Your last generator Maintenance Run

[JCoastie]

DIY 0 - 6.6kw load bank, selectable in 500w increments

Will touch 7kw for a few seconds when they are first heating up if you energize them all at the same time.

$32 for the 50a splitter Amazon.com
$18x4 for heaters. Can find cheaper ones, but I already had 2 and wanted everything to match. Amazon.com
Had the floor fans, might not need those depending on your climate.
Not bad for $104, and multi use for those heaters.

 

[grsthegreat]

Thanks. I noticed a time interval for the servicing of the battery, plugs, filters, etc. It asks if the items were changed. If it hasn’t met the 100 hour mark since last service, I’ll skip it until next time or every 2 years. Whatever comes first.

I keep a few extra oil filters and service kits on hand with extra oil. Mom’s generator is the same unit. Been getting the oe parts from Amazon. The service kits are $10 cheaper than from the local Electric supply house.

I buy them direct from generac. 90 filters at a time plus 90 air filters, plus 100’s of spark plugs. Way cheaper that way.

 

[LittleBill21]

DIY 0 - 6.6kw load bank, selectable in 500w increments

View attachment 877860

Will touch 7kw for a few seconds when they are first heating up if you energize them all at the same time.

$32 for the 50a splitter Amazon.com
$18x4 for heaters. Can find cheaper ones, but I already had 2 and wanted everything to match. Amazon.com
Had the floor fans, might not need those depending on your climate.
Not bad for $104, and multi use for those heaters.

I do the same thing, you really don't need the fans, but it will ultimately pull more wattage on the ptc elements.

 

[JCoastie]

I do the same thing, you really don't need the fans, but it will ultimately pull more wattage on the ptc elements.

I guess these have crude thermostats and in the heat of the day here, they were cycling off intermittently without the fans.

Watched the waveform with a scope while under load running a big hammer drill and the serage grinder pump, no change.

Break in done, tested hooked to the house and running the sewage pump, oil changed, carb bowl drained, batt charged and disconnected. New gen ready for hurricane season and/or storage until next year.

 

[WinterDeere]

It will help somewhat, I'd wager that a 3 phase motor and some capacitors would probably be even better: The compromises made when constructing single phase alternators and motors are reason for some of the harmonics. 3 phase motors are more efficient, have less mechanical vibration etc.
A 3 phase motor can be "rip cord" started on single phase to make things even easier for this kind of application.

I haven’t tried this, but I don’t think that’s correct. A single phase induction motor is the same as a three phase motor, if the start winding is left disconnected, but with a winding orientation that would be suitable for single phase use.

I used to build three phase rotary phase generators, and while I can imagine how you’d hook that up for single phase mechanical filtering, I don’t believe the result would be anywhere near as good as a single phase induction motor with the start winding left unconnected.

I just might have one 7.5 hp 3-phase motor left over from those old days, and plenty of single phase motors around 2-3 hp, so I might be able to experiment with this. But I just broke a rib on Friday, so I won’t be muscling any 200# motors out of storage in the next few weeks.

 

[WinterDeere]

Most of those o’scopes probably have a simple FFT function, which would likely be a better way to compare waveforms, assuming it has reaolilution/memory sufficient to show close non-harmonic spurs (eg. 100 kHz stuff).

lol…‘I was on vacation when I posted this, and so maybe already two drinks in. I work at GHz mostly, so sorry for calling 100 kHz “close”! This is 60 Hz, stupid! Totally different world, and even the cheapest o’scope with FFT should handle this, assuming memory is long enough.

 

[JCoastie]

Carb sleaner should work just fine to clean a screen

willy

Worked great, thanks

 

[daugen]

going out to run gen in rv, 4kw Onan gas, and then change the oil.
Like a lawnmower, no oil filter, and my least favorite oil fill, the one down at the bottom
with the stubby dipstick.
I've put two hours on this gen in two years. What the prior older couple did to rack up the 184 on it now is a ?
And I'm using the absurdly expensive oem Onan-Cummins oil.
That oil must come in a plastic bottle lined in gold...
and a diesel like oil spec of 15/40

I use oem Motorcraft semi synthetic in the V10 Ford. It's competitive.
The oil for the gen sure isn't...but safest thing for me to put in.
Most of those small gas air cooled gens probably are happier with straight 30 wt.
I normally prefer full synthetic.

meanwhile I'll look very carefully in the bottle to find the gold.

Amazon.com

 

[ultrarunner]

going out to run gen in rv, 4kw Onan gas, and then change the oil.
Like a lawnmower, no oil filter, and my least favorite oil fill, the one down at the bottom
with the stubby dipstick.
I've put two hours on this gen in two years. What the prior older couple did to rack up the 184 on it now is a ?
And I'm using the absurdly expensive oem Onan-Cummins oil.
That oil must come in a plastic bottle lined in gold...
and a diesel like oil spec of 15/40

I use oem Motorcraft semi synthetic in the V10 Ford. It's competitive.
The oil for the gen sure isn't...but safest thing for me to put in.
Most of those small gas air cooled gens probably are happier with straight 30 wt.
I normally prefer full synthetic.

meanwhile I'll look very carefully in the bottle to find the gold.

