Porter-Cable BSI550-W 5,500 Watt Generator with 10 HP Engine
Posted by: Adam in Portable Generators
Porter-Cable BSI550-W 5,500 Watt Generator with 10 HP Engine Customer Review: Good Generator so far
Like one of the other reviewers I’m a mechanical engineer. I purchased this generator because I live along the east coast, though not in an area with many hurricanes, so I had time to conduct quite a bit of research before purchasing it. I work in the generator industry, though with larger generators, so I came into my search knowing more than many, but I was seriously disappointed in the amount of information available on the small gas engine generators. Most of these manufacturers are not using the web to provide enough information to differentiate their products from their competition or to really sell their products.
My main criteria was: 1) Low fuel consumption 2) Good voltage regulation 3) High surge capacity. 4) Good engine with cast iron sleeves. 5) Potential reliability. Each of these is important for the following reasons.
1) Fuel consumption - Generator burn quite a bit of fuel. This generator burns a little more than gallon per hour at load. If a hurricane knocked out my power and I ran my generator set for 10 hours a day, in a week I would need 35 gallons of fuel, or 7 five gallon cans. If you check FEMA and other sites they suggest planning for weeks without power and water after major hurricanes. This equates to quite a bit of fuel to store (fire hazard) and keep fresh (fuel should be cycled from storage every 3-6 months, maybe 9-12 if you use a fuel stabilizer/preservative) and quite an expense. This porter cable was more fuel efficient than most generators in its size range, but still consumes quite a bit of fuel. The only way to reduce fuel consumption would be to purchase a smaller generator set, purchase a diesel generator set or switch to a natural gas powered set hoping gas service can be restored faster than electrical service. Natural gas and diesel powered generators of the same capacity are both significantly more expensive than this generator (2 to 3 times) and its troublesome to cycle diesel fuel unless you have a diesel vehicle. I looked over Briggs and Stratton’s (B&S) website for technical data on engine efficiency and there was none, but I did find data on the web that said the most efficient load for gasoline engines is in the 75% range. Diesels are a little higher, so this number seems reasonable. Pick a generator set size about 33% larger than your average load for optimal fuel efficiency. If fuel or efficiency is less of a concern, there are a variety of guides that help a consumer determine what they might want to power, how much power is required, and thus the set size.
2) I was looking for a Brushless (brushes wear over time) generator set that used a voltage regulator to control the voltage. I couldn’t find one. Voltage regulation is important because high or low voltage can damage electronics and other loads. The voltage also must be constantly adjusted as the load on the generator changes. If your refrigerator compressor kicks on the voltage will drop until the regulation system raises the voltage and the voltage increases when loads are removed from the generator set. This generator set does not have good voltage regulation. In my initial tests the voltage ranged from 131 volts at no load to 119 volts at 60 % load. Your utility aims for 120 VAC, so the 131 is high. Use a surge protector if you plan to power any devise with electronics in it. In my market research many of the generators advertised a brushless design, but didn’t provide details. I even called the Porter Cable factory support personnel looking for technical information on how this alternator works, but they couldn’t answer my questions. After examining the generator set, parts breakdowns on line, and a textbook on revolving motors I now believe most of the consumer generators are using a brushless capacitor excitation system. I don’t fully understand the electromagnetics of how it works, but it is a simple design and thus cheaper to manufacture than alternatives, fairly reliable since there are no brushes or a voltage regulator, and not very effective at providing precise voltage regulation consistent with Porter Cables recommendation to use a surge suppressor and my voltage readings. If you want to run sensitive electronics with the consumer generators you can reduce your risk by using a surge protector and not running heavy inductive loads (like pumps, refrigerators, air conditioners, furnaces) while running the electronics. Porter Cable’s recommendation to turn on the heavy loads before turning on the electronics will help some, but those loads switching off could cause voltage spikes and the steady state voltage to change. Most heavy loads cycle on and off. Other options include using inverters (a solution that has its own hurdles and disadvantages) or purchase a more expensive commercial generator. My generators at work have a voltage regulator that keeps the voltage output at close to or better than utility grade level variations, and 4 sets of windings instead of the two in this PC generator. The extra windings and voltage regulator can produce very clean power when properly designed. Expect to pay at least a couple thousand for this type of generator and make sure it has an external voltage regulator, but it will produce the best power. I’m not sure if the standby generators in a box use this type of alternator/excitation system, but a good generator shop should be able to tell you how their alternators work.
