Your last generator Maintenance Run

[WinterDeere]

I think building a new gas station is no longer allowed here.

Many street corners I remember having stations are empty lots now.

I would not be surprised if only a third of the stations from growing up around here still exist…

We still have them going in, here. Mostly driven by convenience store chains (eg. Wawa).

I've been told that, at least locally, gas stations don't make much at all on fuel sales. The profit is in the associated convenience store. This might explain why you see relatively few new fuel-only stations, these days.

The only fuel-only station I've seen built here in the last 10 years is associated with a local car and truck dealership group. They probably save enough on fueling their own vehicles, and heavy trucks, to cover the new construction cost.

 

[grsthegreat]

Ya, when i bought my Jimna 6 chipper, the sales guy warned me i should drain the drive oil and replace rubber seals and hydraulic oil. The included oil looked like water. But that unit is about 12-14 years old… just keeps on going. Today i had to tear it apart to do 2 welds and reverse the knives and adjust anvil. Theres 3 hours of my life ill never get back. But its chipping like new again. But the owners manual says set knife gap around 0.030” or thickness of a dime. Last time i used a dime to set it. This time i got to thinking…whats the true thickness of a dime…. 0.075. No wonder the chipping wasnt like it used to be. After resetting it to 0.030 its working great.

stinking Chinese to american instructions…..

 

[Popgadget]

My solution to the lousy fuels is to use Avgas. It can sit for years with no degradation, mixes well with 2cycle oil. I’ve been using it for decades with no issues.
However, its future is bleak due to environmental pressures.
Also I understand that not everyone has easy access to it.
But if you can get it, I’d recommend using it in all your small or seasonally used engines.

 

[3930dave]

I've been told that, at least locally, gas stations don't make much at all on fuel sales. The profit is in the associated convenience store. This might explain why you see relatively few new fuel-only stations, these days.

I was hoping for better news than, Our Transport Networks rely on over-priced junk food to stay operating !

( Same story here, for a long time....)

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Ya, when i bought my Jimna 6 chipper, the sales guy warned me i should drain the drive oil and replace rubber seals and hydraulic oil. The included oil looked like water. But that unit is about 12-14 years old… just keeps on going. Today i had to tear it apart to do 2 welds and reverse the knives and adjust anvil. Theres 3 hours of my life ill never get back. But its chipping like new again. But the owners manual says set knife gap around 0.030” or thickness of a dime. Last time i used a dime to set it. This time i got to thinking…whats the true thickness of a dime…. 0.075. No wonder the chipping wasnt like it used to be. After resetting it to 0.030 its working great.

stinking Chinese to american instructions…..View attachment 872431 View attachment 872432

Good story, and chuckle.

One of my fav ChinGlish translations came from instructions a buddy received: Light Switch referenced as Dark On, Dark Off. I kind of like that one, actually.....

This thread has been running long enough, this next could be my third re-post.....

Bi-directional (spoken) language translation software, years ago. Standard validation, loop a phrase out, then back through. English "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" went to Russian, then Russian back to English.

Final result was "Blind, and Crazy". I used to like that result somewhat, but today, reminds me too much of where I work.....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

My solution to the lousy fuels is to use Avgas. It can sit for years with no degradation, mixes well with 2cycle oil. I’ve been using it for decades with no issues.
However, its future is bleak due to environmental pressures.
Also I understand that not everyone has easy access to it.
But if you can get it, I’d recommend using it in all your small or seasonally used engines.

Last I heard (not a flyer, so am not dialed into current 411), carb icing was the concern re. moving away from LL.

If I knew somebody local that flies, I'd stop by the little regional airport north of me and see if I can buy LL To Go. Probably are regs to discourage this, so if I drop by on my own, I wouldn't sell to a potential inspector either, if I worked there.....

Rgds, D.

 

[grsthegreat]

Av gas is way, way more expensive than ethanol free, but if you live in an area without ethanol free….its a way to go.

