Not earthing a generator

[Sylvia Else]

Some sort of anchor point for a chain set in concrete.

If your generator has a steel tube frame you can hook a chain through,
various motorcycle locking up chains are available - there is some
correlation between price and whether its any good.

I've sourced a couple of padlocks, chain, and a way to lock one end of
the chain to a brick wall. All case-hardened steel, or better.

The attachment to the generator is really the weak spot. The generator
casing is plastic, and there's no obvious place I can attach anthing to
the interior. The best I can do is thread the chain through the casing
in such a way that so much damage would be done in removing it that a
thief wouldn't bother.

So assuming that any thief would want an intact generator, it should be
secure against anyone not armed with either heavy-duty bolt cutters, or
power tools.

If anyone happens to see a 2kW generator with a badly damaged plastic
casing on the back of truck, perhaps they could note the registration
number, and let me know, in case it's mine.

Sylvia.

 

[Don McKenzie]

I've sourced a couple of padlocks, chain, and a way to lock one end of the chain to a brick wall. All case-hardened
steel, or better.

The attachment to the generator is really the weak spot. The generator casing is plastic, and there's no obvious place I
can attach anthing to the interior. The best I can do is thread the chain through the casing in such a way that so much
damage would be done in removing it that a thief wouldn't bother.

In a previous life about 30 years ago:
http://www.dontronics.com/my_early_tote_years.html
I had to leave my car in racecourse public car parks late at night.
A couple of friends of mine had their cars knocked off, and used in robberies.

I decided to source a couple of padlocks, and two metres of heavy chain. I locked one end to the undercarriage of the
passenger side seat, and the other to the steering wheel. It will only slow down a thief of course, but if they are keen
enough to bring a set of bolt cutters, or a hacksaw with them, the car is theirs.

I have insisted that both my daughters and my wife, also use this method of securing their cars during the last 30
years, and we have never had a car go missing.

I figured, I worked hard for these things, and I want to keep them. I have no hangups about throwing a heavy chain into
a brand new car. Nothing gets scratched anyway, as the chain is not locked to the steering wheel, when the car is driven.

I also have a 2 metre x 3 metre courier cage (fits 2 x 25Kg fedex boxes) chained in the same way, to a brick pier on my
front veranda. Really looks the part.

Good luck with it Sylvia.

Cheers Don...

====================


--
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"I'd buy that for a Dollar!".

 

[Sylvia Else]

I also have a 2 metre x 3 metre courier cage (fits 2 x 25Kg fedex boxes)
chained in the same way, to a brick pier on my front veranda. Really
looks the part.

Though one thing I've pondered is the wisdom of making it obvious that
something has been seriously secured - it says "look here for
valuables".

Decoy boxes with exploding dye packs inside?

Sylvia.

 

[Don McKenzie]

Though one thing I've pondered is the wisdom of making it obvious that something has been seriously secured - it says
"look here for
valuables".

Decoy boxes with exploding dye packs inside?
Sylvia.

Would you believe a moat full of crocodiles with exploding dye packs inside.

I often thought that a potential car thief may have thrown a brick through my car window just to piss me off, when they
saw the chain on the steering wheel, but I would prefer that to a missing car.

I feel a generator with a good chain on it, tells the true story. If they want it, and think it is valuable enough to
walk off with it, then they have to bring back a set of bolt cutters with them next time.

Cheers Don...

=====================


--
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[Don McKenzie]

Don - so if you're not available to accept a delivery the couriers will
leave packages locked up for you??????

Good idea.

Yep, my biggest problem is, if no one is around, and I have two deliveries in one day, the cage will be locked and the
second delivery can't be locked in the cage without the key.

I have signs everywhere asking the driver to either ring a phone number and get the location of the padlock key, or
leave the goods with a neighbor.

I also leave letters of signed authorization to leave the goods. I have also notified every courier company I deal with,
and asked them to leave the goods and lock the cage, but unless you have regular drivers, this doesn't always work.

Cheers Don...

====================


--
Don McKenzie

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[Metro]

I've sourced a couple of padlocks, chain, and a way to lock one end of the
chain to a brick wall. All case-hardened steel, or better.

The attachment to the generator is really the weak spot. The generator
casing is plastic, and there's no obvious place I can attach anthing to
the interior. The best I can do is thread the chain through the casing in
such a way that so much damage would be done in removing it that a thief
wouldn't bother.

So assuming that any thief would want an intact generator, it should be
secure against anyone not armed with either heavy-duty bolt cutters, or
power tools.

If anyone happens to see a 2kW generator with a badly damaged plastic
casing on the back of truck, perhaps they could note the registration
number, and let me know, in case it's mine.

