Your last generator Maintenance Run

3930dave · Jan 20, 2022

Picture an old cabover, something like a Ford 9000. I recall an American trucker posting about driveway West on the 401, into a bad Winter storm. Intake snorkel up the back of the cab, with a 90 degree bend, facing forward.

Loaded up that intake snorkel enough that he had to pull off to clear it out.

Good Times, In Snow Country....

Rgds, D.

Alan W. · Feb 1, 2022

With the impending doom of an ice storm, according to the weather guy, I decided to check my welder-generator out.
Since my usage is low I didnt want the gas going bad in the tank. I usually do not put gas in the tank unless I plan on an extended run. My work around is a longer piece of fuel line from the carb. I then place this in a five gal gas can where the pump draws it up.
A brass connector serves as a weight to keep it on the bottom of the can.
If I want to use the tank I simply connect the fuel lines together. Works for me and my cans always have fresh fuel.

3930dave · Feb 1, 2022

Alan W. said:
With the impending doom of an ice storm, according to the weather guy, I decided to check my welder-generator out.
Since my usage is low I didnt want the gas going bad in the tank. I usually do not put gas in the tank unless I plan on an extended run. My work around is a longer piece of fuel line from the carb. I then place this in a five gal gas can where the pump draws it up.
A brass connector serves as a weight to keep it on the bottom of the can.
If I want to use the tank I simply connect the fuel lines together. Works for me and my cans always have fresh fuel.

Nice MacGyver solution. Easy to dump the can into a road vehicle after, or if the gas is getting older.

Some guys will use boat-tanks that way, altho that is a more expensive solution..... gaining a primer bulb.

Any way to move the gas through/keep fresh = well played.

Rgds, D.

Williy · Feb 1, 2022

I am glad that I purchased a diesel generator
no problems with the fuel just fill it up and
wait for when you need it

willy

daugen · Feb 2, 2022

2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV Interior Review: Inside the Newest Electric Pickup

It's nothing like a regular Silverado, that's for sure.

www.motortrend.com

the ante has been raised
GM, see you 10.2 kw Ford

I wonder how high this will go.
10kw is what my 11kw gen puts out on a good day, so now
we have parity coming out of the truck.

someday Dave your generator maintenance will all be done over the air.
Will we be "solid state" in our lifetimes?

Sure would be quieter...

just like my new solid state hard drive, just makes the old stuff a poor deal due to
improved mtbf/reliability.

I always wonder how many single points of failure there are on machinery and motors.
Spent some time in power generation and was fascinated by the use of electronics and sensitive vibration sensors
that could literally quantify wear. Improving that last one percent of reliability can be really expensive, lots of redundancy.
Maintenance was a huge issue in power plants. Just about everything had a schedule for inspection. Today we rely on electronics versus
guys with clipboards. But no sensor can identify the smell of burned wiring like our noses can. Overly hot oil. Baked insulation.

I see guys online tasting motor oil, antifreeze, transmission oil, and who knows what else dripping from an engine to identify the source.
I think I'll leave the sense of taste to others, I'll stick with smell.

Alan W. · Feb 2, 2022

3930dave said:
Nice MacGyver solution. Easy to dump the can into a road vehicle after, or if the gas is getting older.

Some guys will use boat-tanks that way, altho that is a more expensive solution..... gaining a primer bulb.

Any way to move the gas through/keep fresh = well played.

Rgds, D.

Thanks.
I rotate my gas supply. First in first out to keep it fresh. I like having extra fuel on hand for whatever comes up.

3930dave · Feb 6, 2022

daugen said:
2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV Interior Review: Inside the Newest Electric Pickup

It's nothing like a regular Silverado, that's for sure.

www.motortrend.com

the ante has been raised
GM, see you 10.2 kw Ford

I wonder how high this will go.
10kw is what my 11kw gen puts out on a good day, so now
we have parity coming out of the truck.

someday Dave your generator maintenance will all be done over the air.
Will we be "solid state" in our lifetimes?

Sure would be quieter...

People will like the integrated convenience of that level of inverter power.

Budget wise (limited, in my case), for supporting my home I'd be more likely to have a separate stationary battery-bank and high-powered inverter(s). Use-case will vary, and I have no doubt that truck option (other brands too) will be very popular; it's just not a fit for my budget and actual Needs.

Rgds, D.

LouNY · Mar 7, 2022

Well I'm giving my generator it's maintenance run as we talk;

Sitting at the table drinking coffee thinking about breakfast when about 9 the power went out, took a drive around and saw several generators running.
Came back home and fired up the IH 574 on the pto generator and she is purring away as I type.
After I started it, I logged into National Grid to report the outage.
Then seeing as how I hadn't had breakfast went ahead and made biscuit sausage and egg sandwiches,
now just sitting and drinking coffee #3 for the morning, expect I'll be making several trips to get rid of it

Oh, for any that wonder I generally leave the generator right up by the house covered up with a piece of heavy plastic.
Also during the winter I try to leave a tractor hooked up to it. So this morning I started the tractor and let it warm up while I
released the garage door, did my transfer to generator switch, unrolled the cord and plugged it into the generator, engaged the pto ran the throttle up to 60 Hz on the front panel meter, went to the generator and flipped the switch.
And heat, lights, kitchen stuff and water pump up and happy.

The worst thing about my setup is knowing when the power has come back on.
What I often end up doing is bypassing the safety to open the cover and measure voltage on the utility feed,
one of these days I am going to wire in a switch and light or volt meter.