Generator getting a workout

[gerard]

Guess I'm finding out one of the downsides to rural living and above ground power lines. Ice storm, besides taking out the tops of about 15 of our pine trees (previously 30 foot tall ones!), took out the electric power yesterday for about 10 hours. No problem - got the generator going and life was back to normal (short of having to run to the gas station and fill up the containers). Power comes back on around 5am, shut things down, hook back to the grid, put generator away, watch tv on day off with newly installed dish. 2PM - there goes the power again - more tree's down, hook back up the generator. This time only 3 hours, back on the grid at the moment but the generator is ready to go again until some of this slop melts off. Don't know about the rest of you in upstate NY but this is WAY too early in the season for this kind of slop./w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

 

[pajoube]

At least you are ready for these problems. Most decide to get the generator the day of the outage.
PJ

 

[Egon]

Happens in the city too.

Egon

 

[alco141]

that reminds me that i need to lay in the winter gasoline supply. the generator runs well, and has been tested and is ready for storms. i like to keep a fair amount of gasoline in a distant shed for use around the place and for emergency winter use.

alex

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Ain't too bad over here, by the Genesee, but I'm ready to go thanks to the demonstrated incompetence of RG&E last year.
Now that we're part of Eastern Group, making my own power will probably be a routine every winter.
Don't forget to change the oil every 10 hours on the generator, and add Stabil to stored gasoline.

 

[gerard]

Every 10 hours?? I'd be changing the oil every day! I'll check the manual but I'm pretty sure it doesn't call for changes that frequently

 

[Anonymous Poster]

A couple things to keep in mind, the manual was written by the people who sold you that generator and want to sell another one. Oil is a major cooling factor in small engines, and rapidly looses it's lubriscity from the heat.
Oil is CHEAP, compared to engines.

 

[gerard]

I use mobil one for that reason but I still can't see having to change it every 10 hours. Contractors run generators all day on work sites and I can't see them dropping the oil every day. I know honda makes some outstanding engines which was a big selling point for me for this specific generator. I really wanted a diesel one but didn't want to spend almost double what a gas one cost. I'll post what the manual calls for when I get back home.

 

[snowman]

Franz,

Wouldn't the oil pressure change if the oil got too thin (less viscous)?

I've got a basic 5,000 watt and a larger 12,000 watt Yamaha for the house, and both have low oil pressure shut offs.

The shut off works on the little one - I used that back in 1997 when we had the labor day storm - no power for about four days. Worked quite well; the generator would shut down, and I'd check either the gas or the oil.

I've only had the Yamaha a few years - less than 30 hours on it. I check the oil and it still looks nice and clean. Have not even had to add any.


Gerard;

I'm right around your area. Power was out Sunday until around 2. My wife said it went out again yesterday for a few hours.

 

[gerard]

Yup, I was out again yesterday from about 2PM to 430PM. My engine also has the low oil shutoff but haven't had to avail myself of that feature yet. Think I WILL check the level tonight when I get home as this is the first time I've run it under load for any significant time. (I wasn't ALWAYS this prepared!! When we first moved in we had a storm that dumped about 5 inches of rain really quickly and the power went out. Wife and I spent about three straight hours with 5 gal pails bailing the sump pump just to keep up!! THAT was when I decided to get a generator!! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif)

 

[snowman]

I don't even worry about the oil, since I know it'll shut off by itself if it gets low. Just remember to check that if the generator stops, because it's easy to think that there's something wrong with it when all it needs is more oil.

Just need to make sure you keep spare oil around.

I think they make battery packs (or something like that) for sump pumps, as it's common for people to want an emergency backup for that, especially if they have a finished basement. If you have one of those, then if the power goes out in the summer, you don't have to drag out the large generator just to run the sump; it would automatically switch over if the power goes out. Is beneficial if you're away and you get a heavy thunderstorm that knocks the power out.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Let me be very specific; on 3600 rpm machines, change the oil every 8 to 10 hours. The oil in small high speed machines takes a beating, it not only lubricates, it also is a major cooling mechanism in small air cooled engines.
On larger multi cylinder machines with an oil pump, changing oil every 40 running hours is the best recommendation.
OIL is CHEAP, Bearings are EXPENSIVE!
Re: contractors don't change oil every day, smart ones do. That's one of the things that big ugly truck with all the hose reels and 20 gal barrels of grease is responsible for.

 

[ScottAR]

You got that one right. I work at a box store in northern AR. Recently, when Louisanna had their big storms, a family drove up (10hours I guess?) from Louisanna to get a generator. Really fun strapping that #$%@! to the top of a durango...

 

[gerard]

<font color=blue>I think they make battery packs (or something like that) for sump pumps, as it's common for people to want an emergency backup </font color=blue>
Put one of those in the same day I ordered the generator since if the power goes out and I'm not home the generator doesn't do me much good!!

Franz - checked the manual and it states to change oil after first 20 hours and there-after every 100. I'll probably do every 50 since I do agree with you that since it only takes a qt even putting in synthetic every 50 hours is pretty cheap and it's a pretty easy change.

 

[MikePA]

<font color=blue>I think they make battery packs (or something like that) for sump pumps, as it's common for people to want an emergency backup </font color=blue>
Hopefully, I can save someone some money. I have one of these sitting on a shelf gathering cobwebs. Assuming they haven't changed recently, here's what they consist of...

1. A large plastic box that holds a car battery.

2. On top of the battery box is a smaller plastic box that contains the electronics to keep the battery charged. This must be plugged into a regular 115v outlet via a 'wall wart'.

3. Other cables lead out of the battery box to the 12v sump pump.

4. The 12v sump pump is clamped on the discharge pipe of the 115v sump pump so that when the water rises above the regular sump pump, the 12v can come on.

5. The discharge hose from the 12v sump pump has to either connect to the same pipe the regular sump pump connects to or have it's own pipe to the outside. If it connects to the same pipe, you have to install a check valve to ensure the 12v sump pump doesn't just pump the water back into the same hole.

Both sump pumps (electric and the 12v) have to fit in the same sump hole. You have to have a shelf nearby for the battery box. You have to have an outlet nearby that can handle both the 12v wall wart and the cord from the electric sump pump. Plus all the plumbing.

Add to this the substantially reduced pumping capability of the 12v pump and, in my experience, you have an expensive lesson learned. In my case twice, because I installed the first and second generation of these contraptions (purchased from Sears).

The single advantage these devices have is they will come on automatically and pump until the battery dies. They'll work great if the power is out for some other reason than a rain storm, i.e., you don't have a lot of water to be worried about.

I now use a generator.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I just finished up a job where we ran a 3.5k single cylinder genset every day for lights & power. Since the set ran around 4 hours each day it got it's oil changed every second day. The machine takes 1.5 quarts of oil every change. Now, even though I buy oil in 55 gal drums at 90 some cents a quart, my machinery gets oil changes at 8 hours for small engines and 40 hours for larger machines. The old rule of thumb is 40 hours equals 2000 miles on a road vehicle.
One thing I have noted is that even changing at 8 hours, I do not get the same amount of oil out of an engine I put into it. The oil is wasted off in the running of a small engine via the crankcase vent.

Re: battery powered sump pumps, they are nothing more than a battery and a boat bilge pump. It ain't rocket science, right now you can get the pump with float switch over on Ebay for about $10-. The rest of the system ain't complex either. The only limiting factor is how far you have to lift the discharge water.