How often do you guy`s start/run your portable Generators? And do you run them under a load?
Portable Generator
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I've had my Coleman Powermate 1850 for over 12yrs. It's gone years between uses. I've never test started it & only use it when needed. I run the fuel out of it and put it in clean, dry storage.
I keep a ~4000 watt Chonda at my moms house. It's about 6yrs old and gets the same treatment.
This might not be the best treatment, but both start on the first pull when I need them.
Joel
I keep a ~4000 watt Chonda at my moms house. It's about 6yrs old and gets the same treatment.
This might not be the best treatment, but both start on the first pull when I need them.
Joel
Originally Posted By: JTK
I've had my Coleman Powermate 1850 for over 12yrs. It's gone years between uses. I've never test started it & only use it when needed. I run the fuel out of it and put it in clean, dry storage.
I keep a ~4000 watt Chonda at my moms house. It's about 6yrs old and gets the same treatment.
This might not be the best treatment, but both start on the first pull when I need them.
Joel
That`s impressive! Your doing something right.
I've had my Coleman Powermate 1850 for over 12yrs. It's gone years between uses. I've never test started it & only use it when needed. I run the fuel out of it and put it in clean, dry storage.
I keep a ~4000 watt Chonda at my moms house. It's about 6yrs old and gets the same treatment.
This might not be the best treatment, but both start on the first pull when I need them.
Joel
That`s impressive! Your doing something right.
A good load is a hair dryer or electric space heater. Of late, with our "new" British owned (how did THAT happen) power company I have to use it at least once a year and for 24 hours or more. I think once a year is OK, the Briggs L head always strats right up. I do use synthetic oil and I installed one of those fancy Champion platinum plugs.
I have a Coleman Powermate 5KW, 6.2KW surge. I get it out every 6-8 months and run it for a half hour with a 3KW load on it. I haven't needed it for power failures yet but I do change the oil every two years. Also I run the gas out of the carb after every run.
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Originally Posted By: tig1
I have a Coleman Powermate 5KW, 6.2KW surge. I get it out every 6-8 months and run it for a half hour with a 3KW load on it. I haven't needed it for power failures yet but I do change the oil every two years. Also I run the gas out of the carb after every run.
I was thinking about using the Stabil Marine formula in mine. (when it comes in) It`s a Honda 6500 kw. Ordered it back in November and still isnt in yet.
I have a Coleman Powermate 5KW, 6.2KW surge. I get it out every 6-8 months and run it for a half hour with a 3KW load on it. I haven't needed it for power failures yet but I do change the oil every two years. Also I run the gas out of the carb after every run.
I was thinking about using the Stabil Marine formula in mine. (when it comes in) It`s a Honda 6500 kw. Ordered it back in November and still isnt in yet.
I've got a Champion Chonda.
It's started about 4 times a year.
Since Oncor got their act together a couple of years ago, I haven't needed it as much. Used to be anytime it so much as sprinkled we would lose power. That generator paid for itself many times over saving the contents of my freezer.
The fuel in it is stabilized with SeaFoam. It's over a year old and it started first pull last Sunday.
It's started about 4 times a year.
Since Oncor got their act together a couple of years ago, I haven't needed it as much. Used to be anytime it so much as sprinkled we would lose power. That generator paid for itself many times over saving the contents of my freezer.
The fuel in it is stabilized with SeaFoam. It's over a year old and it started first pull last Sunday.
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
A good load is a hair dryer or electric space heater. Of late, with our "new" British owned (how did THAT happen) power company I have to use it at least once a year and for 24 hours or more. I think once a year is OK, the Briggs L head always strats right up. I do use synthetic oil and I installed one of those fancy Champion platinum plugs.
Good idea.
A good load is a hair dryer or electric space heater. Of late, with our "new" British owned (how did THAT happen) power company I have to use it at least once a year and for 24 hours or more. I think once a year is OK, the Briggs L head always strats right up. I do use synthetic oil and I installed one of those fancy Champion platinum plugs.
Good idea.
I run mine about 4 times a year. I plug a space heater in and let it run about an hour. I use Stabil or Startron in the gas and change the oil once per year.
Harbor Freight 5.5kW unit here.
Once a month I run it for 15-45 minutes with:
1500w space heater
1800w hair dryer
500w halogen shop light
I keep gas with StaBil in it and alternate running it dry with leaving gas in the carb. One month it gets run dry, next month it stays full.
