Comments for Alternative Energy

Comment on Eclipse Tackle / Gear Bag – Travis Edition Reviews by David C. Martin

David C. Martin — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 01:37:05 +0000

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

So far so good!, October 2, 2008

David C. Martin (East Tennessee) -

This review is from: Magna 3000 (2600 Watt) Portable Inverter Generator - New 2010 4th generation, Quite, Lightweight, Portable (Misc.)

First off this unit REQUIRES ALCOHOL FREE GAS!! This can sometimes be hard to find, and with time your only outlet might be marinas. To protect your investment get a dedicated gas can for your generator and mark it . Thanks to my fellow reviewers. I would not have bought this unit without your sage advice. Also Exciting Products did a good job with price, handling and prompt delivery.
Now to the product. Overall construction is good. I did a quick nut, bolt screw tightness test and found no problems. The choke lever will get pushed under the cover if you are not careful. Oiling up is not much of a problem. Just measure out .9 liters to start with and remember the dip stick is read after holding it in the fill hold...not screwed in. I did some comparing to the honda 2000 on engine size and it appears the Magna has plenty of engine to meet the generator needs. The Econo setting is great ffor low steady loads. Really holds the noise down.
With all due respect to my neighbor in Monteagle, the manual is well written and goes into more details than the honda 2000's. A lot of detail on output is included. I wish the full explanation of output was included in the product writeup. Bottom line, for purely resistive loads this unit will produce 3000 watts for 30 minutes and run continuously at 2700 VA. What is confusing it that the manual also states that the AC output at unity pf is 2500 W. Last time I checked VA = Watts at unity (1.0)power factor . So what gives?? As for starting air conditioner with induction motors, I can't help. I will say it runs power tools very well including a 15 amp planer. But it will not start my radial arm saw rated at 12 amps. My guess is the radial is an induction motor and the others are universal (have armature brushes). This confusion is why I rated this product 3 stars. Oh yes. I plan on using this as a primary source of power at my farm office and occasionally on my 26 foot 1993 Bayliner (no A/C) when we go up to Knoxville with the Vol Navy. Good luck to all, and I will check back to see how everyone is doing.

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Comment on Eclipse Tackle / Gear Bag – Travis Edition Reviews by Clint C

Clint C — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:45:59 +0000

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

Magna 3000 Review, June 4, 2008

Clint C -

This review is from: Magna 3000 (2600 Watt) Portable Inverter Generator - New 2010 4th generation, Quite, Lightweight, Portable (Misc.)

The first Generator I received was defective - motor would not run consistently. The support concerning this matter was outstanding. The second generator arrived the day of my vacation. It performed as intended, but the Magna 3000W gen will not handle even a newer, 2004 13.2 Unit. with Hard Start installed. So be aware the claims made are somewhat mis-leading per my experience. Overall the unit is cheaper than the Honda EU2000 and appears to be a good choice for the basic RV uses. It's compact and quiet. The lack of a parallel kit option is something to consider if you quest full RV capability. One annoyance is once the over-load trips the only way to re-set the unit output is to shut it off.

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Comment on Eclipse Tackle / Gear Bag – Travis Edition Reviews by William Triplett "Erol T"

William Triplett "Erol T" — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:15:07 +0000

47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

Not bad for the money, July 14, 2008

William Triplett "Erol T" (Monteagle, Tennessee United States) -

This review is from: Magna 3000 (2600 Watt) Portable Inverter Generator - New 2010 4th generation, Quite, Lightweight, Portable (Misc.)

I recieved the generator in a timely and everything was in good shape. The manual was fun to read with the descriptions appearing to be computer translated from Chinese. The generator feels a little tight when starting but a few pumps to the primer bulb seemed to do the trick and it started right up. I used it the first weekend I got it to power my rv, especially the AC unit. It would start the AC if everything else is turned off at the breaker panel and my AC unit was vented for "waterfall". (My deep cycle battery was very low and the converter had to be turned off.) I ran it HARD for two days in a Tennessee field, temps 96 degrees F and 60% humidity, after starting the AC I turned the breakers back on to everything but the microwave (I didn't want to risk it or produce any heat inside the RV). I ran it 6-8 hours a day for two days with no problems. Make sure you don't push the choke handle back too far, it will get stuck behind the rear cover.
It used about 50cc of oil during tha first weekend. this was enough to make it more sensitive to it's being out of level causing the low oil condition to shut it off. ALWAYS BRING THE SPECIAL OIL DISPENER WITH YOU!
The unit ran well during the weekend and if the AC was to finally shutdown, always after dark, we could watch tv and dvd player with plenty of 12 volts items (3 lights, 2 fans, stereo playing to the outside) and the generator would idle down very low and make very little sound.