Sylvia.

This generator. Are you supplying a power board or what? Please don't tell
me you are integrating with your household electrical supply at the main
board with a c/o switch.

Metro

 

[Sylvia Else]

Would you believe a moat full of crocodiles with exploding dye packs
inside.

Green, I trust, for an aesthetic balance with the red.

Sylvia.

 

[Sylvia Else]

use stainless steel chain......

Sheesh - this is already costing enough. I've had to restrain myself,
lest I spend more on securing the generator than it is worth.

Sylvia.

 

[Sylvia Else]

This generator. Are you supplying a power board or what? Please don't tell
me you are integrating with your household electrical supply at the main
board with a c/o switch.

No, I'm not. That would only make sense if the grid power were
persistently unreliable, which it isn't. Nor am I using a suicide cable.

The sparky modified the airconditioner wiring, so that the
airconditioner is now plugged into a power outlet. In the event of a
power outage, I can unplug it and plug it into an extension cable from
the generator. Ditto anything else I want to use at the time.

Sylvia.

 

[Sylvia Else]

We've had a number of cases of theft on comms sites where it was
evident that the thieves had visited more than once. First time they
were just looking around to see what they could nick. Second time
they brought the tools to remove all sorts of stuff. Used gas-axes to
cut through the legs of aluminium equipment cabinets.

There is a chain material that is reputedly beyond even the 36"
bolt-cutters. Unfortunately its plating - which looks like a
cad/passivation - seems to fall off and allow rusting. But it DOES
take about half an hour and several hacksaw blades to cut through the
10mm links in a vice. I guess a motorised angle-grinder wouldn't take
long though.

Unfortunately, if the crims are that organised, it's going to be
impossible to prevent the theft by any means that's economic. But I hope
that if they're into those sort of techniques, they'll go after
something more valuable than my generator.

As a last resort, I'm insured.

Sylvia.

 

[fritz]

Unfortunately, if the crims are that organised, it's going to be impossible to prevent the theft by any means that's economic. But
I hope that if they're into those sort of techniques, they'll go after something more valuable than my generator.

As a last resort, I'm insured.

Sylvia.

I deleted the start of this thread, would you mind telling me what
model generator you have, the brief specs and the price ?
Thanks !

 

[Sylvia Else]

Nobody home?
Here you go:
***************
After much soul searching I went for a Kipor GS2600 (rated output
2300W), bought from Sparky Direct. It may not (with emphasis on may)
have the run-time longevity of a Honda or Yamaha, but I don't need that
in this application. I'll probably die of old age before it reaches 50
hours. The twenty hour run-in, while a bit of a pain, gives me a chance
to let it burn-in while it's in warranty. I checked with Kipor in
Australia, and they claim that spare parts are available for it here.

In some quarters they seem to have a reputation for being a bit smokey,
but in fact once mine has warmed up, there's no smoke visible even if I
set out to look for it.

Yes, it's an inverter air-conditioner (Daikin). I called Daikin and they
hadn't a clue about starting current, so I measured it directly. It's
very well behaved.

I did some more searching regarding earthing. This seems to be a
contentious and hotly debated issue.

Sylvia.
*******************
Tony

$1,407.94 including freight to a Sydney address. It arrived in a few days.

Minor issue was that it had clearly been shipped on its side at some
point. Its display packaging has a "this way up" indication, but the
exterior plain carton did not. Some of the residual engine oil had
leaked out (it's shipped without oil but clearly they had to put some in
to test it). Kipor in Australia confirmed that this would not be an
technical problem, but offered to replace the generator if I felt the
oil had messed up the interior of the casing. In the event, I just
cleaned it up.

Sylvia.

 

[fritz]

$1,407.94 including freight to a Sydney address. It arrived in a few days.

Minor issue was that it had clearly been shipped on its side at some point. Its display packaging has a "this way up" indication,
but the exterior plain carton did not. Some of the residual engine oil had leaked out (it's shipped without oil but clearly they
had to put some in to test it). Kipor in Australia confirmed that this would not be an technical problem, but offered to replace
the generator if I felt the oil had messed up the interior of the casing. In the event, I just cleaned it up.

Sylvia.

I was curious because the local supermarket has a generator on
special for 199 Euro - seemed a bit too cheap. I checked and the
normal price is more like 280 Euro - still sounds a bit fishy ?
It's not an inverter type, but is rated at 2.5kW and you can chain
it down easily.
http://www.matrix-direct.net/en/index.php?ac=2020&prodID=431&parent=13&product_search=generator