Oil and plugs will get changed once a year or when the maintenance schedule says to.
Once a month I run it for 15-45 minutes with:
1500w space heater
1800w hair dryer
500w halogen shop light
I keep gas with StaBil in it and alternate running it dry with leaving gas in the carb. One month it gets run dry, next month it stays full.
Oil and plugs will get changed once a year or when the maintenance schedule says to.
Generac 7 KW w/14 HP engine. Run it monthly under load for 1/2 hour to 1 hour. Stabil. I live off the grid and the Generac is the back-up to my diesel back-up genset. I must have redundancy. My primary power source is solar panels, secondary is micro-hydro, tertiary is the diesel.
Generators that turn 3600 RPMs like my Coleman 5000 / 6250 with Tecumseh HM-100 have a residual magnetism that remains in the armature. When these units start to generate power that residual magnetism starts the initial flow of power. The current flow from then on increases that residual magnetism until it reaches a maximum. IF the generator sits too long it can (may or may not) loose the residual magnetism. IF it does loose the residual magnetism you will have to ZAP the armature with some source (electric current from a 6 or 12 Volt battery, or a huge magnet near it) to get a residual magnetism started. It is interesting that people who have done this say that if you have a light bulb on the output of the generator, it slowly increases in brightens. This is because the output current causes an increase in residual magnetism, that causes an increase in output voltage and current, that causes an increase in residual magnetism – exc. -exc.
So if you do not want a 3600 to loose its residual magnetism you should run it once in a while. How often is anybodys guess, and the time interval to loose the residual magnetism probably varies with the manufacturer, and maybe even with individual units.
If there is not an outage, I now run my Coleman Powermate about twice a year, and so far have never had to zap it.
Then there is the problem of keeping the carb clean. The small idle circuit air hole just behind the choke plate (on the floor of the air passage before the main jet) tends to get clogged up. Sta-Bil or Redline SL-1 in the fuel helps fight the ethanol in the fuel that aids this clogging. WD-40 down that hole before storage is a good idea.
I have a Generac ix2000 that I ran Stabil and then sprayed WD-40 on the carb idle circuit, and main jet. I also foamed the cylinder with Sta-Bil Foaming spray oil, and pulled the rope a few times with the spark plug out. Then put the spark plug in and lightly pulled the rope so it stopped on a compression stroke so moisture from the air can not condense out of the air and build up in the cylinder, and also the springs for the valves are not in full compression. I will leave this gen-set sit like this for several years if it is not needed for an outage. This generator is not a 3600 RPM unit and to the best of my knowledge does not require residual magnetism to start. However if it did not generate any electric when first used I would hold a huge magnet near the electric generation section to imitate it.
It is a good idea to pull the bowl off after you run it dry, so you clean out any crud and also get the last bit of fuel out of it.
Probably the best fuel tubing is Tygon fuel tubing. You can get it from McMaster-Carr. There are several kinds of Tygon tubing. The kind you want is Tygon F-4040-A , and McMaster-Carr sells it in just about any ID you could use.
McMaster-Carr has a special deal with UPS. Expect you package to arive at your door in one day, two days tops. And the shipping charge will be low.
So if you do not want a 3600 to loose its residual magnetism you should run it once in a while. How often is anybodys guess, and the time interval to loose the residual magnetism probably varies with the manufacturer, and maybe even with individual units.
If there is not an outage, I now run my Coleman Powermate about twice a year, and so far have never had to zap it.
Then there is the problem of keeping the carb clean. The small idle circuit air hole just behind the choke plate (on the floor of the air passage before the main jet) tends to get clogged up. Sta-Bil or Redline SL-1 in the fuel helps fight the ethanol in the fuel that aids this clogging. WD-40 down that hole before storage is a good idea.
I have a Generac ix2000 that I ran Stabil and then sprayed WD-40 on the carb idle circuit, and main jet. I also foamed the cylinder with Sta-Bil Foaming spray oil, and pulled the rope a few times with the spark plug out. Then put the spark plug in and lightly pulled the rope so it stopped on a compression stroke so moisture from the air can not condense out of the air and build up in the cylinder, and also the springs for the valves are not in full compression. I will leave this gen-set sit like this for several years if it is not needed for an outage. This generator is not a 3600 RPM unit and to the best of my knowledge does not require residual magnetism to start. However if it did not generate any electric when first used I would hold a huge magnet near the electric generation section to imitate it.
