22. June 2009 by admin.

Inverter Generator Review

Thinking of buying an inverter generator?  Do yourself a favor and buy something else. Honda or Yamaha is a great choice and worth the extra cost.  We purchased two of these cheap generators and it ended up costing us more then it would cost to buy a Honda for example and I’m sure we would not have so many problems with it if we did. Now it is time for our Review on the Inverter Generator models XG-SF2000 and XG-SF3000.

We used to be a Kipor Inverter Generator dealer so we are very familiar with these types of generators. Two of us where involved in the test. One of us has a mechanical, electrical and technical background and the other an automotive, parts, generator and hands on experience who is involved in hands on generator repairs and service.

We noticed many companies all selling the same looking thing. We looked further in to it and found out  they are all from the same China company. Just a different sticker on them.

There are two ways to check who it really comes from. One is the sticker on the engine. The EPA certificate often tells you the name of the engine manufacture and the model number.   We found they all say Yongkang Xingguang Electrical Manufacture. The second is from the CSA. CSA will let you put any name on it but the model number must stay the same so we searched the model number and found it.   call comes from the same company. We even got a copy of the certificates.

We also wanted to sell them so we contacted the manufacture and started the purchase process.  They where very quick to respond and produce an invoice for us but they refused to include spare parts to fix them if they fail.  This is almost unheard of.  No parts kits.

The final agreement is we would buy spare parts.  We gave in.   Suspecting no other company would do this we contacted many other dealers looking for spare parts for common things that fail and non of them had any and most would not respond. Not even the company we where about to spend tens of thousands of dollars with would supply parts not even defective ones.   Since asking over a week ago before completing or order even, they have not responded and offered horrible technical support to date.

We went ahead anyway because we have the ability to service them but we would just require parts.  We purchased 2 sample units and this is what happened.

When it fist arrived we where impressed with the packaging but it all went down hill from there.

Like most products from China the manual and stickers on the generator are hard to understand.   English documents should be left to someone who understands the language when you manufacture a product for sale in North America. Clearly customers would have problems with it. The print quality was also poor.

The first generator was the XG-SF2000 2000 Watt Inverter Generator.  Following the poor instructions we learned whe had to prime it by pumping it 50 times. That is what the instructions said to do.

And you guessed it, we flooded the engine.   OK so we removed the park plug and let it dry out then started again. Closed the choke and pulled the recoil starter some 15 times before it started and stalled again.  The choke is very sensitive and requires a LOT of adjustments during the starting process to get it working.  Finally we found the magic position and ran the generator for 10 minutes.  Turned it off and have have not really be able to get it started ever again.    OK perhaps it was just me…….   Maybe I got a lemon so I took the second one the XG-SF3000 to my partner and had him open the box and set it up.

XG-SF3000 Review

Same problem, prime it 50 times as per the instructions. Get it started and it stalled.  It has never ran again since.  This time we did all the normal checks.  Check for fuel, we had it, checked all valves open, they where.   Check for spark there was none !!   We thought perhaps being out of the engine it may just be to weak to see so we put it back in and tried starting again.  No luck.

Be warned.  The cover over the  engine is a very poor design in our opinion .  If you are not careful the spark plug will fall and land between the engine and the enclosure and require extensive disassemblly  to get it out.

Virtually all screws, nuts and bolts removed had to be replaced. They are of such poor quality and soft metals they ALL strip. (photos to follow)  Some stripped just trying to open the case and had to be broken off to open it up.  It gets worse.

(We have a lot more photos to add here and some other interesting findings. Will continue edit and update here with it later today.)

Note that the brains of the generator, the part that controls the engine speed and the output power can never be serviced. It is filled with epoxy. If you have an electrical problem, toss the generator way. You can’t service it.

At the end the problem was this ignition control board that not one single dealer, supplier or even the manufacture  has responded to any calls, emails or requests for us to PURCHASE the defective part.

Right now ALL the hardware that was used or disassembled has had to be replaced. ALL screws and threads are stripped.  VERY very cheap quality metals are used.  Horrible quality.   Thankfully there is a local hardware store around so most parts we could replace but still stuck with two generators that don’t work.

Remember we have 2 of these. All brand new and we are experts in generator sales and service. We even designed many of our own products we sell today.  So far we have had 100% failure rate with these.  What are the chances that you will get one that works?

After two weeks of trouble on these brand new generators we finally fixed it with no support from anyone. We feel it is a product defect and design issue.

If you have a low oil pressure condition it signals the ignition control board to send a signal to the ignition coil and disable it so you get no spark and the engine stalls. It is for safety.   BUT, the oil pressure sensor and wiring is fine. We can even disable the oil pressure sensor but the control board does not care.  It still acts like there is no oil pressure and sends a signal to the ignition coil to stop working.  We modified it and disabled it and it now works again.

