Your last generator Maintenance Run

[nikdfish]

Not much difference +/- especially from inside the house. Somewhat "deeper" tone to the Champion, maybe. Did the 5 hour "break in" oil change & could see why the early change, lots of silver sparkle to be found in the old oil...

Had some 5w30 Mobile 1 synthetic on hand so refilled with that. May do an early second change just to satisfy myself that the crankcase is clean.

Nick

 

[dragoneggs]

Fired mine up again today... Thanks to this thread as a reminder. Now that I have a battery tender on my Honda 3000is... It is no big deal, actually a total pleasure just have to turn the key! Wife can do it and that is key!

 

[3930dave]

Fired mine up again today... Thanks to this thread as a reminder. Now that I have a battery tender on my Honda 3000is... It is no big deal, actually a total pleasure just have to turn the key! Wife can do it and that is key!

Happy Wife = Happy Life :thumbsup: .

While I would hate to see small gens go the way street bikes did decades back (electric only), it is convenient, and sometimes necessary, to have electric start.

Tho, I have to admit, Briggs did a decent job designing the pull-start on my 7kw - it is easier to pull than my smaller Briggs, on my 2kw gen..... Partly due to the 7kw being a vertical pull, whereas the 2kw is horizontal.

This thread helps me with Time Flying By, and my less than perfect memory...... as a bonus, I've really enjoyed learning about people's different generators, installations, and operating/maintenance reports.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Not much difference +/- especially from inside the house. Somewhat "deeper" tone to the Champion, maybe. Did the 5 hour "break in" oil change & could see why the early change, lots of silver sparkle to be found in the old oil...

Had some 5w30 Mobile 1 synthetic on hand so refilled with that. May do an early second change just to satisfy myself that the crankcase is clean.

Nick

Even at today's (Canuck) prices for synthetic, I consider oil to be cheap, vs. how long most of us expect a generator to be around, and reliable.

I'm going back to your product info link Nick.... I can't remember if propane consumption was posted..... If you do get around to using the propane option, it would be interesting to see what your consumption is. -40 temps can be a challenge for propane :cold:, but can't see that being an issue down your way.

Edit - per the Costco site, looks like:

"Up to 5 hours @ 50% Load on a 20 lb./5 Gallon Propane/LPG tank"

Rgds, D.

 

[nikdfish]

Finally got around to adding these multi-meters to the basement box that services the generator feed yesterday.

The meters measure volts & amps from the generator feed. The "red leg/black leg" references are to the feed line colors. Each leg is feeding a 1500w heater in this test (plus a small blower on the upper display). The "Kill-a-Watt" is displaying the line AC frequency.

The meters were $12.99 each, delivered, via Amazon Prime (Amazon.com: DROK® Digital Current Voltage Multimeter AC 100-300V 100A Voltage Amperage Meter, AC Volt Amp Testing Gauge Power Monitor LCD Dual Display Voltage Measuring Current Sensing Resistors with Current Transformer CT: Home Improvement). The price includes the doughnut transformer used to read current flow through the wire. I used a 4" box for mounting, hogging out an appropriate opening in a poly box cover plate.

Nick

 

[doxford jim]

Just changed the fuel filters on my emergency generator - primary and secondary. Gave it a good one hour test run to prove fuel filters.
Primary at the fuel tank and secondary on the generator itself.

 

[3930dave]

Finally got around to adding these multi-meters to the basement box that services the generator feed yesterday.

The meters measure volts & amps from the generator feed. The "red leg/black leg" references are to the feed line colors. Each leg is feeding a 1500w heater in this test (plus a small blower on the upper display). The "Kill-a-Watt" is displaying the line AC frequency.

The meters were $12.99 each, delivered, via Amazon Prime (Amazon.com: DROKｮ Digital Current Voltage Multimeter AC 100-300V 100A Voltage Amperage Meter, AC Volt Amp Testing Gauge Power Monitor LCD Dual Display Voltage Measuring Current Sensing Resistors with Current Transformer CT: Home Improvement). The price includes the doughnut transformer used to read current flow through the wire. I used a 4" box for mounting, hogging out an appropriate opening in a poly box cover plate.

Nick

Thanks for posting that Nick - a good deal, and nicely installed :thumbsup:

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Just changed the fuel filters on my emergency generator - primary and secondary. Gave it a good one hour test run to prove fuel filters.
Primary at the fuel tank and secondary on the generator itself.

If my memory is working (?), you had a filter issue a while back Jim........ did you notice a problem again, or is this just proactive PM ?

Rgds, D.

 

[doxford jim]

If my memory is working (?), you had a filter issue a while back Jim........ did you notice a problem again, or is this just proactive PM ?

Rgds, D.

That was quite a while back I think. Anyway, that time I only changed the primary filter at the fuel tank outlet. This time I changed both - and yes it was a proactive move on my part. Fuel filters are cheap insurance compared to the price of fuel injection pumps.

 

[3930dave]

That was quite a while back I think. Anyway, that time I only changed the primary filter at the fuel tank outlet. This time I changed both - and yes it was a proactive move on my part. Fuel filters are cheap insurance compared to the price of fuel injection pumps.

That was my guess, and I totally agree.... plenty of examples on TBN of people running the tiny filters on SCUTs way too long. Even if it doesn't take out the pump, Past-Due filters like to decide to plug when it's about -40 out.... not my favourite time for fuel maintenance....

It's good to hear that you are not presently having any fuel issues.

Rgds, D.