Generators

[airdrop]

Just a warning do not use Stabil as it can jell the gas into a goo and clog up the carb . I thought the carb would empty out if run with gas shutoff closed but in some models it will not , some gas bowels on carb have drain plugs , run dry then open that plug to let out any remaining gas . I've used Star tron it's worked well for me but do your home work .

[Zef_66]

Just a warning do not use Stabil as it can jell the gas into a goo and clog up the carb . I thought the carb would empty out if run with gas shutoff closed but in some models it will not , some gas bowels on carb have drain plugs , run dry then open that plug to let out any remaining gas . I've used Star tron it's worked well for me but do your home work .

Yup, Star-tron has worked well for me for many years. I've detailed my fuel storage plans earlier in this thread. But Stabil is not in it. Star-tron, Pri-G, and 2 stroke oil.

[Infidel]

So i tested my generator right before the hurricane. Worked fine. 1 pull it cut on. Power went out like 3 hours before the hurricane passed. So i waited for the wind to die down before taking the gen outside and cutting it on. I pull the cable and pop. cable in 2 pieces. So sitting in a house without ac, with flashlights Im sitting there changing the cable out with paracord. ran it for 2 days before running out of gas when i loaded the last 3 gallons in it I see power in the houses behind us come on. few hours later power in front of us comes on. midnight, gas depleted, no power. I got called into work, so i heard to work at 5:30am. Get a call 8:30am from my daughter. So what did i learn from this? I need more Jerry cans for gas. LOL, and i need to figure out a safe way to run the generator during the storm.

[kickstand]

May I ask how many gallons of gasoline you had stored and how big your genset is? This is so others can plan accordingly .

[Infidel]

20 gallons, not counting what i had in vehicles. Its a 2500watt generator. I pretty much just powered a fridge, a couple fans, and a light. Keep the food safe and wife and daughter cool. bare necessities LOL. I should probably do 50 gallons next time. we still have neighbors without lights across the street.

[Infidel]

It also has me thinking the Solar i want to do should come sooner than later. I know some panels might get destroyed but a battery bank would of lasted a few days on its own if done right.

[redman2006]

This is good info. I have a larger generator and the rating for gas at full vs half load must be way off if yours did that. I guess I need to actually run it through a full tank to see how long it lasts. I would have thought the 25 gallons I keep would be enough for a couple of full days of running.

[Infidel]

mine ran for almost 2 full days. remember im in Miami, so we got hit a day before AA's area

[kickstand]

Well, I've had this Westinghouse generator for just shy of two years now, and thought I'd give an update.
I have been extremely happy with this genset. It is secured on the side of the house that is not visible from the main road. In order to power the house from it's current location, I built a power cord out of 6/3 cord to reach from the genset out to the power pole.
I start it and put it under load every month. When I shut it down, I shut off the fuel valve and let it run until it dies.
Just a couple of days ago, I was outside working, and when I came inside to take a break, I found that we had lost power at some point within the past hour (it was now 9:45am). After waiting a while to see if it came I back on (it didn't), I hauled out the power cord and went through my connection checklist. When it came time to fire up the genny, I pressed the START button, and nothing but a click happened, the start battery was too low to turn it over. Ducky. I grabbed the pull cord, and it fired on the second pull. Thank goodness, as that's a lot of engine to turn over with a pull cord.
By now it was just after 10am. I powered up the house, and continued my normal day. One of the things that I was doing was cooking a batch of red chile brisket on the electric stove, and I was able to continue with that without a problem. I think that the only thing that I put off was using the electric clothes drier. The generator may have handled it ok, but there was no reason to push it.
The only problem that I did run into was the realization that I had no way of knowing when power had been restored, unless I shut everything down and reconnect to the grid. I did this just after 12 noon, and found power had been restored.
Going through the whole shutdown/ reconnect process just to see if power has been restored is kind of a pain in the tucus, so I devised a corrective plan. I mounted a switched outdoor light fixture on the side of my main power pole, and powered it by tying into the circuit breaker box BEFORE power goes through the circuit breaker. This way, I turn the switch on when I shut the circuit breakers off. When the light comes on, the grid power is on, and I go through the power swap procedure. The light is still downstream from my power meter, so I can't be accused of stealing power.
Now I just need to remember to hook up a battery charger now and then, since it doesn't automatically recharge when the genny is running. I'm sure that I could have used a booster pack or a jumper battery, but there just wasn't the need for that at this time, since it pull started so easily.

[kickstand]

I've now had my current generator for about four years. It's a Westinghouse WH7500E that I bought to replace the Briggs and Stratton 9000 that was stolen from my yard. The "E" is for "Electric Start", meaning it has a 12v battery and starter, as well as the standard pull start cord. Unfortunately, it doesn't automatically charge the 12v battery while it's running.

