Sorry I haven't done an update, life took over and haven't been here in a while.
Gen was installed in late Sept? Electricians etc... went at it and installed it in about 6 hours. They did some other wiring around the house as well, but it would take one electrician all day + to get the panel and all wiring done.
They left at about three in the afternoon, at 4:30 we lost power.
Generator kicked on as it should and ran fine.
A few issues: The fuel shut-off solenoid was leaking and allowing air into the injector. It is an add-on for this application to shut-down the motor. Called Central Maine Diesel, had a new one in a couple days. They offered to send someone out, but it was a simple fix and I did it my self.
The gen would not run my well pump. Ran some tests, found that my well was drawing 30 amps at start-up each time the pump clicked on. Called my well buddy. We opted to pull the pump and check it. Turns out I had a 1 hp well pump, way overkill for my application. We downsized to a 1/2 hp, now the gen runs it fine and I'm using less electricity for water.
The unit did not have a built-in battery charger. Within a couple days the battery was dead, as it powers the timers and auto start system. Bought a trickle/auto charger and took care of the problem. When it runs it is charging, but the house power does not automatically charge the battery to keep it up. Kind of odd.
All in all it has been good. We only lost power that once, shortly after that the power company did a MAJOR tree trim-back operation for all the lines around. Spent weeks working through town cutting anything anywhere's near the lines all the way up through to the sub station where our power comes from. What was a weekly occurance, now hasn't happened in months.
The generator starts two times per week, Sunday and Thurs. afternoon, swaps the house over and runs for 20 minutes on load. The coldest start thus far has been 6 degrees with no issues. Runs a little rough for 30 seconds or so then smooths right out.
I installed a 50 gallon saddle tank from an old truck I had in the basement for fuel. Also hooked in a spin-on water seperator filter and ran copper lines out to the generator. Fuel stays warm and should help cut back on gelling.
Eventually I will put two group 31 batteries in the basement and run cable out to the gen. That should help it turn over in any weather and keep the batteries fresh and at optimum output.
I put a small shelter over it with some metal roofing to help keep it dry. I have flex-pipe for the exhaust that I have yet to install. It isn't loud in the house, but out behind the house it can be annoying, so I may build an exhaust stack for it to lower the sound levels and get the fumes even further away.
Hope this helps, let me know if anyone has any questions.
Here's some pics:
