I vote new carburetor. With the terrible ethanol fuel, I've been through 3 carburetors in 20 years with one of my Honda engines.
Champion 4000/3500 Generator Not Running
- Thread starter Astro_Guy
- Start date
4wd
$50 site donor 2026
I have two of those - carbs are $20 - toss the black crack hose for Tygon and add a fuel filter …
@Astro_Guy, what kind of configurable UPS are you running? I’ve run a few dozen RM3000s, a dozen Symmetra units, and currently a 1500VA cyber power currently at home and haven't ever noticed the ability to change their tolerance. Is it front-panel or do you have to go through software?
This is the configuration screen from APC PowerChute. CyberPower has a similar App with this setting. I use small APC units for the casual use systems and larger CyberPower units for anything crtitcal. When the 7Ah batteries give out I replace them with 9Ah batteries. Among the larger units I have three CyberPower 1300 VA units running 2 x 9 Ah batteries plus one 1500 VA unit running 4 x 9 Ah batteries. The latter dates to 2006 and is now on its third set of batteries. LiFePO4 batteries are now available in the same form factor. They may not be approriate replacements. I wouldn't waste any money on a UPS with sealed lead acid batteries going forward.
Brilliant. Sorry I know this is off topic but it’s bitog science.
your thoughts? I’m using a 1000VA cyber power unit at home. It’s mounted in a metal cabinet with two wheelchair batteries, and it feeds a local switch and then a runt circuit to other equipment. The runtime is forever, and it had no problem running my 42” belt drive barrel fan on high, which I didn’t expect it could do … and that’s with the batteries at 3 years old.
in your experience, will the LiFePO4 batteries suit this kind of service? Are the charging and voltage profiles workable? These gel cels are heavy, and wall-mounted up high. The Li* batteries would be very attractive come replacement time.
I have not tried LiFePO4 batteries in SLA applications yet. Some claim to be drop in compatible. You need to pay attention to the charging voltages for bulk, absorption and float modes. I've never seen these specified for small UPS systems, but maybe they exist for the bigger ones. Consumer sized UPS systems are sort of a black box that you just plug in and expect to work. I've replaced a lot of 7 Ah batteries with 9 Ah batteries but have yet to make a change in battery chemistry. Perhaps that will be a future experiment.
Yes, that is what I was thinking too. I think the LiFePO4 batts would need their own internal BMS for this to work, which some claim to have.
ive done several battery augmentations to smaller UPS (120V, 1500 VA and smaller), but I’m picky about the units I choose to own, larger APC smart-ups primarily and a 7 year old cyberpower 1500. ive had everything from close-to-stock replacements to flooded deep cycle and more recently wheelchair batteries on the cyber power. Staying in chemistry, ive not had a problem with any of them.
APC seems to float them slightly higher, and across the board they need replacements before anyone else. Ive easily had to manage replacements for about 50 RM3000s at work (208v), and a dozen symmetras, which are nice units but still eat batteries. Cyber power seems to keep the batteries longer but aren’t as well known, kind of like a younger kia. Trip Lites (rack mount) have been long-lasting but the lack of display information makes it harder to monitor for batt replacement cycle. I prefer permanent installs, but those have their unique pros and cons as well.
at home, I may replace the cyber power with a shallow rack-mount unit at some point - I’d like to see what the technology offerings bring in the next couple of years. I think I’ll get a total of 6-7 years on the wheelchair batteries at this rate. They are 3-4 years old and carry a 1000 watt load without flinching, and respect to the ups, after 10 minutes of that it’s not warm.
See https://dakotalithium.com/product/dakota-lithium-12v-10ah-battery/
Same form factor as the 7 Ah SLA, higher capacity and probably 4x the lifespan. These might last 10 - 15 years. I might just dip a toe in the water here...
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- Sep 24, 2023
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The utility company doesn’t care if you get pure sine wave at your residence. Too much overthinking is put into that. A good UPS should have power filters to condition and clean up the incoming power.