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Comment on Incom Manufacturing RE142 2″ X 60′ Black Anti-Slip Safety Grip Tape by Randy Turnbow "Big Red Curly Guy"

Randy Turnbow "Big Red Curly Guy" — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 03:16:43 +0000

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Perfect for ATV ramp, August 3, 2010

Randy Turnbow "Big Red Curly Guy" (Phoenix, AZ) -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Incom Manufacturing RE142 2" X 60' Black Anti-Slip Safety Grip Tape (Automotive)

I bought the tape to put on my 2 ATV ramps which were pretty slick. If the ramps got dust or dirt on them it made them un-scalable with shoes. After installing this tape both feet and tires climb up the ramps perfectly and I have some left over for other project.

Big Red

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Comment on Mighty Mule Gate Opener PRO Pin Lock by Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 02:35:21 +0000

GTO Gate Lock, October 29, 2010

Bluebirdlover -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Mighty Mule Gate Opener PRO Pin Lock (Tools & Home Improvement)

I ordered a set of GTO gate lock pins from Amazon and I'm very pleased with them. The locks are faactory original and cost about half of what they cost from local dealers. Delivery was prompt and product was as advertised.

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Comment on Unique Arts Solar Thermometers, Small by Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 17:46:25 +0000

Overrated, January 13, 2008

L. Schlegelmilch (Quarryville, PA) -

This product claims to be top of the line - easy to read at thirty feet and maximum visibilty at night. constrution is good. We installed this outside of our kitchen window (less than 10 feet away) and you can't read the temperature real well. You would need binoculars to read it thirty feet away. As for the solar/night reading = nothing is illuminated. Was not worth $60.

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Comment on HQRP 10A Solar Charge Power MPPT Controller / Regulator 10 Amp 12V / 24V with Digital LED Display plus HQRP Coaster by unhappy owner

unhappy owner — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 09:31:58 +0000

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

poor starting generator, December 14, 2010

unhappy owner -

This review is from: Magna 3300 Watt Inverter Generator with Electric Start and Remote Start - Quiet and heavy duty

This generator does not start very well especially in cold weather.In 30 degree temps I have to manually hold the choke closed for 10-15 seconds after it starts for it to not die. It has to crank a long time before it fires also. Having to remove the side cover and holding the choke closed kind of negates the whole idea of a remote start. I would say that if I had to try to pull start it that it would never start. The automatic choke is opened by intake vacuum and as soon as the engine starts the vacuum opens the choke and the engine dies. There is no mechanism for the choke to stay on for warming up the engine. The generator might start fine in warm weather but I would not count on it. It will not carry a 3000 watt load either. I put 2 1500 watt heaters on the generator and it would overload within 1 second and disconnect the load. I tried starting the heaters gradually and it did the same thing, I would start one heater on high then the next one on low then turn it to high. I even took the generator out of econo mode so it would run full speed all the time, it still would not carry 3000 watts.
I also contacted Magna about this probem, they were pretty much usless. They do not even have a repair manual for this generator. There is no repair network for the magna brand generators. They say you can get parts from them, well good luck. I tried 3 times to call the phone number on their web site. The phone co. said the number was disconected. If you get a magna you are on your own. Who ever you buy the gen from can be no better than the co. who makes or distributes the generator. I am probably stuck with this generator but now you know so you do not need to be.

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Comment on HQRP 10A Solar Charge Power MPPT Controller / Regulator 10 Amp 12V / 24V with Digital LED Display plus HQRP Coaster by James R. Mcilmoyle

James R. Mcilmoyle — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 08:59:19 +0000

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

terrific, March 11, 2010

James R. Mcilmoyle (Ontario,Canada) -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Magna 3300 Watt Inverter Generator with Electric Start and Remote Start - Quiet and heavy duty

Works just as advertised haven't tried it out on the ac yet but remote's work well starts easy fairly quiet,the only problem I found was when you press the remote start button get's stuck in the casing only on one remote.Lots of good comments from friends and family.Definite buy.

