Your last generator Maintenance Run

[RalphVa]

I'm checking filters, etc. to do the 10 year maintenance on my Isuzu. Have nearly 10 year old fuel filter and air filter. Think the air filter will still be good, but what about the fuel filter?

Got the WiX and NAPA equivalents for the oil and fuel filters. Could get them locally, but do not have for the air filter.

Also do not have the fuel bowl filter.

So, may contact Central Maine Diesel to ship new filters.

Have a gallon of some JD CoolGard II. Think that should work. Supposedly only takes 2 liters. Only thing that bothers me is the CoolGard is only rated for 6 years (someone said this on the forum). Can do better. Rather have 10 years, like for most all cars, pickups and SUVs now.

 

[PILOON]

We just 'survived' an 8 day power outage.
Guess I'd better do an oil change, LOL.
Cost of gas sure hit the pocket book hard.**
On plus side the food savings probably offset running costs (22CF freezer + 2 fridges) also sanity was kept.
Being able to have Sat TV reception sure helped pass away the time.
Now if we could only get the land line back as cell coverage is pathetic.
Downed land line suffered from having heavy vehicles driving over them constantly.
Sure hurts paying for a land line that could not be used, at least with hydro you only pay for consumed power.

** also driving about to find an open station became a challenge then the long line ups did not help. Then I ended up with back pain from hauling filled 5 gal pails. Fortunately I was close to a bulk distribution location and they had generator power and good reserves.
My CC statement came in and I was shocked.

 

[Williy]

Our power went out last night but didn't even
notice it as it was on in the morning
So no need for generator

willy

 

[3930dave]

SLH has probably produced as many or even more air/oil cooled diesels then Deutz, and they are every bit as good, or even better for long lasting.

I have three of them here right now, GREAT diesels!

SR

Rob - indulge an old guy, after a long day...... SLH = _____________ ?

Regards, D.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Rob - indulge an old guy, after a long day...... SLH = _____________ ?

Regards, D.

SAME (tractors) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Last I heard, SLH diesels were powering the generators in the camps at the South Pole, they run continuous and have been for years, even when no one is there.

SR

 

[3930dave]

I'm checking filters, etc. to do the 10 year maintenance on my Isuzu. Have nearly 10 year old fuel filter and air filter. Think the air filter will still be good, but what about the fuel filter?

Got the WiX and NAPA equivalents for the oil and fuel filters. Could get them locally, but do not have for the air filter.

Also do not have the fuel bowl filter.

So, may contact Central Maine Diesel to ship new filters.

Have a gallon of some JD CoolGard II. Think that should work. Supposedly only takes 2 liters. Only thing that bothers me is the CoolGard is only rated for 6 years (someone said this on the forum). Can do better. Rather have 10 years, like for most all cars, pickups and SUVs now.

I can't find a quick link, but I had a chat with a Cummins parts person (meaning a Cummins employee) a year or so back. I think it was something like 6 or 7 years for paper media.

Archival storage (paper documents) requires specific paper.... I think the tiny amounts of trace chemicals in normal paper can lead to the media deteriorating over long periods of time.

@ 10 years, a filter may not collapse, but may perform slightly lower than what the original filter spec was - hence the reason for a filter OEM spec'ing a shelf-life.

Worst example I've come across..... a guy I know finally convinced his sister (real estate agent, bought a new vehicle and "never had time to change the oil") to let him change the oil... something like 35k km out. There was nothing left of the filter media (acid in the oil ate the paper), just the frame of the cartridge filter was left.....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

SAME (tractors) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Last I heard, SLH diesels were powering the generators in the camps at the South Pole, they run continuous and have been for years, even when no one is there.

SR

Thnx Rob. Learned something tonight.... why I like hanging out here .

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

We just 'survived' an 8 day power outage.
Guess I'd better do an oil change, LOL.
Cost of gas sure hit the pocket book hard.**
On plus side the food savings probably offset running costs (22CF freezer + 2 fridges) also sanity was kept.
Being able to have Sat TV reception sure helped pass away the time.
Now if we could only get the land line back as cell coverage is pathetic.
Downed land line suffered from having heavy vehicles driving over them constantly.
Sure hurts paying for a land line that could not be used, at least with hydro you only pay for consumed power.

** also driving about to find an open station became a challenge then the long line ups did not help. Then I ended up with back pain from hauling filled 5 gal pails. Fortunately I was close to a bulk distribution location and they had generator power and good reserves.
My CC statement came in and I was shocked.

Tough haul Piloon - good to hear that you and the food made it out this side OK.

Take care of the back - that's one thing that will take down everybody !

Cell phones often irritate me..... at times I'm pretty sure I could do way better on ham radio.....

Rgds, D.

 

[Diggin It]

Acoustics ....


Generator is about 15 feet from the house, exhaust end pointed away and out into an open field. Intake (battery, status light, etc) end faces house. Due to terrain it cannot be further away. It's not terrible on the weekly test runs, but still noisy enough that it will be annoying on longer duration runs.

Considering setting a removable wooden fence panel a foot or two back from the intake end in hopes it will be effective in diverting/deadening noise. But I'm also concerned it might somehow do the opposite and pick-up/echo/amplify the noise.

 

[daugen]

I'm surprised the major gen manufacturers don't offer some kind of built in sound shielding. Might cost 200 bucks extra, but on a larger portable gen, in more urban areas, might be worth it.
Of course you could always spend 200 bucks on shrubs or baffle walls or something. Some of the most ingenious little buildings I've seen are seen right here with guys building little
sophisticated buildings for their gens. I've owned rv's with small gens and built in shielding; put one of those on wheels with a pull handle.
Just thinking that other than inverter gens not much quiet about this product normally until you get to a whole house gen with a sound shield.
for sure not everyone can afford a $4500 Honda inverter gen. Though what a fine piece of equipment.

