generator selection help

I have a Mytee M5 portie that i bought in 2010 still have, works great, just bought the newer version LTD5 and was going to sell the M5 but am now considering keeping the M5 and using both and run from my van, my plan is to run a short 2 inch vac hose off the two then combine using a "Y" pipe to one vac hose to the wand, I would then run one off a generator, the one that one run off the generator i would only be using the two vac motors only, no pump or auto pump out. the other I would use customer power, So the question is what size generator would be needed for just the two vac motors.

What is the power rating for the motors? I would guess that any generator that can provide 35-40 watts would work. The only downsides would be that they come with very small gas tanks with about 1.5 hour run times at the most.

Maybe Mo can answer this one based off his time behind the electric truckmount he was using.

vac motors are 14.5 amps each I was guessing a generator with like 2000 running watts would be plenty, but I don't know for sure, but i'm sure someone here can help

Do you want or need a quiet Gen?

If so, the small portable Honda's are the way to go, like the EU2000, although not cheap, they're really quiet, reliable, and put out the rated power............which a lot of less expensive one's really don't.

If you're looking for cheap then something like the one's Harbor Freight sells might work.  But I can tell you those type are very loud, and massive in size and weight compared to the Honda's for the same power output.

Geez, I just realized that I said watts instead of amps....and I work at a power plant.

If your vac motors are designed to run off of household current, you are talking about a 120 volt circuit. So, standard outlets are rated at 15 amps each, so to run two you will need 30 amps which would be 3600 watts.

So, now that I gave you a headache, the correct answer to your question is that you should look for a generator rated for at least 4,000 watts.

The Honda units are great and very quiet, but costly. Everything else is a crap-shoot in my experience. We used expensive 12k units from Generac that lasted only a few weeks running 24/7 to power a flood light during the flood a few years ago.

You will not be running 24/7, but you will be running it daily for about 6-10 hours and that would eat a cheap unit very quickly.

My advice is to talk to the guys who run electric units and find out their experience. Hopefully, Mo will be along soon to help with that.

ya those new small hondas are super efficient and quiet but not cheap.

youll need a lot more than 35-40 watts. If you want a good one that will run a lot more than what you need, the husky 5570 ones at home depot are nice.. but not quiet.

The plus is you could power your house if you had a bad storm, or hook up 2 more vac motors if you want.


personally I would take the vac motors out of the m5s and not use the plastic shell if your going to leave them in the van all the time. You can make a nice box to house them, its a lot like making a sub woofer or speaker box.

You can actually use wood to make a recovery tank that will last very long and not corrode but you need to line the inside with that special water proof paint and put a lot of coats on. Ive made huge utility sinks out of wood before, worked great.

Still waiting for Mo to chime in.....

If you already had a suitable generator that you used for home back-up, then sure, go with it. They are very noisy, but so are truck mounts.

I just don't think I would go out and buy a generator just for this purpose. Those portables have wheels for a reason and being able to use the customer's electricity and water is a pretty big benefit and cost savings.

Now if you had a trailer and wanted to mount an industrial generator like the welding trucks use, that might be a different story. A lot of those old aluminum Step Vans came with a really strong generator built into the box. My local welder uses one to power 3 welders for working on farming equipment in the field....bought the truck from a fire dept auction for $2000.

Options out there....just depends on what works best or you.