Your last generator Maintenance Run

[Alan46]

Ok, i misinterpreted the 50/50 mix statement, i guess it meant 50% fresh gas with sea foam. My brain just floated over to fuelil. Minds been on chain saws. Im cutting up a huge pile of trees the power company had to cut while moving power lines to expand freeway. Ill have firewood for 5 years

Good for you, one can never have too much firewood!

 

[3930dave]

Straightened out a "won't start" inverter generator today. It's a generator we bought specifically to loan out to the wife's sister. She is dependent on an oxygen contentrator, which means a power outage can become a big deal & there was no generator at her place.

We bought it a few years back when an ice storm had power out county wide. It is small enough for portability (49 lb.) but big enough to run her equipment (2K starting 1.6K running).

I recently heard that the last few times they tried to use it, it wouldn't run. Pretty sure they had ignored my suggestions for regular exercise. No knowledge of when it was last fueled or what was used. A couple of folks there said they would look at it, but nothing came of it.

I finally asked the wife bring it home after her next visit. First thing I did was to pump out the old gas. The gallon jug in the pic is what I pumped out.

View attachment 2834756
I added a few ounces of marine grade Sea Foam to the pumped empty tank & pulled the starter a half dozen times, which actually got it to fire. I then added few onces of my fresh treated gas to probably get to a 50/50 mix. At this point it starts & runs, but does not appear to be "full throttle" even with "eco mode" off.

At this point it would not take a load without dying. I let it sit, then run a bit, then repeat.

After a bit more run time I started gradually introducing a load. I'd use the switch on a hot air gun to add a 750w load, but remove it before the engine died, then repeat. Did that until it would not die under the load. I did the same thing with the 1500w setting until it could carry that.

I think the load based throttle linkage was just sticky until it was exercized a bit. Eventually it got to where it could go from no-load "eco mode" to a 1500w load without dying.

View attachment 2834757
I added a bit more gas and let it run an hour carrying 1500w, then removed the load & shut off the fuel valve to let it run out the fuel bowl contents. Once cool I filled it with my treated gas.

It should be good to go back.

Nicely done save Nik..... Makes me think of Generator Physio... if you can get the muscle to move, just a tiny bit, then you are on your way.....

I haven't had any since I was a kid, but first thought seeing your pic.... "Why is someone trying to run a gen on Hawaiian Punch ?"..... Then, "Maybe it was 100% Stabil ?".....

A Critical Backup Gen, Saved !

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Ok, i misinterpreted the 50/50 mix statement, i guess it meant 50% fresh gas with sea foam. My brain just floated over to fuelil. Minds been on chain saws. Im cutting up a huge pile of trees the power company had to cut while moving power lines to expand freeway. Ill have firewood for 5 years

Nice windfall, pun semi-intended....

Only thing better than a big wood-pile, is getting it free.... labour notwithstanding....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

I loaned my chain saw to my brother. I told him about mix gas only. He promptly
reminded me he has used chainsaws longer than ive been alive. After using my jug of mix, he ran straight gas. Siezed engine.

Family…..

Nice way for Bro to buy you a saw..... JK....

A friend of mine was visiting a cottage, somebody handed him a chainsaw to use, with dusk approaching... his first thought "****, I just hit Metal ?", with sparks coming off the chain.... turns out somebody had filled the Oil tank, with Gasoline.

Rgds, D.

 

[grsthegreat]

Nice way for Bro to buy you a saw..... JK....

A friend of mine was visiting a cottage, somebody handed him a chainsaw to use, with dusk approaching... his first thought "****, is just hit Metal ?", with sparks coming off the chain.... turns out somebody had filled the Oil tank, with Gasoline.

Rgds, D.

Yeiks….never heard of someone doing something that stupid……but doesn’t surprise me really.

 

[3930dave]

A water PSA, for those in Snow Country...... check that your sump-pumps activate.....

Most regulars on here likely have done that ^ already, but now would be a good time to help an elderly or non-mechanical neigbour check theirs.....

I run dual-pumps here, and when I checked late last night, it was the one installed April 24 that wouldn't run. Murphy had a few laughs on me today.... wife was able to produce the receipt quickly (3 year warranty), so of course, I was able to get it re-started today easily..... impeller only needed a gentle-spin, to get it freewheeling normally.

I'm used to old column pumps - those growl when stalled, so at first with this new pump, I thought I had a major Elec problem. Between a heavy cast-housing, and what appears to be a FAST thermal limiter, I didn't realize that the motor was actually powering up.... All Good Now.

(HH still has this model, and it's on-sale @ moment. I actually like the dual-cord setup; if the switch fails, you can quickly plug the motor in directly, and run it manually).

https://www.homehardware.ca/en/12-h...ump-pump-with-vertical-float-switch/p/3125293

I want two pumps online/ready at all times for redundancy, but if we get a Fast Melt this year, they may be running in parallel....

Stay Dry !

Rgds, D.

 

[Carl_NH]

Yes - our pumo started running last weekend with the snow melt - its a Liberty 257 cast pump https://www.zoro.com/liberty-pumps-...LGOfntQTXCUUPqEaD8oaAnCoEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Best one I ever installed - the other HD pumps lasted 3-4 years and failed due to corrosion etc. This one is still going strong for 6 years - now that i say that it will fail tomorrow!

I have a spare ready to drop in - was planning to install another pump in series - a two pump system but this one has worked so well just haven't done it.

 

[grsthegreat]

A water PSA, for those in Snow Country...... check that your sump-pumps activate.....

Most regulars on here likely have done that ^ already, but now would be a good time to help an elderly or non-mechanical neigbour check theirs.....

I run dual-pumps here, and when I checked late last night, it was the one installed April 24 that wouldn't run. Murphy had a few laughs on me today.... wife was able to produce the receipt quickly (3 year warranty), so of course, I was able to get it re-started today easily..... impeller only needed a gentle-spin, to get it freewheeling normally.

I'm used to old column pumps - those growl when stalled, so at first with this new pump, I thought I had a major Elec problem. Between a heavy cast-housing, and what appears to be a FAST thermal limiter, I didn't realize that the motor was actually powering up.... All Good Now.

(HH still has this model, and it's on-sale @ moment. I actually like the dual-cord setup; if the switch fails, you can quickly plug the motor in directly, and run it manually).

https://www.homehardware.ca/en/12-h...ump-pump-with-vertical-float-switch/p/3125293

I want two pumps online/ready at all times for redundancy, but if we get a Fast Melt this year, they may be running in parallel....

Stay Dry !

Rgds, D.

You
Shouldnt need to spin it to start…..or was it running and you didnt know it was running.

 

[3930dave]

You
Shouldnt need to spin it to start…..or was it running and you didnt know it was running.

It is a very quiet motor, but No, definitely not moving water at all. Just another surprising result testing.... old column pump fired up fine, almost new one needed just a bit of attention.

I've had column pumps where the shaft will seize sitting (hard ground water, and normally only run with Fall rains, and Spring snow-melt/rains), as the pumps get older than 6 or 7 years... but in those cases you can really hear the motor stall when I test them, and will feel a significant resistance turning the impeller initially.

This new one, there was only a slight initial resistance turning the impeller, then it released easily and now turns and works fine. I know some pumps have a magnet coupling between the motor and pump, but I've seen no reference to that with this one, and haven't reviewed a tear-down diagram yet.

It is described as an effluent pump, so mag-couple might (?) make sense..... spec-wise, this 1/2 hp one is rated to move something like 1000gph more than it's smaller brother - in my case, that capacity is welcome.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Yes - our pumo started running last weekend with the snow melt - its a Liberty 257 cast pump https://www.zoro.com/liberty-pumps-13-hp-submersiblesump-pump-cast-iron-vmf-vertical-magnetic-float-115v-10ft-cord-257/i/G112415225/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=surfaces&utm_campaign=shopping feed&utm_content=free google shopping clicks&campaignid=21528295811&productid=G112415225&v=&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAz6q-BhCfARIsAOezPxmUrlGVUAbm-gY02D37mk-XadloprLyaru0LGOfntQTXCUUPqEaD8oaAnCoEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Best one I ever installed - the other HD pumps lasted 3-4 years and failed due to corrosion etc. This one is still going strong for 6 years - now that i say that it will fail tomorrow!

I have a spare ready to drop in - was planning to install another pump in series - a two pump system but this one has worked so well just haven't done it.

Nice one-piece casting, and made on-shore !

Rgds, D.