Generator issues/help
- Thread starter TheMan419
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RalphVa
Super Member
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2003
- Messages
- 7,885
- Location
- Charlottesville, VA, USA
- Tractor
- JD 2025R, previously Gravely 5650 & JD 4010 & JD 1025R
SeaFoam does an excellent job of keeping carbs clean or cleaning out carbs. I've avoided numerous carb teardowns with SeaFoam. Should use Stabil, too.
One of the many reasons why we went to a whole house (12.5 kw all electric 4400 sq ft house) diesel generator.
Ralph
One of the many reasons why we went to a whole house (12.5 kw all electric 4400 sq ft house) diesel generator.
Ralph
Yep I regularly use stabil on the generator fuel since it is likely to sit. On the mower it is only used at the end of the season since I run through that fuel fairly quickly. The diesel tractor gets Power Service Anti Gel starting in about October around these parts.
I try to keep things in tip top shape as best I can.
grsthegreat
Super Star Member
i get a little nuts keeping spares for just about everything i have. it freaked out my wife last summer when she broke the riding lawn mower. she snapped off one of the pulley towers, whinc in turn took out a pressure spring on the drive pulley. i think she thought she would have a few days off from chores.
an hour later i gave her back a running mower. i could tell she was pissed.
one thing i do i i order replacement parts the same day i use a part. i have spare plugs for everything. spare filters, spare relays, you name it.
Luckily i dont need to order spare parts for my standby generator......i have enough parts in my service truck to rebuild the entire thing if need be.
also, during our last 14 hr power outage. One of my customers told me he ran out of fuel for his generator. all local gas stations had no power to move fuel. he ended up driving 24 miles to town to get fuel. he had no planning, and all his fuel tanks were empty, all propane tanks were empty. a nice new portable generator and no fuel to operate it. Also no oil to fill generator with. Some people just dont plan.
an hour later i gave her back a running mower. i could tell she was pissed.
one thing i do i i order replacement parts the same day i use a part. i have spare plugs for everything. spare filters, spare relays, you name it.
Luckily i dont need to order spare parts for my standby generator......i have enough parts in my service truck to rebuild the entire thing if need be.
also, during our last 14 hr power outage. One of my customers told me he ran out of fuel for his generator. all local gas stations had no power to move fuel. he ended up driving 24 miles to town to get fuel. he had no planning, and all his fuel tanks were empty, all propane tanks were empty. a nice new portable generator and no fuel to operate it. Also no oil to fill generator with. Some people just dont plan.
ponytug
Super Member
X2 on keeping spares.
And, yes, it drives my wife nuts, too. "Why do you have all this crap?"
But, yes, on the ranch things tend to be up and running shortly after they go down. Of course, my goal is not to have them go down in the first place...
When do I use my generator? When it is mission critical. So, why wouldn't I have spares?
I have to confess to having backup backup generators. By way of explanation, we live in a rural area, in a fire area, in an earthquake zone, where it snows. We are way down any list of important areas to restore power to. I have been through enough "100 year" events to know that improbable things happen more frequently than conventional wisdom suggests. Prior, small earthquakes have cracked underground water pipes, so, yes, more spares. As far as I am concerned, the tractor paid for itself the day I had to excavate two feet down through twenty feet of sopping wet clay soil from a broken main waterline. It felt like each shovel full weighed sixty pounds.
Stay safe out there.
All the best,
Peter
And, yes, it drives my wife nuts, too. "Why do you have all this crap?"
But, yes, on the ranch things tend to be up and running shortly after they go down. Of course, my goal is not to have them go down in the first place...
When do I use my generator? When it is mission critical. So, why wouldn't I have spares?
I have to confess to having backup backup generators. By way of explanation, we live in a rural area, in a fire area, in an earthquake zone, where it snows. We are way down any list of important areas to restore power to. I have been through enough "100 year" events to know that improbable things happen more frequently than conventional wisdom suggests. Prior, small earthquakes have cracked underground water pipes, so, yes, more spares. As far as I am concerned, the tractor paid for itself the day I had to excavate two feet down through twenty feet of sopping wet clay soil from a broken main waterline. It felt like each shovel full weighed sixty pounds.
Stay safe out there.
All the best,
Peter
murphy1244
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2011
- Messages
- 16,336
- Location
- Ohio
- Tractor
- Kubota 1120 RTV Kioti DK-40, MF-135, Ventrac 4500Y
The carb repairman in a can works again! Good news TheMan419..
BravoXray
Elite Member
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2019
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- 2,734
- Location
- Nothern Indiana
- Tractor
- Kubota BX2230, John Deere 430 Diesel
About two years ago I was given a free 7,000 watt BlackMax generator that had been submerged in a flooded RV park. The owner figured it was junk as the Honda GX390 engine block was cracked in two places from water freezing in it after the flooding subsided.
Took it home and tore it apart, yep the crankcase was split in two places. Went to the Honda parts web site and looked up all the parts I needed to repair it, crankcase, gaskets, bearings, piston rings, etc. Total was only ~$150, and I also needed the battery charger board and rubber receptacle covers, so total parts were about $200.
I cleaned everything up and put it back together, it started right up and ran like a champ. I load tested it, and it was putting out full rated power.
Saturday morning at 1:30AM the power went out because of an ice storm in out area. Figured it would be back on soon, but after looking at the NIPSCO outage map, I knew it would be a day or so until we got power again. Picked the generator up with the Kubota and brought it up to the house, fired it up and plugged it in, and had power for everything in the house. Shut it down, checked the oil and topped off the fuel a couple of times and it ran until 4:00PM Sunday afternoon.
Worth every penny I have in it.
Took it home and tore it apart, yep the crankcase was split in two places. Went to the Honda parts web site and looked up all the parts I needed to repair it, crankcase, gaskets, bearings, piston rings, etc. Total was only ~$150, and I also needed the battery charger board and rubber receptacle covers, so total parts were about $200.
I cleaned everything up and put it back together, it started right up and ran like a champ. I load tested it, and it was putting out full rated power.
Saturday morning at 1:30AM the power went out because of an ice storm in out area. Figured it would be back on soon, but after looking at the NIPSCO outage map, I knew it would be a day or so until we got power again. Picked the generator up with the Kubota and brought it up to the house, fired it up and plugged it in, and had power for everything in the house. Shut it down, checked the oil and topped off the fuel a couple of times and it ran until 4:00PM Sunday afternoon.
Worth every penny I have in it.
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ponytug
Super Member
Nice job! Thanks for sharing it.
What are in the blue tanks on your workbench? Seems like an intriguing set up.
All the best,
Peter
What are in the blue tanks on your workbench? Seems like an intriguing set up.
All the best,
Peter
Beeenvenue
Gold Member
Remember air at 0F is roughly 22% more dense than air at 100F which COULD explain part of the choke issue. Same thing - in reverse - as to why Phoenix has to curtail some aircraft operations during by the hottest part of the summer (there it has to do with lift not engine performance but same idea)
I'm not much of a mechanic-in-a-can guy, but SF is the closest I've found to the real-deal stuff..... I always keep some around, and know a few really happy folk who've got stuff running again by trying it.
:thumbsup: Rgds, D.
