging any equipment in. Best bet due to the expense of your equipment and cost to your business if anything goes wrong is to get a local registered spark to advise you on what is best for your mobile unit. I know its not the answer your looking for but due to this being your income its worth the money.

telectrix · Apr 29, 2011

and don't forget the heavy duty padlock and chain to secure the genny to something immoveable. the pikeys will have it away before you can say bacon butty.

UNG · Apr 29, 2011

The problem with a lot of generators is making sure they run at the correct frequency and voltage. Ideally a load bank should be used to set them up properly. Seen a few recently that were new but were running at quite a high frequency and voltage output

Guest123 · Apr 30, 2011

jtsystems said:
Just wondering if you could be so kind as to shed some light with KVA vs KW etc.

Thanks

Hi.

Essentialy W = true power

VA = apparent power

W will be equal to VA only if the load is purely resistive. If not then the power factor will come into play. A safe bet is to divide by 0.8, however it could be more or less depending on the exact nature of the load i.e how resistive/inductive etc.

So VA = W/PF which means if you actually needed the full 5KW of power you would divide this by 0.8 to give you the size of genny in KVA needed = 6.2KVA.