To date it is a 100% failure rate with all the ones we tested. Provided you can get used to the tricky choke settings, don’t over prime and flood the engine, starting is easier now and we kind of have a working generator now.

We do not feel any customer will accept having to open it up and butcher it to make it do what it should have done right out of the box.
In closing, it is scary that no one can support it, not a single company returned any calls or e-mails and no parts availability.  The hardware is made of soft metals and easily stripped.  The enclosure is soft plastic that will never close correctly again.   Very disappointed in this product and it does not matter what company wants to put their name on it it is all the same junk.

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26. April 2009 by admin.

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TORONTO — In addition to breaking trees and hydro poles a brief yet blustery thunderstorm that made its way across southern Ontario on Saturday also broke at least one record.

“We did have very strong wind gusts as a result of this thunderstorm line that went through,” Environment Canada meteorologist Sarah Wong said Sunday.

“At Toronto Pearson Airport we had a recorded gust of 115 kilometres per hour, and that was the strongest wind gust reported since January 1978.”

Reports of funnel clouds came in from areas such as Windsor, Ont., where the roof was ripped off a Canadian Union of Public Employees building, and from Aylmer, Que., where backup dispatchers had to be sent to deal with the close to 700 emergency calls.

Wong said the sightings are unofficial, and the agency doesn’t investigate unless there is confirmed evidence of large areas of damage.

“These were straight-line winds that caused the damage,” Wong said. “Most in the 100 kilometre per hour range.”

In Toronto a man was rushed to hospital with serious head injuries after he was struck by an 18-kilogram sign that winds sent flying through the air.

Hydro One crews worked through most of Saturday night and into Sunday morning to restore power after 44,000 customers were left in the dark.

As of late Sunday afternoon more than 10,000 customers were still without power.

“The most damage was right at the start of the storm when the storm ran through southwestern Ontario in areas like Listowel, Sarnia, and Clinton,” said Hydro One spokesman Corey Labatt.

Residents of Listowel, one hour north of Stratford, could be in the dark until as late as Tuesday evening.

“That’s sort of the worst-case scenario,” Labatt said.

In nearby Drayton, a boil-water advisory was issued for people using the municipal water system.

Officials say the system lost pressure thanks to the power outage, and warn the advisory could be in place for a few days until water tests come back.

The remainder of the province was expected to have power restored by 10 p.m. Sunday at the latest.

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21. April 2009 by admin.

About 17,000 customers were without power Monday morning after Hydro One equipment failed.

At 5:15 a.m. roughly 11,000 Hydro Ottawa customers in the east and south of Ottawa lost power while about 6,000 Hydro One customers were affected, according to media spokespeople from both utilities.

By 6:30 a.m. Hydro Ottawa was able to restore power to 2,000 customers, Hydro Ottawa spokesperson Susan Barnett said, noting the outage was caused by a loss of supply on the provincial transmission grid.

The provincial transmission grid, she explained, provides power to utilities across the province.

Crews from both Ottawa and the provincial hydro companies have been working to fix the transformer on Hawthorne Road where the equipment broke, Hydro One spokesperson Daniele Gauvin indicated, adding the utility expects to have power restored by noon.

Barnett, meanwhile, indicated power would likely be restored in stages started at 12:30, with the hope of having everyone back online by 2 p.m.

The public and Catholic school boards had closed a number of rural schools in the morning due to the outage. The public board, however, sent students home at eight suburban schools just before 11 a.m. Buses were sent to Carson Grove Elementary School, Colonel By Secondary School, Emily Carr Middle School, Glen Ogilvie Public School, Henry Munro Middle School, Le Phare Elementary School, Norman Johnston Secondary Alternate Program, and Robert Hopkins Public School. The public board expects classes to resume as usual on Tuesday, April 21.

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17. March 2009 by admin.

PITTSBURGH — Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) on Tuesday announced plans to lay off more than 2,400 employees at five plants in Illinois, Indiana and Georgia as the heavy equipment maker continues to cut costs amid the global economic downturn.

Caterpillar, the world’s largest maker of mining and construction equipment, has seen its sales wither as the sluggish world economy and the credit crisis weaken demand for its products, used to build everything from houses to highways.

The company had expanded dramatically in recent years, helped by a building boom in developing countries.

In response to the worsening conditions, Caterpillar in January announced job cuts that will ultimately eliminate 20,000 positions.

It also said it would slash executive compensation by up to 50 per cent and offer buyouts to about 25,000 U.S.-based employees.

Caterpillar, which employs about 112,000 people worldwide, said it had imposed a global hiring freeze.