Not sure what all the sources of noise are, but know it's not just exhaust. Most motor mounts I've seen for small gens aren't that sophisticated.
At 3600 rpm, lot of buzz and resonance.
I hope the future brings better alternatives. They need to find the big lithium mine of their dreams some place and then we'll all have solid state power sources.
The gens of today though will be around a very long time.

I wonder if Generac has caught up with manufacturing backlog. I think they are too busy pumping out what they have to spend a lot of time on quieter gens...

Piloon, glad your gen worked reliably. Give it a thank you oil change.

 

[3930dave]

Acoustics ....


Generator is about 15 feet from the house, exhaust end pointed away and out into an open field. Intake (battery, status light, etc) end faces house. Due to terrain it cannot be further away. It's not terrible on the weekly test runs, but still noisy enough that it will be annoying on longer duration runs.

Considering setting a removable wooden fence panel a foot or two back from the intake end in hopes it will be effective in diverting/deadening noise. But I'm also concerned it might somehow do the opposite and pick-up/echo/amplify the noise.

Not sure how yours is enclosed now, but you may want to build a complete shed/enclosure - some nice designs on here, and countless on Ytube.... poking around on there, I notice Paul Short posted a multi-year update on his - one of the best compact ones I've seen.

To your panel question - I think you will get some reduction. Roughly in the middle of the vid below, the guy instruments a crude panel test, dropping about 10 db :

Rgds, D.

 

[grsthegreat]

Ive run into generac air cooled inside complete enclosures. Im usually called to try and repair damaged generator. Melted control panels, etc.

they need complete air movement. personally, who cares about a little hum when its cold, dark, wet outside and no utility power.

 

[daugen]

GRS, I have roasted a few flowers in the flower bed with the exhaust of a 22kw that had been running all day. I always checked airways, looked for mud wasps, made sure all plants were at least a couple feet away. But that hot exhaust goes further than that, and with a lot of force, lot of air goes through there. Or at least it should...
At least that heat will tend to melt any snow on the hot end, but the intake and deep snow is what I'd worry about.

This is why I don't want to use the remote control start on my Westinghouse gen. Not only do I really need to take the cover off it while running, but
you just never know what critter has decided to spend the night. I want to eyeball the gen before I start it.
Before with the Generac, just never worried since it was inside that enclosure. An enclosure where I thought the decals peeled off a few years too early...but then this was NC summer sun.
My experience with the 20 and 22kw Generacs was flawless. Of course I put a smart charger on the battery three times a year so it always started. Didn't like starting in very cold weather, what engine does, think it has something to do with the propane not vaporizing well.

GRS, you ought to write a book.

 

[daugen]

Dave, good video, funny how 10db less can be four times quieter. OSB board is heavy and dense; sheet rock doesn't seem very durable being used this way.
I wonder if there is a lighter equivalent to heavy plywood or OSB. Usually one wants to trap air inside which deadens sound. Above my pay grade.
And it shouldn't blow away in a storm too...I'd put handles on each piece and then run a strap through them.

 

[Diggin It]

Not enclosed at all right now, other than the factory enclosure. I put the 4 x 4 posts in as sacrificial bumpers for the tractor, mowers, etc. The two at the house end are still around 6', so the thought is some 5' dog ear boards as a sound baffle. No air flow issues at all.

 

[grsthegreat]

Ah,that wont hurt it at all. Im surprised you even are bothered by that noise. Seems like a great location.

 

[Diggin It]

Biggest issue is that there are two windows under that awning. One I'd like to keep at least partially open. The other has a window A/C mounted, so it doesn't fully seal which lets quite a bit of noise pass, even road noise (road is just beyond the LP tank). I'm looking at doing something to seal it better since I don't plan on taking the A/C out during the off season. Maybe that will work well enough that I won't need the fence.

 

[TMGT]

Hey grsthegreat, I just picked up an older (2005) 25k Generac, model 47253. Looks like the newer transfer switches will work with it.
I have 2-200amp main panels so I have to either run a 400a or 2 200a switches.
I don't think generac has a single panel with 2 200a switching gear inside like briggs and stratton does.

I think I did ok, $1k for the gen with 320hrs on it, was taken out of service 3yrs ago due to the stand it was on settling and needing an upgraded service rated ATS.

Sent from my SM-G715U1 using TractorByNet mobile app

 

[grsthegreat]

Hey grsthegreat, I just picked up an older (2005) 25k Generac, model 47253. Looks like the newer transfer switches will work with it.
I have 2-200amp main panels so I have to either run a 400a or 2 200a switches.
I don't think generac has a single panel with 2 200a switching gear inside like briggs and stratton does.

I think I did ok, $1k for the gen with 320hrs on it, was taken out of service 3yrs ago due to the stand it was on settling and needing an upgraded service rated ATS.View attachment 748953

Sent from my SM-G715U1 using TractorByNet mobile app

go with 2 separate switches...way less expensive than a single 400 amp switch. id have to look up and see if its a 1800 rpm or a 3600 rpm model.

 

[TMGT]

It's a 3600rpm model, wish it was an 1800. Guessing the Mitsu is a decent engine in this application. Generac seems to have used them for a long time.

The plan was 2 switches due to cost, I have the room but wish they had a model with dual switchgear in a single enclosure like B&S does for a cleaner install.

Sent from my SM-G715U1 using TractorByNet mobile app