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Note: My notes are in REVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER. 
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Coleman Portable Generator
Model PC0545007 - 5000 watt / 6250 watt surge
Click here for manufacturer site  

 

4/6/06 THU
I did some testing tonight and was able to run the water heater alone for 9 minutes before stopping the test.  Perhaps my oil level WAS low when I last tried that.

 

4/5/06 WED
I received the following response from Coleman:

From Product Service Wed Apr 5 11:05:46 2006 
From: "Product Service" < productService@POWERMATE.com > Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert 

Dear Jason
the engine shutting down doesn't have anything to do with what you have plugged in. It sounds like either your generator is low on oil or it  has defective oil sensor to check the oil make sure the generator is setting level and take off one of the yellow oil caps when you take the cap off oil should barely drip over the edge if it does drip over then you will need to get the oil sensor replaced.
JD

Coleman Powermate
Product Services
1-800-445-1805

 

4/4/06 TUE
We purchased this generator and it served us well after the wrath of Hurricane Charley in 2004.  

However, it was not able to power such non-surge loads such as a 3800watt water heater.  At this time I consider the generator to be inadequately designed to handle a continuous 5000 watts as advertised, and further not even a continuous 3800 watts!  I would also suspect that there are a multitude of generators out there that are allegedly "over rated" such as this one may be.  But we shall see pending the following... 

So I emailed Coleman:

I recently purchaed a Coleman Powermate generator rated at 6250w surge, 5000w continuous. I used it during a power outage that was caused by a hurricane. The model number is PM0545007.

I was fairly pleased with it, as I had it connected to a transfer switch on my main panel and ran most small appliances in my house, as well as 1 burner on the stove.

I am confused, however, by the following:

-I attempted to run my water heater alone (no other loads on) on the generator and after several minutes, the generator simply shut down. I suspect that it shut down due to heat, but I am not sure. Attempts to start the generator under no-load immediately after resulted in failed starts, until about 10 minutes later, when it would start and run again.

-I repeated this several times, and each time the generator would shut down minutes after the water heater was switched on.

I recently measured my water heater's exact electrical consumption. At 240 volts, I measured 15.4 amps. This adds up to about 3700 watts. This is far less than the 5000 watt running rating of my generator, and the generator was not even able to "keep up" with this shortfall. As I mentioned, I am confused, and I am concerned that my generator is not capable of living up to the rating that it is advertised for.

"Surge Factor" is not a factor with this since the water heater is a non-surge-creating load.

I would like a complete explanation of why this is happening and suggestions to correct this situation.


Thank you and Sincerely,

Click here to download my spreadsheet "Electricity Consumption Calculator  
in Excel 2003 format.