Your last generator Maintenance Run

[3930dave]

Yes. Very critical. Even with the tunnel style barns, which have a natural draw.

Complacency. You'd be surprised at how many poultry farms were caught with unmaintained generators during our '09 ice storm. Even the maintained ones started having trouble after 2-3 weeks of 24/7 operation. Main problem was fuel filters and voltage regulators. Normally our tanks get filled and have a couple of days to settle out before being run. These were being filled while running. Everything was stirred up and just plugged filters. I keep at least one extra set of filters for this reason.

That fueling scenario is a great point about extreme operating conditions.

Aside from diesel fuel treatment practices, my other recommendation to northern newbies asking about tractors is - Stock up on Fuel Filters - esp. if you count on your tractor to plow out your farm lane in Winter.

Rgds, D.

 

[farmer2009]

Dave. Sent you a pm.

 

[3930dave]

Dave. Sent you a pm.

Got it, thanks. You should have my PM response now.

Rgds, D.

 

[buickanddeere]

That fueling scenario is a great point about extreme operating conditions.

Aside from diesel fuel treatment practices, my other recommendation to northern newbies asking about tractors is - Stock up on Fuel Filters - esp. if you count on your tractor to plow out your farm lane in Winter.

Rgds, D.

Same filter for seven winters without problems. Just use winter diesel that is clean and is not water contaminated .

 

[daugen]

That's longer than I'd leave that filter in for something I really, really want to start. I bet it's got plenty of junk in it by now and sooner or later
will plug on you. Or worse, let some big chunk of dirt or filtering material through. Fuel pump repair would pay for a lifetime of filters.
Do you have a filter drain where you can drain water out the bottom? If you do, and you do a regular drain, I can see how you could go this long on a fuel filter with really clean fuel in a clean tank. I have a new tank with a fresh load of diesel this year. I figure every two years on the filter with my low use, or when they come to fill it up again. I keep a spare filter in the barn. If you have a spare on hand, ok.
Guess it also depends upon how many gallons are running through and how full your tank is kept. If kept relatively full, less condensation, less problems. Some folks on expensive yachts run all fuel through their own filtering system before it goes into the fuel tanks. They don't trust what comes from the delivery truck.
I'm hoping I can...nice truck too, Kenworth with Michelin tires, seriously nice rig. That tells me they might be careful with their big tanks too...I hope.
Plus they are the largest supplier around and that should mean fuel doesn't sit too long.

Just last week I was reminding my teenage helper to not pour the last small amount of fuel out of any can. Told him that's where the dirt is, particularly on
older cans. I try to dump the remnants on my burn pile when I remember.

I'm fairly confident none of these issues occur with LP/Propane. Thankfully.

 

[3930dave]

Known diesel contamination is one thing..... most of us will stay away from a can of fuel that has been left lying around in the back of a truck with the cap missing.

In another thread, CreekyB had a couple of posts detailing water issues surrounding high-volume ULSD management.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/361697-fuel-additives-2.html

His comments were well written, and informative. Short version..... yes, even that brand-new $750k delivery truck can roll up with water in the ULSD it is hauling.

I've posted it before, but probably not recently - Mr Funnel is my goto for low-cost low-volume personal use.

Rgds, D.

 

[daugen]

If I have a decent water coalescing filter on my diesel pump, and change it regularly, and run less than 200 gallons through that filter
before it gets changed, and have a brand new tank (which they hopefully carefully cleaned inside before final delivery) should I worry?
Coastal Carolina is hot and humid, then below freezing at times in the winter. So definitely some condensation going on inside, maybe not much.
But that inline filter was not designed to handle a big slug of water I bet.

I have a 500 gallon propane tank hooked to my 22kw gen. It's kinda nice not worrying about any of these fuel issues. As far as i know, nothing can go wrong with/pollute LPG. And by now we all know it burns cleanly and plugs last a long time on an engine running propane. Change the oil and oil filter once a year on the standby Generac and otherwise it's an idiot machine. And yes, it cost me many thousands of electrician's dollars to make it easy and for idiots. But for home improvement, seemed like a great benefit and good ROI as a marketing feature when selling the place someday.

How often do you all change your plugs on propane gens? Mine look like new after a year. I keep spares but...
maybe every third year?

(completely off subject...that gorgeous fuel oil truck with all weather Michelins came right through the same muddy soft ground three different dump trucks
had gotten stuck in (always good to have a tractor around to pull them out...) because the dumps had least expensive road tires on them and the fuel oil truck had much
more aggressive Michelins. Yeah, with those nice chrome wheels. Only spun once from a stop,going slightly uphill, he went slow and feathered it, quickly grabbed full traction and off he went with no drama. During the summer now this is a non issue, but trying to get stone delivered in the winter is a challenge here.)

