Portable Generators

[Larry Caldwell]

Any neglected carb will bung up with old contaminated ethanol fuel. i would not blame the machine.

Different makes of carburetor have different behavior. Tecumseh makes good engines, but the carb is horrible. You will get really good at rodding out the carb on a tecumseh, no matter how you treat it. For most small engines, running a bottle of non-alcohol carb cleaner in 5 gallons of 100% gasoline is a really good idea. Some fuel stabilizers have the carb cleaner mixed right in. Most small engines today are very high quality, and will run for years with no problems.

 

[Pettrix]

A little Fuel Stabilizer works well in keeping the fuel fresh. A few ounces for 5 gallons will keep the fuel fresh for months and months.

 

[Rocky J]

My generator is a Generac 5000 watt continues, with a Briggs 10 HP engine , It sets 10 months forgotten then the Indiana winter comes and it starts, high winds, down lines , 0 visibility and three day outages. I have removed the carb and cleaned it every year by the light of a crank up flashlight . Find the hose and siphon gas out of the mowers and tractors to run it on. I know all of that is the price I pay for poor maintenance and crapy gasoline. I saw a on demand propane regulator for a floor scrubber on Ebay that was new and cheap $23 so I bought it and put it on the Generac , that was the end of it. I was so pleased I bought 10 more regulators knowing all my friends would follow. I ended up putting one on my Toro with a 4 cylinder engine and my Case Davis loader with a 4 cylinder Wisconsin in it.Then I had to make a Propane Hand Pump to fill my 20 pound grill tanks from my 1000 gallon tank in the yard.To go to exchange tanks here it is about $18 per tank and they only put 15 pounds of propane in them ,around $6 a gallon.I paid 72 cents a gallon in the big tank. For the chainsaw I have to drive 40 miles to find E0 gasoline so it dont wreck the diaphragms and hoses. It seems like my stuff runs better on propane then gasoline,I am sure it is because all my carburetors are wore out and sucking air around the throttle shafts, so the on demand propane regulator covers it up with the automatic adjusting

 

[Larry Caldwell]

The TV last night said 1.2 million customers were without power from hurricane Matthew, and some of them would be out for a week or more. I bet a lot of people wish they had a portable generator. It's one of those things, like an air compressor, that everyone who lives in the country needs to own.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

My generator is a Generac 5000 watt continues, with a Briggs 10 HP engine , It sets 10 months forgotten then the Indiana winter comes and it starts, high winds, down lines , 0 visibility and three day outages. I have removed the carb and cleaned it every year by the light of a crank up flashlight . Find the hose and siphon gas out of the mowers and tractors to run it on. I know all of that is the price I pay for poor maintenance and crapy gasoline. I saw a on demand propane regulator for a floor scrubber on Ebay that was new and cheap $23 so I bought it and put it on the Generac , that was the end of it. I was so pleased I bought 10 more regulators knowing all my friends would follow. I ended up putting one on my Toro with a 4 cylinder engine and my Case Davis loader with a 4 cylinder Wisconsin in it.Then I had to make a Propane Hand Pump to fill my 20 pound grill tanks from my 1000 gallon tank in the yard.To go to exchange tanks here it is about $18 per tank and they only put 15 pounds of propane in them ,around $6 a gallon.I paid 72 cents a gallon in the big tank. For the chainsaw I have to drive 40 miles to find E0 gasoline so it dont wreck the diaphragms and hoses. It seems like my stuff runs better on propane then gasoline,I am sure it is because all my carburetors are wore out and sucking air around the throttle shafts, so the on demand propane regulator covers it up with the automatic adjusting

This is the first time I have heard of a propane hand pump. How did you do that? I'll have to look it up now that I have a propane generator. My local propane supplier will refill small tanks, so I only use the exchange outfits to get rid of the old dip tube tanks. I don't plan on using a 20 lb. tank anyway. Lowe's has 100 lb. tanks for $79, and that should run my generator for about 40 hours at 50% load. I have half a dozen 20 lb. tanks around for backup, since I use them on my travel trailer, weed burner, etc.

 

[Rocky J]

The liquid line comes out of the big tank, it pushes itself past the first check valve and fills the air cylinder with liquid when handle is lifted. When pushed down that first check valve closes forcing the liquid to go out the second check valve into the small tank and the second check valve closes stopping the liquid from flowing back out the way it came in. The handle was made from chain link fence post and the rest is just what I could find. I use a bathroom scale and crack the bleeder open to watch for liquid. Most tanks empty are 18 pounds, and you can add 20 pounds for the gas ,puts you at 38 pounds full and spitting at the bleeder, I am happy at 34 to 35 pounds ,better less then more. The new over fill protection valves with the outside threads have a valve inside them like a toilet tank and shut them self's off at 80% full. This works for me , I am not recommending it for anyone else , I wear eye protection and rubber gloves, this stuff is like Freon, burn your skin numb.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Thanks for the pictures. Is that a repurposed hydraulic cylinder you use for the pump?
Is that a wet leg on the big tank? It looks like it comes out the top. Is there a dip tube inside the tank?

It looks simple enough. Are the rubber gloves for when you disconnect?

 

[Rocky J]

It is a Parker Air cylinder . I cant see any reason a hydraulic cylinder would not work.One thought is do not get much larger then this cylinder because you will not have enough weight to push the handle down.Try to fill the tanks early on a cool morning, about 2/3 of the gas will move on its own and you only pump the last gallon, high noon and hot it makes a lot more work. Yes, there is a pipe that goes to the bottom of the big tank making it a wet leg . When you unscrew the valve at the 20 pound tank there is some liquid released so the gloves stop the freezing of the skin.