As I stated in a different thread, until just recently there have been no gas stations anywhere nearby that sold Ethanol Free gasoline (E0), so I had no choice except to use E10 fuel. I keep the fuel tank full, but when I'm done using it, I always shut the fuel supply valve off and run it until it dies.

I try to be pretty diligent about starting and running the genset, and putting it under load, typically about once every month to month and a half. After my last post about the starter going "click" one of my standard procedures has become to hook up a battery charger while I was using it, in order to keep the starting battery operational. Somewhere around last November / December (2019), that OE starting battery failed; it would no longer take a charge. Of course I would have preferred that it lasted longer, but four years for a small lead-acid battery isn't too bad, and about average. Being as it failed right in the holidays, plus my bride was just getting ready to retire at the end of the year, I decided to hold off for a bit on replacing it. I did remove it from the genset in order to be ready to take it in with me as a core when I was ready to replace it.

Well, as people are wont to do, I kinda let it go for longer than I intended. Here it is, coming up on the middle of March 2020, and I haven't started the genset since I found out that the battery was bad. I decided that I needed to get busy and at least run the genset. I still haven't bought a battery, but I know that I can use jumper cables to my lawn tractor if I have to. However, I wanted to see how hard it would be to start with no battery connected, after sitting for several months.

Turn fuel valve on: Check. Turn Choke lever to Full Choke: Check. Pull cord twice with no indication of it even burping: Check. Oh yeah, turn Off/Run/Start switch from Off to Run: Check (Doh!). After two more pulls of the cord, it fired right up. I opened up the choke and used it for an hour or so before shutting it down. I'll be refilling it with E0 fuel treated with Stabil.

I have to say, I'm impressed. Ok, so maybe it doesn't take a lot to impress me anymore, but here we are.

[olfart]

I bought a 6.5kw diesel genset with electric start a few years back. Diesel is less prone to going bad in storage than gas, so I keep a 150 gal. tank of it for the tractor and generator. I keep a small wall wart trickle charger on mine all the time, which seems to work OK.

[airdrop]

I've now had my current generator for about four years. It's a Westinghouse WH7500E that I bought to replace the Briggs and Stratton 9000 that was stolen from my yard. The "E" is for "Electric Start", meaning it has a 12v battery and starter, as well as the standard pull start cord. Unfortunately, it doesn't automatically charge the 12v battery while it's running.

As I stated in a different thread, until just recently there have been no gas stations anywhere nearby that sold Ethanol Free gasoline (E0), so I had no choice except to use E10 fuel. I keep the fuel tank full, but when I'm done using it, I always shut the fuel supply valve off and run it until it dies.

I try to be pretty diligent about starting and running the genset, and putting it under load, typically about once every month to month and a half. After my last post about the starter going "click" one of my standard procedures has become to hook up a battery charger while I was using it, in order to keep the starting battery operational. Somewhere around last November / December (2019), that OE starting battery failed; it would no longer take a charge. Of course I would have preferred that it lasted longer, but four years for a small lead-acid battery isn't too bad, and about average. Being as it failed right in the holidays, plus my bride was just getting ready to retire at the end of the year, I decided to hold off for a bit on replacing it. I did remove it from the genset in order to be ready to take it in with me as a core when I was ready to replace it.

Well, as people are wont to do, I kinda let it go for longer than I intended. Here it is, coming up on the middle of March 2020, and I haven't started the genset since I found out that the battery was bad. I decided that I needed to get busy and at least run the genset. I still haven't bought a battery, but I know that I can use jumper cables to my lawn tractor if I have to. However, I wanted to see how hard it would be to start with no battery connected, after sitting for several months.

Turn fuel valve on: Check. Turn Choke lever to Full Choke: Check. Pull cord twice with no indication of it even burping: Check. Oh yeah, turn Off/Run/Start switch from Off to Run: Check (Doh!). After two more pulls of the cord, it fired right up. I opened up the choke and used it for an hour or so before shutting it down. I'll be refilling it with E0 fuel treated with Stabil.

I have to say, I'm impressed. Ok, so maybe it doesn't take a lot to impress me anymore, but here we are.

Look at Stabil for Marine engines to help stabilize the E10 gas your forced to use .

[0utlaw]

Mine runs LP and gas, I run it on gas but start it and shut it down on LP, it seems to work pretty good, going on my 3rd year with this set up

[redman2006]

Has anyone ever used one of the conversions to make their gasoline generator run on lp?

[0utlaw]

That's what mine is.