ADVERTISING FEATURE
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Eric Grimshaw is the co-owner of Bullmax Tough Tools and Equipment.
"We saw an opportunity to not be the cheapest, because if you do that it's going to fail. We also saw that known brand names were very expensive. We felt there was a place in middle for a company with low overheads who could produce a stable, reliable product," Mr Grimshaw said.
They offer a useful range of petrol and diesel powered products, working with Australian engineers and Chinese manufacturers to prototype, test, improve and re-test products for Australian conditions.
Among those items, "We've had generators on the market for around three years," Mr Grimshaw said. “They took 12 months of research and development before we received the stock to sell. It was three trips to China," to complete the development process.
The Australian engineer was Darrell Hanns. "Darrell and myself went to examine and test the samples we'd had commissioned to be made. Then, after further modifications, we placed orders for initial stock."
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With the goal of offering a nice, big, reliable generator, they can provide you with the convenience of portable power in remote areas.
You can have a unit from 6kW to 13.75kW. To choose a generator for portable power, firstly decide if you'll only need single-phase (domestic) or 3-phase (industrial) as well. Then consider the electrical demands of the tools or appliances you expect to run simultaneously. Electric arc welders need a strong power supply. A little cement mixer it less taxing, but if there's more than one person running tools, lights and recharging various batteries, the load adds up.
At field days events like Murrumbateman for instance, they also find businesses and home owners are interested in finding a solution for charging batteries in off-grid systems when demand is exceeding their solar capacity, and back-up for areas where the grid is unreliable.
"We've set up shearing sheds for instance. They lock in [dates for] a mob of shearers and only get them a certain few days in the year. If the power goes, they lose their slot," which means reliable power is critical. "The cost of this is nothing compared to missing out on a clip," Mr Grimshaw says.
"So, in conjunction with Gap Generators we've developed an off-the-shelf automatic transfer switch (ATS)".
The ATS feature can turn the generator into standby power that will automatically turn on and off as required.
“Mike Blackburn has designed the ATS control box that takes the mystery out of connecting your generator to your house. It's a simple task for your local licenced electrician to connect the control box to your switchboard.”
It also disconnects the mains while it’s running so you’re not putting power into the grid, and therefore won’t harm any repair crew who come out to restore the public supply.
Then “with an additional component, this will work with in conjunction with a battery storage system. Batteries need to be kept above a certain minimal level of charge, so this takes the stress out of having to keep an eye on them".
The generator can also be activated manually.
For household back-up purposes, Eric says the 6kW model will keep appliances like the fridge, freezer, household water pump and other basic necessities running while the mains power is off, whereas the 12kW single-phase is also capable of running the air-conditioning and other appliances in a bigger household.