Generator noise in lock up?

This is something I've given thought to.

I think I'd be more tempted to go for the li-ion choice, you can use them anywhere and much more easy to transport than a jenny.

These lockups are quite tight for space, and although not huge, the jenny could end up in the way.

And you'd have to leave the jenny in the lockup, but you can take your tools with you.

And theres the issue of fumes, not hard to get around, but something to bear in mind.

Surely a set of hitachi 18V tools is about the same cost of a jenny too??

I've used generators a lot, my project car in the rides section was built using generators for almost all of the work including the welding.

A big one will be too noisy indoors, I put mine outdoors and built a kind of generator shed for it with louvred sides. My garage was a reasonable distance from houses.

My friend is restoring a MK1 Astra using generator power too, but he has a large generator in the garage next door to muffle the noise, it is right beside houses and the residents are happy.

The tiny generators that are 850 watts etc will run a small grinder, drill etc no problem and can be very quiet without spending a lot of money. That the way I would be tempted to go, if you buy battery tools then every time you want to use a different tool type you need to buy one, and you have the frustration of flat batteries.

Maybe try a second hand very small generator and if you find it too loud just sell it again.

I am in the same situation as you and put together my own "system" which has worked well for nearly three years:
I have 2 12v 10w led spotlamps powered off a 110amp leasure battery which I take home for a charge every few months. I also have 4 230v 10w spotlamps which run off a 500w inverter if needed.
Small tools such as a baby grinder,dremels small drill press run off the same inverter and on the rare occassion I need a bit more power, a used £50 genny gets used.
Obviously a welder, air compressor & the like are no go's!

For welding then, I speak from experience not ideas or theory.

I did my project with a 150 amp SIP MIG welder in a rented allotment garage entirely using a generator for the welding, it also ran a small compressor for the paintwork which also worked well.

The first generator I tried, knowing the likely consequence, was a cheapo 2.3 KVa one, it ran the welder for a time, then cooked.

I then went out and bought a 3.8KVa generator second hand for £100 and completed the project, which was a huge amount of welding, here is the thread - retrorides.proboards.com/thread/181044/scrapyard-dodger-24v-carlton-g624xme

I'm now helping a friend in similar circumstances who has a generator roughly the same size as mine and a 110A Clarke welder, it works well.


Something to note, the biggest problem item I found to run with a generator is flourescent tubes. I would recommend not fitting any in your garage, generators just cant regulate the voltage when running tubes, I cant remember why but after having lots of problems with several generators that couldnt hold voltage and were constantly hunting I read up on the problem and realised that with simple generators flourescent tubes are a bad idea.
For lighting its easy to sort out 12v stuff or rechargeable that you take home with you after each session.

I have a 1000w inverter which works well

Generators make a lot of noise. At least with grinders and drills they turn off when you're not actively using them. A generator just drones on until you turn it off