3) Surge capacity is important because induction motors have very high starting currents. Starting currents can be 5-9 times operating current. My father experienced this problem when he purchased a smaller generator without consulting me and it wouldn’t even run his refrigerator. He later purchased a larger set with a good surge rating and was able to power his refrigerator, freezer, furnace and sump simultaneously without a problem. My work generators will actually put out 400% of rated power for short durations to provide motor starting capability. I haven’t had a chance to test the PC starting capability yet, but the advertised capability to steady state capacity ratio is one of the best I found it this price range. Intuition suggests PC tweaked the alternator design to increase the surge capacity and some of the literature I found suggests the engine was designed for generators, so it may also contribute to the surge capability.
4) Engine. The engine has cast iron sleeves which should improve long term wear. I’ve talked with small engine manufacturers and they provided expected lives from 500 to 1500 hours for standard Briggs and Stratton or Honda engines. For a lawn mower, 500 hours is a long time, for a generator one hurricane/power outage could put 100 hours on the set. This engine also has overhead valves which help with pollution but also make the engine more fuel efficient. The engines in this size range have a mechanical governor that keeps the engine at 3600 RPM at the different loads maintaining the 60 Hz output. This engine appears to be designed for generator applications so I suspect it has a better governor to more closely regulate the engine RPM and thus generator output frequency. I couldn’t verify this on B&S’s website. This engine will run on standard engine oil (vs. non detergent in my chipper and power washer) so I can change the oil with car oil already found in the garage. The Owner’s Manual did recommend synthetic oil for low temperature applications, no problem for me as I run my car with synthetic anyway.
5) Reliability. I wanted a name brand generator to improve my reliability odds, the long term availability of spare parts and the potential quality of the generator set. It doesn’t do me any good to purchase a cheap off brand generator that fails during my first power failure, leaving me again without power. Harbor Freight and other stores sell generators for significantly less money that appear to be manufactured in China. Though China produces some high quality products, the standards and specifications to which these cheaper sets were manufactured will not be as high as those that PC placed on its vendors. If the B&S engine fails, they have a large dealer network to obtain service or parts from. Not so with the off brands.
My generator came with a bottle of synthetic blend oil, but no twist lock plug ($21 at LOWES). The fit was good and finish looked good. Assembly was no problem for me, maybe 60-90 minutes with a bunch of trips to my basement shop. I didn’t like the locknuts they used so I substituted my own washers and nylon lock nuts. Most of the bolts were English, though a couple required a metric socket.
I’ve done some testing and plan to do more after I assembly the twist lock plug with some outlets. The generator set ran fine with 2 electric heaters drawing about 3000 watts. Frequency was maybe 61.4 Hz at no load and down to 59.9 Hz at 3000 W. I noticed it blew quite a bit of hot air out the side with the outlets and muffler. I’m not sure if this is out of the engine or alternator yet, or warmed by the muffler. It was a little disturbing if out of the alternator. I need to do additional tests with my IR temperature gun. Voltage dropped as I turned on one heater and then the other. Heaters are a simple load for a generator to power (purely resistive). Before I’m done I’ll hook up two more heaters and push the load up to 5500W. I also plan to test it with some of my inductive motors (refrigerator, air compressors, maybe my dust collector if it handles the compressors well). The accuracy of the 5500 W rated and 9,000 W surge is unknown. Consumer Reports tested a small sample of generators and found actual output to vary wildly from advertised capacities. I haven’t read their test procedures, but I assume they used the same procedure to test each, so the inaccuracy of rated outputs is supported. Last time I checked there is no industry specification or set of test procedures to rate generator set performance, so the manufacturers are free to test using tests procedures that produce favorable test results which they can use to advertise their generators. The Department of Defense has a set of standard test procedures that yield repeatable results between different testers and repeatable performance between different manufacturer’s generator sets, but I don’t think these have been adopted by the closest to an applicable professional standards association, the Electrical Generating Systems Association (EGSA) yet. I don’t have access to the test equipment to follow the DOD tests, but I have some idea how to find real world loads and I have some ideas and equipment to measure how the generator will perform with inductive loads. I’ll update this post later after I complete my testing.
In the past I’ve wanted to ask questions of some of the reviewers, so I’m going to include an email address if Amazon will let me. I don’t have that much time to answer mail, but I really love working with and talking about generators. I can be reached at AM999901@aol.com.
Customer Review: Porter-Cable BSI550-W 5,500 Watt Generator
Everything about the generator was as expected. Received it within a few business days. However, had to install the wheels and handles. Otherwise, great purchase for the price!
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