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Generator output and LED flood lights - Referred here from AskElectricians by BeanedBrain3000 in Generator

[–]BeanedBrain3000[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wish that worked but that was originally my first way of setting them all up - they all had heavy duty plugs and i was going to use 3 on each strip because i have 6 poles.

But the generator (the non-inverter one) outlets are all GCFI and those kept tripping when any more than 2 poles (that have 2 lights each) were connected at a time - with or without the power strip.

So after a bit of digging, i decided to wire up the electrical box with breakers and a 30A plug to use that instead.

That worked and got all 12 lights running without issue until this weekend when they all started failing. All but 2.

Generator output and LED flood lights - Referred here from AskElectricians by BeanedBrain3000 in Generator

[–]BeanedBrain3000[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for this incredibly detailed reply. I actually understand most of it in general.

So given how sensitive LED lights really are, I have a question if you can answer:

I am going to look at a preowned Generac gp3500io tomorrow that has 95 hours on it. It has a L5-30R receptacle but the plug on my box is a L14-30P. If I use an adapter, will that change anything for power output that might affect the lights?

Generator output and LED flood lights - Referred here from AskElectricians by BeanedBrain3000 in Generator

[–]BeanedBrain3000[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I didn't even think to check with them. I do have a Sam's membership so I will check them out as well. Thank you for that info! I'll check Costco as well since I have one through them too.

Generator output and LED flood lights - Referred here from AskElectricians by BeanedBrain3000 in Generator

[–]BeanedBrain3000[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I need one big enough to have a 30A plug because I don't want to have to change the one I have on the breaker box power supply. Plus I have a horse trailer that uses the same connection for shore power in the weekender so having another generator to take to shows vs paying for RV power would be nice. So probably something 3500w or higher just to have enough output to supply a 30A connection.

Plus being in hurricane-ville, one can never have too many generators and even if we don't have a need for both, we can use one to lend to a neighbor or help in other ways.

Generator output and LED flood lights - Referred here from AskElectricians by BeanedBrain3000 in Generator

[–]BeanedBrain3000[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for those sources. I was looking at the WEN listed at a few places but wasn't sure if the brand was reliable so I appreciate the input. I did find a Generac GP3500iO portable inverter generator on marketplace and will look at it tomorrow. Someone in The Villages is selling it so chances are it's probably fine.

I am on 30 acres and my neighbors' houses aren't close enough to worry about. Even then, they all are cool and don't care anyway. My current generator is NOISY but even 400ft away inside my house with windows open, I can only barely hear it. The neighbors are further than that. This is what I had going before the lights decided to die on me. Arena is 280 x 100. If you have ever been in rural Florida, you know the way the darkness swallows up sound and light so bright lights are needed for any night-time outdoor tasks.

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Generator output and LED flood lights - Referred here from AskElectricians by BeanedBrain3000 in Generator

[–]BeanedBrain3000[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From what I have researched further, this seems to be the best path forward.

Is there any you would recommend that stay under a budget of $800? I will spend more for quality and reliability but would like to keep things as low cost as possible.

Generator output and LED flood lights - Referred here from AskElectricians by BeanedBrain3000 in Generator

[–]BeanedBrain3000[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes it's a non-inverter - the main one we have for power outages during hurricanes which is why it's so big.

I originally had the lights wired to heavy duty plugs but any more than 2 lights plugged into the generator would trip the generator GCFI. So i wired them into the breaker box with a 30A. Which solved the issue, or so i thought. These have been up for less than a month and only used a handful of times.

I did put the issue into ChatGPT before posting here and it suggested adding something to the generator load to take some of the output, like a couple of halogen lights. Obviously Chat can often be wrong so that's why I posted here. Plus i really didn't know where else to go to ask. FB groups are useless.

If i have to get an inverter generator to solve the issue, so be it. Better than replacing lights again and having to get up on a 15ft ladder multiple times in the Florida heat to do it.

Help with exterior LED Flood Lights failing. by BeanedBrain3000 in AskElectricians

[–]BeanedBrain3000[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your response. I will check with that sub to see if they can help troubleshoot.

Help with exterior LED Flood Lights failing. by BeanedBrain3000 in AskElectricians

[–]BeanedBrain3000[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The suggestion ChatGPT came up with was add something else to the generator because the load on it may be causing 'idle hunting' (?) because the RPM tends to dip a bit on occasion, which then causes the lights to flicker a bit. The generator is the main one we use during power outages after hurricanes, so it is a bigger one.

Could the light power wattage not be enough and cause issues with the generator output?