Ok electricians, what would a person need to get to safely take 2- 120v generators and run a 220 appliance?

 

I'm not sure it can be done... there's no guarantee that two separate generators would be 180* out of phase with each other which is what you need for 220.

Now, if there was a way you could rectify the power from the individual generators to 12V DC, then combine them to get 24V, then invert it back to 220, it would probably work... but it would be HOPELESSLY inefficient. The conversion and inversion alone would likely eat up a large percentage of your power supply.

What 220V appliance are you trying to run?

-Joe

 

His clothes dryer and hot water heater.

 

Nothing at the moment, but when I was with out power for 12 days, it would have been nice to run the hot water heater. There is the threat of another ice storm coming this week and may lose power again. I sitll have my generator I bought in the last one and my father inlaw bought one after it was over.

I am thinking about getting a tankless gas and putting it after the tank t oact as a booster so I can turn the thremostat down on the tank to save $$$$ year around and have more hot water. The one I was looking at takes 40 wat at 110 to run the ignition and exhaust fan.

But while the power was out then I was trying to come up with some way to run the darn tank off the small generator so we could take showers. If I shut everythign else off in the house, then it would have enough watts and amps just not the volts to push them fast enough.

 

Yea it aint big enough, even if it was doubled with another one, to run the clothes dryer.

Whe nI build my house I'm getting atleast a 17 kilowatt propane back up generator so when this hits again 20 years from now, then it will be so old that it wont start.

 

Not likely.... I just looked at mine, and I have a double-element hot water tank... both of the heating elements are wired in parallel, so they both require 220. I was hoping one might feed from one leg and the other element feeds from the other leg, but nope... they're true 220 elements.

Even if you got a conventional gas (or propane) heater with electronic ignition and a powered vent, that would be better than what you've got now (nothing). I've been looking at them myself for a couple of years... but I haven't had the power outages like everyone promised me I would. (Hope I didn't jinx myself).

-Joe

 

I hope you didnt either, cause belive me ..... it sucks!!!!

I lucked in to this little genny during this one at wally world of all places. I was leary becasue it was not a brand I recognized but later found out it was made by Coleman so I am happy now. After the third day of no one having power they were hard to find one of any kind in these parts and there was some serious price hikes when you did find one. It is only rated at 2500 watts, 3125 peak start up, but it was cranking out alot more than that for me. I think they seriously underated it or teh other off brands people were paying twice as much for were over rated. I was running more off this thing than others were on the ones they bought out of the back of trucks in parking lots that were rated twice as much, and they paid twice as much too.