Your last generator Maintenance Run

[3930dave]

Power went out at 8AM about for about 3 hours. It's daylight and not too cold so the wife didn't bother rolling out the genny. We have a Co-Op so they are quick to handle outages, but since the local backyard weather station reported a gust of 61mph, the chances were slim that they were going to be able to restore power if it was more than a breaker pop. Trees are taking out wires and blocking roads all over this area.

With no water issues, 3 hours isn't bad in warm weather. Crazy wind !

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

My power went out just enough to turn off the tv last night. The power has yet to go out long enough to kick on the automatic since I've installed it.

It's the corollary to Murphy's Law.

Many people report getting thanks from their neighbours - grid power often stays stable for years in problem locales, immediately after one person buys an auto-start system.

But, just avoiding one flooded basement, or saving a few freezer loads of food can pay for much of the $ cost of an auto system, IMO.

Rgds, D.

 

[grsthegreat]

It's the corollary to Murphy's Law.

Many people report getting thanks from their neighbours - grid power often stays stable for years in problem locales, immediately after one person buys an auto-start system.

But, just avoiding one flooded basement, or saving a few freezer loads of food can pay for much of the $ cost of an auto system, IMO.

Rgds, D.

ya, thats one of my concerns. i have a sewer pump in basement. id hate for that to not work after prolonged outage. the other were the horse water trough heaters. these are only an issue in winter, but after suffering a multi day outage in dead of north idaho winter once before, i dont want to have to mess with tank heater issues again. i dont see them as any different than people that have boats or campers that just sit till there needed.

 

[kevinwak]

Really windy and cold out today. Thinking of pulling the gen out this afternoon with the wife and giving it a run, just Incase a tree happens to blow over the power lines tonight.

 

[daugen]

A little entertainment was provided by my generator today.
My 22kw Generac went through its normal Saturday startup and this time I was in eating lunch and couldn't figure out what that drone was, sounded like a helicopter going over
the house. So now I'm curious, why is there a helicopter hovering around my house? I open the back door and of course it was the gen on reduced speed, making a light drumming noise
that sounded like a helicopter. Really...the Generac/Vanguard twin has a nice exhaust note anyway, like a muted tiny Harley. In a generator it runs a lot more quietly than a similar Vanguard runs in one of my garden tractors. Plus the case muffles the whole thing.

I do have a problem with one of the external relays in my installation though, makes buzzing sounds at times under the house where the relays are. Have complained to electrician who put it in for years. Bad luck when he shows up it's quiet. Maddening. Sound comes from under the bathroom near the garage.
The kind of sound that only makes me think malfunction and fire. Too many years as an insurance underwriter...those relays could easily catch my house on fire.
No smoke detector head down there at all...
This relay setup is part of the automatic circuits to drop power to my hot tub and one of the water heaters.
I think the relay is defective and every time we get a surge, like in these storms when the power goes off and back on, those line surges
do something to one of those relays that makes it whine and warble and oscillate for up to a week at a time. Then it stops.
It's mildly buzzing now. I don't any electrical circuit working properly should buzz, other than maybe a ferroresanant charger, like on my golf cart.

Got emails from friends in PA regarding all kinds of power outages there, including my church. They are going to try to meet anyway tomorrow, with no heat,
coats and blankets. Not me, glad I'm visiting next week and not tomorrow. I am not sitting on an ice cold wooden bench...
The Lord will provide but not necessarily 240VAC

 

[grsthegreat]

A little entertainment was provided by my generator today.
My 22kw Generac went through its normal Saturday startup and this time I was in eating lunch and couldn't figure out what that drone was, sounded like a helicopter going over
the house. So now I'm curious, why is there a helicopter hovering around my house? I open the back door and of course it was the gen on reduced speed, making a light drumming noise
that sounded like a helicopter. Really...the Generac/Vanguard twin has a nice exhaust note anyway, like a muted tiny Harley. In a generator it runs a lot more quietly than a similar Vanguard runs in one of my garden tractors. Plus the case muffles the whole thing.