It is a good idea to pull the bowl off after you run it dry, so you clean out any crud and also get the last bit of fuel out of it.
Probably the best fuel tubing is Tygon fuel tubing. You can get it from McMaster-Carr. There are several kinds of Tygon tubing. The kind you want is Tygon F-4040-A , and McMaster-Carr sells it in just about any ID you could use.
McMaster-Carr has a special deal with UPS. Expect you package to arive at your door in one day, two days tops. And the shipping charge will be low.
When you run them you should load (probably to at least 1/2 of rated) with something like resistive heaters to re-charge the residual magnetism.
Black fuel tubing is the pits. It can flake off and clog the carb jet open. I had this happen on a brand new mercury outboard. An inline fuel filter is a good idea, but you really want the tubing from the filter to the carb to be tygon so no rubber can flake off.
Originally Posted By: marco246
Generac 7 KW w/14 HP engine. Run it monthly under load for 1/2 hour to 1 hour. Stabil. I live off the grid and the Generac is the back-up to my diesel back-up genset. I must have redundancy. My primary power source is solar panels, secondary is micro-hydro, tertiary is the diesel.
WOW! Sounds very interesting!
Generac 7 KW w/14 HP engine. Run it monthly under load for 1/2 hour to 1 hour. Stabil. I live off the grid and the Generac is the back-up to my diesel back-up genset. I must have redundancy. My primary power source is solar panels, secondary is micro-hydro, tertiary is the diesel.
WOW! Sounds very interesting!
Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
Generators that turn 3600 RPMs like my Coleman 5000 / 6250 with Tecumseh HM-100 have a residual magnetism that remains in the armature. When these units start to generate power that residual magnetism starts the initial flow of power. The current flow from then on increases that residual magnetism until it reaches a maximum. IF the generator sits too long it can (may or may not) loose the residual magnetism. IF it does loose the residual magnetism you will have to ZAP the armature with some source (electric current from a 6 or 12 Volt battery, or a huge magnet near it) to get a residual magnetism started. It is interesting that people who have done this say that if you have a light bulb on the output of the generator, it slowly increases in brightens. This is because the output current causes an increase in residual magnetism, that causes an increase in output voltage and current, that causes an increase in residual magnetism – exc. -exc.
So if you do not want a 3600 to loose its residual magnetism you should run it once in a while. How often is anybodys guess, and the time interval to loose the residual magnetism probably varies with the manufacturer, and maybe even with individual units.
If there is not an outage, I now run my Coleman Powermate about twice a year, and so far have never had to zap it.
Then there is the problem of keeping the carb clean. The small idle circuit air hole just behind the choke plate (on the floor of the air passage before the main jet) tends to get clogged up. Sta-Bil or Redline SL-1 in the fuel helps fight the ethanol in the fuel that aids this clogging. WD-40 down that hole before storage is a good idea.
I have a Generac ix2000 that I ran Stabil and then sprayed WD-40 on the carb idle circuit, and main jet. I also foamed the cylinder with Sta-Bil Foaming spray oil, and pulled the rope a few times with the spark plug out. Then put the spark plug in and lightly pulled the rope so it stopped on a compression stroke so moisture from the air can not condense out of the air and build up in the cylinder, and also the springs for the valves are not in full compression. I will leave this gen-set sit like this for several years if it is not needed for an outage. This generator is not a 3600 RPM unit and to the best of my knowledge does not require residual magnetism to start. However if it did not generate any electric when first used I would hold a huge magnet near the electric generation section to imitate it.
It is a good idea to pull the bowl off after you run it dry, so you clean out any crud and also get the last bit of fuel out of it.
Probably the best fuel tubing is Tygon fuel tubing. You can get it from McMaster-Carr. There are several kinds of Tygon tubing. The kind you want is Tygon F-4040-A , and McMaster-Carr sells it in just about any ID you could use.
McMaster-Carr has a special deal with UPS. Expect you package to arive at your door in one day, two days tops. And the shipping charge will be low.
Some very good information there Jim! I`m glad I asked about this. I had the box (transfer switch) installed along with the heavy duty cable made up by my Electrician. So if/When the power goes out, I drag out the Gen, and plug it in to a receptacle out side of our house. (so glad We did this) I`m sure the Honda Guy will explain. But how do you guys do this with a transfer switch? Power goes out, go down stairs, flip the switches from line to generator. Start gen, flip on breaker (on gen) Or is there another sequence you do for this?
