Generator?
 

Tell me about portable generators.

Our neighborhood association puts on a neighborhood picnic in the park every year and we hire a band, rent the sound equipment, and rent a generator to power it.

My wife is running the event this year. She's going to hire a friend's band that is very good and have their own sound equipment; save a little $. I'm thinking about buying a generator for myself, and using it for the event; save a little more money.

I don't know how hefty a generator is needed to run a band's amps. Any idea? Of generators that size, what would you recommend?

I don't have any obvious personal use for a generator, but I thought maybe it could come in handy for a long power outage, natural disaster, etc. Just to charge a battery to recharge cellphones or run a freezer for a couple hours. I realize the fuel will will be exhausted in a day or two of continuous running. Though I don't really want to store a bunch of gasoline so would prefer diesel?

The little Honda generators are costly, but very nice and extremely quiet. And some of the models you can daisy chain for more power.

For hurricane prep I got the second cheapest one Home Depot sold at the time. No issues over several hundred hours of run time, I change the oil and clean the carb jets, etc. when the first named storm of the season is announced. 5500w.

Link didn't work, I have a Honda 2000 and its great, about $800, buy a Honda or Yamaha, you can get parts for them and service at the motorcycle dealers, you buy a Chinese xyz at kragen, you'll be lucky if you can buy a spark plug. Run Mobile 1 and run it once a month, use fuel stabilizer or drain the fuel tank and fuel system.

Yeah you can daisy chain two 2,000 watt Honda for not much extra $, like $100,

Where you need it? Many of us would be happy to lend you one...

I'm in Portland OR. Unless someone is super local, probably easier to just rent (I'm seeing $60-75/day). We can save the neighborhood more by self-catering the food etc. Unless it makes sense for me to buy one anyway, in which case I'd let the neighbor party use it free.

I bought the Westinghouse inverter generator. 2,200 surge watt. Same as the Honda and Yamaha.
Have already bought parts through them and they ship very fast and reasonable.
Would I recommend it? Well for the price over Honda. Yeah I would.


I have a feeling that 2,000 watt from the inverter generator, that the band will need a bit more power...

You may find you need more than a 2kw generator for any half decent band setup.
I bought this:

https://www.bjs.com/product/champion-power-equipment-9-375w-peak-7-500w-rated-gas-powered-portable-generator-with-electric-start/248604

Ran it for 2 weeks 24x7 at about a 5kw draw without issue. Used 5 gallons every 8 hours at that load. It’s not quiet, but it’s a bit beefier than the little Honda’s.

Have a talk with your band's sound guy. They may not want to play off generators, and you'll need more than one. Solid state amps and home generators do not get along.

What type of music do they play?
What is the size of your audience?

I'd play it safe and rent one that comes on a semi trailer.

Hopefully Gogar will share some of his knowledge.

Edit: To elaborate

Crown has an amp sizing tool on their website.
https://www.crownaudio.com/en-US/tools/calculators#amp_power_required

Equations used to calculate the data:
dBW = Lreq - Lsens + 20 * Log (D2/Dref) + HR
W = 10 to the power of (dBW / 10)

Where:
Lreq = required SPL at listener
Lsens = loudspeaker sensitivity (1W/1M)
D2 = loudspeaker-to-listener distance
Dref = reference distance
HR = desired amplifier headroom
dBW = ratio of power referenced to 1 watt
W = power required

Once you know the size of the pa amp, you can look up how much power it needs.
Add in the guitar and bass amps, lights, smoke machine, apparatus to spin the drum kit, etc, to get the total power required, and then you'll know how big of a generator you'll need.
Hearing damage occurs at sustained exposure to 90-95db, so I'd plan on at least 100db at your desired distance. But that's just me, your taste may vary.

Oh those little Honda powered generators. The engines are just beautiful. The build quality.

But better ask the band (or figure out the maths yourself) as to what the amp requirements are.

Love my Honda 2200. My dad has an earlier model, and it has stood up to 15 years go use without a hitch. We recently had the power go out for 2 days, and it was below freezing. I took the box to my furnace apart, and wired in an extension cord. The gen ran it with easy. Barely turned up a notch when the furnace came on.

What "rockfan4" says. First you have to absolutely know how much power the band needs plus any other power needs along with it. It's also true the type of power the generator produces may not be "clean" enough for their equipment. I don't know about one big enough to go onto a semi trailer, but a large unit on it's own chassis might be required. If you want one for your house, you need to identify which things you would want to power during an outage and how much power they would need, and how often you have outages. Outages of up to maybe a day don't necessarily require a generator in most cases. They're inconvenient but that's about it. Most of my neighbors use a 5K to 7K generator with extension cords during outages. Beyond that a generator is necessary to power at least refrigerators and freezers. To install one permanently would probably require a transfer panel hooked up to the circuits you want to power during outages. Diesel generators are much bigger bucks but much nicer. I have a 10 Kw gas generator for my place with a transfer panel and am considering getting a diesel, but even though we live in a rural area, the number and length of outages wouldn't necessarily justify it.

Wait for Gogar or talk with the band's (or someone with experience) sound engineer to find what "they" use for just that purpose....do not "wing it" imo....do it "right" or don't. I used to be involved with blues festivals, etc. with lots of events requiring the whole infrastructure to be provided, years ago...that "wheel" is out there...probably a LOT better now...."clean power" may or may not matter....I dunno. Now I realize who I'm responding to though....;)

edited.....didn't read rockfan first.....oops....that's a first :)

The advantage of the trailer mounted units is that they have significant sound attenuation. I believe the ones we rent in Seattle start at 35kW and go up from there.

^^^^ while a 200w amp and power requirements CAN drive my largest speaker towers...2K watts is really what ya need to do them "right" ....it matters :)

Is there a power line close that you could run a temporary panel off of

Exactly what I was thinking. Newer equipment doesn't like the voltage fluctuation that is common in many generators.

Once you know the power consumption you can't go wrong with a Honda or Yamaha generator . Yes they are the most expensive but there is a reason for that . I love my Honda EU3000 it starts EVERY time and is whisper quiet . It has enough 220 volt power to run the AC in my truck camper . I bought mine used and saved a LOT of money vs. new . Plus in a pinch we use the generator as back up power for the house during extended power outages . Just running a few lights and the fridge is a wonderful convenience .