Getting ready for new generator....questions (of course!).

[Intheswamp]

I have a couple Champion 4000’s that are easy to pull start and a PowerStroke about the size of yours. It’s about as big as you’d want to go on pull start … but on LP you don’t have the carb issues and it should crank in a couple pulls.
Pretty much all “Chonda“ motors anyway …

My WinGen9500/12500 is 12v start … that’s getting a bit large to tug on IMO …

Yeah, I've been wondering about the cranking aspect of it. I'll have to see how that goes for me. Good things are said about the Iridium plugs so I'll be trying one of those...hopefully between the propane and the NGK Iridium plugs I'll be able to handle pulling the cord.

9500 running watts? Yeah, I'd say that was a tad big to be tugging on!

 

[Intheswamp]

Another recommendation i would make, is a magnetic dipstick. If you can find one to fit yours, its great to do the first crank up with it in there. Mine caught a lot of ferrous material on the first 2hr run. I have it on my generator and pressure washer.

magnetic fill plug

New pressure washer. Ran it today for 2 hrs with amsoil HDD 5w30. Will dump before next use. This is the magnetic fill plug after 2 hrs. Oil is still clear. I really like these for engines with no filter.

bobistheoilguy.com

Gotta get one. I did some looking the other day. I'm not sure I'll have one by break-in time, though. I was planning on the first couple of runtimes between break-in oil changes to be rather short expressly to get rid of the initial mass of glitter. I may put off the break-in for a couple of days until I get the dipstick.

 

[Intheswamp]

I dont know what size motor a genset that size uses but I would guess no more than 11 or 12 HP. My offset mower uses a 12 hp pull start and if you pull slow till you get compression and then let the rope back in and pull hard its not really too bad. Really not much more than a lawnmower because they use compression release on almost all the larger engines.

I believe it's a 389cc. I've seen that stated as being from a 11.7hp to 13hp. I'm hoping it's a lot easier than I'm expecting!

We made it through the big squall line tonight, or should I say it "missed" us....by less than 10 miles. Getting rain now. Looks like lots of damage over in west Alabama. No fatalities that I've heard of. And, so far, our power has stayed on.

 

[samven]

You can magnetize the factory dipstick if you have a rare earth magnet from an old disk drive or harbor freight. Just drag the magnet along the dipstick 20 or 30 times in one direction and then tough it to a nut or bolt to see if its magnetized. Repeat as needed.

 

[Ride_Red]

Gotta get one. I did some looking the other day. I'm not sure I'll have one by break-in time, though. I was planning on the first couple of runtimes between break-in oil changes to be rather short expressly to get rid of the initial mass of glitter. I may put off the break-in for a couple of days until I get the dipstick.

Go ahead and break it in at your convenience. Engines have been running for over a hundred years without a magnetic dipstick.

 

[4WD]

I believe it's a 389cc. I've seen that stated as being from a 11.7hp to 13hp. I'm hoping it's a lot easier than I'm expecting!

We made it through the big squall line tonight, or should I say it "missed" us....by less than 10 miles. Getting rain now. Looks like lots of damage over in west Alabama. No fatalities that I've heard of. And, so far, our power has stayed on.

389cc is what my PowerStroke is … strong motor. Someone mentioned leaving a box fan on them when it’s hot. I do that too and mine pulls just 55 watts … seems worth it to me.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I believe it's a 389cc. I've seen that stated as being from a 11.7hp to 13hp. I'm hoping it's a lot easier than I'm expecting!

We made it through the big squall line tonight, or should I say it "missed" us....by less than 10 miles. Getting rain now. Looks like lots of damage over in west Alabama. No fatalities that I've heard of. And, so far, our power has stayed on.

I saw that on the weather forecast, I am glad it mised you! Were there any big spin ups down the line?

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Go ahead and break it in at your convenience. Engines have been running for over a hundred years without a magnetic dipstick.

My dipstick is plastic. about 1-1/2" long.
I changed the oil once in a decade. Runs fine, burns nothing. I don't even dump the fuel seasonally.
Just a little stabilizer and a little top oil.
Starts right up. Generac 5500 with a chonda.

When the gen dies that engine would make a good minibike motor

Loud bugger though.
I would think about making a bigger exhaust system

 

[spasm3]

This is what a magnetic dipstick can remove from break in.

 

[Intheswamp]

We made it through the night with power. Looking outside I see a small crepe mertle tree broke off, which seems kind of odd. A few clouds left floating around but sunshine coming through strong!
.
samven, I had started to order one of the dipsticks but I think I'll try using a rare earth magnet and see if I can magnetize the OE stick. Thanks for reminding me of that!

Ride_Red, I will go ahead with the break-in. I'll just let the first run be fairly short to dump out the initial bulk of the glitter.

