Ready to cut the Hydro to the shop!

[Crofter]

I have a separate meter back at my workshop that I used to just pay for power useage and only was paying 10 dollars or less a month, but Ontario hydro has decided that each separate meter, even if on the same bill should pay the minimum monthly fee plus a debt retirement and transmission system replacement allotment, etc. etc.  and  I will soon be faced with about 40 dollars a month so that is where the Lister and ST 5 Generator fit in as well as providing standby for the house if the grid goes down.

I tested today to see if it would run my 250 amp ac/dc welder and that is ok for a good hot 3/32 7018 rod so it will do any emergency. The three horse motor on the lathe is pretty reluctant to start in the higher speeds but that is with freezing temp oil. Lower speeds no problem. Compressor with 2 horse is a snap.
This was all at the end of the 175 ft extension cord rolled up so a direct feed into the panel will be better.

When hit with the heavy motor starting load I am getting definite belt slippage so either have to grit my teeth and put more tension on the 8 rib belt or do a wrap around tensioner on the slack side. I am just guessing it is at the 10" gen pulley but does anyone have experience with the belt slipping on the flat flywheel of the engine?

[rcavictim]

Ontario Hydro is very evil.  I pay about $70 in support charges for every $10 worth of electricity I use on my bill.  Because I have two meters,  I have to pay all this bullshit twice.  I can't wait until the day I call them and tell them I shall no longer be supporting them.

[rcavictim]

Why do people have two meters rather than one meter with a sub panel off it ?

Jens

In my case I bought the place with a commercial building on it which was a woodworking factory making kitchen cabinets.  The meter was a commercial account, separate from the house meter.  I kept things as was so I could measure and apply my business electricity use to business expenses.  Now that I have no business I don't need to worry about this extra expense just for the sake of an accounting convenience.  I should have gotten rid of that shop meter almost a decade ago.

[dubbleUJay]

We can get these kW meters in the picture over here. Most of our electrical stuff fits onto a DIN-rail, breakers, Earth-Leakage exec and these meters as well so it fits right in. Its analog, but has a LED that lights every 1000/kW that I might count electronically in the future.
I found 3 of these and put them on supply lines to out-buildings.
I do forget to take the reading though! 

[Crofter]

I am in a similar position to Rca. At one time the shop went on the business account and that time only paid per KW for power used. Since the restructuring a lot of new ways of dinging you are being slipped in. All in all our power is still a lot cheaper than other places but with the user fees high and the kw rate low there is little incentive to conserve.

To backfeed the shop from the house would require me to upsize the service and a 200 ft run of wire would be too pricey for the amount I really use it. I have a friend with a welding shop where I help out a bit so I have free use of machines for any bigger job.

I would like to have the generator closer to the house so I could play all the fun games with cogen energy recovery etc., but I am also a bit reluctant to create something that becomes a burden to my wife if she has to manage it. Actually I should say, "she is more than a bit reluctant to have me create it, truth be known.

[TimSR2]

I had a friend, long dead now...he had a 12 hp fairbanks morse  convection cooled gasser that powered his shop. He used huge intake and exhaust mufflers made out of old hot water tanks to silence it. His lights were run out from the house circuits, but the house had a very small electrical panel so  all the machinery in the shop ran from a series of shafts that ran along three walls of the shop up at the ceiling level. Flat belt drive up from the drum on the Fairbanks Morse to the first drive shaft. Butchered automotive differentials served the purpose of making the 90 degree turns at the corners. All the equipment that a high end machine shop would have, he powered off the  main engine and layshafts.   Drill presses, lathes, milling machines, everything.  Some of the equipment used vee belt drive, some old school flat belts with sewn seams. The engine even heated the shop directly as it was mounted inside.  So there are definitely some interesting possibilities  in your Hydro cutting quest.. 

Tim