Your last generator Maintenance Run

[RalphVa]

Just starting your generator to see if it will is silly. If the battery is up and it's been doing its maintenance runs on cycle, it should start. Starting it just to see if it will is like running the starter on your car/pickup to see if it'll go. Rarely, the starter won't work.

Just make sure the battery voltage is up. Change the battery out early on (don't wait more than 5 years, maybe every 3 has been recommended to me). It can have voltage but fail on load if it's very old.

I had the battery tender fail on our big generator. Recharged (the <6 month old) battery and put another tender on it and am checking voltage weekly now. Had battery fail on little generator after being on a tender. Voltage was up, but it failed to work the starter (Central Battery in town did a check on it; yeah, voltage went to **** on load). It was 4+ years old and a cheaper utility battery.

Ralph

 

[cqaigy2]

Just starting your generator to see if it will is silly. If the battery is up and it's been doing its maintenance runs on cycle, it should start. Starting it just to see if it will is like running the starter on your car/pickup to see if it'll go. Rarely, the starter won't work.

Just make sure the battery voltage is up. Change the battery out early on (don't wait more than 5 years, maybe every 3 has been recommended to me). It can have voltage but fail on load if it's very old.

Ralph

Hmmm, when i checked my generator, it started alright but only ran for about 10 seconds and that was with a fully charged battery no less. It turned out the fuel shutoff solenoid failed since the last time i started it. Good thing i tried it out before the predicted storm so i was able to fix it before it was needed. I also check to see it can actually product electricity after the engine is started.

 

[grsthegreat]

Just starting your generator to see if it will is silly. If the battery is up and it's been doing its maintenance runs on cycle, it should start. Starting it just to see if it will is like running the starter on your car/pickup to see if it'll go. Rarely, the starter won't work.

Just make sure the battery voltage is up. Change the battery out early on (don't wait more than 5 years, maybe every 3 has been recommended to me). It can have voltage but fail on load if it's very old.

I had the battery tender fail on our big generator. Recharged (the <6 month old) battery and put another tender on it and am checking voltage weekly now. Had battery fail on little generator after being on a tender. Voltage was up, but it failed to work the starter (Central Battery in town did a check on it; yeah, voltage went to **** on load). It was 4+ years old and a cheaper utility battery.

Ralph

actually, i believe in running them at least once a month for 10 minutes just to make sure everything is working properly. I dont think running them once every 2-3 years is very safe on it either. I doubt most people would keep a car sitting around for 3 years without starting it up.

but to each their own.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Hmmm, when i checked my generator, it started alright but only ran for about 10 seconds and that was with a fully charged battery no less. It turned out the fuel shutoff solenoid failed since the last time i started it. Good thing i tried it out before the predicted storm so i was able to fix it before it was needed. I also check to see it can actually product electricity after the engine is started.

Had that to happen on a cold winter day years ago and getting to the shutoff solenoid was not fun. I ran it yesterday after to make sure. Lights blinked twice at 5:30 this morning which was a close call. Locally after the third try the sub stations typically have to be manually reset.

The one on the MH just starts better if it gets started every few months. Thanks to this tread it got new plugs not long ago and it started fine Sat when it was about 40F.

Now I will see if the vehicles will start this AM.

 

[3930dave]

Good to hear that the MH is doing fine Gale.

As ultrarunner has described (perhaps in another thread), the standard practice for hospital emergency power was test runs every week.

The only downside to test runs could be what is being discussed in the current thread about the cold snap - local USA media is telling people to run their car in the middle of the night, for 10-15 minutes. That does not make sense.

I've taken to using my gens for some kind of activity, in parallel with suitable dummy loads during a maintenance run. Using a shop vac, trimming hedges, block heater..... gets me a longer and productive run, and knocks off another HoneyDo item too - bonus ! :thumbsup:

With an air cooled generator, they should heat up fairly quickly, and if a battery is used for starting, then most people will toss it back on its intended charger as soon as they are done a maintenance run. I don't like short exercise runs on cars/trucks, but I view it as much less of a problem with generators.

I started this thread, in part because I tended to leave my small gens sitting too long. It's been a big help to me for that, but what I value as well is the different tips and tricks concerning gens, and their problems and operating characteristics that people have described.

I'll borrow from Neil Young - Long may you(r Gen) run !

Rgds, D.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I agree with you on short runs on vehicles. Sat I also started the 454 in the MH and since driving it (preferred option) was out of the question I let it idle for 30 minutes and run the dash AC for about 5 minutes for the heck of it. Still I did not shut it off until I checked the tail pipe because something is going to set for a while I do NOT want any water left in the muffler. I also applied the brakes several time and shifted it between D and R a dozen times over time.