 

[90cummins]

I cannot recall having gasoline related issues with any of my equipment. I been using stabil for 10+ years but never used it in my chain saws & I’ve always been impressed how they’ve always started.
I’ve always thought the two stroke oil played a part in this acting as a stabilizer.
I bought a gallon of Pennzoil two stroke marine oil last year to start dosing my fuel in the fall.
It definitely makes a difference in my 1990 Dodge Cummins noticeably quieter.

90cummins

 

[WinterDeere]

I’ve always thought the two stroke oil played a part in this acting as a stabilizer.

I believe it does. It's been awhile since I've actually sat and read the label of any 2-stroke oil bottle, but I recall they all used to say "with fuel stabilizer" on them, 20 years ago.

 

[daugen]

shelf life on additives always made me wonder.
when does the stuff that keeps your gas from going stale go stale itself?
industry should do better job of labeling "use by" dates clearly.

I have a gallon can of the expensive non ethanol premium gas bought off the shelf at TSC three years ago.
as long as it doesn't smell bad, I need to dump that in riding mower. I keep forgetting...

I also have a five gallon real gerry can of premium gas I need to put in motorhome along with a couple cans of Sea Foam.
And then refill that can with fresh.
it's kind of a disaster can. Hope to never use it. Would be up the creek if that happened, because I would have already burned through
4 30 pound propane bottles for generator.

just need to remember to rotate my storage gasoline. Propane is very low maintenance in comparison.
All a matter of where power is still on, will Tractor Supply have a generator onsite that allows their propane tank to keep filling mine up?
I should ask next time, or look around for the gen.
I can cross the state line within minutes and be in NJ where another power grid will power the gas pumps over there.
So gasoline is always a backup, but at least it's likely to be there.
15 gallons of gasoline and about 40 gallons of propane when I'm full up.(7 gal per 30#)
that's a nice combo for disaster in a fire...

And yes as an ex volunteer fireman and insurance agent I have placards in my detached garage showing gasoline and Propane storage warnings.
I would not want my garage to fire up even with the fire company substation three blocks away.

I'm about to have a large utility shed added behind my garage and want to get all this flammable stuff out of the garage

which reminds me of an inspection I did for a new homeowner policy 40 years ago on one larger local property, and when I opened the utility shed, my
heart almost stopped. Two big cans of HTH Chlorine for their pool, and three cans of mower gas piled near the chlorine.
And an open window nearby that allowed rain to come in. Oh my, oh my, oh my. Chlorine got moved immediately.
any petroleum product will make chlorine basically explode, we used to demo that on annual fire company night out.
Lot of swimming pools around here, lot of chlorine. Safe storage is seriously important, good ventilation,etc.

simple fact folks do not respect the power of chlorine or gasoline. For sure, keep them far apart.

 

[3930dave]

Train in Peace..... nice post d.

Standardized Use By labeling would be useful, including on food ! Plastic resealable packages are some of the worst-offenders..... light-grey printing, on a light-brown surface ? Seriously ? My eyes are still pretty good (knock wood), but obviously high-contrast labels re. critical info would benefit everyone....

Respect, understand, continue to make use of Power.. hmmm too many rabbit-holes to go down there !

Propane is getting more and more attractive, stability-wise. No pool here, but excellent reminder about Chlorine.... many people either skipped, or slept through Chem x01......

Your post reminded me of an Uncle of mine, built a big timber framed barn from scratch, using logs off his own land. Connection: fire-safety. He used intact, but out of service drink-can vending machines to store flammables in - double-walled and solidly built to withstand vandalism, his ins. agent at the time was impressed.

Now a daze, you'd need correct approval labels on everything ^, but if you happen to reside in a jurisdiction Where Common-Sense Still Lives, local FD might appreciate those recycled enclosures.

Rgds, D.

 

[big bubba]

in regards to gen maintenance, have '2000 generac 6500W contractors model. great machine, less than 100 hrs. rodents got to the wiring to the manual idle switch. tried connections, still doesn't lower rpm when not under load. back then, idler switch was manual

not asking to look up part #, it's long discontinued it may just be a solenoid hookup, so any thoughts if that would work? rigged up manual hook to governor lever when when not under load, but a pain when i need frequent power equip use. sorry for confusing wording. don't have model # at hand but part not avail, thanks in advance

 

[Texasmark]

I did a maintenance run on one of mine yesterday, and decided to start this thread as a reminder-to-self to do this a little more often.

