Generator maintenance contract?

[sixty4]

Well finally after several years of having my garage up, thinking it's time to get standby generator. Looking at the generac 6551 22kw.

What does a contract consist of oil plugs and a going over once a year? Leaning towards getting a contract just to be safe should it take a dump during a storm. What should I expect to pay for something like a service contract? Thanks all.

 

[matt_i]

My opinions are these...caveat that I don't own one but came close and several neighbors do.

- the short-chain near-perfect combustion of NG (like propane) leaves almost zero long-chain hydrocarbons that burn to a black cinder, incrementally fouling the oil.

- the expected outcome of the scenario seems to be they'd jump to attention if there's an outage and the genset doesn't work or is damaged while running. I would think the servicer to be handicapped by other issues, one of them being not actually stocking every part needed to repair or rebuild it. They're probably not going to work at night, and definitely not going to work in pouring rain. Get it working for the next outage seems like a more likely scenario.

I would request terms of the contract and read all print carefully to be sure.

 

[sixty4]

My opinions are these...caveat that I don't own one but came close and several neighbors do.

- the short-chain near-perfect combustion of NG (like propane) leaves almost zero long-chain hydrocarbons that burn to a black cinder, incrementally fouling the oil.

- the expected outcome of the scenario seems to be they'd jump to attention if there's an outage and the genset doesn't work or is damaged while running. I would think the servicer to be handicapped by other issues, one of them being not actually stocking every part needed to repair or rebuild it. They're probably not going to work at night, and definitely not going to work in pouring rain. Get it working for the next outage seems like a more likely scenario.

I would request terms of the contract and read all print carefully to be sure.

Thanks!

 

[koditten]

I have a standby unit. I change oil every 2 years. If there is no long term outage, the oil looks exactly the same as when I changed it.

I would have a hard time doing a maintenance contract. Oil/filter every 2 years, battery every 10 years.

Hint: get a vacuum oil extractor to remove oil. Totally mess free oil changes are now the norm.

 

[63spyder]

A vacuum oil extractor dosent allow the fine particles in the bottom to drain out. I would warm the unit up and then allow the oil to drain out taking any junk with it.

 

[cajunrebel`]

My parents got a maintenance contract on there Generac propane 25kw unit. The only thing they EVER did was an oil change. Just one... that was in an 8 year period. It's not worth the price. Does your unit have an auto exercise feature? My parents unit did and it was always set for early Saturday morning, and no one ever knew if it ran or not, because no one was awake. I changed it for a week day when at the time that my son is getting off the bus so that I can hear it when I head out to pick him up. If it's not running, I know to go check it. The most common issue is an overspeed trip. I just clear it and go on with life.
My parents unit had a drain hose for changing the oil, but it's very close to the ground. Oil changes aren't terribly fun, but it's a once a year thing unless a storm hits.
Also I built a maintenance kit for the unit. It has enough oil to fill the unit twice, a new oil filter, air filter, and a set of spark plugs. That is enough to get you through most issues. If you wanted to get fancy you could get a water and oil pump and maybe a gasket set. Whatever you do find out what application your engine is from. Mine was a Ford 4 cylinder truck engine with manifolds made specifically for the application. But a felpro gasket set for that truck would work about 95% of the way.

 

[432bullet]

I put our Generac propane 15 kW air cooled in 15 yrs ago, All I have ever done is change oil and replace 2 batteries in that time. It does an automatic start every Sunday and runs for 12 minutes at half throttle. It of course does an auto start when the power goes out. I thank a maintenance contract would be a waste of money at least in our case.

 

[red61cj5]

One problem I had with the generac 20k is the warranty specifically states that any valve adjustments are not covered. What this translates to, to my dealer anyway, is that the machine WILL need valve adjustment on any service call. Even at 30 hours, to which the tech conveniently added a zero to make it look better. When I called the dealer on it, he quoted the high hours, when I corrected him on that, he said, "Well, it could be changes in the weather" I asked if the machine should have been installed INDOORS, perhaps? I told him he needs to learn to lie better. The service call was for an oil leak at about 4 months old.

 

[tfalk]

I currently have a contract on my 2 year old Generac but I'm not going to renew it. The contract called for 2 visits a year, change the oil, adjust the valves, etc. Both time, tech was gone in less than 30 minutes. Not worth the $375/year IMNSHO.

Are you certain you actually need the 22K? I went with the 18K since I wanted to be able to run the A/C if needed. A few months ago, I installed a Brultech energy monitoring system in the electrical panel tied to a web server on a PC I always have on. In the 9 months, we've never gone over 14K and the only times we've gone over 12K were with both central A/C units running, the pool pump, vacuum and heat pump running. If I look at everything outside of those items, we've rarely gone over 4K so I probably could have gotten away with the 8K and modules to turn off the big loads.

 

[pcmeiners]

"Are you certain you actually need the 22K?"
Unless your running 2 houses, this is overkill, skip the warranty.

 

[cookiemech]

I have the Eaton version of the liquid-cooled Generac 22 kW unit, which has a 2.4 L Mitsubishi automotive engine. Unless you cannot change oil and (very occasionally) spark plugs, coolant, and air and oil filters, I think that a service contract is a waste of money. In the highly unlikely event that the unit should decide to fail during an outage (which is why it does an exercise cycle weekly, so that you should know ahead of time if there's an issue), I seriously doubt that the service person would race out to your house and fix it. He likely would have a number of "higher priority" problems . . .

But I don't buy service contracts for anything, and fix my own cars and motorcycles . . . can't wait until they're out of warranty so there's no question of who does the work.

 

[FJ 432]

If you can change your own oil don't buy it.

I work in this industry and as many have already mentioned it is only a preventative maintenance contract. 1-2 visits a year with one oil and filter changes.

Depending on how close you are to their shop 3-800 per year.

 

[sixty4]

Yes pretty sure I need the 22k I have a 5200 sq ft house and a 40x30 garage. My ac is 5 ton plus frig, sump pumps 3 furnaces and two box freezers and well pump. My 86 year old mother is on O2 so would rather be safe. Chances of running everything is highly unlikely but not that huge jump to go up price wise.

Thanks again all!!!

 

[EdT]

I guess it depends a lot on what the guarantee is and whether that's worth it to you. If they just come and do "maintenance" a couple of time a year on an engine that runs almost not at all, that's one thing. If they guarantee that it'll work when you need it, that's another thing and would be a tough guarantee to honor since everybody's machine would be subject to failing in an outage. In a major outage, you'd probably have a hard time reaching them and if you did, they'd probably be "... able to get to it sometime early next month, how's that work for ya?". IMHO, most of those type of things are very expensive for what you get and are often a major profit center for the supplier. I have a small standby gen set that I have never used (like most). I live in a pretty rural area and the longest outage I've had in 30 years was about 4 hours.

 

[James-W]

I guess it depends a lot on what the guarantee is and whether that's worth it to you. If they just come and do "maintenance" a couple of time a year on an engine that runs almost not at all, that's one thing. If they guarantee that it'll work when you need it, that's another thing and would be a tough guarantee to honor since everybody's machine would be subject to failing in an outage. In a major outage, you'd probably have a hard time reaching them and if you did, they'd probably be "... able to get to it sometime early next month, how's that work for ya?". IMHO, most of those type of things are very expensive for what you get and are often a major profit center for the supplier. I have a small standby gen set that I have never used (like most). I live in a pretty rural area and the longest outage I've had in 30 years was about 4 hours.

I am in pretty much the same situation, we rarely have a power outage and when we do it is just for a couple hours or so. For us to consider having a standby generator based on past power outages I would think is questionable. I suppose it is possible that this Winter we could have a HUGE ice storm and knock out the power for several days. But what are the odds of that happening? While anything is possible and it is best to be proactive rather than reactive, I think sometimes you can get carried away with it.

In any case, getting back on topic, I think buying a maintenance contract for a standby generator is NOT a good idea from an economic standpoint. But for someone who doesn't know one end of a wrench from the other, maybe it is best they do get a service maintenance contract.

 

[rlitman]

...My 86 year old mother is on O2 so would rather be safe...

Well, that's certainly something to consider, and really tilts the scales towards a maintenance contract.

Yes, most of your PM work will be doing oil changes. But they SHOULD be looking over a number of other things as well (if they're a reputable shop). I know the Generac guys that handle maintenance contracts on Long Island quite well, as we have Generac generators at my work, and trust them.

I am in pretty much the same situation, we rarely have a power outage and when we do it is just for a couple hours or so. For us to consider having a standby generator based on past power outages I would think is questionable. I suppose it is possible that this Winter we could have a HUGE ice storm and knock out the power for several days. But what are the odds of that happening? While anything is possible and it is best to be proactive rather than reactive, I think sometimes you can get carried away with it.

In any case, getting back on topic, I think buying a maintenance contract for a standby generator is NOT a good idea from an economic standpoint. But for someone who doesn't know one end of a wrench from the other, maybe it is best they do get a service maintenance contract.

I'm inclined to agree, but consider this. What's the real cost of an outage?

Does it include an ambulance ride? In a weather emergency, will that ambulance ride even be available when needed? What is the value of peace of mind that an experienced hand blessed the system recently?

For myself, there is NO way I'd have a maintenance contract on a generator I owned. It just doesn't make sense. But not everyone is in the same boat.

 

[jeff000]

Yes pretty sure I need the 22k I have a 5200 sq ft house and a 40x30 garage. My ac is 5 ton plus frig, sump pumps 3 furnaces and two box freezers and well pump. My 86 year old mother is on O2 so would rather be safe. Chances of running everything is highly unlikely but not that huge jump to go up price wise.

Thanks again all!!!

Consider putting the O2 system on a UPS.

 

[Bigbandguy]

Ours is the 17 KW air cooled. We have a once a year service on it and he usually does an oil change and adjusts the valves when the hours reach a certain number, not sure what that is. It usually works out to oil once a year and valve adjustment every other year. It does the self test dance every Tuesday at 1 PM and I usually notice it. I did notice when it quit testing a couple years ago and that turned out to be a battery issue. Since we replaced the rather long run between the float charger and the unit with #14 romex it has kept itself charged just fine. I'm pretty happy with not having to put my book down between the lights going out and the generator taking over. Like most we have few outages but very glad to have it when we do.

 

[James-W]

I am sure what I am about to say wouldn't work for everyone, but it would work just fine for us.

We have a natural gas furnace and a natural gas heater in the garage. We could buy a small generator to power the furnace and the garage heater, plus run a few lights in the house. As long as the power wasn't out for an extended period of time, like several days or weeks, it wouldn't pose a problem for us. But in all my years of living here we have never lost power for more than a few hours.

 

[cookiemech]

I don't even live in what you'd call a "rural" area, but outages have become more frequent in recent years. For one thing, the utility company has changed its policy on clearing rights of way to where they only have their subcontractor remove branches that are actually touching wires, rather than clearing trees that have the potential to fall on lines. For another, idiot drivers seem to take out poles with increasing frequency.

In the past five years, in addition to the not-uncommon hour or so outages, we've had power out for one two-day stretch (in very low temperatures) and once for most of a day. I've sworn to never endure this nonsense again. Don't care what it cost (and it was almost $18K with installation). I don't even have to cut back the air conditioning when on generator.