 

[ejkuhl]

Wow! You found one! Yep, that's the one I have. It works like a champ. I'm tempted to buy a spare in case these things dry up again. It's odd that they disappeared for a while. Believe me, I looked everywhere. I even contacted Reliance Controls directly.

You could always rig up one of the very common non-contact voltage detectors, that an electrician would use, next to your incoming main. Like this one Fluke 1AC-A1-II Volt-Alert AC Non-Contact Voltage Tester-type batteries used need to include - Amazon.com

 

[jgayman]

You could always rig up one of the very common non-contact voltage detectors, that an electrician would use, next to your incoming main. Like this one Fluke 1AC-A1-II Volt-Alert AC Non-Contact Voltage Tester-type batteries used need to include - Amazon.com

True, but you need something that has a loud alarm so it can be heard throughout the house. Our panel is in a back room and the Reliance unit can be heard on the other side of the house. It makes a loud warbling alarm almost like a smoke detector. It definitely gets your attention - which is its purpose.

 

[3930dave]

Interesting small generator page:

GenerBlog - Uncensored

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Date: Jan 12/14

Generator: 7kw Briggs

Activity: Vacuumed Civic with shop vac. Ran two T work lights on other leg.

Final Fueling notes: filled w. NonE gas. Red Stabil and Seafoam added already in fuel can.

Maintenance notes (Done, or Required):

Electric start used, full choke. Oil level good.
Battery registered 13.04v after starting, and before being put back on its charger.
Temperature 0 deg C.

Rgds, D.

 

[grsthegreat]

i just purchased a new Briggs & Stratton 5kw genset from home depot last week. I needed a little larger unit for my const jobs. My current 3500w portable works ok...but has been getting harder and harder to keep running. Its a 20+ year old Coleman unit that i purchased USED at an auction over 20 years ago (cant fault that lifetime).

The new briggs works great, however it leaked fuel out of the carb when first fueled up. i think the float was stuck... cause after smacking it a few times, all is well. No more leaks. I guess anything can get stuck .

Overall the unit started easy, runs smooth and according to my meter, its running 100%.

I couldnt believe that these units are only $599 at Home Depot.

 

[3930dave]

You probably have a ton of hours on your 3500 grs, you can't complain about that service life !

You've got a warranty, but I know on my old Briggs, carb parts are not expensive, easy to come by, and easy to work on. Stuck float on my old one - dropping the gen on concrete has worked for some guys, but I was happier with a fully cleaned float bowl, and new float parts. Purrs along fine, still.

Enjoy the new gen, that will give you some extra margin, when running two 120v loads near Max current.

Rgds, D.

 

[V1Rotate]

I read a post somewhere that the guy's generator would not run his new computerized, high efffiency furnace. That got me to thinking because I have one of those units also, so I fired up my 10 KW Generac standby that runs natural gas and then cranked up the new furnace. No problems, furnace worked normally and when I plugged in my Kill-A-Watt meter it showed 120.3 volts and 60 HZ regardless of the variable loads I was putting on it, (turning the elect-range on and off).

 

[3930dave]

I read a post somewhere that the guy's generator would not run his new computerized, high efffiency furnace. That got me to thinking because I have one of those units also, so I fired up my 10 KW Generac standby that runs natural gas and then cranked up the new furnace. No problems, furnace worked normally and when I plugged in my Kill-A-Watt meter it showed 120.3 volts and 60 HZ regardless of the variable loads I was putting on it, (turning the elect-range on and off).

Nothing beats a real test !

Some electronicly controlled appliances can be finicky. I've heard of newer furnaces deciding to not Start, as the control board interprets the line sag with a small generator (I don't consider 10kw small) to be brown-out conditions.

In another thread, there's been some discussion about air-cooled Generacs doing their weekly Maintenance run unloaded. While I don't see a huge problem with that practice (it sure beats having the engine sitting for months or longer), if I owned one I'd want to do a Manual run with household loads at least every 2-3 months.

I'd want to verify switchgear health, and test the gen at higher loads, during a Manual run like you just did V1.

I have Natgas in the house here.... by the time I get a whole-house system installed, it may be cheaper for me to power my house on the gen weekdays . I'm on Time of Use electric metering.

Rgds, D.

