Your last generator Maintenance Run

[check]

It's not nearly as important as a Diesel unit which if started should always be run under load long enough to warm the engine. Running gasoline engines with no load during the cold months is not advisable although the consequences are not as nearly as severe as with diesel units. 1) Gasoline and Diesel engines produce 1 gallon of water for every gallon of fuel consumed which wets down the exhaust system and introduces moisture into the oil, therefore it should be run under load to warm up and drive the majority of moisture out of the system so it doesn't accumulate and corrode internal parts.. 2) Running under load warms the engine and generator windings driving moisture out. 3) Running under load purges the carburetor of old gas (preventing deposits) and verifies the engine runs at the proper speed and that all electrical components such as switches & relays are operating properly. I bought (2) 1000/1500 watt portable heaters at tag sales so I can properly load and warm up my portables. I also have a large 9kw heater with 3 settings of 3kw, 6kw & 9kw which I use when I run my 25kw pto generator. Using combination's of the 3 units I can load most generators very close to maximum capacity to verify that the voltages and Hz are correct. During my testing I found that the voltage on both of my Generac XL4000's started to droop at 3.3kw and at 4kw it was dangerously low at 105v. I would also highly recommend that you purchase a Killawatt meter to check the voltage, Hz and verify the load you are applying to avoid overloading your generator and running low voltage. 90cummins

Wow - thanks for the great sdvice, 90cummins. I set up my Kohler 17RES so that my hydro line power comes into a service entrance panel in the cottage that ONLY has a single, 100-amp breaker in it. (I took all the others out.). Then, that feeds in to the automatic transfer switch, and then out from that switch to a second electrical panel which has all of my circuits and breakers for the whole cottage.

So, whenever I want to exercise the generator manually, I simply go down to the basement and turn off that first 100 amp switch, thus causing the transfer switch to think that we have lost power to the cottage. It starts the generator up of course, and the generator is exercised under as much load as I want, such as if I turn on the stove or something.

 

[check]

It's not nearly as important as a Diesel unit which if started should always be run under load long enough to warm the engine. Running gasoline engines with no load during the cold months is not advisable although the consequences are not as nearly as severe as with diesel units. 1) Gasoline and Diesel engines produce 1 gallon of water for every gallon of fuel consumed which wets down the exhaust system and introduces moisture into the oil, therefore it should be run under load to warm up and drive the majority of moisture out of the system so it doesn't accumulate and corrode internal parts.. 2) Running under load warms the engine and generator windings driving moisture out. 3) Running under load purges the carburetor of old gas (preventing deposits) and verifies the engine runs at the proper speed and that all electrical components such as switches & relays are operating properly. I bought (2) 1000/1500 watt portable heaters at tag sales so I can properly load and warm up my portables. I also have a large 9kw heater with 3 settings of 3kw, 6kw & 9kw which I use when I run my 25kw pto generator. Using combination's of the 3 units I can load most generators very close to maximum capacity to verify that the voltages and Hz are correct. During my testing I found that the voltage on both of my Generac XL4000's started to droop at 3.3kw and at 4kw it was dangerously low at 105v. I would also highly recommend that you purchase a Killawatt meter to check the voltage, Hz and verify the load you are applying to avoid overloading your generator and running low voltage. 90cummins

Ironically, my Kohler warranty (now expired) required that I exercise the generator once a week or so, which I did for the first while. But my generator guy, like you, he said he did not like the idea of exercising these things with no load in the middle of the winter. So the exercise cycle is now turned off, and I just exercise it manually under load, as I mentioned in my previous post.

 

[check]

I'm traveling, and on flaky wifi at the moment.... can't type fast enough to post all I want to say..... Gas motors.... does seem to vary by make and model, and regional fuel source.... mine seem happy at 3 months, past 6 often takes extra cranking. Murphy never sleeps, but quite a few of you guys have been beating him back into his corner... for now Rgds, D.

Yup. He seems to be particularly busy in Ontario these days. We had an eight hour power outage at the cottage while I was not there. Generator with an automatic transfer switch did not come on. No problem, I have a freeze alarm which is supposed to call me when the power is out, after one hour. But, the 9 V back up battery on the freeze alarm died. So why didn't it did call me earlier, saying that the battery was low? (it is supposed to do that, too.). Murphy, you rat!

Anyway, after eight hours the power came back on, whereupon the freeze alarm immediately called me and told me that the power was off and that the battery was down to 7 volts. (The freeze alarm left me a message on my voicemail.) So, I called the cottage, and the freeze alarm told me that the power was on but the battery was low.

To make an even longer story short, I headed up to the cottage, met up with the generator guy, and we believe that the problem was a corroded wire connection, corroded by mouse pee! A bit of scraping of the wire and some dialectric grease, and we HOPE the problem is solved, since the generator ran fine on manual run, and delivered power into the cottage no problem. We believe it was that corroded wire which is a wire for a circuit to allow the generator to talk to the transfer switch that was the problem.

A fresh 9-volt battery for the freeze alarm as well, and hopefully we are good to go. (Lots of mothballs inside the generator now as well.)

PITA, but at least nothing froze or spoiled, and I did save 8 hours of propane fuel consumption!

 

[90cummins]

Yes it is.
90cummins

 

[90cummins]

Thanks 90cummins... is this the one you suggest?

P3 P44 Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor - Low Temperature Alarms - Amazon.com

Yes it is.
90cummins

 

[3930dave]

Generac 7500E with a dead battery but a working pull start.

I normally keep stabil in the generator but was using it earlier in the year pretty regular and didn't ever add it to the last tank. Gas was regular 87 octane E10.

Transitions..... often where I get caught. I don't go through a ton of fuel, so 10 or so years back, I decided to add Stabil to all my small engine gas, all the time. Esp. for generators, I don't want to rely on my (less than ) "perfect" memory.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

My 22kw Generac went on test cycle right in the middle of last weekends cold temps and ice.
Not a happy startup at all. Surging, sounded like rpms rising, kind of a misfire, then after fifteen seconds, smooth as could be. Did I ingest some water/condensation/ice? Propane, 500 gal tank, full.

A factor around here the last dozen years or so is our Winter temperatures - up and down like a toilet seat. Olde tyme always-cold winters tended to have fairly low humidity for most of the the Winter - today, the fluctuating moisture and cold levels tends to deposit a lot of moisture in mechanical systems.

Just guessing..... you're in a coastal area, so perhaps you had just enough ice crystal deposited somewhere that matters, to cause noticeable change. Once the gen "cleared it's throat", back to normal....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

I'm not sure where you are Dave, but I will be paying $1.369/L for high test today.

Ouch. That's getting close to BC prices.

I'm back from my recent travels (gotta love Southern USA fuel prices :thumbsup: ). Just checked gasbuddy, Costco in Barrie is $1.149 for Premium, but that's about the best price you'll find for Toronto/Central Ontario.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

You might need a cold weather kit. I have one on oil filter and under battery. Major difference noticed in cold

Those heaters you use grs sound like the cat's pajamas ! :thumbsup:

Reminded me of something Honda markets here on their generators.... managed to find a description just now....


Cold Climate Technology

Honda's industry leading "Cold Climate Technology" is specifically designed for our cold Canadian winters. Our exclusive breather heater system helps keep the crankcase ventilation tube free of ice formation and helps prevent generator shutdown.

That paragraph is buried down in the Why Buy a Honda section (in Read More):

Honda Canada

I'm curious as to what extent that feature is available in other geographies.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

That's regulated too! :banghead:

Once we are regulated back to living in mud huts, my prediction is that the mud will be regulated too....

Wish I was 100% joking....

Rgds, D.