The cuts come after Vancouver-based Finning International Inc. (TSX:FTT), the world’s largest dealer of Caterpillar heavy construction equipment, said late last year that it was 700 people, or roughly five per cent of its workforce in Canada, the United Kingdom and South America. It also cited a slowdown in demand for equipment.

Finning does about 60 per cent of its business in Western Canada, 20 per cent in Britain and 20 per cent in South America. Mining represents 40 per cent of its revenue and oil and gas 20 per cent, with the remainder in general construction and forestry.

In its latest cuts, Peoria, Ill.-based Caterpillar said 2,365 support and management workers had been notified of layoffs expected to last at least six months - including 245 announced previously - and 89 workers will be let go permanently.

Among the affected workers are 1,726 people at plants in Illinois.

They include 911 workers at a plant in East Peoria that makes track-type tractors and pipelayers and 815 at a factory in Aurora that produces hydraulic excavators and wheel loaders. Caterpillar notified the employees Tuesday of the layoffs expected to last at least six months starting in June.

In Indiana, Caterpillar said it notified 439 employees at its large engine factory in Lafayette of layoffs effective May 29, also expected to last at least six months.

The plant makes diesel engines for boats, locomotives and other applications.

Caterpillar notified 89 employees at its Jefferson, Ga., fuel systems plant that they would be laid off permanently when the company closes the facility, expected by the end of June.

Work currently done at the plant will be shifted to factories in Thomasville, Ga., and Pontiac, Ill.

Also in Georgia, Caterpillar said it had notified 200 employees at a plant in Griffin, where the company makes generators, engines and oil service units, of layoffs scheduled to begin in May.

Meanwhile, the company has implemented so-called rolling layoffs, which vary in duration, at plants across the country and around the world, according to Jim Dugan, a Caterpillar spokesman.

Caterpillar - perhaps best known for its yellow-and-black painted backhoes, tractors and paving machines - said more layoffs may be needed as the year continues, depending on business conditions.

In January, Caterpillar said its earnings plunged 32 per cent in the last three months of 2008, and that it had lowered its 2009 profit expectations. Demand plummeted at the end of the year, pulled down by slumping commodity prices, tight credit markets and a decline in home building. It said a first-quarter loss is possible as costs may outstrip falling orders.

In February, Caterpillar said it planned to offer early retirement packages to about 2,000 production workers.

President Barack Obama, during a visit to a Caterpillar factory last month, said the company’s chief executive, Jim Owens, had promised to rehire some workers if Congress approved the president’s economic stimulus plan.

But Owens later said more cuts were likely before the company could start hiring again, and that a stimulus plan was unlikely to have an effect on the economy until late 2009 or early 2010.

The White House tried Tuesday to sound a positive note despite the news of more layoffs at Caterpillar.

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the White House was confident the stimulus bill will create opportunities for Caterpillar and other companies to grow their businesses because of the many construction projects states will be breaking ground on.

“The president believes as the money begins to get let out as a result of the Recovery and Reinvestment plan, that businesses will make different economic decisions,” Gibbs told reporters.

Shares of Caterpillar rose 41 cents to close at US$26.83 on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday.

Finning shares were up 15 cents at C$11.49 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

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18. February 2009 by admin.

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Feb 18 (Reuters) - Bruce Power LP’s 822-megawatt Unit 6 at the Bruce nuclear power station in Ontario went offline on Wednesday after one of Hydro One’s transmission lines tripped, Bruce Power said in a release.

Bruce Power A LP, which leases the Bruce A station from OPG, was set up when Bruce Power and the government agreed to restore the A station to full service. It is a partnership among TransCanada (47.4 percent), BPC (47.4 percent), the Power Workers’ Union (4 percent) and the Society of Energy Professionals (1.2 percent). (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

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12. February 2009 by admin.

A hydro outage has hit the core of Toronto’s downtown financial district, affecting some of the city’s largest office towers and leaving thousands of white-collar workers without power.

Buildings affected are located on Wellington, Front, Richmond and King Streets, and include the GO Transit terminal on Front Street and First Canadian Place, which houses the Toronto Stock Exchange, Global Ontario reports. Disruptions to GO Transit service or trading have yet to be confirmed. Some of the buildings have backup emergency power generators to keep some lights on and keep people from being trapped in elevators.

According to Toronto Hydro, as many as 120,000 people could be in the dark as a result of the outage, which began at 1:30 p.m. ET. The outage was apparently caused by a “feeder trip,” or a disruption to the primary “feeder” wire that carries power to the area.

Toronto Hydro believes that power should be restored by approximately 4 p.m. ET.

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16. January 2009 by admin.

