Your last generator Maintenance Run

[3930dave]

Manufacturers have an endless selection of materials. Why would they choose materials that deteriorate in the absense of fuel? Can so many people really be that stupid or evil?

Think about it. What can the soft parts of a carb cost at manufacturing level? Maybe fifty cents for the cheapest material to five dollars for the best material. I'm disgusted at the GREED!

A modern carb should be able to deal with the Ethanol exposure directly. What is often the problem here is white powder.... no, not that stuff, I'm talking about deposits in the carb.....

I was talking with a retired mechanic in an auto parts store a couple of winters back...... he was picking up carb cleaner for the 1 year old snowblower carb parts in his hand.... main drilled-tube orifice (can't recall the real name) was totally plugged with white crusty deposits. It was not his, he was helping a neighbour that knew nothing about engines.

I had that ^ same issue on my '98 B&S gen. Parts had not physically deteriorated, but the float had stuck open due to white crud, back when I was storing Dry. Some guys "fix" that by dropping a gen 3' onto concrete, but that's not my style.... unless it was my only gen, and I had to get somebody's oxygen-generator running NOW....... Never say Never, Murph is listening......

Rgds, D.

 

[check]

no, everything is manual

Same here. (Remember, I have the exact same generator.) Will look forward to hearing how is starts when you put gasoline in it. Meanwhile, here is another shot of the little shed we built for it.
Haven't run it on propane yet, but we did get a 100 propane bottle form Costco, and they filled it for only $40 (US)! Pretty cheap propane, and it will be good for about 40 hours of run time.

 

[3930dave]

Same here. (Remember, I have the exact same generator.) Will look forward to hearing how is starts when you put gasoline in it. Meanwhile, here is another shot of the little shed we built for it.
Haven't run it on propane yet, but we did get a 100 propane bottle form Costco, and they filled it for only $40 (US)! Pretty cheap propane, and it will be good for about 40 hours of run time.


View attachment 685749

Tyvek ! There's a good northern shed for Ya ! :thumbsup:

How are you handling ventilation ? (Meaning Summer temps.....)

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Talking fueling issues here, reminded me to post about this type of line I picked up for a non-generator project:

4219BF Barricade(R) GreenShield(R) Fuel Hose | Gates Corporation

Gates 4219BF Barricade® Fuel Injection Hose, if the link doesn't work.....

Overkill for a carb application (225psi rated)..... but when I fix something, I don't want to re-fix it any time soon. Should tolerate alcohol well, and aside from $, the only drawback I see it is somewhat stiffer (note construction details) than what I've had my hands on before......

Minimum Bend Radius (in) 2.95 is what is listed...... likely/hopefully not an issue for me.

Continental will also have something equivalent...... just wanted to throw this Gates product out there for fueling consideration.....

Rgds, D.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Since they're calling for up to 15 in of snow this week I did finally get the generator started after it's setting for 4 or 5 years. Since it fired up with the old gas I went ahead and ran it till that was all gone and refilled with a couple gallons of fresh alcohol-free gas seafoam treated. They are not calling for more ice but I've never seen 15 in of snow here.

 

[nikdfish]

Thanks to the ice the 22kw got a 26 hour workout.

Everything worked properly during the outage, but did end up with one equipment casualty, a 12-15 year old 1200VA tripplite UPS died after the stop/start at 24 hours to check the genny's oil (battery was still good & fully charged, the UPS just cut off & wouldn't go back on-line).

 

[3930dave]

Since they're calling for up to 15 in of snow this week I did finally get the generator started after it's setting for 4 or 5 years. Since it fired up with the old gas I went ahead and ran it till that was all gone and refilled with a couple gallons of fresh alcohol-free gas seafoam treated. They are not calling for more ice but I've never seen 15 in of snow here.

I'd say buy a lottery ticket Gale, but you've already used up quite a bit of luck with that save :thumbsup:

Nice feeling for sure, having that coming back to life with that mess in the forecast. Heavy ice will end up taking lines down, but 15" of snow is a bit of work, esp. if your area doesn't deal with much normally.

Stay safe, and esp. on the roads.....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Thanks to the ice the 22kw got a 26 hour workout.

Everything worked properly during the outage, but did end up with one equipment casualty, a 12-15 year old 1200VA tripplite UPS died after the stop/start at 24 hours to check the genny's oil (battery was still good & fully charged, the UPS just cut off & wouldn't go back on-line).

I'm sure you've been over all the obvious breakers etc on that ups (those things hide sometimes, at least from my eyes....), guessing a spike hit something vulnerable.... a bit odd for a ups though.

Household ran fine otherwise..... money well spent.....

Rgds, D.

 

[check]

Tyvek ! There's a good northern shed for Ya ! :thumbsup:

How are you handling ventilation ? (Meaning Summer temps.....)

Rgds, D.

Uh....

 

[check]

Tyvek ! There's a good northern shed for Ya ! :thumbsup:

How are you handling ventilation ? (Meaning Summer temps.....)

Rgds, D.

Ok, just kidding. Have a nice electric exhaust fan on the other end that plugs in to the generator, plus the side walls don’t go all the way up. That should be enough.