Your last generator Maintenance Run
- Thread starter 3930dave
- Start date
- Views: 1129693
bullbreaker
Elite Member
daybreak1998
Silver Member
Howdy,
It's not only a timing thing, its also just that time of year when other things slow down. Been power washing the tractors, oil changes, greasing, air filters, and swapping out all the gasoline from the generators. Fresh 100% gasoline with sta-bil. All run with 2 x 1500 oil heaters, and 1hp 15 amp air compressor. Ready:cool2: and the weather is really nice around here. Virginia
It's not only a timing thing, its also just that time of year when other things slow down. Been power washing the tractors, oil changes, greasing, air filters, and swapping out all the gasoline from the generators. Fresh 100% gasoline with sta-bil. All run with 2 x 1500 oil heaters, and 1hp 15 amp air compressor. Ready:cool2: and the weather is really nice around here. Virginia
Nice looking generator Boone ! Subaru eh ? Can you get a 4wd kit for that ? 
You've been busy daybreak - nice to get all that PM done up right. Nasty weather makes me think of generators, but actually our last big power outage was during perfect August weather (the big N. East outage) a few years back.
Rgds, D.
You've been busy daybreak - nice to get all that PM done up right. Nasty weather makes me think of generators, but actually our last big power outage was during perfect August weather (the big N. East outage) a few years back.
Rgds, D.
300UGUY
Super Member
Last Friday. Changed oil, oil filter and air filter. Lost power Sunday, still running on gen now, and according to Consumer's power, will until Saturday. This is a Generac 15 kw with a automatic transfer switch. Once in awhile, my timing doesn't suck.
nikdfish
Veteran Member
Date: 11/22/2013
Generator:Porter Cable 5500
Activity: ran 20 min. w/1500 watt load on each leg - 3kw total
Final Fueling notes: n/a
Maintenance notes Started @ first pull. 118V while under 3kw load & AC @ 59.7 hz per "kill-a-watt" test.
Nick
Generator:Porter Cable 5500
Activity: ran 20 min. w/1500 watt load on each leg - 3kw total
Final Fueling notes: n/a
Maintenance notes Started @ first pull. 118V while under 3kw load & AC @ 59.7 hz per "kill-a-watt" test.
Nick
Date: 11/20/13
Generator: Generac 10KW standby using Natural Gas
Checked the Gen yesterday and noticed the yellow LED warning light was on, I looked at the LCD display panel and it had a message saying "inspect battery".
So I inspected the battery and it looked fine, reset the maintenance reminder and we should be good to go.
Generator: Generac 10KW standby using Natural Gas
Checked the Gen yesterday and noticed the yellow LED warning light was on, I looked at the LCD display panel and it had a message saying "inspect battery".
So I inspected the battery and it looked fine, reset the maintenance reminder and we should be good to go.
Good to see somebody win a round with Murphy ! Yikes, must have been a rough ride with that storm - mostly just power lines, or structural damage too ? Your neighbours must be envious.
Good luck on the recovery.... you've got power, but a lot of things you depend on probably don't.
Rgds, D.
Your post is reminding me to use space heaters on my bigger gen, next run - thnx.
As stated, part of my quest for this thread is to get myself to be more pro-active. I can learn from you, you're so fast you already have tomorrow's work done ! :thumbsup:
Just funnin'..... thanks for playing along.
Rgds, D.
How old is the battery ? You may have done this already, but it is possible the control panel is load testing the battery automatically. Either switching in a dedicated test load, or just watching for voltage droop under normal starting conditions.
I don't know those panels specifically, but I'd be surprised if they weren't designed to automatically test, and give you an early heads-up on battery decline.
Rgds, D.
The generator and battery are only one year old so I assume that the maintenance reminder is triggered by calender time. Other maintenance items such as oil changes would be triggered by the number of hours that it runs, (I assume)
The Gen runs once a week automaticly but it has not been needed for any extended outages yet so it only has about 20 hours on the meter. I changed the oil with synthetic when it had 8 hours on it but I have not changed it since.
Perhaps it was just an "annual reminder" message, as you describe.
The automatic load-test strategy I described is a common technique for critical systems. Ex. - even a basic battery powered smoke detector does this type of load testing on its' battery.
Not sure what your Winter low temps are, but the starter/battery are obviously going to like the synthetic oil. :thumbsup:
Rgds, D.
Toddao
Gold Member
Last week Wednesday , at 4.10 am my wife wakes me up to tell me the powers out and I need to start the generator so she can shower for work,
I have a generac 6.5kw , I keep the carb dry, and synthetic oil, it started on the second pull, ran for 40 minutes and then the power came back on.
I will run it maybe 2-3 times a year with a load or when the power is out, the thing is 14 years old I did replace the gas shut off valve a few years ago, also try to use 100% gas or treated gas with the alcohol eaters , have a transfer switch wired to the main box
I have a generac 6.5kw , I keep the carb dry, and synthetic oil, it started on the second pull, ran for 40 minutes and then the power came back on.
I will run it maybe 2-3 times a year with a load or when the power is out, the thing is 14 years old I did replace the gas shut off valve a few years ago, also try to use 100% gas or treated gas with the alcohol eaters , have a transfer switch wired to the main box
Diamondpilot
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2007
- Messages
- 16,331
- Location
- Daleville, IN
- Tractor
- Jinma 254/284 Ford 861 Powermaster at work
Last Sunday we lost power. Came back on Tuesday around 7 pm. Changed oil after.
Troy Bilt 8550 watt with a 200 amp whole house transfer switch.
Chris
Troy Bilt 8550 watt with a 200 amp whole house transfer switch.
Chris
I live in Connecticut so the temps can get pretty low.
I have the weekly exercise feature set so that the unit will start at 2:30 pm on Mondays. That is usually the warmest part of the day so there be less wear on the engine during startup.
That Generac has served you well, and you obviously have a maintenance plan that is keeping it in fine shape.
I started this thread for a few reasons. Imagine somebody moving from the city (worst case a condo) and buying a generator, and thinking "Ahhh.... now I'm prepared for anything".....
Especially for somebody not mechanically inclined, it's very difficult to imagine the headaches Egas has created for small engines.
What makes this maintenance task even more complicated is the regional differences in gasoline. I used to store my generator with the carb dry - even running with stabilized fuel, that became a problem for me. You see glimpses of this issue in this thread, and elsewhere - I think that regional differences in fuel formulation play a big factor in something as basic as whether you will be successful storing the carb dry.
Keep those gennys purring, stay warm this Winter :thumbsup:
Rgds, D.
300UGUY
Super Member
Power finally came back on this afternoon about 2.
Here are some similar links:
