Portable gens

[Boog]

Freezing rain accumulation is on us for a couple of days now so this morning I pulled the generator out and prepped it for use if needed. It's a 5000 watt, 10hp unit I bought practically new a dozen or so years ago and only used it a couple of times in the winter months with power outages. We stay in our 5th wheel camper pretty comfy with this gen.
Anyway, I always run the unit out of gas before putting it away to keep corrosion down in the carb. I went and got a few gallons of premium 93 gas and put a gallon or so in it and fired it up. Man, that thing was popping and farting for the longest. Once warmed up I changed the oil and put some seafoam in the gas. I fired it up again and it smoothed out somewhat. Maybe there was condensation in the empty tank? I don't know but it's running better.
Anybody have a routine for storing your gens?

[67C10Step]

I drain all the gas out of mine every September/October and refill. But I also pull it out every 4-6 weeks and run it for 20 minutes or so during the year. Hope I don't need it in the next few days!
Mine is about 10 year old or so and usually fires up pretty easily.

[DeadheadNM]

Nothing to add but curious what brands/models y'all are using. This US made tri-fuel example from Winco with a Honda engine seems versatile if not a bit pricey: https://www.wincogenerator.com/produ...ble-generator/

[GOPAPA]

I get my 2 Honda Generators out every year , put just a pint of gas in them and run them for about 15 minutes ,, put them away and every year they start right up next year in summer .. Never used them for anything yet and they are 4 years old maybe 6 ,forget ?

Never use any renewable fuel made from corn and other plant materials. and never plan on it ..

[67C10Step]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Nothing to add but curious what brands/models y'all are using. This US made tri-fuel example from Winco with a Honda engine seems versatile if not a bit pricey: https://www.wincogenerator.com/produ...ble-generator/

Mine is a Generac, don't recall the exact model off the top of my head. 5500 watt and like 6500 or so peak. Again, I let the year go by without getting the GenerLink installed at my house. My wife will kill me if the power goes out. They are offered and installed through my electrical co-op.

[72c20customcamper]

I have a 20 year old Onan/Cummins 8500 . I leave e free gas in it all year long I do run it monthly but I dont add anything to the gas. We have power outages all year round it sucks .

Leaving the tank empty i would think isnt a good idea . The gas tanks are vented so the push out air in warm weather and suck it in cold . Perfect situation for condensation .

[Boog]

That Winco sounds like a real nice unit. Pricey yes, but when you need power it could be worth it I guess. The 4 wheel kit is a good idea, especially for a "portable" generator.

Mine didn't come with any wheels and I wanted to be able to move it around by myself. So I added 2 wheels and a handle to pull it with. I hope I don't have to use it this week. Freezing precip up to 1/2" is forecast here.

[special-K]

You're probably better off to fill the tank as full as possible, incl. additive, to store. I always top my Harley and trucks I don't drive in winter before letting sit. Those are fine to use over winter. But if they sat a long time I'd drain the old, mix that into my daily's tank, and put fresh in.

[Grumpy old man]

I picked up this Champion recently before the Big storm that was forcast and never arrived , also picked up an extra 5 gallons of fuel , added the wheel kit and fired it up . Ran it for 1 hour to check it out and now it's full of gas and sitting , I need to run it for 5 hours before the first oil change ,

[MJN]

I've got an older Generac 5000 or 5500 (can't remember off hand), I keep it filled with ethanol free gas and add AMSOIL Quickshot https://www.amsoil.com/p/quickshot-aqs/ to keep the fuel system clean and stabilized. No issues starting or running besides the poor quality/cheap fuel valve leaking but that has been remedied.

[68panelman]

I bought a Honda tri-fuel in 2012, after not having power for a week from a major storm, haven't had to use it since, (0-hrs) knock on wood. I used to fire it every month with a small load on it, (a 220v magnetic drill) running ONLY propane in it so far, it sits under my shelving unit inside for years now, really need to see if it still has output, I refuse to put gasoline in it unless I absolutely have to. When I do store gas powered stuff, always with a full tank of fuel to eliminate condensation

[Boog]

At least I don't have to worry about rust in the tank as mine is plastic, polyethylene or whatever. A few years ago I found the seal inside the gas cap crumbled while in storage. When I went to use it in a freezing time of weather I found all the crumbled pieces had gathered around the gas tank drain nipple stopping it right up.

