murphy1244
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2011
- Messages
- 16,329
- Location
- Ohio
- Tractor
- Kubota 1120 RTV Kioti DK-40, MF-135, Ventrac 4500Y
Your last generator Maintenance Run
- Thread starter 3930dave
- Start date
- Views: 959063
Lou66
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2012
- Messages
- 1,378
- Location
- Brazoria county where Texas began
- Tractor
- Deere 990/Montana 5740
I have had my Generac 22KW for two year on natural gas with auto switch gear.. I have lost power one time for fifteen minutes.. My neighbors thanked me for installing it.. before I had it they lost power about twice a year for couple days at a time.. I have live here for two and half years.. it runs 15 minutes a week.. I got less than 30 hours on it.. Lou
Not sure what your change interval is, but you are probably almost ready for another oil chg ! That's a long time this time of year to be w/o power
Rgds, D.
Diamondpilot
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2007
- Messages
- 16,316
- Location
- Daleville, IN
- Tractor
- Jinma 254/284 Ford 861 Powermaster at work
We lost power in 04 for 11 days and the next year for 8 days. We have had 2 or 3 events that were 3 days.
It's been well paid for.
Chris
I'm pretty sure that if I got transported to an alternate universe, I'd find Murphy's Law ruled there too !
My uncle went the other way. After selling the family farm (100+ years/same family) he built a bungalow nearby. I asked him if he was putting in a wood stove - "Hauled wood all my life, retired now, not a chance !". The middle of the next winter, we had the worst ice-storm ('98) of my lifetime - he was w/o power for at least a week, and only got occasional generator power off his neighbour's service truck.
Not fun, at -30 and below !
Rgds, D.
Rgds, D.
Lou66
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2012
- Messages
- 1,378
- Location
- Brazoria county where Texas began
- Tractor
- Deere 990/Montana 5740
My wife said now tell me why did we put this in.. I said insurance hon.. if you have it then you don't need it.. if you don't have it then you will wish you did.. My neighbors come over on Monday just to make sure it starts and run.. That's their insurance.. :laughing:Lou
grsthegreat
Super Star Member
My current whole house generator is powerfull enough to run the upstairs of my house .... which was all i had need for when i installed it 16 years ago.
Since that time, i have completed the basement and i also run the horse barn off the house panel. So it come time to upgrade the system with a larger generator. Im looking at a 22-25 KW Siemens (Generac branded) system with manual transfer switch to replace my current manual system. I have NO need or want of an automatic transfer switch system as i dont want the thing to run when im not at home. Theres nothing here that needs to run 24/7 so ill stick with manual system.
The issue with this is when running this way, i cant use the automatic exercise functions of the generator. Thats not all that important as long as i have an onboard battery charger and oil heater, so im not too worried. My old unit did not have an auto exercise system, and it NEVER failed me.
I change oil every year, and swapped batteries every 5 years no matter what. I run it 3-4 times a year for 20 minutes unless its been running due to power failure. Last week we had snow storm that knocked power out for 12 hours. System ran for about 3 of those hours flawlessly. This was when i noticed that i could have used power in basement...and heated water troughs in barn.
Installing a larger gen unit will take no time at all... as i do this for a living. I just hate to spend the money on the unit. Im putting in a 60KW water cooled unit next week on another job.....maybe ill just accidentally install it at my place.....
Since that time, i have completed the basement and i also run the horse barn off the house panel. So it come time to upgrade the system with a larger generator. Im looking at a 22-25 KW Siemens (Generac branded) system with manual transfer switch to replace my current manual system. I have NO need or want of an automatic transfer switch system as i dont want the thing to run when im not at home. Theres nothing here that needs to run 24/7 so ill stick with manual system.
The issue with this is when running this way, i cant use the automatic exercise functions of the generator. Thats not all that important as long as i have an onboard battery charger and oil heater, so im not too worried. My old unit did not have an auto exercise system, and it NEVER failed me.
I change oil every year, and swapped batteries every 5 years no matter what. I run it 3-4 times a year for 20 minutes unless its been running due to power failure. Last week we had snow storm that knocked power out for 12 hours. System ran for about 3 of those hours flawlessly. This was when i noticed that i could have used power in basement...and heated water troughs in barn.
Installing a larger gen unit will take no time at all... as i do this for a living. I just hate to spend the money on the unit. Im putting in a 60KW water cooled unit next week on another job.....maybe ill just accidentally install it at my place.....
grsthegreat
Super Star Member
oh.. and this reminds me
A few weeks ago we had another power outage, but it hit my house only for maybe 15 minutes. One of my old clients called me and they told me that neither of their 2 units fired up when they lost power, and wondered why.
I went over the next day and took a look at their 15kw and 10 kw generac units. In the first one the battery was showing 8 volts, had 3 dry cells and the generator dip stick was showing no oil on it.
The second unit had an EXPLODED battery and no oil on dipstick. These units were 7 years old. The owner told me hes never serviced them.
Go figure.
I went and got 2 new batteries and drained and refilled all fluids. Both units fired right up and checked out 100%. Cant fault generac on this one. I know alot of people dist generac units, but i have yet to ever find one that has failed with proper maintenance.
When we lost power last weekend, this same client called me and thanked me for repairing his units. hopefully he'll remember to service them now.
A few weeks ago we had another power outage, but it hit my house only for maybe 15 minutes. One of my old clients called me and they told me that neither of their 2 units fired up when they lost power, and wondered why.
I went over the next day and took a look at their 15kw and 10 kw generac units. In the first one the battery was showing 8 volts, had 3 dry cells and the generator dip stick was showing no oil on it.
The second unit had an EXPLODED battery and no oil on dipstick. These units were 7 years old. The owner told me hes never serviced them.
Go figure.
I went and got 2 new batteries and drained and refilled all fluids. Both units fired right up and checked out 100%. Cant fault generac on this one. I know alot of people dist generac units, but i have yet to ever find one that has failed with proper maintenance.
When we lost power last weekend, this same client called me and thanked me for repairing his units. hopefully he'll remember to service them now.
I'm curious; why don't you want it running automatically when you are not home ?
I'm thinking of fridge, freezer, sump pumps, furnaces etc..... that create spendy situations w/o power.....
Rgds, D.