Does anyone have any experience with the JD TEK Generator. We had to buy this generator in an emergency during the ice storm. It works fine, we can not return, so I was wondering if anyone has had any long term experience with these generators. It is the 5500 watt generator.
JD TEK Generators
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slowrev
Elite Member
Know nothing at all about it, but I doubt if JD actually made it.
RonMar
Elite Member
Is it a Diesel engine? That was the only 5500 listed on their website. At any rate, with most of these portables, it is not so much the quality as how they are treated. They of course were not rated for continous service so they have a definite lifespan. Most don't make it to their forcast lifespan because of the way they are treated. A lot of people buy them and they set in storage(sometimes for years) untill the lights go out. Then they are immediatly thrown into service and expected to keep the lights on and refer cold. They of course were not put away properly at the last run so they are running on bad gas and the moisture laden oil and corrosion are doing nasty things to the insides. So they run for a while and die in a gross viscious fashion right in the middle of American Idol(dam cheap generator!).
Or they run them without checking the oil every few hours. All engines burn oil, but aircooled ones burn more! Without an auto shutdown, they run out and burn up/sieze. Does yours have an automatic low oil shutdown? If not, I would look into adding this or get methodical about checking the oil every few hours.
Don't leave old fuel in it(especially gasoline). If it is gas, do the final shutdown(without electrical load) by turning off the fuel at the tank and run/burn the last out of the carb. This is impracticle with a diesel, but storing it with an empty tank is not. Then you only have to deal with the fuel in the lines and pump. Diesel is more tollerant of storage.
Run it under load(50%?) at least every few months(this will rotate the fuel in the fuel system). Portable space heaters and large wattage halogen shop lights make great test loads. Run it long enough for it to stay at operting temp for a while. This cooks moisture out of the insides, refreshes the fuel in the carb and recoats the innards with fresh oil to cut down on internal corrosion. Lawn mowers last a good long time because they are run fairly regular. A portable genset should last at least as long if used regularly.
The automated backup power systems I work with start and run once a week for 20-30 minutes. Some of them have been installed and operating as emergency backup in excess of 20 years. We are only now looking at replacments, not because of reliability problems, but because of efficiency and speed of transfer to backup power.
Or they run them without checking the oil every few hours. All engines burn oil, but aircooled ones burn more! Without an auto shutdown, they run out and burn up/sieze. Does yours have an automatic low oil shutdown? If not, I would look into adding this or get methodical about checking the oil every few hours.
Don't leave old fuel in it(especially gasoline). If it is gas, do the final shutdown(without electrical load) by turning off the fuel at the tank and run/burn the last out of the carb. This is impracticle with a diesel, but storing it with an empty tank is not. Then you only have to deal with the fuel in the lines and pump. Diesel is more tollerant of storage.
Run it under load(50%?) at least every few months(this will rotate the fuel in the fuel system). Portable space heaters and large wattage halogen shop lights make great test loads. Run it long enough for it to stay at operting temp for a while. This cooks moisture out of the insides, refreshes the fuel in the carb and recoats the innards with fresh oil to cut down on internal corrosion. Lawn mowers last a good long time because they are run fairly regular. A portable genset should last at least as long if used regularly.
The automated backup power systems I work with start and run once a week for 20-30 minutes. Some of them have been installed and operating as emergency backup in excess of 20 years. We are only now looking at replacments, not because of reliability problems, but because of efficiency and speed of transfer to backup power.
schmism
Super Member
RonMar said:
much of what you said is also true of the large systems. THe STL airport went down last year. BUt the back up generators failed to come online as they hadnt been tested in over a year. (turns out money to do maintance and required cycleing was "diverted" to other areas and the maintance people were told not to do it)
as a result when they were required to come online, they didnt work properly and left the airport in the dark for a few hrs.
Unregistered2013
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RonMar said:
this is a very good post -- thank you for it -- !!
Egon
Epic Contributor
As to the original post I have no idea but as to succeeding posts ?
Blimey, have I been living in the dark ages.
My little cheap gasser generator without a rusted muffler had been left in the trailer after it last run several years ago. All I did was shut it down. I had to move it to a shed last month and decided to start it.
Well, Land of Goshen on the first pull it started right up and seemed to run quite well! Where did I mange to mess up on the storage thing or was it just blind luck?
Does any one know if the rated expect life span is the number of running hours the engine is expected to meet emissions standards or does it refer to the actual life span of the engine.
Uhh, the only real time this generator saw serious duty was back in Hurricane Juan time when it kept the utilities in several houses going. It managed well. Don't know if it annoyed any of the neighbors as it was being used at a relatives place!
Blimey, have I been living in the dark ages.
My little cheap gasser generator without a rusted muffler had been left in the trailer after it last run several years ago. All I did was shut it down. I had to move it to a shed last month and decided to start it.
Well, Land of Goshen on the first pull it started right up and seemed to run quite well! Where did I mange to mess up on the storage thing or was it just blind luck?
Does any one know if the rated expect life span is the number of running hours the engine is expected to meet emissions standards or does it refer to the actual life span of the engine.
Uhh, the only real time this generator saw serious duty was back in Hurricane Juan time when it kept the utilities in several houses going.
It managed well. Don't know if it annoyed any of the neighbors as it was being used at a relatives place!
schmism
Super Member
troubleshoot just like you would any other small engine
do you have spark?
is fuel getting to the regulator?
take a propane torch unlit and hold at intake see if it wants to turn over after you verify it has spark
if you can get it to run off a torch held by/near the intake then you know your regulator needs maintenance.
do you have spark?
is fuel getting to the regulator?
take a propane torch unlit and hold at intake see if it wants to turn over after you verify it has spark
if you can get it to run off a torch held by/near the intake then you know your regulator needs maintenance.
EastTexFrank
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RonMar, thanks for the reminder. It's been about 3 months since I ran my little generator. It has a 4 gallon tank and I run about a gallon through it with 2 - 1500 watt space heaters for load. I always run it dry before putting it back in storage. I'll have to get round to that tomorrow. Winter is just setting in here and I better make sure it's ready to go if needed.
Once again thanks for a good, informative post.
Once again thanks for a good, informative post.
Don't let the "JD" in JD TEK fool you. It is NOT a John Deer. It is Chinese, same mfg. as All Power America, and Gentron. The company is Jiangsu Jiangdong. If you check those brands at online stores with customer reviews, quality seems to be all over the scale, from no starts right out of the box to the best thing since sliced bread. It just seems to be the luck of the draw.
I have been shopping for a portable generator for about a month is how I found out. I would really like to have an LP generator, and they have the only one I have found (portable, not standby) under $1K, but I am real unsure about the quality. I also can't find any local dealers, another negative.