[tutone]

Gas logs for heat.
Honda 2200 inverter gen to power fridges and
Freezers.
Propane burner to cook with.
5500 Generator to run long enough to power the water heater once a day for a shower.
We learned alot during the ice storm in 2009.
We had gas logs only for 14 days.
Never again.

[Rich84]

I am going to firmly knock on wood while I type this. Mine just sits in the unheated garage. It never has failed to start. No additives and crap gas. It's a Honeywell with a Briggs. 7500 surge watts back feeding the entire house thru a sub-panel in my garage. I just turn off the breakers i don't need. Way under size for our whole house. I think it's about 8 years old and we loose power summer and winter a few times a year.

[1976gmc20]

I'm thinking about one of those tractor PTO units?

I haven't yet had any trouble with my mowers sitting with gas all winter. I have added a little SeaFoam to the tanks the past couple years.

The emergency fire pump I run out of gas each fall while pumping the thousand gallons of water out on the lawn. If I put a sprinkler on the end of the hose, the gas runs out before the water and the rest just drains by gravity. Otherwise the water seems to run out first and you can't run the pump without water.

[Boog]

Don't suppose you've seen anyone running their house off their Ford pkup have you?

[68panelman]

Originally Posted by Boog

Don't suppose you've seen anyone running their house off their Ford pkup have you?

That would only be good for a few hours of running a home

[KW5413]

Iced in, in the DFW area.

I bought a 12,500-watt peak dual fuel after the BIG storm of Feb. 2021. Gasoline and propane. Pickup a 30-pound propane tank to compliment my 20-pound tanks. I didn't lose power then but, don't want to. I know folks that were down for a week.

Runs the whole house in the winter but, I don't think it will handle both AC units in the summer. Which is OK. We don't have to go upstairs to need the smaller unit.

I also had the electrical by-pass installed. All I have to do is throw the main breaker off, plug the generator in and fire that sucker up for whole house power. No extension cords. All for just south of $ 2K.

We considered a natural gas Generac. Mainly for the automatic feature but, determined for the difference in price, we weren't that mad at it.

[tutone]

The HVAC guy that I had in 2006 when we built, tried to talk me into duel fuel heat pumps for upstairs and downstairs. I didn't bite at the time. Turns out I should have. A decent size generator will piwer the whole house on gas heat. A good 5000 btu window unit will cool a bedroom in the hot summer too. Our gas logs will do fair on the whole house if it is 20 degrees or above. Its hard to plan for everything.

[whitedog76]

I have a Generac 5500 that I bought 7-8 years ago. The only time I ever had trouble was when I actually drained and ran it out of gas. There was corrosion on the needle and gritty stuff in the bowl when I tried to use it the next time.

Everything we have around here is E10 gasoline. I read an article published by the Mercury/Mercruiser folks that stated to leave your tank at least 80% full during storage. The ethanol
combined with atmospheric moisture is where the trouble comes from. Leaving your tank mostly full, helps keep the atmospheric moisture out.

So, I leave it mostly full with some blue Stabil and top it off with fresh gas before I go to use it. Never had any trouble.

[mr.mud1]

we have a Champion 11250/9000 generator and glad we do.we had been hammered with Hurricane Fiona in the fall,without power for a week and folks here from Germany downstairs in our airbnb unit.i was a nervous wreck hoping it would keep running and did great.basically running 2 houses although i kill some of the breakers in the box.we had a freezing rain then snow storm last week and without power for about 40 hours off and on over 4 days.i keep it full of hi-test gas all the time with some preservative in the gas tank.during the summer i run it once in a while to make sure it runs and the battery stays up.ours runs well,wouldn't want to be without a generator,out here in the country.

[KW5413]

Speaking of dual fuel. My unit has not seen gasoline yet. I run it for a few minutes every couple of months but, use the propane. Don't have to worry about fuel sitting in the lines or the tank.

Thankfully, we haven't dropped power in the 20 months we have had it. Truth be known, I hope I never have to use it. Same with my tornado saferoom we put in the garage about 10 years ago. Jumped in that sucker when our December 26th, 2015 tornado hit town. It was headed straight for our house when it zagged less than a mile out. It was a slab sweeper to a lot of homes.

[72c20customcamper]

I have a backup generator for my backup generator and a backup for the backup backup ….