Gentlemen....Start Your Engines!

[bczygan]

Generator engines that is.

We just suffered almost 24 hours without power.

We have a generator, but it wasn't easily accessible, and the storm was upon us.

And I left the generator full of ethanol laced gas for the winter, and no Stabil.

Bad on me!

The juice is back on now, but time to fix things for the next time.

I got a new spark plug, installed it and the generator started right up.

I'm running the gas out of it right now.

Will get a can of premium without ethanol, and put Stabil in it, and position it and the generator, with an extension cord, ready for future use.

Are you prepared?

Bill

 

[reader2580]

I'm not prepared as I have no generator at all to keep the house running and I have a well. I do have an 8KW diesel generator in my converted bus, but it is currently set up for 120 volt operation. It could fairly easily be converted back to 220 volt, but I would need to install an outlet to get power to the house.

I would prefer to just have a standby generator for the house, but I don't have the $4,000 or so for the project right now.

 

[nine4gmc]

I was not prepared. Our electricity went out due to a storm a month or two ago and my generator was in storage. I could not load it alone and so we went 24hrs without power. I plan to bring it over but need to prepare a spot for it in the shed first, hurricane season is here.

 

[Bronson]

I do not have a generator.
I do have enough ammunition to get Me killed.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I've been good to go since the first NJ Halloween storm a few years back. I lost over $300.00 worth of tropical fish and live plants when the house went dark. The tank went from 79* to 53* and that was it. Now I have a Briggs 7500W portable genny in my shed. The shed has a gable fan that plugs into the genny, a weatherproof outlet outside the shed with a 5' cord inside that plugs into the genny and a 75' 8 ga cord that plugs into that to feed the genny inlet box on the house. There is a 10 circuit manual transfer station panel next to the regular panel in the basement. I can run pretty much everything except the washer, dryer, dishwasher, range, the basement mininspilt A/C, surround sound and bar fridge. We're not 100% backed up, but everything we need to get by is. I have (2) 5 gallon "utility jugs" full of treated gas in the shed at all times (it gets used for yard equipment and is usually completely replenished by fall each year) and the genny gets run 4 times a year and load tested twice a year.

Tommy

 

[theoldwizard1]

I try to run mine for at least 15 minutes every month or 2. The tank is half full. I have a couple of empty 5 gallon fuel cans. I should fill at least one of them !

 

[brewchief]

I added a tee and valve in the fuel line of my portable generator, after use I can drain all the fuel out easily. I keep at least 5 gallons on hand most of the time and treat it with some anti ethanol fuel treatment so anything going into my generator or mower or snowblower has been treated.

I had to replace the carb on my generator after it sat with old fuel so I try to take all reasonable precautions.

 

[Mustang51js]

I bought a 2000 watt gen that uses propane tanks from my bbq,haven't had to use it yet.

 

[RivennHewn]

I kinda like it when the power goes out.

It's nice and quiet, until the generators start……...

 

[Spudland_Dave]

I bought a 2000 watt gen that uses propane tanks from my bbq,haven't had to use it yet.

+1
Lost power for almost 48 hours once...and we had been loosing it often when we first built....after it happened with a 3 month old at home we figured we needed a backup. Got a nice Kubota Diesel Genset...used it once for a couple hours that same year we got it, but haven't lost power for more then 45 mins in the 4 years since..
Been seriously contemplating selling it.

So not to hijack the thread, but for those of you who have a generator...running the engine is all fine & dandy, but do you apply any load to it, confirm & verify anything as far as output Volts & hz? etc?

 

[RedneckWelder]

If I don't use it, I crank my welder up every two weeks and run it to charge the battery and check everything out. Other generator gets started couple times a year, mainly in preparation for winter weather.

We had power go out yesterday for about 7 hours. It sucked. We didn't run a generator but we were prepared to if it had gone on for longer. Didn't want to expend the fuel if we did not have to.

 

[bczygan]

I added a tee and valve in the fuel line of my portable generator, after use I can drain all the fuel out easily. I keep at least 5 gallons on hand most of the time and treat it with some anti ethanol fuel treatment so anything going into my generator or mower or snowblower has been treated.

I had to replace the carb on my generator after it sat with old fuel so I try to take all reasonable precautions.

I hope that didn't happen to mine. I left ethanol containing gas in it since last fall. I'm running it out right now.

Instead of ethanol treatment, I have found 2 places in Metro Detroit that have non-ethanol premium. I will get a couple of gas cans full and treat with Stabil.

And thanks for the T idea. My generator doesn't have a drain and I tried to use a jiggler to drain the tank. I must not know how to do it. Didn't work.

Bill

 

[Thumper68]

I start ours at least once month and then instead of turning it off I shut down the fuel valve and let it run out, and same as some others I only keep a bit of fuel in the tank and keep a revolving supply of non ethonal treated fuel in cans for use in all the yard equipment, 3 cans marked 1, 2 and 3 to make sure that I know which can I am supposed to use up and refill. During the summer I go through the 3 cans at least once a month and during the winter it takes me 3 months if the power stays on.


Good idea to load test it, not an issue during the summer since I use it for elec down by the lake but I will start doing that during the winter.

 

[G_P]

I do not have a generator.
I do have enough ammunition to get Me killed.

Same here. I should really buy a generator especially since the power was out for about 12 hours last week. And tropical storms can knock it out for a week or more. Problem is, I have nowhere to keep the dang thing!

 

[Jagmandave]

I've left mine alone for as much as 2 years, and it always starts right up and runs perfectly.....

But this past week the same storm that hit you hit us and took our power down for 2 days. I got the genset out, fired it up and hooked it to the house, we were good to go til the power company got us back online.

It's a 7000 watt Generac and it ran everything in the house save the big A/C - we ran a window unit in the bedroom and we were snug as a bug, plus both fridges stayed cold........but it is a noisy sucker. I'm going to see if I can build a better muffler for it.

I bought it thinking it would be used only in the winter, but so far it's been summer t-storms that have dropped us off the grid.

I've had it for 15 years now, and it still has the original spark plug, I have bought 1 new battery for it and have changed the oil, filter and cleaned the air filter a few times. It just works.....

 

[stikman56]

I just bought a Mcculloch FG5700AK that was never used, looks new as well. We need it to get water from the well on our land so we can stay out there until the house is built. I never thought I'd own one, but now I need it. At least it was dirt cheap, but just another big tool to store and have to mess with.

 

[rharman]

I have a 1500w that I bought probably 20 years ago. Fire it up once in a while.

Regular gas with Stabil. Used it once when we were without power 2-3 days. It'll run our refrigerator but it sure is a load when the frig kicks in. Poor generator is like "what are you doing to me???"

At least we had lights, food, and fans - it was a sweltering July or August.