Your last generator Maintenance Run

3930dave · Dec 18, 2014

Date: Dec 18/14

Generator: 7kw Briggs

Activity: Ran 1 work flood light, 1000 watt heater, and shop vac'd the Civic.

Final Fueling notes: filled w. NonE gas. Stabil 360 Protection already in fuel can. Added Lucas fuel treatment to generator tank.

Maintenance notes (Done, or Required):

Electric start. Full choke used; started 3'rd crank. Temperature -3 deg C. Try a bit less choke on next Elec. start. Battery @ 12.99v rest voltage, after starting and before charger attached. Oil level good.

Rgds, D.

grsthegreat · Dec 25, 2014

3930dave said:
I have been keeping used Onan RV gens in mind, "just in case" the right project comes along .

A well regarded line like that, pulled out of RV duty (often fairly low hours), can be a great deal. May need some TLC from sitting too much, but that's no different than most used gens.

Bonus marks for being already designed/built for Remote Start.

heres a few pics of the old girl. if i remember correctly i purchased it used in 1993. still works great. electric start with manual transfer switch. i added battery maintainer and magnetic oil pan heater(hooked to a plug in tstat to shut off in warmer weather.).

Just started it again today. fired right up

Any pics GRS ? I don't think we have any Onans up here yet.

Rgds, D.

heres a few pics of the old girl. if i remember correctly i purchased it used in 1993. still works great. electric start with manual transfer switch. i added battery maintainer and magnetic oil pan heater(hooked to a plug in tstat to shut off in warmer weather.).

Just started it again today. fired right up. When i installed it. i simply extended the inclosed 3 wire toggle switch indoors to my panel.

i forgot how old looking this unit was. 21 years does start to age the system. The indoor panel was also a used GenTran system that i removed from a previous job years and years ago. I figured it still worked, so what the heck.
I removed it to install an auto start system.

When i finally replace my system, im planning on installing a 27KW Liquid Cooled quiet source system with full auto transfer switch. Ive installed the 48KW version and really liked it. I dont need that much power in my mostly gas house though.

Heres some pics of the Generac transfer switch installed. nice units

.

I dont take many pics of completed jobs...not sure why. most of my pics are ones i take while bidding jobs. I really should take some progress pics.

This one job was pretty difficult to add transfer switch due to the fact they set the meter so close to corner of wall. Utiulity company wanted $2700 to move meter....like that was going to happen. So i designed a work arround. kinda busy looking, but 100% legal. Owners didnt mind looks as it is buried in back behind movable firewood rack.

3930dave · Dec 25, 2014

Thanks for the pics grs, always good to see how a pro does things.

I'm a Function over Form guy, so I rarely have a problem with something that looks older. Been around long enough to appreciate that some older products and systems were designed for longer life-cycles than what can be typical today - so I appreciate that aspect too.

While there is the occasional bit of new tech that delivers functionality I like (IP based remote telemetry), in many respects I prefer things like olde school analog meters a lot of the time.

You sound busy enough that you don't need New Installation pictures to drum up business..... but pls keep us in mind when you do your 27 kw - I'm sure I'm not the only one here who'd like to see that installation.

Rgds, D.

grsthegreat · Dec 27, 2014

funny thing is, the old Onan genset was only installed for a "few months" until real power was installed on my property. I really never intended to leave it there.

I built my house on it. we didnt get a real underground service install until 2 months after the house was roughed in.

I keep meaning to replace this unit with one set out by my main 400 amp panel. i just keep putting it off cause this old one just keeps going and going and going.

grsthegreat · Dec 27, 2014

funny thing is, the old Onan genset was only installed for a "few months" until real power was installed on my property. I really never intended to leave it there.

I built my house on it. we didnt get a real underground service install until 2 months after the house was roughed in.

I keep meaning to replace this unit with one set out by my main 400 amp panel. i just keep putting it off cause this old one just keeps going and going and going.

ultrarunner · Dec 27, 2014

I've only know good service from old Onan gensets... lots of them still out there.

Coyote machine · Dec 27, 2014

End of Nov./14, standard oil & filter change on 20kW Briggs propane genset. Ran and tested for leaks, oil level, etc. 121 hours on clock since install in 2009. Runs auto test sequence 1x/week for 20 minutes.
Recent horrendous snowstorm, power out from Tuesday night 7pm 'till Sunday night, then intermittent follow-up outages. Clocked 230 hours straight run time! WOW! Man am I glad I have this setup in place.

Now I've got to install an 8kW genset next door at my 'flip' house, where my friends/tenants suffered through the same storm with no electric and only a gas fired hearth stove to keep them and the pipes from freezing.

Thinking I'll go with a Generac this time, and possibly tie into the 10 switch gentran transfer switch I have in place for what was to be a Craftsman 7.5kW portable, but alas some idiot stole it from my house's garage while the house was for sale. :mur::confused2:

I'm needing to know if VT allows placement of a steel enclosure genset 18" from the garage/house or a greater distance is required. Any answers on that?

3930dave · Dec 27, 2014

Post-tornado, some people on here have had long outages, but that's quite the run for just a snow-event CM !

Obviously, you've had your money's worth out of that setup, already.

Perhaps a VT familiar electrician will stop by, or that might be a good thread-starter question in Rural Living.

Rgds, D.

Coyote machine · Dec 27, 2014

3930dave said:
Post-tornado, some people on here have had long outages, but that's quite the run for just a snow-event CM !

Obviously, you've had your money's worth out of that setup, already.

Perhaps a VT familiar electrician will stop by, or that might be a good thread-starter question in Rural Living.

Rgds, D.

Yes, GMP, who took over CVPS a few years back said it was a $10+ million storm before it was even completely cleaned up. I spoke to linemen from Syracuse NY who worked 20 hour days, 3 days in a row fixing the same road, because as soon as they would restore power a branch or tree would collapse from the wet snow. They, GMP said it was worse than the '98 ice storm and worse than Irene as far as extent of damage, how long the cleanup took, and how many crews needed to be called in from other states.
It's a good thing it wasn't -20 in January or the losses would have been major with frozen everything. I've lived in this house since '86 and have never witnessed such devastation. I've got trees of all sizes snapped off all over my 25 acres. It's nutz!!:confused3:

3930dave · Dec 28, 2014

I drove up to Ottawa in '98, while the State of Emergency was in effect. You only have to live through one of those events, to appreciate what havoc Mother Nature can create.

Temperature was bad then, around -40 for quite a stretch. I bought my first gen then, and took it to my sister's place, so they could get their natgas furnace running. After seeing an event like that, I decided I'd never be w/o at least one ready-to-run generator around.

After a big event, it can be a good time to buy a used gen - enough people decide that they'd sooner have the money, than keep a gen around.

Rgds, D.