kV Needed to Run 7 HP Machine?

You have not provided all the pertinent information. What is the supply voltage etc. Your generator out put must be more than the starting current/power requirement of the motor plus the other load for lighting etc. that you may require additionally.

Certainly would and OP may want to consider the price break by going that way.

Good suggestion.

It does add a layer of complexity though and not knowing where or what or why all we can do is make suggestions and open ended recommendations.

OP might consider throwing that motor into the back of his truck and getting the genset vendor to start and run his motor (loaded preferably) at their showroom before deciding. The genset that struggles and black smokes the least when the switch is flicked, within his budget, is the one he wants.

OP, if you're still there, what's this motor turning and why do you need a dedicated autonomous supply for it?

10KVA

What kind of motor? What kind of load? Gas or diesel generator? Continuous duty or intermittent? Full load amperes (and all the other information from the nameplate...) The more information you feed in, the more you'll get out.

I assume you mean a machine with an electric 7 hp motor
Most electric motors draw 300% during starting with across line contactor and many generator mfgs state this in their spec sheets. So a SWAG guess would be at least 21 hp size generator to start a 7hp motor but by all means contact the mfg's application engineer for advise as generator % loading is also important as when the generator is fully loaded if the whole load is removed at on time it can overspeed and self destruct as the fuel systems can't react fast enough to slow down rpms as has occurred with 454 Chevy gensets with blowers on them in the past. Contact support from the genset mfg. Loading and unloading sometimes has to be done in stages with time delay on and time delay staging off to protect the generator if you have multiple loads.

Jgroberson: So what would be the "proper"and safe way to stage the unloading, to avoid harming the generator?. And when you said "self destruct", you mean that literally (meaning that the genrator would be seriosly or permanently damaged?. There is a throttle in the genarator that i can increase or decrease to keep the voltage at the desired level of 220, so thould i use that to download in stages? Thanks.

Thanks to all who responded to my question, i really appreciate it, and the wealth of information was more than enough to me to make a "scietifically based" decision. The machine is a secondhand planner (no cataloge, and a partially erased sheet tag!), and the seller demonstrated it at his shop and it worked fine. The problem was when trasported to the site of the small factory in an area that the main electrical supply is under construction, one had to provide a power supply. The small 7 kv generator was providing power to the simple lighting and light tools was obviosly not enough, and thats when i got conflicting or inconsistent reccomendations regarding the generator required to work the 7 HP planner. Also, it was originally set to work on 380 volts, and the vendor set it to 220 volts (three phase). Based on the information you provided in the forum, i ended up buying a diesel 18kv genarator, with ?final output of 15kv, which i do not understand clearly, but reassured that it would work the machine provided no other heavy load is added.

kVA NOT kv!

18kVA genset pumping out 15kW sounds right. That's the power factor working its magic.

Once your big electric motor has run up to speed you can put additional loads on that genset.

Regarding the unloading "dangers"....your genset donk is probably around 30 to 50HP, that supercharged big block that was mentioned is in the high hundreds probably 1000HP.....not the same beast and the engine speeds are way different too.

Not sure why you have to manually "throttle", should be an AVR and governor on that genset

Happy New Year.