Amazon.com

You ain't a kidding!

 

[3930dave]

Some serious Generator activity lately, and am loving the Fizx in the conversation-flow.....

Why I hang out here !

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

DIY 0 - 6.6kw load bank, selectable in 500w increments

View attachment 877860

Will touch 7kw for a few seconds when they are first heating up if you energize them all at the same time.

$32 for the 50a splitter Amazon.com
$18x4 for heaters. Can find cheaper ones, but I already had 2 and wanted everything to match. Amazon.com
Had the floor fans, might not need those depending on your climate.
Not bad for $104, and multi use for those heaters.

Heaters - the load-bankers friend ! Can't beat that price for a healthy load bank. Somebody on here has a gorgeous Milsurp unit, but yours doesn't need to deal with 18 y/o's on no-sleep loading Army trucks, and just the Shipping on something like that one would probably be more than your spend.

Any chance those heaters have a fan only (heat Off) setting ? Not relevant to your use, but I'm still trying to find a replacement for an ancient Philips heater I finally retired - it had 500,1k,1.5k settings, and Fan Only - not easy to find today....

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

But I just broke a rib on Friday, so I won’t be muscling any 200# motors out of storage in the next few weeks.

Heal Well; broken bones are never fun, but ribs are def a pain - literally !

Rgds, D.

 

[LittleBill21]

going out to run gen in rv, 4kw Onan gas, and then change the oil.
Like a lawnmower, no oil filter, and my least favorite oil fill, the one down at the bottom
with the stubby dipstick.
I've put two hours on this gen in two years. What the prior older couple did to rack up the 184 on it now is a ?
And I'm using the absurdly expensive oem Onan-Cummins oil.
That oil must come in a plastic bottle lined in gold...
and a diesel like oil spec of 15/40

I use oem Motorcraft semi synthetic in the V10 Ford. It's competitive.
The oil for the gen sure isn't...but safest thing for me to put in.
Most of those small gas air cooled gens probably are happier with straight 30 wt.
I normally prefer full synthetic.

meanwhile I'll look very carefully in the bottle to find the gold.

Amazon.com

why are you using absurd oil? walmart supertech 15w40 diesel oil is all i use. get a flex funnel, make sure the oil is halfway up the threads, and you don't even have to check it again.

gen usage is from AC cooling. i racked up 12 hours just last trip when it was 95 out.

 

[daugen]

why are you using absurd oil? walmart supertech 15w40 diesel oil is all i use. get a flex funnel, make sure the oil is halfway up the threads, and you don't even have to check it again.

gen usage is from AC cooling. i racked up 12 hours just last trip when it was 95 out.

I honestly don't have a good reason for that, since I use Walmart 10W30 in other engines.
all made by same refiner in Texas with very good reputation.

I really despise the screw on oil cap, plastic threads don't line up well with case and you have to try four or five times to get it to thread,
and going gently too. But got it done, cleaned up the area, made a oil change label and put that on the bottom front of gen.
Then slathered it all done in some protectant, bottoms of gens not protected from road mess very well.

Onamax oil, for those "max" rv moments....funny thing is it looks like conventional 15/40 oil, not even semi-syn.
fifteen bucks a quart for conventional oil.
my it sure had a nice label, and that max name just gives me warm fuzzies... not.

one reason to use this oil is I'm about to go to California and back and going through Sonoran Desert in October.
That heavier oil apparently does a better job in the heat

my personal choice is Rotella T6, changed a lot of tractor engines with that

correction: in small print it says synthetic on the Onamax bottle, that makes me feel better.

 

[WinterDeere]

Heal Well; broken bones are never fun, but ribs are def a pain - literally !

Rgds, D.

Thanks. This is one for the "you know you're old when..." thread, as it falls under the "stop telling yourself you're still 25 years old," category of injuries. Hard wipe-out while tubing behind a boat, probably going a little too fast for my age.

Now I have to listen to my wife remind me I'm an idiot, for the next few weeks.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Just venting here, and trying to figure ways to ease the load on these aging bones.

It's been a bad season for power outages here. 4 hours here, 9 hours there, time after time. During every wind storm, a tree or branch comes down on the line, trips the breaker at the pole out on the highway, and we're out for hours. The mile long line needs trimming badly but the power company has higher priorities I guess.

I'm not getting any younger and I'm tired of taking the mower off the tractor and hooking up the 12KW PTO generator for these relatively short outages. I'd like another tractor so I can leave the genny hooked up during storm season, but it's not in the cards right now. Most of the time, we don't need 12KW anyway, and I use my 2K Honda portable for the fridge, TV, lights, oil burner and computers. It won't run the well pump, stove, oven or A/C though. Lately, I've been looking at a larger electric start portable generator that will supply most of our average needs for shorter term outages.

