Your last generator Maintenance Run

[3930dave]

DIY 0 - 6.6kw load bank, selectable in 500w increments

View attachment 877860

Will touch 7kw for a few seconds when they are first heating up if you energize them all at the same time.

$32 for the 50a splitter Amazon.com
$18x4 for heaters. Can find cheaper ones, but I already had 2 and wanted everything to match. Amazon.com
Had the floor fans, might not need those depending on your climate.
Not bad for $104, and multi use for those heaters.

Heaters - the load-bankers friend ! Can't beat that price for a healthy load bank. Somebody on here has a gorgeous Milsurp unit, but yours doesn't need to deal with 18 y/o's on no-sleep loading Army trucks, and just the Shipping on something like that one would probably be more than your spend.

Any chance those heaters have a fan only (heat Off) setting ? Not relevant to your use, but I'm still trying to find a replacement for an ancient Philips heater I finally retired - it had 500,1k,1.5k settings, and Fan Only - not easy to find today....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

But I just broke a rib on Friday, so I won’t be muscling any 200# motors out of storage in the next few weeks.

Heal Well; broken bones are never fun, but ribs are def a pain - literally !

Rgds, D.

 

[LittleBill21]

going out to run gen in rv, 4kw Onan gas, and then change the oil.
Like a lawnmower, no oil filter, and my least favorite oil fill, the one down at the bottom
with the stubby dipstick.
I've put two hours on this gen in two years. What the prior older couple did to rack up the 184 on it now is a ?
And I'm using the absurdly expensive oem Onan-Cummins oil.
That oil must come in a plastic bottle lined in gold...
and a diesel like oil spec of 15/40

I use oem Motorcraft semi synthetic in the V10 Ford. It's competitive.
The oil for the gen sure isn't...but safest thing for me to put in.
Most of those small gas air cooled gens probably are happier with straight 30 wt.
I normally prefer full synthetic.

meanwhile I'll look very carefully in the bottle to find the gold.

Amazon.com

why are you using absurd oil? walmart supertech 15w40 diesel oil is all i use. get a flex funnel, make sure the oil is halfway up the threads, and you don't even have to check it again.

gen usage is from AC cooling. i racked up 12 hours just last trip when it was 95 out.

 

[daugen]

why are you using absurd oil? walmart supertech 15w40 diesel oil is all i use. get a flex funnel, make sure the oil is halfway up the threads, and you don't even have to check it again.

gen usage is from AC cooling. i racked up 12 hours just last trip when it was 95 out.

I honestly don't have a good reason for that, since I use Walmart 10W30 in other engines.
all made by same refiner in Texas with very good reputation.

I really despise the screw on oil cap, plastic threads don't line up well with case and you have to try four or five times to get it to thread,
and going gently too. But got it done, cleaned up the area, made a oil change label and put that on the bottom front of gen.
Then slathered it all done in some protectant, bottoms of gens not protected from road mess very well.

Onamax oil, for those "max" rv moments....funny thing is it looks like conventional 15/40 oil, not even semi-syn.
fifteen bucks a quart for conventional oil.
my it sure had a nice label, and that max name just gives me warm fuzzies... not.

one reason to use this oil is I'm about to go to California and back and going through Sonoran Desert in October.
That heavier oil apparently does a better job in the heat

my personal choice is Rotella T6, changed a lot of tractor engines with that

correction: in small print it says synthetic on the Onamax bottle, that makes me feel better.

 

[WinterDeere]

Heal Well; broken bones are never fun, but ribs are def a pain - literally !

Rgds, D.

Thanks. This is one for the "you know you're old when..." thread, as it falls under the "stop telling yourself you're still 25 years old," category of injuries. Hard wipe-out while tubing behind a boat, probably going a little too fast for my age.

Now I have to listen to my wife remind me I'm an idiot, for the next few weeks.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Just venting here, and trying to figure ways to ease the load on these aging bones.

It's been a bad season for power outages here. 4 hours here, 9 hours there, time after time. During every wind storm, a tree or branch comes down on the line, trips the breaker at the pole out on the highway, and we're out for hours. The mile long line needs trimming badly but the power company has higher priorities I guess.

I'm not getting any younger and I'm tired of taking the mower off the tractor and hooking up the 12KW PTO generator for these relatively short outages. I'd like another tractor so I can leave the genny hooked up during storm season, but it's not in the cards right now. Most of the time, we don't need 12KW anyway, and I use my 2K Honda portable for the fridge, TV, lights, oil burner and computers. It won't run the well pump, stove, oven or A/C though. Lately, I've been looking at a larger electric start portable generator that will supply most of our average needs for shorter term outages.

This EU7000is from Honda looks interesting:

https://powerequipment.honda.com/generators/models/eu7000is

I like the exhaust pipe extender kit and the app that lets me control it via my smartphone from the house. I can leave it in the barn, stop / start it, check the load, and read the fuel level from inside. It's also an inverter generator which, unlike the PTO genny, is safe for electronics.

Not cheap at close to $5k, but it's a fraction of what another tractor would cost. A permanent whole house generator is also a possibility but the price would be high with the required electrical work. There is also the fuel supply to consider. We don't use propane and natural gas isn't available. There are diesel models out there but they are even pricier.

For long duration outages, like the one that lasted 7 days during hurricane Sandy, I would still use the PTO genny. We heat with coal & fuel oil, so I can fuel the tractor for a month or more with oil out of our 1000 gal storage tank. I would still need the 2K Honda portable for the electronics though.

Gasoline storage is another issue. I keep a couple of 5 gal cans around for power tools and the small Honda genny. Might not be enough for the larger Honda linked above though. I rotate the gas in the cans every few months and getting more would just add to the chore. I figure I could always siphon gas from our 3 vehicles if necessary.

Sorry for the long winded rant and thanks for listening to my tale of woe.

 

[JCoastie]

Any chance those heaters have a fan only (heat Off) setting ?

Yes, they do have a fan only setting.

 

[JCoastie]

Gasoline storage is another issue.

These big new inverters are nice. For my new one 11000/9000 I did the 5 hour break in on 2.5 gallons of gas, ran at 4kw for quite a while. With the variable RPM, they are quite fuel efficient, at least it surprised me. I kept wishing for it to run out so I could flush it with ethanol free fuel.

 

[LouNY]

Just venting here, and trying to figure ways to ease the load on these aging bones.

It's been a bad season for power outages here. 4 hours here, 9 hours there, time after time. During every wind storm, a tree or branch comes down on the line, trips the breaker at the pole out on the highway, and we're out for hours. The mile long line needs trimming badly but the power company has higher priorities I guess.

I'm not getting any younger and I'm tired of taking the mower off the tractor and hooking up the 12KW PTO generator for these relatively short outages. I'd like another tractor so I can leave the genny hooked up during storm season, but it's not in the cards right now. Most of the time, we don't need 12KW anyway, and I use my 2K Honda portable for the fridge, TV, lights, oil burner and computers. It won't run the well pump, stove, oven or A/C though. Lately, I've been looking at a larger electric start portable generator that will supply most of our average needs for shorter term outages.

This EU7000is from Honda looks interesting:
View attachment 877927

https://powerequipment.honda.com/generators/models/eu7000is

I like the exhaust pipe extender kit and the app that lets me control it via my smartphone from the house. I can leave it in the barn, stop / start it, check the load, and read the fuel level from inside. It's also an inverter generator which, unlike the PTO genny, is safe for electronics.

Not cheap at close to $5k, but it's a fraction of what another tractor would cost. A permanent whole house generator is also a possibility but the price would be high with the required electrical work. There is also the fuel supply to consider. We don't use propane and natural gas isn't available. There are diesel models out there but they are even pricier.

For long duration outages, like the one that lasted 7 days during hurricane Sandy, I would still use the PTO genny. We heat with coal & fuel oil, so I can fuel the tractor for a month or more with oil out of our 1000 gal storage tank. I would still need the 2K Honda portable for the electronics though.

Gasoline storage is another issue. I keep a couple of 5 gal cans around for power tools and the small Honda genny. Might not be enough for the larger Honda linked above though. I rotate the gas in the cans every few months and getting more would just add to the chore. I figure I could always siphon gas from our 3 vehicles if necessary.

Sorry for the long winded rant and thanks for listening to my tale of woe.

A nice used 25-40HP tractor to run the PTO generator and your all set.
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Why do you say " It's also an inverter generator which, unlike the PTO genny, is safe for electronics."
I have had absolutely no issue with electrics on my pto generator nor has the farm and we have been using them from the 60's.
Depending on the quality of the inverter they can and have had issues with electronics as they are a modified sine wave and depending upon how many steps they make to make the full modified sine wave is important.

 

[bdhsfz6]

A nice used 25-40HP tractor to run the PTO generator and your all set.
Log into Facebook
Why do you say " It's also an inverter generator which, unlike the PTO genny, is safe for electronics."
I have had absolutely no issue with electrics on my pto generator nor has the farm and we have been using them from the 60's.
Depending on the quality of the inverter they can and have had issues with electronics as they are a modified sine wave and depending upon how many steps they make to make the full modified sine wave is important.

A used tractor is a possibility as long as it isn't someone else's problem. Finding a decent one for $5K would be a challenge. There is also the storage issue. It would have to live outside.

It depends on the generator and the electronics as to whether it can do harm. I'm involved with A.R.E.S. and am usually on the air during outages. I lost a $2K digital ham radio to the PTO genny I have, so I guess mine isn't good quality. I've never had an issue with Honda inverters.