 

[3930dave]

If I have a decent water coalescing filter on my diesel pump, and change it regularly, and run less than 200 gallons through that filter
before it gets changed, and have a brand new tank (which they hopefully carefully cleaned inside before final delivery) should I worry?
Coastal Carolina is hot and humid, then below freezing at times in the winter. So definitely some condensation going on inside, maybe not much.
But that inline filter was not designed to handle a big slug of water I bet.

I have a 500 gallon propane tank hooked to my 22kw gen. It's kinda nice not worrying about any of these fuel issues. As far as i know, nothing can go wrong with/pollute LPG. And by now we all know it burns cleanly and plugs last a long time on an engine running propane. Change the oil and oil filter once a year on the standby Generac and otherwise it's an idiot machine. And yes, it cost me many thousands of electrician's dollars to make it easy and for idiots. But for home improvement, seemed like a great benefit and good ROI as a marketing feature when selling the place someday.

How often do you all change your plugs on propane gens? Mine look like new after a year. I keep spares but...
maybe every third year?

(completely off subject...that gorgeous fuel oil truck with all weather Michelins came right through the same muddy soft ground three different dump trucks
had gotten stuck in (always good to have a tractor around to pull them out...) because the dumps had least expensive road tires on them and the fuel oil truck had much
more aggressive Michelins. Yeah, with those nice chrome wheels. Only spun once from a stop,going slightly uphill, he went slow and feathered it, quickly grabbed full traction and off he went with no drama. During the summer now this is a non issue, but trying to get stone delivered in the winter is a challenge here.)

That is a good question Daugen. With gasoline generators, the biggest plug issue seems to be carbon fouling. On propane (not there yet, so no hour #'s as a guess), I'd expect the limiting factor is going to be electrode erosion widening the gap. Even with copper plugs, I'd suspect you'd be fine at 3 years (assuming that the household is primarily on-grid) - I'd probably change them at 3 years the first time, and check final gap vs. installed.

Driving off-road for a living is a specialized talent. Good tires help, but it requires an experienced and smart driver - lots of videos exist about Fails, but you can see some pretty skillful driving too, often in the oil patch. Russian truck - whole different psychology - I don't speak Russian, but I get the impression the word "impassable" does not exist in that language.

Rgds, D.

 

[buickanddeere]

That's longer than I'd leave that filter in for something I really, really want to start. I bet it's got plenty of junk in it by now and sooner or later
will plug on you. Or worse, let some big chunk of dirt or filtering material through. Fuel pump repair would pay for a lifetime of filters.
Do you have a filter drain where you can drain water out the bottom? If you do, and you do a regular drain, I can see how you could go this long on a fuel filter with really clean fuel in a clean tank. I have a new tank with a fresh load of diesel this year. I figure every two years on the filter with my low use, or when they come to fill it up again. I keep a spare filter in the barn. If you have a spare on hand, ok.
Guess it also depends upon how many gallons are running through and how full your tank is kept. If kept relatively full, less condensation, less problems. Some folks on expensive yachts run all fuel through their own filtering system before it goes into the fuel tanks. They don't trust what comes from the delivery truck.
I'm hoping I can...nice truck too, Kenworth with Michelin tires, seriously nice rig. That tells me they might be careful with their big tanks too...I hope.
Plus they are the largest supplier around and that should mean fuel doesn't sit too long.

Just last week I was reminding my teenage helper to not pour the last small amount of fuel out of any can. Told him that's where the dirt is, particularly on
older cans. I try to dump the remnants on my burn pile when I remember.

I'm fairly confident none of these issues occur with LP/Propane. Thankfully.

Filter is glass and anything in there shows with a good flashlight. A few crumbs in the bottom, that's it. My fuel jugs have caps and the spouts don't touch dirt when removed from the jugs.

 

[buickanddeere]

That is a good question Daugen. With gasoline generators, the biggest plug issue seems to be carbon fouling. On propane (not there yet, so no hour #'s as a guess), I'd expect the limiting factor is going to be electrode erosion widening the gap. Even with copper plugs, I'd suspect you'd be fine at 3 years (assuming that the household is primarily on-grid) - I'd probably change them at 3 years the first time, and check final gap vs. installed.

Driving off-road for a living is a specialized talent. Good tires help, but it requires an experienced and smart driver - lots of videos exist about Fails, but you can see some pretty skillful driving too, often in the oil patch. Russian truck - whole different psychology - I don't speak Russian, but I get the impression the word "impassable" does not exist in that language.

Rgds, D.

Aircooled plug fouling is in part due to operating at light loads in the winter. I've seen the choke forgotten and left at the 1/2 way point after starting for the entire tank of fuel.