Your last generator Maintenance Run

[Gale Hawkins]

Well we got 2" of power after midnight but full sun and 23F but have freezing rain in the Friday then 1 Mar forecast then we should be out of the woods as far power loss from freezing rain for this winter. Sure do have a few cold nights facing us that may load test the grid however.

 

[3930dave]

Storms and bad weather tend to remind us about generators....

Funny thing, the last few outages I can recall here were during very good weather :confused3:.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

No on looking at the MH generator. I will turn over IF the MH engine is running but not off the house battery that shows to be good. When it get warm I want to trace out all of the wiring. I was starting OK off the house battery the last time it ran. We need to get the MH on the road and put some miles on it.

With the kids turning 18 this fall their schedules makes MH trips harder to pull off. If we did not have it up in such good shape with new like tires I would just sell it. The son states he wants it and since the kids have done so much work on it I will hand on to it for while. The daughter states she has no interest in it. The wife is not crazy about traveling but really likes having it as a back up home that can be set up about anywhere. This summer I plan to get both kids trained to drive it so I can gauge their interest.

I wish the generator engine had spark so I would be self contained if needed but we can look at that in a couple months when grading snow off the road will not be required.

Could be wiring..... agreed, much nicer to noodle away on something like that once it's a bit warmer.....

I'd be tempted to yank out the house battery, and load test it. You wouldn't think a moderate sized gen would be much of load on a good sized house battery, but it does sound like it is spinning much better off the alternator.

A project for a sunny Spring day.....

Rgds, D.

 

[nikdfish]

Well, back on generator power today. Per Duke-Progress Energy it will be sometime tomorrow night before power is restored - so we are burning some gasoline again (might be down to less than 30 gallons by then).

Since I had a 1/2 tank after the last run, I didn't want to bring the genny back in the basement. I slapped together a "field expedient" cover from some metal roof scraps & covered that with plastic sheet. When the power went out this AM, I just shoveled a little around it & pulled off the plastic. The generator is surrounded by a tube frame used for a tiller delivery & the sheet metal sits on that frame. Maybe I'll do something nicer when things warm up & dry out ...

Nick

 

[3930dave]

Well, back on generator power today. Per Duke-Progress Energy it will be sometime tomorrow night before power is restored - so we are burning some gasoline again (might be down to less than 30 gallons by then).

Since I had a 1/2 tank after the last run, I didn't want to bring the genny back in the basement. I slapped together a "field expedient" cover from some metal roof scraps & covered that with plastic sheet. When the power went out this AM, I just shoveled a little around it & pulled off the plastic. The generator is surrounded by a tube frame used for a tiller delivery & the sheet metal sits on that frame. Maybe I'll do something nicer when things warm up & dry out ...

Nick

You've sure been having a rough ride down your way. Guessing another oil change may be coming up soon enough, with all those recent hours.

The field-fix metalwork looks serviceable - should keep the worst of the snow/rain off.

Does your area normally get these kind of outages, or has this Winter been unusual Nick ?

Rgds, D.

 

[nikdfish]

more than one 12+ hr outage is unusual for any given year. generally outages are only a few hours. turns out the estimate had a typo. they meant 6:30pm today. power came back about 6:15 so this last event worked out to be 11 hours.

Nick

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Glad you are back on the grid. It was touch and go a few times these last few weeks but thankfully the freezing rain events went to sleet before trees and lines loaded up with damaging ice. Tue they are calling for 62F and thunder storms.

Maybe that will melt some of the piles of snow/ice everywhere.

 

[kevinwak]

Ran my EU2000i for about twenty minutes last night as I was hooking the truck to the trailer. It purred nicely.

 

[3930dave]

Ran my EU2000i for about twenty minutes last night as I was hooking the truck to the trailer. It purred nicely.

There are a few more choices now, but Honda pretty much defined the ultra-quiet light weight market.

They run well, have few issues, and are easy to pick up and move. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Rgds, D.

 

[bullbreaker]

Just got in from cranking up my Coleman pulse 1850 and JD Subaru powered genny . Coleman took 2 yanks 2 start with choke. JD 1 yank with choke . Both units where sitting for about 5 months without running and no fuel in them . JD unit has dead battery . I never replaced original batt cause its starts so easily on a yank or two . JD unit has a whooping 5 hrs run time on. Its a little loud also IMO and the motor design has no oil filter (404 cc).
Coleman is one of those compact units . I'd say a lot louder than small enclosed Honda units but price was rite at time I got it .

 

[3930dave]

Just got in from cranking up my Coleman pulse 1850 and JD Subaru powered genny . Coleman took 2 yanks 2 start with choke. JD 1 yank with choke . Both units where sitting for about 5 months without running and no fuel in them . JD unit has dead battery . I never replaced original batt cause its starts so easily on a yank or two . JD unit has a whooping 5 hrs run time on. Its a little loud also IMO and the motor design has no oil filter (404 cc).
Coleman is one of those compact units . I'd say a lot louder than small enclosed Honda units but price was rite at time I got it .

