Your last generator Maintenance Run

[Industrial Toys]

I thought it stood for "COLD"

Now worrying about underground water line freezing again. Have pipe to bury it deeper, just never got to it.

 

[Fallon]

Yikes, that's cold! In celsius to fahrenheit!

-40 is the same tempature in Celsius and Fahrenheit.

 

[3930dave]

Why prose like this was written.....


.....And there sat Sam, looking cool and calm,
in the heart of the furnace roar;
And he wore a smile you could see a mile,
and he said, "please close that door.
It's fine in here, but I greatly fear
you'll let in the cold and storm--
Since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee,
it's the first time I've been warm"

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.

The Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert W. Service - Poems | poets.org

Rgds, D.

 

[goeduck]

Mild temp is probably one reason my BX battery has lasted to long... rarely dips below 50 or over 85... exceptions of course.

Yes, west coast marine climates do have some advantages.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Everything in the garage is sitting at minus 16c. I tried starting the air cooled Yanmar 3.7kw generator. The battery has not been charged for a few months. It turned over with the decompression on, but stalled upon compression. I put a charger on it and figured there is no point torturing it needlessly. I was going to get it running and use it to run the block heater in my other generator, then excercise that.

It got me to thinking. If everything is stone cold, what would I do if the power was out? Probably, I could get something running and boost a generator. Or I was thinking, I could run 48VDC from my Gator to the block heater on the kubota generator. It could be enough heat to get it going. I will have to test that out.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Well, I had the garage door open and the generator temperature went from -16c to -8c and it had been on a maintainer for a couple of hours. the thing fired right up! I'm impressed! I plugged in the other generator block heater although it's not much of a load. Every now and then, the generator would hickup, so I took a 1500 watt heat gun and heated the fuel tank a bit, and it stopped the hickups.

 

[3930dave]

Well, I had the garage door open and the generator temperature went from -16c to -8c and it had been on a maintainer for a couple of hours. the thing fired right up! I'm impressed! I plugged in the other generator block heater although it's not much of a load. Every now and then, the generator would hickup, so I took a 1500 watt heat gun and heated the fuel tank a bit, and it stopped the hickups.

Water / Gelled fuel ? Maybe add some kind of de-gel aid (911 etc...).

That battery came back nicely...... I was thinking of your "generators on speed" trick of adding vapour propane when I was reading your post..... turned out to be not needed.

Cold start problems..... I remember a lot of years ago (few people used synthetic motor oil then), we had a long stretch of close to -40 weather around the Xmas holidays. 2 guys were up at a cottage, with a first-gen Civic that wouldn't turn over - the only way they got enough heat into the engine to get the oil moving was to take a hibachi full of glowing briquets and set it under the oil pan for a while..... fired up just fine after being BBQ'd like that !

Rgds, D.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Dumb question. Is there synthetic for diesels? I'm guessing there is. Maybe not a bad idea to have it in generators.

Freezing rain not expected til tomorrow then high winds. So I unplugged the main generator for now. I put a heater under the fuel tank when I built it, but have never used it. I did have it on for a while as the fuel was at -16c.

 

[3930dave]

Dumb question. Is there synthetic for diesels? I'm guessing there is. Maybe not a bad idea to have it in generators.

Freezing rain not expected til tomorrow then high winds. So I unplugged the main generator for now. I put a heater under the fuel tank when I built it, but have never used it. I did have it on for a while as the fuel was at -16c.

Hard to go wrong with Rotella T6 in 5W40, or what M1 used to market as TurboDiesel Truck, or Delo synth..... lots of decent options out there. In our winter climate, anything I need to be able to pull-start is going to have synth in it.

Just stay away from FA rated diesel oils, if you happen to stumble across them..... few people on here are likely to have a generator spec'd for those new oils.....

Rgds, D.

 

[daugen]

the only way they got enough heat into the engine to get the oil moving was to take a hibachi full of glowing briquets and set it under the oil pan for a while.

there are youtube videos mostly of Russians setting up whole bonfires under their tractors to get them warm.
I have to admit as an old fireman, not something I'd likely do. But then if I was freezing to death...

what an advertisement for synthetic oil though. Consistently the reports are cold engines start more easily.
You've got a reduced capacity (due to cold) battery NOT trying to turn an ice cold engine through syrup.
lots of videos about guys with diesel equipment they have to come rescue with gasoline powered equipment because of fuel
gelling. I can't imagine having a diesel tractor or generator in below zero weather without an engine block heater on it all the time.
But some sheds don't have them. Nor do jobsites.

Nice if your gen is wheeled and at least you can keep it in a semi warm spot and then run it in very cold weather.
But for those like mine that don't move, best I can do is keep the best synthetic oil in there and run a smart charger on my battery
twice a year. If my 22kw doesn't start due to a dead battery, I'd drive my truck carefully around the plantings and jump start it.
Unless you have a portable jump starter. I find those combo air compressor, inverter, jump starter units out today to be just marvelous to pack away in the truck. I grab it all the time for something. But it isn't going to start my 999cc engine. Or would it... Now that would be a fun test.
It's not the big commercial jump starter but the typical three in one or four in one. Seems like they are putting phone charging ports everywhere now. I expect my next toaster to have one.