Your last generator Maintenance Run

[RalphVa]

Just starting your generator to see if it will is silly. If the battery is up and it's been doing its maintenance runs on cycle, it should start. Starting it just to see if it will is like running the starter on your car/pickup to see if it'll go. Rarely, the starter won't work.

Just make sure the battery voltage is up. Change the battery out early on (don't wait more than 5 years, maybe every 3 has been recommended to me). It can have voltage but fail on load if it's very old.

I had the battery tender fail on our big generator. Recharged (the <6 month old) battery and put another tender on it and am checking voltage weekly now. Had battery fail on little generator after being on a tender. Voltage was up, but it failed to work the starter (Central Battery in town did a check on it; yeah, voltage went to **** on load). It was 4+ years old and a cheaper utility battery.

Ralph

 

[cqaigy2]

Just starting your generator to see if it will is silly. If the battery is up and it's been doing its maintenance runs on cycle, it should start. Starting it just to see if it will is like running the starter on your car/pickup to see if it'll go. Rarely, the starter won't work.

Just make sure the battery voltage is up. Change the battery out early on (don't wait more than 5 years, maybe every 3 has been recommended to me). It can have voltage but fail on load if it's very old.

Ralph

Hmmm, when i checked my generator, it started alright but only ran for about 10 seconds and that was with a fully charged battery no less. It turned out the fuel shutoff solenoid failed since the last time i started it. Good thing i tried it out before the predicted storm so i was able to fix it before it was needed. I also check to see it can actually product electricity after the engine is started.

 

[grsthegreat]

Just starting your generator to see if it will is silly. If the battery is up and it's been doing its maintenance runs on cycle, it should start. Starting it just to see if it will is like running the starter on your car/pickup to see if it'll go. Rarely, the starter won't work.

Just make sure the battery voltage is up. Change the battery out early on (don't wait more than 5 years, maybe every 3 has been recommended to me). It can have voltage but fail on load if it's very old.

I had the battery tender fail on our big generator. Recharged (the <6 month old) battery and put another tender on it and am checking voltage weekly now. Had battery fail on little generator after being on a tender. Voltage was up, but it failed to work the starter (Central Battery in town did a check on it; yeah, voltage went to **** on load). It was 4+ years old and a cheaper utility battery.

Ralph

actually, i believe in running them at least once a month for 10 minutes just to make sure everything is working properly. I dont think running them once every 2-3 years is very safe on it either. I doubt most people would keep a car sitting around for 3 years without starting it up.

but to each their own.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Hmmm, when i checked my generator, it started alright but only ran for about 10 seconds and that was with a fully charged battery no less. It turned out the fuel shutoff solenoid failed since the last time i started it. Good thing i tried it out before the predicted storm so i was able to fix it before it was needed. I also check to see it can actually product electricity after the engine is started.

Had that to happen on a cold winter day years ago and getting to the shutoff solenoid was not fun. I ran it yesterday after to make sure. Lights blinked twice at 5:30 this morning which was a close call. Locally after the third try the sub stations typically have to be manually reset.

The one on the MH just starts better if it gets started every few months. Thanks to this tread it got new plugs not long ago and it started fine Sat when it was about 40F.

Now I will see if the vehicles will start this AM.

 

[3930dave]

Good to hear that the MH is doing fine Gale.

As ultrarunner has described (perhaps in another thread), the standard practice for hospital emergency power was test runs every week.

The only downside to test runs could be what is being discussed in the current thread about the cold snap - local USA media is telling people to run their car in the middle of the night, for 10-15 minutes. That does not make sense.

I've taken to using my gens for some kind of activity, in parallel with suitable dummy loads during a maintenance run. Using a shop vac, trimming hedges, block heater..... gets me a longer and productive run, and knocks off another HoneyDo item too - bonus ! :thumbsup:

With an air cooled generator, they should heat up fairly quickly, and if a battery is used for starting, then most people will toss it back on its intended charger as soon as they are done a maintenance run. I don't like short exercise runs on cars/trucks, but I view it as much less of a problem with generators.

I started this thread, in part because I tended to leave my small gens sitting too long. It's been a big help to me for that, but what I value as well is the different tips and tricks concerning gens, and their problems and operating characteristics that people have described.

I'll borrow from Neil Young - Long may you(r Gen) run !

Rgds, D.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I agree with you on short runs on vehicles. Sat I also started the 454 in the MH and since driving it (preferred option) was out of the question I let it idle for 30 minutes and run the dash AC for about 5 minutes for the heck of it. Still I did not shut it off until I checked the tail pipe because something is going to set for a while I do NOT want any water left in the muffler. I also applied the brakes several time and shifted it between D and R a dozen times over time.

 

[ejkuhl]

Wow! You found one! Yep, that's the one I have. It works like a champ. I'm tempted to buy a spare in case these things dry up again. It's odd that they disappeared for a while. Believe me, I looked everywhere. I even contacted Reliance Controls directly.

You could always rig up one of the very common non-contact voltage detectors, that an electrician would use, next to your incoming main. Like this one Fluke 1AC-A1-II Volt-Alert AC Non-Contact Voltage Tester-type batteries used need to include - Amazon.com

 

[jgayman]

You could always rig up one of the very common non-contact voltage detectors, that an electrician would use, next to your incoming main. Like this one Fluke 1AC-A1-II Volt-Alert AC Non-Contact Voltage Tester-type batteries used need to include - Amazon.com

True, but you need something that has a loud alarm so it can be heard throughout the house. Our panel is in a back room and the Reliance unit can be heard on the other side of the house. It makes a loud warbling alarm almost like a smoke detector. It definitely gets your attention - which is its purpose.

 

[3930dave]

Interesting small generator page:

GenerBlog - Uncensored

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Date: Jan 12/14

Generator: 7kw Briggs

Activity: Vacuumed Civic with shop vac. Ran two T work lights on other leg.

Final Fueling notes: filled w. NonE gas. Red Stabil and Seafoam added already in fuel can.

Maintenance notes (Done, or Required):

Electric start used, full choke. Oil level good.
Battery registered 13.04v after starting, and before being put back on its charger.
Temperature 0 deg C.

Rgds, D.