Generators that turn 3600 RPMs like my Coleman 5000 / 6250 with Tecumseh HM-100 have a residual magnetism that remains in the armature. When these units start to generate power that residual magnetism starts the initial flow of power. The current flow from then on increases that residual magnetism until it reaches a maximum. IF the generator sits too long it can (may or may not) loose the residual magnetism. IF it does loose the residual magnetism you will have to ZAP the armature with some source (electric current from a 6 or 12 Volt battery, or a huge magnet near it) to get a residual magnetism started. It is interesting that people who have done this say that if you have a light bulb on the output of the generator, it slowly increases in brightens. This is because the output current causes an increase in residual magnetism, that causes an increase in output voltage and current, that causes an increase in residual magnetism – exc. -exc.
So if you do not want a 3600 to loose its residual magnetism you should run it once in a while. How often is anybodys guess, and the time interval to loose the residual magnetism probably varies with the manufacturer, and maybe even with individual units.
If there is not an outage, I now run my Coleman Powermate about twice a year, and so far have never had to zap it.
Then there is the problem of keeping the carb clean. The small idle circuit air hole just behind the choke plate (on the floor of the air passage before the main jet) tends to get clogged up. Sta-Bil or Redline SL-1 in the fuel helps fight the ethanol in the fuel that aids this clogging. WD-40 down that hole before storage is a good idea.
I have a Generac ix2000 that I ran Stabil and then sprayed WD-40 on the carb idle circuit, and main jet. I also foamed the cylinder with Sta-Bil Foaming spray oil, and pulled the rope a few times with the spark plug out. Then put the spark plug in and lightly pulled the rope so it stopped on a compression stroke so moisture from the air can not condense out of the air and build up in the cylinder, and also the springs for the valves are not in full compression. I will leave this gen-set sit like this for several years if it is not needed for an outage. This generator is not a 3600 RPM unit and to the best of my knowledge does not require residual magnetism to start. However if it did not generate any electric when first used I would hold a huge magnet near the electric generation section to imitate it.
It is a good idea to pull the bowl off after you run it dry, so you clean out any crud and also get the last bit of fuel out of it.
Probably the best fuel tubing is Tygon fuel tubing. You can get it from McMaster-Carr. There are several kinds of Tygon tubing. The kind you want is Tygon F-4040-A , and McMaster-Carr sells it in just about any ID you could use.
McMaster-Carr has a special deal with UPS. Expect you package to arive at your door in one day, two days tops. And the shipping charge will be low.
Some very good information there Jim! I`m glad I asked about this. I had the box (transfer switch) installed along with the heavy duty cable made up by my Electrician. So if/When the power goes out, I drag out the Gen, and plug it in to a receptacle out side of our house. (so glad We did this) I`m sure the Honda Guy will explain. But how do you guys do this with a transfer switch? Power goes out, go down stairs, flip the switches from line to generator. Start gen, flip on breaker (on gen) Or is there another sequence you do for this?
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i owned an eu2000i for several years and upgraded to a yamaha 3kw inverter. i ran them monthly for yardwork, or if i'm powering stuff in the garage (house as AL wiring and the saw messes with the kitchen (FRIDGE) above it. They need to be run more frequently if you aren't loading it down. Even then, it would take months to cycle a tank of gas, since the inverters are so efficient, so stabil is a must.
IF you can shoehorn a fuel filter in there (bike shops sell them in 1/4" sizes) I highly suggest it. the newer engines are less tolerant to crud in the fuel.
IF you can shoehorn a fuel filter in there (bike shops sell them in 1/4" sizes) I highly suggest it. the newer engines are less tolerant to crud in the fuel.
Originally Posted By: meep
i owned an eu2000i for several years and upgraded to a yamaha 3kw inverter. i ran them monthly for yardwork, or if i'm powering stuff in the garage (house as AL wiring and the saw messes with the kitchen (FRIDGE) above it. They need to be run more frequently if you aren't loading it down. Even then, it would take months to cycle a tank of gas, since the inverters are so efficient, so stabil is a must.
IF you can shoehorn a fuel filter in there (bike shops sell them in 1/4" sizes) I highly suggest it. the newer engines are less tolerant to crud in the fuel.