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Comment on Solio Multi-Device Solar Charger by J.E.

J.E. — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 09:28:28 +0000

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

This model didn't work for me..., April 28, 2009

J.E. (BOULDER, CO USA) -

This review is from: Solio Multi-Device Solar Charger (Misc.)

I live in Colorado where we have plenty of solar gain, even on cloudy days, due to the altitude here. I'm an avid outdoorsy person, so owning and using solar charged things is a passion for me. I originally bought some of these as Christmas gifts off Amazon for family members. I paid over $100 each (in November 2008); then I saw them in a local shop for $80 each, so I returned the ones I got from Amazon. I eventually decided not to buy them locally though, as all of the people I had bought them for said they wanted other things that were less expensive and my budget per person wasn't going to include this anymore.
Recently (in March 2009), I saw them at Costco, for $49.99 (after instant coupon of $15 off) and bought one for myself to try it out, thinking it would be a great item for everyday use, camping, and emergencies too. At this price, I could buy more for gifts again, if they worked well enough. But I've concluded this model doesn't preform as hoped.
After charging it for 3 days in full sun, out on my porch and back deck, and then carefully following the instructions to charge my cell phone battery (the instructions are in such tiny print I could barely read them though) I found it just didn't work. My phone is a 4 year old Audiovox Smartphone, btw.
I charged my Solio outdoors for 3 days in full sun (total sun exposure time: ~21 hours). I made sure I had 5 green flashes (which I did after only 5 hours of sun exposure here), then attached the correct tip, pushed the button on the back of the Solio, got 5 green flashes, plugged in my cell phone (the battery was almost dead) and laid it down overnight to recharge the phone's battery. 12 hours later, the phone battery was totally dead and the Solio was also drained to 1 red flash.
I thought maybe I'd done something wrong. So, I reread the instructions and found no error. Then I emailed Solio my problem, and was told I did it correctly and they didn't know why it didn't work. Btw: I noticed the charging symbol on my phone had not activated when I plugged in the Solio, so was not completely surprised it hadn't worked. Yet, I decided to give it another try.
I recharged the Solio in the sun again for 2 days to make sure it was completely juiced up. Plugged in my phone, which was only half dead this time as I had charged it using the AC adapter in the meantime and drained it only halfway, and left it overnight. By morning, the Solio was drained, and so was my phone's battery. I demised it wasn't working for this phone. I was sure I would be returning it that day, but then I decided to attempt charing another cell phone, a Nokia. Pretty much the same scenario to recharge the Solio. Changed the tip, pushed the button, got 5 green flashes, plugged in the cell phone and left it overnight. 9 hours later the Nokia battery was dead and the Solio was also drained. I'd had it.
I returned it to Costco last weekend. The store Manager claimed they hadn't gotten one returned yet. Hmmmm, I wonder if that's true after the problems many others have had with these. I've read quite a few bad reviews, so I wonder if it's a quality control issue or what. I read on Solio's own website that they've come out with a better one; so I'll wait until the next version is more affordable and give it another go.

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Comment on Solio Multi-Device Solar Charger by Arthur W. Henrick

Arthur W. Henrick — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 09:03:08 +0000

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Solio Classic solar charger...works but takes days..., September 18, 2009

Arthur W. Henrick (Palo Alto, California, USA) -

This review is from: Solio Multi-Device Solar Charger (Misc.)

Hello,

I purchased my Solio solar charger (Solio Classic) from Costco 2 years ago (2007) for about $70.

The Good: It does charge the internal battery ..slowly but nicely. Simple easy to use design. PnP and don't forget to press the button to charge unit.

The Bad: To charge up a cell phone, you'll need the solar power unit to be 100% (about 3 days full sun, 6 days if in a car (windows of a car do absorb energy so less energy).

With a full charged Solio, you'll get about 75% charge on a regular cell phone.... so great for emergencies.

The Ugly: The leaves are rather delicate and after being smashed all around the car when you turn, it starts to fall apart. I just glued them into the open position so it would not close up while on the dash. Also, the cables... all over the place. would be better if they had a USB connection instead.

I use my to charge my damn Bluetooth...they last only 3 hours of talk time and 1 week on standby. Does charge an iPod but they, like Cell Phones, eat power.

Arthur Henrick

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