I do have a problem with one of the external relays in my installation though, makes buzzing sounds at times under the house where the relays are. Have complained to electrician who put it in for years. Bad luck when he shows up it's quiet. Maddening. Sound comes from under the bathroom near the garage.
The kind of sound that only makes me think malfunction and fire. Too many years as an insurance underwriter...those relays could easily catch my house on fire.
No smoke detector head down there at all...
This relay setup is part of the automatic circuits to drop power to my hot tub and one of the water heaters.
I think the relay is defective and every time we get a surge, like in these storms when the power goes off and back on, those line surges
do something to one of those relays that makes it whine and warble and oscillate for up to a week at a time. Then it stops.
It's mildly buzzing now. I don't any electrical circuit working properly should buzz, other than maybe a ferroresanant charger, like on my golf cart.

Got emails from friends in PA regarding all kinds of power outages there, including my church. They are going to try to meet anyway tomorrow, with no heat,
coats and blankets. Not me, glad I'm visiting next week and not tomorrow. I am not sitting on an ice cold wooden bench...
The Lord will provide but not necessarily 240VAC

thats just the electromagnet clacking. Its not dangerous, only annoying. Generac is soon to offer a normally closed version of these SMM modules that will eliminate this problem. Ive installed hundreds of these modules, and have had maybe 4-5 do this. If you can locate which one it is, simply replace the guts. The case and wiring can be reused. If its less than a year old it will be covered under warranty....no cost to you

 

[MossRoad]

Get some pictures and numbers off the relay and post it here. I'm sure there's several TBN members that would have knowledge of it and see if there's a known issue or a good replacement, etc.....

 

[cqaigy2]

ya, thats one of my concerns. i have a sewer pump in basement. id hate for that to not work after prolonged outage. the other were the horse water trough heaters. these are only an issue in winter, but after suffering a multi day outage in dead of north idaho winter once before, i dont want to have to mess with tank heater issues again. i dont see them as any different than people that have boats or campers that just sit till there needed.

I can sympathize with you about keeping the stock tanks free of ice and carrying many many 5 gallon buckets of water to fill them back up. :thumbsup:

 

[3930dave]

A little entertainment was provided by my generator today.
My 22kw Generac went through its normal Saturday startup and this time I was in eating lunch and couldn't figure out what that drone was, sounded like a helicopter going over
the house. So now I'm curious, why is there a helicopter hovering around my house? I open the back door and of course it was the gen on reduced speed, making a light drumming noise
that sounded like a helicopter. Really...the Generac/Vanguard twin has a nice exhaust note anyway, like a muted tiny Harley. In a generator it runs a lot more quietly than a similar Vanguard runs in one of my garden tractors. Plus the case muffles the whole thing.

I do have a problem with one of the external relays in my installation though, makes buzzing sounds at times under the house where the relays are. Have complained to electrician who put it in for years. Bad luck when he shows up it's quiet. Maddening. Sound comes from under the bathroom near the garage.
The kind of sound that only makes me think malfunction and fire. Too many years as an insurance underwriter...those relays could easily catch my house on fire.
No smoke detector head down there at all...
This relay setup is part of the automatic circuits to drop power to my hot tub and one of the water heaters.
I think the relay is defective and every time we get a surge, like in these storms when the power goes off and back on, those line surges
do something to one of those relays that makes it whine and warble and oscillate for up to a week at a time. Then it stops.
It's mildly buzzing now. I don't any electrical circuit working properly should buzz, other than maybe a ferroresanant charger, like on my golf cart.

Got emails from friends in PA regarding all kinds of power outages there, including my church. They are going to try to meet anyway tomorrow, with no heat,
coats and blankets. Not me, glad I'm visiting next week and not tomorrow. I am not sitting on an ice cold wooden bench...
The Lord will provide but not necessarily 240VAC

How can you go through a major outage w/o a hot tub ? Just upsize the whole thing to 40kw and the relay noise will go away

(Good feedback grs, I'm sure other auto-Generac owners are taking note.......)

With a maintenance run like this one, is the idea to run at reduced speed just to minimize noise ? No power could be delivered to load at low rpm - the voltage would be wrong; or am I missing something about how these recent 22kw are designed ?

Rgds, D.

 

[ultrarunner]

Get some pictures and numbers off the relay and post it here. I'm sure there's several TBN members that would have knowledge of it and see if there's a known issue or a good replacement, etc.....

I have a lot of relays at work... some are for pumps and such...

Where a relay might last 3 years easy... the new ones look the same with the same rating but 6 months between failure.

Same for pressure switches... I have 30 year old mercury switches that perform flawlessly... the newer stuff no longer has mercury and the contact points last about 5 years...