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TORONTO — About half of the homes and businesses left in the dark and cold by a power blackout in Toronto now have their power back.

About 22,000 Toronto Hydro customers lost electricity when a broken water main flooded a power station at about 10 p.m. Thursday night. The power went off in sub-zero temperatures in a mostly residential area just west and north of the downtown core.

The city has opened seven city-run facilities to help people keep warm until the outage is repaired.

Mayor David Miller could not say when power would be restored, but Toronto Hydro earlier said it would take 18 to 24 hours.

Miller has asked residents in the affected area to check on their neighbours, particularly seniors, and help them get to a warm place.

The outage has forced a closure of some east-west subway stations in the affected area.

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16. January 2009 by admin.

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Toronto Power Outage Shuts Subway, Leaves Homes Cold (Update1)
Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) — A power outage in Toronto’s west end shut part of the subway service in Canada’s largest city and left homes without light and heat during frigid temperatures.

A section of the Bloor-Danforth line, which provides east- west transport in the city of 2.5 million people, isn’t operating and service has been replaced with shuttle buses, the Toronto Transit Commission said today on its Web site.

Power to the city’s western side has been cut since about 10 p.m. yesterday, when a broken water main flooded a power facility, Toronto Hydro Corp. said. Customers will be without power for a minimum 18 to 24 hours from the time of the outage, the power authority said on its Web site.

The outage is affecting about 22,000 customers and forced schools in the blacked-out area to close, the Toronto Star reported. The temperature in downtown Toronto was -18 degrees Celsius (-0.4 degrees Fahrenheit) as of 8 a.m. and a high of -12 degrees Celsius is forecast, according to the Weather Network.

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1. January 2009 by admin.

Thousands of Ontarians still waiting in the dark after Sunday windstorm
Almost 20,000 Ontarians rang in the New Year without power, with many disgruntled over the time it’s taking Hydro One to restore electricity after Sunday’s windstorm.

“The level of frustration is certainly high in areas where power has still not been restored,” said Don Coates, the mayor of Bracebridge. “People are coping as best as they can, but it’s not easy. … It’s definitely not the best way to spend New Year’s Eve.”

Up to 260,000 Ontarians lost power when hydro poles were felled by 100 km/h winds. Those still waiting for electricity to be restored include 2,900 customers in Bracebridge, 4,600 in Huntsville, 5,300 in Parry Sound and 4,200 in Bancroft.

It’s getting increasingly difficult for those who rely on electricity for heat to cope in sub-zero temperatures, said Huntsville Mayor Claude Doughty, whose daughter was without power for two days.

Hydro One says the power grid will likely be fully restored by Saturday.

Dozens of residents have come to the town’s community centre to seek refuge from their frosty homes. Others are using generators, wood stoves or fireplaces to stay warm, Doughty said.

Leaving their homes until power is flowing again isn’t an option. “They have to keep their homes reasonably warm otherwise the pipes (water pipes) will freeze. When the heat comes back, water can pour all over the house,” said Doughty. “It’s quite a challenge.”

Hydro One said there are accessibility issues, especially with buildings reachable only by water, but all customers are likely to get their power back today or tomorrow.

“We’re now in the most difficult stage of our restoration effort, working in densely treed areas, islands and off-road locations where one call restores one property,” said Myles D’Arcey of the power utility.

The company is using everything from snowmobiles to helicopters to reach the hard-to-access areas, and a workforce as large as the one that worked on the aftermath of the 1998 ice storm.

Hydro One spokesperson Nancy Shaddick said, “We’re doing everything we can, but it takes time.”

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30. December 2008 by admin.

TORONTO _ Despite setbacks from another wind storm Monday night, crews were making progress restoring power 48 hours after damaging winds raked the province, Ontario´s largest utility said Tuesday.

As of late Tuesday afternoon, the number of Hydro One customers without power had been cut to 58,000, down from a height of 235,000 on Sunday.

The reduction came even though another 24,000 customers saw their service interrupted from the second wind storm to hit the province in two days on Monday night.

The 1,300 utility workers from Hydro One and 23 local utilities from across the province working to repair downed lines represented an effort not seen for some time in Ontario, said Hydro One spokeswoman Daniele Gauvin.

“We have the same size workforce out that we did for the 1998 ice storm,” Gauvin said.

Crews were redeployed Tuesday from other areas of the province to assist efforts in the hardest hit regions, including Bancroft, Bracebridge, Huntsville and Parry Sound.

“Our 10 helicopters are focused in the Bancroft areas, as well as Bracebridge and Huntsville,” said Gauvin.

Gauvin said she expected most customers to have their power restored by sometime Wednesday.

However, the utility warned some people in more remote locations, such as those on islands, could remain without lights until Thursday or Friday.

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