Gas Powered Generator

[Joseph]

Just got a great deal on a 7500 Watt generator, has anybody had to use one during a power outage to keep their tank alive ? Any suggestions---I fear the brown out this summer.

[alton]

That is a big generator, should be able to run your whole home except AC. What is the gas usage per hour?

[paul]

i had a coleman that size when i was in houston during huricane ike. remember this, change the oil after the specified time which is a few hours. if you dont i can promise you it will blow up. the motor that is. i seen all my neighbors lose theirs. mine is still going.

[Big_Pun]

paul is right and use a gas stabilizer if you store it with gas or you will clog up carbs. I just got a free 3500w generator because it "stop working".... gas was left in a year I took it home pulled apart carb cleaned all the varnish out and boom it started right up.

[allan]

I would also suggest periodic maintenance schedule. Fire it up once a week.

[Europhyllia]

I would also suggest periodic maintenance schedule. Fire it up once a week.

That sounds like a big PITA. Who has time for that?

[paul]

i run it until it is dry. if not, i take the gas line off of the cut off switch and drain the tank. don't even bother leaving gas in the tank, it will only lead to problems down the road.

[allan]

That sounds like a big PITA. Who has time for that?

That's what keeps me in business, operators who fail to take measures to ensure their equipment keeps running. bottom line, you don't want to find out when you need it that it doesn't work.

I had a car that sat for near a year before I climbed back in and fired it up. By the time I got to work it had caught on fire due to fuel lines that had dry rotted. Failure to run the motor and turn on the AC caused the seals to dry to the point where I had no freon in the system.

Turning it on and doing a simple pmcs doesn't mean that you have to put it online although I would suggest some sort of load to prevent wet stacking.

[Europhyllia]

hm. That makes a battery back up more and more appealing (just for the essentials -not for the whole house of course)

[allan]

If your tank is your sole concern I agree. And small power outages you would be fine IME. A decent UPS should be capable of running a few pumps for half an hour or so. We have one that powers the CT for about 15 minutes to give the operator time to finish a case and safely shut down the gantry. Of course we have a 100a feed for the gantry. Big difference.

[Joseph]

Thaks Ya all
so. No old gas, change oil after first use, fire the thing up every now & then. Any suggestions on a multi-plug attachment to the end of the extention cord.

Thanks again

[alton]

Install GFCIs ahead of the #12 extension cords, and I would purchase cords with three ways built into the end of the cords.


http://www.twacomm.com/catalog/model_69591-3.htm?pid=1000&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=prodlist&utm_term=69591-3
http://www.elecordset.com/moreinfo.aspx?pid=EXT-MULTI-ARCTIC&cs=/products/MultiTapExtenstion.aspx&ai=M

[Joseph]

Thanks Alton, sounds like you have been down the road with this stuff. I'll fire it up this weekend and see if it will run my lights and return pump

[alton]

Safety first, extension cords kill alot of people. Also I forgot to mention it would be great if you could ground the generator while it is running.

[allan]

Missing a good ground is a definite no go. Go deep, particularly with the dry weather.

Or a good connect to your home's ground.

We use a three copper stakes down very deep with no more than 10 ohms. If we have troubles getting the resistance down we pour salt water into the dirt around the poles. Not sure how long that lasts though.