Another good idea!
i owned an eu2000i for several years and upgraded to a yamaha 3kw inverter. i ran them monthly for yardwork, or if i'm powering stuff in the garage (house as AL wiring and the saw messes with the kitchen (FRIDGE) above it. They need to be run more frequently if you aren't loading it down. Even then, it would take months to cycle a tank of gas, since the inverters are so efficient, so stabil is a must.
IF you can shoehorn a fuel filter in there (bike shops sell them in 1/4" sizes) I highly suggest it. the newer engines are less tolerant to crud in the fuel.
Another good idea!
Originally Posted By: lexus114
Some very good information there Jim! I`m glad I asked about this. I had the box (transfer switch) installed along with the heavy duty cable made up by my Electrician. So if/When the power goes out, I drag out the Gen, and plug it in to a receptacle out side of our house. (so glad We did this) I`m sure the Honda Guy will explain. But how do you guys do this with a transfer switch? Power goes out, go down stairs, flip the switches from line to generator. Start gen, flip on breaker (on gen) Or is there another sequence you do for this?
I'd get the generator running as step one of this so it has time to warm up without load and stabilize.
If you have a whole house switch, I'd kill the breakers to the major loads: fridge, water pump, and other motor loads then bring them on one at a time.
I've got one of those "half house" switches with two-way switches for essential breakers. This lets me add loads slowly, good for all the equipment.
Some very good information there Jim! I`m glad I asked about this. I had the box (transfer switch) installed along with the heavy duty cable made up by my Electrician. So if/When the power goes out, I drag out the Gen, and plug it in to a receptacle out side of our house. (so glad We did this) I`m sure the Honda Guy will explain. But how do you guys do this with a transfer switch? Power goes out, go down stairs, flip the switches from line to generator. Start gen, flip on breaker (on gen) Or is there another sequence you do for this?
I'd get the generator running as step one of this so it has time to warm up without load and stabilize.
If you have a whole house switch, I'd kill the breakers to the major loads: fridge, water pump, and other motor loads then bring them on one at a time.
I've got one of those "half house" switches with two-way switches for essential breakers. This lets me add loads slowly, good for all the equipment.
I have a honda 3000i generator. I keep gas in it year round to be prepared for a blackout. I change the stabilized gas and oil once a year. I run the gen about once a month to keep it "exercised".
When i first got the unit about 5 years ago, I was using regular gas that has ethanol in it (up to 10%). After reading about the bad effects that ethanol gas has on small engine operation, I switched,last year, to Shell V-power, that contains no ethanol. I've noticed that after about 6 months with this new gas, the genny starts up noticably easier. When I had the regular gas in the genny in previous years, I noticed that it was hard to start sometimes, at about the sixth month and on, point. So, I would recommend that gas without ethanol be used in your generator, as there is something about that ethanol in the gas that small engines don't like.
I've had worse problems with my Honda lawnmower and rototiller too. I had to take apart their carbs and cleanout some hard deposits in their main jets as they would not run without being choked. I haven't experienced any more problems with them either since switching to the non-ethanol V-power gas.
I'm in Canada, where we still have non-ethanol gas as an option at the the pump. I've heard that stateside, there is very little non-ethanol gas left to be purchased. So maybe in your case, if you can't get non-ethanol gas, it might be wise to keep your genny dry of fuel between uses. and only use fresh fuel when you do need the genny.
When i first got the unit about 5 years ago, I was using regular gas that has ethanol in it (up to 10%). After reading about the bad effects that ethanol gas has on small engine operation, I switched,last year, to Shell V-power, that contains no ethanol. I've noticed that after about 6 months with this new gas, the genny starts up noticably easier. When I had the regular gas in the genny in previous years, I noticed that it was hard to start sometimes, at about the sixth month and on, point. So, I would recommend that gas without ethanol be used in your generator, as there is something about that ethanol in the gas that small engines don't like.
I've had worse problems with my Honda lawnmower and rototiller too. I had to take apart their carbs and cleanout some hard deposits in their main jets as they would not run without being choked. I haven't experienced any more problems with them either since switching to the non-ethanol V-power gas.
I'm in Canada, where we still have non-ethanol gas as an option at the the pump. I've heard that stateside, there is very little non-ethanol gas left to be purchased. So maybe in your case, if you can't get non-ethanol gas, it might be wise to keep your genny dry of fuel between uses. and only use fresh fuel when you do need the genny.
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