Your last generator Maintenance Run

[daugen]

at least my portable plugs into a 50 amp direct wired house connection, so if I turn off water heater, I can get by with
45 amps. No cords. But even having spent a lot of money on a high quality battery backed sump pump, if power is out more than an hour, I'm very
likely to go turn on gen. First I fire up the laptop to see what PECOs outage page looks like, how long they give for ETA.
It's almost all trees here, sometimes a whole lot of dead ash trees at once and not only is power down, but local roads are closed.

tree care is so expensive today folks just wait for dead trees to drop. Some are right over the main roads, I don't understand that.
those trees can be killers.
but I look out my window at solid woods and wouldn't have it any other way.
like water, I want to be near the water, not in the water.
I want to be near the trees, but none that can fall on me.

Diggin it, that area is so dry also. I put out a wet towel at the campground on an outside hook and an hour later
it was bone dry. Never saw anything like it, moisture just sucked out.
if I lived in that area, think I'd look for a cave
with a backup gen of course

 

[90cummins]

Nice load bank!!
I use a large 3 element that I use. Each element is switched desperately for a total of 9+-kw. If I need more load 1 have (3) 1.5kw heaters I can add.
I have the same PTO generator. It hadn’t seen much use but it’s on stand-by.
90cummins

 

[3930dave]

Diggin it, that area is so dry also. I put out a wet towel at the campground on an outside hook and an hour later
it was bone dry. Never saw anything like it, moisture just sucked out.
if I lived in that area, think I'd look for a cave
with a backup gen of course

It's hard to understand the dryness, till you are in it for a while.

People think they'll like mesh (well ventilated) motorcycle gear, in an area like that. Turns out (nothing free), that "coolness" when riding dehydrates you even faster - you have to compensate with higher water intake, or else....

There is a reason desert nomads dress the way they do....

Rgds, D.

 

[grsthegreat]

Seriously…how stupid can a person be…operates generator inside garage and nearly dies.

Family warns the public after narrowly surviving 'terrifying' ordeal caused by home appliance: 'I woke up on the bathroom floor'

"We're very lucky and very blessed to still be alive."

www.yahoo.com

 

[ultrarunner]

Seriously…how stupid can a person be…operates generator inside garage and nearly dies.

Family warns the public after narrowly surviving 'terrifying' ordeal caused by home appliance: 'I woke up on the bathroom floor'

"We're very lucky and very blessed to still be alive."

www.yahoo.com

Now generators have CO detectors… because common sense not common?

 

[grsthegreat]

Now generators have CO detectors… because common sense not common?

You should see how many people ask on chat rooms how to disable CO detectors. Cant fix stupid.

 

[3930dave]

CO events.... most Winters, happens here. Often, New Canadians, but not exclusively. One of the former, last Winter or one before, put the whole family in hospital, with an extended warm-up of a car, inside an attached garage.

So, that's why the industry has put them on new generators. I don't have a new enough one, yet, but if I did, I'd probably glance @ the schematic, so I'd know how to bypass if/when it fails.

Typing that ^, brought me to: household (Kidde etc) CO sensors time out/expire @ something like 7 years. Anybody know the lifespan-story on what Gen manuf are spec'ing ?

Then there is the general problem of lowest bidder sensors, failing prematurely..... had an extended conversation with my HVAC-contractor neighbour recently, about explosive-vapour sensors that are mandated on natgas hot water tanks. I'd read a detailed post on the Home Depot site, from a homeowner that was aggressively refused warranty-service on a vapour sensor failure, just months after installation. (Excuse was "Because you painted the basement".) These ^ sensors fail randomly, often for no explainable-cause.

It's also gotten worse lately, with building A/C. Latest "refrigerant" is basically Propane, sans odourizer. Wish I was joking. So.... these new systems will come with all sorts of extra safety systems too.....

I'm pro-safety. Uncommon-Sense could cure most of these problems, but can be Dodo-rare today. What does NOT impress me is mandated-shutdown systems, cheaply done.

Lacking hot-water is annoying. A no-start generator @ -40C/F, or when my sump is rising @ x feet/hr.....

Rgds, D.

 

[grsthegreat]

Those water heater explosive vapor sensors SUCK. Those are the one things i had to bypass. Instead of those, i have a electronic sensor that warns me gas is present in air. These are the sensors used in basements of houses that have propane.

Problem with the water heater sensor, my water heaters are placed in a garage cabinet. Starting cars in the garage would shut down the water heater.. first i installed a fresh air return system from outside to water heater room……helped but didnt eliminate false shutdowns.

I trust the alarm. I test it regularly plus i test area with hand held gas sniffer to verify readings.

When one of my old water heaters was giving me issues last year ( there a pair of 40 gal direct vent) last year i replaced both to be safe.

My old ones were Rheem units and the manufacturer stood by their warranty. I replaced the sensors at least a dozen times before the warranty expires, warranty repairs at no cost to me, but when my warranty was set to expire i bypassed the sensors and installed my own safety device. To replace the sensor you had to replace the entire gas valve.

On the new ones, i bypassed the same sensor from the getgo. I also installed a second monitoring device in the room. I also have CO detectors in garage, ones designed for kitchens, so its not quite as sensitive. Car starting dont set it off. Have multiple CO detectors in house, up stairs and down. There at outlet height and at ceiling height.

Had a good friend die from CO in his travel trailer.

 

[3930dave]

Those water heater explosive vapor sensors SUCK. Those are the one things i had to bypass. Instead of those, i have a electronic sensor that warns me gas is present in air. These are the sensors used in basements of houses that have propane.

Problem with the water heater sensor, my water heaters are placed in a garage cabinet. Starting cars in the garage would shut down the water heater.. first i installed a fresh air return system from outside to water heater room……helped but didnt eliminate false shutdowns.

I trust the alarm. I test it regularly plus i test area with hand held gas sniffer to verify readings.

When one of my old water heaters was giving me issues last year ( there a pair of 40 gal direct vent) last year i replaced both to be safe.

I'd like to find ONE thing, associated with Energy, where the costs have NOT gone astronomical in the last 15 or so years.

Thinking of the olde pilot-light natgas water heater on one of my Mother's houses..... just worked, and I'd never heard of catastrophic failures with them.

By the time you paid somebody to switch one out up here, you are looking @ well over $2k CAD to replace a direct-vent natgas water heater. Some of that is my fault (for getting paid CAD), but that notwithstanding - Costs are Out of Control.

Anecdotal, but I had the impression that some (or maybe all ?) of the drive to get these vapour sensors onto hot water tanks came from gasoline spilled in a basement, getting ignited by a tank....

Wouldn't it be better to outlaw Gasoline ? Wait....

Rgds, D.

 

[grsthegreat]

I replaced my own water heaters, been doing that kind of work for many years. Cost at least half of hiring it out…maybe saved even more with todays estimates…. ( complete side track. I had a friend get an estimate from 3 hvac companies to install a split system heat pump for 1 room of house…. Lowest bid was $16,000 plus electrical.this for a $2,500 system cost….. another customer wanted 2 Generac Smart Management Modules replaced because one of the old ones failed. Company quoted $880 each. All you need to do is replace a $60 control board. I charged him for 2 boards plus service call. He gave me $100 tip.)

But i digress. My biggest problem replacing my direct vent units was no one stocked propane. Everything was nat gas. I had to get them delivered direct from manufacturer. Took like 3 weeks. Luckily i had twin units. I simply was able to survive using 1 of them. Dont know what i would have done if i didnt have 2. I checked in 3 states for one. No one had one.