Generators

Inverter generators and the open-frame kind:

the difference is how the power is made. An open-frame generator runs its engine flat out and feeds the outlets straight off the alternator: the cheapest way to get a lot of watts, loud, and fine for a fridge, fans, lights and power tools. An inverter generator cleans that output into steady current and lets the engine slow down on a light load, so it is far quieter, uses less fuel and is safe for laptops and routers. Honda and Yamaha set the standard for small inverters, but most inverters are small and the bigger ones cost much more per watt. On a farm there is a third option: a PTO generator driven off a tractor, with no engine of its own.

Diesel generator sets that run all night:

a gasoline portable is built for an outage, a diesel set for a working day. Canopied units with a Cummins, Perkins, John Deere or Kubota engine turning slowly behind sound deadening keep a tower’s lifts and pumps going when the line drops, and they are what lodges on the islands of Bocas del Toro and Guna Yala, or farms in Darién beyond the grid, run for hours every day. So read the rating: standby is the most a set gives through an outage, prime is what it carries day after day, and a standby set worked as the main supply wears out fast. Whatever the size, it should reach the house through a transfer switch fitted by an electrician, never a cable into a wall socket that feeds power back up the line.

Sizing a generator to the motor with the hardest start:

add up the running watts of what you want on at once, then allow for the hardest start. A fridge, a well pump or an older split air conditioner pulls several times its running power as the motor kicks in, and an undersized generator stalls or trips. A pump or water-heater circuit needs a unit with the higher voltage as well as the standard one, and a three-phase workshop needs a three-phase set.

New generators, and used ones judged by the hour meter:

a new no-name open-frame gasoline unit big enough for a fridge, lights and fans costs around $250 to $550, and a small enclosed diesel around $900 to $1,400. Used portables lose value fast, because the faults that finish them, a gummed carburettor or a dying regulator, cost a good share of a new one. A diesel standby set holds its value far better: one started mostly for its weekly test can have barely worn its engine after years in service. Judge it running. A huge wattage figure on a small open frame, or a Honda badge on a unit priced like a phone, marks a copy; a genuine Honda carries a serial number the brand’s dealer can check. Plug in a heater or an iron and watch a plug-in meter: the voltage should hold and the lights should not flicker as the load comes on. A portable left with gasoline in it since the last blackout will hunt and surge until the carburettor is cleaned. On a diesel, start it cold, watch the smoke clear and check the battery and hoses, which age whether the set runs or not. Black, oily soot at the exhaust means years of running almost unloaded.

The alternator nameplate in a generator listing:

it tells a buyer most of what they need: kW and kVA, voltage, phase and frequency. Shoot it straight on with the hour meter, say whether the unit was standby or the main supply, when it was last serviced and what fuel it takes, and film a cold start and a minute on a real load. A set with a seized engine but a sound alternator still sells for parts to buyers searching industrial parts. Someone shipping a canopied set to Metetí or onto a launch for the islands books the transport first, so give its weight on the skid and say whether it fits in the back of a pickup or needs a crane truck.