I had some issues with my old gen last year, detailed in another thread. Part of my corrective action plan (to what was reasonably careful storage in the past) is to run my generators at least every 2-3 months.

Using the Cloud, to offset my less than perfect memory........

Rgdgs, D.

The Generac brand of home standby generator is automatically programmed to run 15 minutes every week at about the same time. I have had mine since 2014 and has been one of the best decisions in my life, especially here later on in life.

 

[grsthegreat]

Actually the newer units since about 2012 run either weekly, bi weekly or monthly, for 5 minutes. The older units ran 15 min monthly only.

But they are strong machines.

 

[ultrarunner]

Exercise and maintenance limited to 20 hours per calendar year.

Use during documented power outage unlimited but annual fuel consumption must be reported for stationary hardwired diesel units...

I also have a Natural Gas genset but it predate the air district reporting requirements...

 

[3930dave]

in regards to gen maintenance, have '2000 generac 6500W contractors model. great machine, less than 100 hrs. rodents got to the wiring to the manual idle switch. tried connections, still doesn't lower rpm when not under load. back then, idler switch was manual

not asking to look up part #, it's long discontinued it may just be a solenoid hookup, so any thoughts if that would work? rigged up manual hook to governor lever when when not under load, but a pain when i need frequent power equip use. sorry for confusing wording. don't have model # at hand but part not avail, thanks in advance

If I'm understanding correctly, you mostly just have a wiring issue (?).

If you've "colour matched" the mice-chewed wiring back together, did the switch itself check-out properly with an Ohm-meter ? That's old enough that the switch itself is tired. If you can come up with a Model #, we might be lucky enough to scrape up a schematic. If it's a solenoid problem, perhaps something can be subbed off another model....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

The Generac brand of home standby generator is automatically programmed to run 15 minutes every week at about the same time. I have had mine since 2014 and has been one of the best decisions in my life, especially here later on in life.

Big Smile . You caught me, hanging-out here "a while".

I definitely see the utility of these automatic Generacs. Various reasons I haven't pulled the trigger..... (knock wood) grid-uptime here is generally v. good is the first one. I do have Natgas, so it would be a slam-dunk solution going that way.

IF I was away from home more (like I used to be in a past job, which paid a lot more) I'd have an auto-Generac here by now....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Exercise and maintenance limited to 20 hours per calendar year.

Use during documented power outage unlimited but annual fuel consumption must be reported for stationary hardwired diesel units...

I also have a Natural Gas genset but it predate the air district reporting requirements...

IIRC, that NG set came out of a building disposing of it.... running, but with a notably loud exhaust (not untypical for the vintage likely).

If that NG set is still grandfathered, might be time to play around (always easy to come up with more ToDo's, for other people ) with an alternate muffler.

Parts are pretty much always much better priced south of the 49'th than here, but one of the slickest v. low cost muffler upgrades I came across on the 'net was a guy who re-purposed a factory muffler from a 600cc Supersport MC onto a portable generator. (Worked out really well.... and, he'd actually done the volumetric calculations too).

You could obviously just use a car/truck muffler, but I mention the MC repurpose ^ for a few reasons..... factory Supersport mufflers are usually very well engineered, relatively compact, matched to high-rpm engines (so can punch outside their class, IMO, volume-wise), and Quiet .

The last reason ^, is why you can get take-off slip-on mufflers from MCs at low or No Cost... it's one of the first things many riders replace. Given where you live, these mufflers might be piling up on street-corners !

(The other thing I liked about that 600cc setup the guy built - nicely constructed tripod held the muffler, straight up, with flex going to the portable gen he had.)

Rgds, D.

 

[big bubba]

thanks 3930dave, i'll look into it

 

[3930dave]

thanks 3930dave, i'll look into it

NP, we've fixed a lot of stuff on here !

Rgds, D.