 

[lostcause]

I read a post somewhere that the guy's generator would not run his new computerized, high efffiency furnace. That got me to thinking because I have one of those units also, so I fired up my 10 KW Generac standby that runs natural gas and then cranked up the new furnace. No problems, furnace worked normally and when I plugged in my Kill-A-Watt meter it showed 120.3 volts and 60 HZ regardless of the variable loads I was putting on it, (turning the elect-range on and off).

there has been a lot of discussion about this over the last few years. i have seen a lot of talk where the consensus seems to be that it's the shape of the generated power wave and not the voltage or frequency causing it. i have a friend with a reasonably new house and his furnace will not run when he hooks up his generator (some sort of lesser known brand that i can't remember). it seems reasonable that the makers of the whole house standby generators would have made sure that their generators are capable of producing a good clean sine wave that will power newer electronics. portable generators are a slightly different story. as many have noted, they can be bought for very reasonable prices now, and i wonder if that may because they are assuming they will be used to run power tools and other implements that aren't as fussy, so they are able to cut costs in this way?

 

[3930dave]

Some of the newer inverter class portable generators may have cleaner power. Everything has a price point.

It can be hard to tell w/o getting in there with an oscilloscope, but it can be as simple as the sag in voltage when the furnace fan kicks in. Part of the problem can be the new motor technologies in use in these newer furnaces - old school AC motors may be a little less efficient, but more forgiving about operating conditions.

My old 2kw Briggs gen could run an olde school (pilot light era) gas furnace, but I wouldn't count on the newer furnaces to be happy with that gen.

In your friends case, I'd try renting a 3kw Honda inverter generator, and test that on his furnace. If the rented generator has an Eco Throttle (or whatever they call it) setting, turn it off for the test, as doing that may reduce response time/sag.

Modern quality electronics can do pretty well on generated wave shape - I've read tests of Xantrex higher end inverters, they had cleaner output than typical line power in may locales. The test I'm thinking of was at least 4 years back.

Rgds, D.

 

[DarkBlack]

there has been a lot of discussion about this over the last few years. i have seen a lot of talk where the consensus seems to be that it's the shape of the generated power wave and not the voltage or frequency causing it. i have a friend with a reasonably new house and his furnace will not run when he hooks up his generator it seems reasonable that the makers of the whole house standby generators would have made sure that their generators are capable of producing a good clean sine wave that will power newer electronics. portable generators are a slightly different story. as many have noted, they can be bought for very reasonable prices now, and i wonder if that may because they are assuming they will be used to run power tools and other implements that aren't as fussy, so they are able to cut costs in this way?

It might be more a statement of the cheap power supply in his new furnace than his generator's shortcomings. My portable is "old" brush technology. Everything in my house has run on it computer, flat screen TV etc.... I've even posted on this forum while powered by this generator. I know it crates some harmonics as they do ( you can hear it in some transformer windings. But any modern power supply made by a reputable company is designed to survive this noise. His must be some cheap China clone supply, or he has a really bad generator.

 

[nikdfish]

Preparation pays... an ice storm knocked out power here yesterday (still out) and the old Porter Cable 5500 is doing its thing. The difference this time around is that the wife got to do the heavy lifting. I'm still on light duty from lumbar surgery so no bending or lifting over 5 lb. She took care of rolling it out to the basement entrance pad, fueling it fully and starting it. She was a bit tentative on the first pull but the second one got it going.

She was a good sport about it and looked at it as a learning exercise as we went over issues of total load and balancing the 120v leg loads where possible. Gas logs are keeping the house warm and the genny means hot coffee, running freezer/fridge, internet and tv. The normal load tends to be about 4.2 amps on one leg and about 1.0 on the other (per clamp on ammeter). So far we only run the well pump periodically by itself but it only looks to be a 4.6 amp 240v load running so we could probably leave it enabled. We have an about 90 gallon equivilant pressure body so a full tank makes for about a 30 gallon draw down at normal pressure.

edit to add: Power back on! It came back on while we had the gen shut down for oil check (it was good) & cool down for refuel. The power was off for about 27 hours & total run time on the generator was probably about 9 hours this time (we cut it off overnight). Used just a bit over 1/2 a tank (4 gallons?) per the gauge.

Nick

 

[3930dave]

Good to hear that your grid is back up Nick.

We've all had to just about pull our arms off, getting an engine that's been sitting for a really long time going. I'm sure your wife appreciated that starting on the second pull.

Rest up, and heal well.

Rgds, D.

(BTW, what are Gas Logs ?)

 

[nikdfish]

gas logs = unvented propane burner dressed up as fake logs in a fake fireplace. No power needed for normal operation. Probably installed originally for "ambiance" but we just use it as a backup heat source.

Nick