4WD, good idea regarding the fan! A 20" box fan should do nicely.

I'm still debating the interlock vs. transfer switch choice. I get into so much trouble "thinking". What I'm thinking of now is that my wife could easily flip the switch in the transfer box but flipping breakers off and on and switching the interlock might be a little intimidating for her. But, I doubt she will be able to crank the generator anyhow so that may be a moot point.

 

[UncleDave]

You can magnetize the factory dipstick if you have a rare earth magnet from an old disk drive or harbor freight. Just drag the magnet along the dipstick 20 or 30 times in one direction and then tough it to a nut or bolt to see if its magnetized. Repeat as needed.

Induced mangetism is quiet short lived and heat will demagnetize that very quickly - try it with a small torch and see.

 

[Intheswamp]

My dipstick is plastic. about 1-1/2" long.
I changed the oil once in a decade. Runs fine, burns nothing. I don't even dump the fuel seasonally.
Just a little stabilizer and a little top oil.
Starts right up. Generac 5500 with a chonda.

When the gen dies that engine would make a good minibike motor

Loud bugger though.
I would think about making a bigger exhaust system

Once in a decade? I don't think I could go that long without changing it...I was brought up with preventive maintenance as being something to do.

It's interesting that you mentioned a bigger exhaust system. I know you can't believe everything you see or read on the Internet but I watched an interesting YouTube video the other day. A guy bought a car muffler and did a fine job of installing it on his generator in an attempt to quieten it down. I mean, this guy did a pretty nice job. He ran the generator in stock mode first, did the modification, and then cranked the generator back up to compare it with the car muffler. Well, I'm listening and can't really tell any difference in the noise level. Finally, his voice is heard saying something like "Did it make a difference in the noise level? Did it make it quieter? Nope, not a bit. Not worth the effort." It was actually humorous listening to the guy's disappointed voice but he took it in stride. I think the issue was that the engine noise decreased a bit but that allowed more of the generator-head noise to be apparent.

 

[Intheswamp]

I was hoping the rare earth magnet might put more of a permanent magnetism to it. I see the retail magnetic diptsticks have an actual RE magnet attached to the end of the stick. And, now that you mention it, heat isn't good for magnets. I may have to end up going the retail route. Ah well, maybe for the break-in I'll try the temporary magnetism.

 

[Intheswamp]

spasm3, I checked your thread out about the magnetic dipstick (in a pressure washer, I think). That's a lot of glitter!!!

 

[Intheswamp]

I saw that on the weather forecast, I am glad it mised you! Were there any big spin ups down the line?

Really, with the way it looked on radar the area was *very* fortunate. Some folks in west Alabama got hit hard but there weren't any tornadoes on the ground for long distances. Definitely not like the Tuscaloosa twister of several years back.

 

[UncleDave]

I was hoping the rare earth magnet might put more of a permanent magnetism to it. I see the retail magnetic diptsticks have an actual RE magnet attached to the end of the stick. And, now that you mention it, heat isn't good for magnets. I may have to end up going the retail route. Ah well, maybe for the break-in I'll try the temporary magnetism.

Do you need a magnetic dipstick or plug - no.
Does it help clean the oil especially in absence of any other form of filtration - yes it does.

 

[Intheswamp]

I met the freight truck at a local agri-supply business and brought the Champion home. Let the fun begin...

 

[spasm3]

Do you need a magnetic dipstick or plug - no.
Does it help clean the oil especially in absence of any other form of filtration - yes it does.

We would not be on this website if we did not obsess over things like this lol.

 

[spasm3]

I met the freight truck at a local agri-supply business and brought the Champion home. Let the fun begin...View attachment 49961

looks like a nice generator! Looks several notches above my HF generator.

 

[Astro_Guy]

I'm still debating the interlock vs. transfer switch choice. I get into so much trouble "thinking". What I'm thinking of now is that my wife could easily flip the switch in the transfer box but flipping breakers off and on and switching the interlock might be a little intimidating for her. But, I doubt she will be able to crank the generator anyhow so that may be a moot point.

There is less to think about with the manual transfer switch. In addition, your large circuits not backed up by the generator will come back on if you are away for a few hours. I am able to back up the refrigeration and go off to work. If utility power comes back on then my central A/C comes back on.

Our longest power outage was after Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Our power was out for 43 hours. One refrigerator and the chest freezer held up on battery backup. IIRC I ran the electrical needs of the gas fired hot water heater on battery backup one day also.

Since then we've relied on a generator for a number of eight hour power interruptions. One day the power went out about an hour after starting dinner in the crock-pot and I drove back home to fire up the generator. Utility power came back on before we got home from work. Nevertheless, our dinner was cooked and the essential circuits were powered while utility power was out. The non-essential circuits came back up while we were away.