This EU7000is from Honda looks interesting:

https://powerequipment.honda.com/generators/models/eu7000is

I like the exhaust pipe extender kit and the app that lets me control it via my smartphone from the house. I can leave it in the barn, stop / start it, check the load, and read the fuel level from inside. It's also an inverter generator which, unlike the PTO genny, is safe for electronics.

Not cheap at close to $5k, but it's a fraction of what another tractor would cost. A permanent whole house generator is also a possibility but the price would be high with the required electrical work. There is also the fuel supply to consider. We don't use propane and natural gas isn't available. There are diesel models out there but they are even pricier.

For long duration outages, like the one that lasted 7 days during hurricane Sandy, I would still use the PTO genny. We heat with coal & fuel oil, so I can fuel the tractor for a month or more with oil out of our 1000 gal storage tank. I would still need the 2K Honda portable for the electronics though.

Gasoline storage is another issue. I keep a couple of 5 gal cans around for power tools and the small Honda genny. Might not be enough for the larger Honda linked above though. I rotate the gas in the cans every few months and getting more would just add to the chore. I figure I could always siphon gas from our 3 vehicles if necessary.

Sorry for the long winded rant and thanks for listening to my tale of woe.

 

[JCoastie]

Any chance those heaters have a fan only (heat Off) setting ?

Yes, they do have a fan only setting.

 

[JCoastie]

Gasoline storage is another issue.

These big new inverters are nice. For my new one 11000/9000 I did the 5 hour break in on 2.5 gallons of gas, ran at 4kw for quite a while. With the variable RPM, they are quite fuel efficient, at least it surprised me. I kept wishing for it to run out so I could flush it with ethanol free fuel.

 

[LouNY]

Just venting here, and trying to figure ways to ease the load on these aging bones.

It's been a bad season for power outages here. 4 hours here, 9 hours there, time after time. During every wind storm, a tree or branch comes down on the line, trips the breaker at the pole out on the highway, and we're out for hours. The mile long line needs trimming badly but the power company has higher priorities I guess.

I'm not getting any younger and I'm tired of taking the mower off the tractor and hooking up the 12KW PTO generator for these relatively short outages. I'd like another tractor so I can leave the genny hooked up during storm season, but it's not in the cards right now. Most of the time, we don't need 12KW anyway, and I use my 2K Honda portable for the fridge, TV, lights, oil burner and computers. It won't run the well pump, stove, oven or A/C though. Lately, I've been looking at a larger electric start portable generator that will supply most of our average needs for shorter term outages.

This EU7000is from Honda looks interesting:
View attachment 877927

https://powerequipment.honda.com/generators/models/eu7000is

I like the exhaust pipe extender kit and the app that lets me control it via my smartphone from the house. I can leave it in the barn, stop / start it, check the load, and read the fuel level from inside. It's also an inverter generator which, unlike the PTO genny, is safe for electronics.

Not cheap at close to $5k, but it's a fraction of what another tractor would cost. A permanent whole house generator is also a possibility but the price would be high with the required electrical work. There is also the fuel supply to consider. We don't use propane and natural gas isn't available. There are diesel models out there but they are even pricier.

For long duration outages, like the one that lasted 7 days during hurricane Sandy, I would still use the PTO genny. We heat with coal & fuel oil, so I can fuel the tractor for a month or more with oil out of our 1000 gal storage tank. I would still need the 2K Honda portable for the electronics though.

Gasoline storage is another issue. I keep a couple of 5 gal cans around for power tools and the small Honda genny. Might not be enough for the larger Honda linked above though. I rotate the gas in the cans every few months and getting more would just add to the chore. I figure I could always siphon gas from our 3 vehicles if necessary.

Sorry for the long winded rant and thanks for listening to my tale of woe.

A nice used 25-40HP tractor to run the PTO generator and your all set.
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Why do you say " It's also an inverter generator which, unlike the PTO genny, is safe for electronics."
I have had absolutely no issue with electrics on my pto generator nor has the farm and we have been using them from the 60's.
Depending on the quality of the inverter they can and have had issues with electronics as they are a modified sine wave and depending upon how many steps they make to make the full modified sine wave is important.

 

[bdhsfz6]

A nice used 25-40HP tractor to run the PTO generator and your all set.
Log into Facebook
Why do you say " It's also an inverter generator which, unlike the PTO genny, is safe for electronics."
I have had absolutely no issue with electrics on my pto generator nor has the farm and we have been using them from the 60's.
Depending on the quality of the inverter they can and have had issues with electronics as they are a modified sine wave and depending upon how many steps they make to make the full modified sine wave is important.

A used tractor is a possibility as long as it isn't someone else's problem. Finding a decent one for $5K would be a challenge. There is also the storage issue. It would have to live outside.

It depends on the generator and the electronics as to whether it can do harm. I'm involved with A.R.E.S. and am usually on the air during outages. I lost a $2K digital ham radio to the PTO genny I have, so I guess mine isn't good quality. I've never had an issue with Honda inverters.