Portable and standby generators

[Forest#2]

I put pressure washers for the people that might use them once a year, and water(trash) pumps into that category also.

And they fail to winterize them. Surprise surprise.

That is where most of my good tiller and wood splitter engines come from.

 

[ILENGINE]

And they fail to winterize them. Surprise surprise.

That is where most of my good tiller and wood splitter engines come from.

The problem I have is most of the washers that I get in with bad pumps are the vertical style with the special short crankshaft that can't be used on anything else.

 

[bullet bob]

OK, since we've wandered over to this discussion, for those of us who are 'homeowners', and don't want to have to go see you guys every couple of years, what do you think of something like this?

Yey? Nay?

 

[ILENGINE]

this is what i use, but there are other similar products


rv antifreeze is also a cheap solution to prevent pump freezing

 

[Auto Doc's]

I like the last words of the MITY-M ad where is says "store the machine in a garage or building that does not freeze".

All these companies are selling you is windshield washer fluid with an adapter on the container. RV pipe anti-freeze is basically the same stuff.

 

[jaybarry1946]

Is anyone servicing generators before cold or bad weather hits?

I'm curious because they never seem to be thought about until an emergency arises.

Don't people plan ahead anymore?

I don't know why people don't plan ahead. It's simple enough to do. I have a 14 kW Generac. Push the power switch to OFF; check the battery. Change the oil and filter; change the air filter. Put power back to AUTO. DONE !!

 

[Rocky J]

Is anyone servicing generators before cold or bad weather hits?

I'm curious because they never seem to be thought about until an emergency arises.

Don't people plan ahead anymore?

I have had the same generator for 20 years , it was used when I got it, before I switched it to propane it was a love hate relationship . It would start and run on half choke but not fast enough to get the 120 volts . Power go out then spend a hour on my knees with a flashlight removing the carburetor , clean and replace . Just enough outages to need it but not enough to keep the gasoline fresh . And tomorrow never comes and that is when I was going to drain all the gas back out of it to use in the mower. It starts just as easy on propane as gasoline I keep a new spark plug taped to the handle as it seems that is the only drawback to it . I use the 20 pound grill bottle so it is still portable, I do have to keep a log on the hours of use for oil change because the oil always looks like I just changed it.

 

[Honest Abe]

Is anyone servicing generators before cold or bad weather hits?

I'm curious because they never seem to be thought about until an emergency arises.

Don't people plan ahead anymore?

I have a Makita G4101R - 4K generator that I have stand-by ready - winter, spring, summer, or fall. Power outages know no season, and refrigerators need power sooner in the summer than winter. So, I fire up it up at least bi-monthly. Just turn the fuel on long enough to start and run about 5 minutes, then shut the fuel valve off and let it run until it shuts down, turn off the key. It also has battery start so I keep a trickle charger on it. This procedure has worked fine for 40 years now. If it ain't broke I ain't gonna try and fix it.....

 

[mcspeed]

Unfortunately it’s a sign of the times. People are ignorant because they were never trained or exposed how things work. Schools decided they aren’t going to offer auto mechanics, wood working, home economics classes.

Funny thing is all the knowledge is so easily obtainable nowadays on the WWW but the young folk don’t have the interest until it’s broke and want a 5 minute fix without tools or basic knowledge.

There’s a few youngsters doing what us old guys do but they are rare ( and cool!).

 

[Honest Abe]

ahhhh, the good ol' WWW; hmmm, while there are many good tutorials and video's showing how to do tasks correctly sadly there are too many that are BS and cause more problems than they solve. As Dirty Harry might say, "I man has to know his limitations....."