My gens are similar capacity BB.

Nice to have both - the little one is easy to move, or toss in the trunk of even a small car. If you need to do more serious work, the bigger one has the extra watts, and the big tank :thumbsup:.

My larger Briggs does pull easy, but I do like the convenience of electric start. I alternate back and forth how I start that one.

Rgds, D.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Depending on if it's winter or summer when the power goes out... But, when I need a small amount of power I use this,

IF it goes out for days or I need a lot of power, or for whole house power, I start a smaller tractor and use this,

I do love my pto gen set, even though it doesn't get used much.

The small Honda 2000 "inverter" gen set get's used quite a bit through out the year, for power away from my house or shop...

What a GREAT small generator the Honda 2000 is!!

SR

 

[3930dave]

Depending on if it's winter or summer when the power goes out... But, when I need a small amount of power I use this,

IF it goes out for days or I need a lot of power, or for whole house power, I start a smaller tractor and use this,

I do love my pto gen set, even though it doesn't get used much.

The small Honda 2000 "inverter" gen set get's used quite a bit through out the year, for power away from my house or shop...

What a GREAT small generator the Honda 2000 is!!

SR

Very much the Right Tool for the Job...... highly portable, efficient and quiet is pretty attractive, so the smaller gens are often the first we grab.

Your PTO is another example of some great higher output options that various people have shared in this thread. Like money in the bank, more watts waiting in the wings is a nice option to have.

Rgds, D.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Very much the Right Tool for the Job...... highly portable, efficient and quiet is pretty attractive, so the smaller gens are often the first we grab.

Your PTO is another example of some great higher output options that various people have shared in this thread. Like money in the bank, more watts waiting in the wings is a nice option to have.

Rgds, D.

What is nice about pto gen sets is, many of us already have a tractor or two and we keep them maintained to be ready to use anyway. SO, if the power goes out, we already know we have a good running engine to make power with and the best part is, most of those tractors are diesel.

Priced decent sized diesel generators lately??

SR

 

[3930dave]

What is nice about pto gen sets is, many of us already have a tractor or two and we keep them maintained to be ready to use anyway. SO, if the power goes out, we already know we have a good running engine to make power with and the best part is, most of those tractors are diesel.

Priced decent sized diesel generators lately??

SR

PTO is a good match for a working farm. I was seriously considering getting one, but went for a 7kw gas gen - for portablility, and ease of use (that, and a great price). I don't mind setting up a PTO, but I don't expect my better-half to.

Diesel gens are spendy. Though, if I ever manage to find one of those Honda diesels (approx. 10kw), I'd be sorely tempted. AFAIK, they are not available any longer here, and may be out of production altogether.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Date: May 06/15

Generator: 7kw Briggs

Activity: Ran 1 work flood light, shop vac'd the Civic and wagon, charged 3 truck batteries. Duration 1 hour.

Final Fueling notes: filled w. NonE gas. Stabil 360 Protection/Lucas already in fuel can.

Maintenance notes (Done, or Required):

Manual start. 1/2 choke used for 2 pulls; started 3'rd pull with full choke. Temperature 23 deg C.

Rgds, D.

 

[dragoneggs]

Thanks for the reminder Dave... on my list for tomorrow. Probably won't put a load on it (Honda 3000is) but want to see how my electric start is doing since I put a battery tender on it this winter.

 

[3930dave]

Thanks for the reminder Dave... on my list for tomorrow. Probably won't put a load on it (Honda 3000is) but want to see how my electric start is doing since I put a battery tender on it this winter.

You're welcome..... I know I've found this thread useful in finding the RoundTuIts I need to get this done; good to hear it is also helping others....

I usually don't run at max load, but I try to throw some kind of load on the generator - partly as a more valid test, partly as that seems to settle better into my mind as Worth Doing Tomorrow (just the way my brain works), and partly due to the possible benefits of energizing the gen (magnetically) at that level.

But, even w/o load, I view any activity as beneficial for a machine I count on.

I'd expect your Honda is liking the fresh battery - key start is certainly convenient, esp. when us gear-heads are absent from the homestead.....

Rgds, D.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

My Honda 2000 does double duty...

If the power goes out for a short period of time, it can be used to power a few smaller things, but it does get used a lot more "all during the year", for many other things too. Like today, I'm going to use it to power a batt charger/starter that I have. If I have a tractor that's sat a long time, I always throw a charge in the batt for a few minutes before I start it. It exercises the gen set a little, and takes some of the load off the tractors alternator/starter...

To properly exercise your gen set, you should put at least a 50% load on it for 30 minutes...

SR

 

[dragoneggs]

... - key start is certainly convenient, esp. when us gear-heads are absent from the homestead.....

Rgds, D.

You nailed that one on the head!