Your last generator Maintenance Run

   / Your last generator Maintenance Run #5,821  
a few more pics
Thats ok, we generac guys bash kohler too.
I honestly thought of you when I heard this. And just laughed. Of course you do.
You think Pepsi wants you to like Coca Cola?.... ;)
 
   / Your last generator Maintenance Run
  • Thread Starter
#5,822  
I'm with Snoopy..... they're all owned by a Big Eastern Syndicate :cool:

Rgds, D.
 
   / Your last generator Maintenance Run #5,823  
I'm sure the Kohler guy gets asked 90 percent of the time, how does this compare with Generac?
So they absolutely have to say they are better.
Generac really made the home backup market, great marketing, reliable enough product, lots of dealers.
Are Kohler dealers any more professional? Come from engine repair background? My neighbor's son stopped being a
general electrician and went into Generac gens exclusively. That's certainly a good background.
I just wonder if the company sets different standards than Generac.

for example, does one brand have more useful trouble codes than the other, or better testing/tolerances in QC?
Lower THD?

my next door neighbor in NC put in a Kohler. it was reliable too. As was my Generac 22kw.
Which I now see is a 24kw, maybe picked up 5 amps? 1000cc engine. Wonder how much they can bore out that
old Vanguard block...
Too bad Kawasaki didn't get into this market, build a really heavy duty small twin to compete.
And why do we not see Honda twins, which run tons of big powerwashing rigs, run generators? Their small stuff sure does.
Interesting how they choose what markets to be in.

No one ever talks about the electrical end, the generator. Who makes them? Which ones are better? Are they all buying from the same place?
I wonder if Winco makes theirs from scratch. How about efficiency? In engines, Hondas always seemed to put out more power than you expected. Underrated like
German car engines.

I wonder how many of us have taken the cover off our electrical end and looked in there. Usually it's a no user serviceable parts deal, except for the old stuff, we
aren't changing brushes still are we?

From a maintenance standpoint, other than keeping area clean, is there anything we should be doing other than a visual inspection?
 
Last edited:
   / Your last generator Maintenance Run #5,824  
Depending on brands, some (most) home standbys require manual valve adjustments depending on running conditions and hours. Generac is now moving towards hydraulic lifters as some other brands use. Brushes do go bad at times, ive replaced quite a few.

lightning does lots of rare damage to generators. Effects of lightning and surge suppressors are mixed, mainly cause i see so little damage from lightning on units with no protection at all, so im not sure it helps.

not sure on other brands, but Generac makes their own motors and alternator sections on their larger home standby units. Some portable and i believe the small standbys are Chinese made last i checked. Not sure who makes their inverter units.

id love to see a generator with a liquid cooled kawasaki motor. My kawasaki mule has a sweet 2 cylinder liquid cooled motor. Quiet and powerful gas motor. That same motor is used on so many lawnmower and other applications, very dependable. But not the best in efficiency gas wise.
 
   / Your last generator Maintenance Run
  • Thread Starter
#5,825  
D - other than what g touched on, and what you are observant of already (fluids, filters, plugs) I'd just add Battery.

We debated battery lifespan a bit this year, and I'm sure I commented on my wealthier-than-I neigbour's approach with brand new cars - @ 5 years old, the battery came out and was replaced.

If we took an inflated today guess of $100 for a generator battery (ish), then $20/yr Murphy tribute doesn't look that bad. Many of us have flexible/adaptable approaches to our backup power plans, and that can work well..... assuming you have the skills, equipment ready, and are HOME when needed.

If I had stayed on the work trajectory I had years ago (weeks away from home on a regular cycle), then I'd have put a whole-house in here some time back, and would likely be yanking the battery @ 5 years......

Many words ^ rambled on...... long way of saying - annual Load Test of a whole-house gen battery should be on The List....

(Also on a portable so equipped, esp. if one can't physically pull-start it).

Rgds, D.
 
   / Your last generator Maintenance Run #5,826  
recommendations on an inexpensive battery load tester?

when I had my farm it was an easy decision to rotate the five year batteries out to use as some other power source,
like charging my solar powered electric fence or my battery powered water wagon with a 5gpm pump.
No need to do so anymore so I'm figuring seven years using a smart charger religiously as in four times a year going through
desulphate mode. Some of the oem Kubota batteries are really long life. JD used a super battery on my X750, something like 1000 cca.
But generator batteries? I don't think they set the spec that high.

I have a portable jump starter so not so concerned about some stuff not starting since I can always jump it. So if my generator battery crapped out,
I could always hook up the jump starter. I've started that big single and it's not easy. Now they are doing 500 cc singles. Briggs has had a 540 a long time but
it doesn't show up in gens probably because it's vertical mount. I wonder if anyone has made a vertical mount engine gen?
 
   / Your last generator Maintenance Run #5,827  
My nephew has a vertical 7 kw stand by gen with a Briggs single.
Had to rebuild the engine because the crank balancer broke & locked it up.
Still running like a top!
90cummins
 
   / Your last generator Maintenance Run #5,829  
For a small generator the 100 amp tester is likely fine, if I'm going to have one around it will be a 500 amp to get a better test on a battery especially if it should have more then 250 CCA. They do cost more, but.
 
   / Your last generator Maintenance Run #5,830  
A standby gen usually has a minimum of 550 CCA battery, and you need to load a battery at least 50% to test. I have one of these chepo testers that i use to take the fake peak load off of a charged battery

B082C85D-0450-41FE-B4A2-46D369AE2284.png


works pretty good at seeing general health of a battery, but wont find dead cells. For that i need to use my midtronics tester, but those are not cheap by any means. But for a general go to tester, i like the harbor freight one. I also had a 100amp tester like shown above when i first started out, but it passed too many bad batteries. I was told by exide tech that its because it didnt place enough of a dead load on the larger battery.
as a test, he took a known bad battery and it passed test on the 100 amp carbon pyle tester, and just failed on my 500 amp tester at 50%. When i tested it with my midtronics unit, it showed it only had about 100 amps CCA Available.
 
 
Top