Portable generator--proactive replacement

[jonp]

I have a 22kw Generac with a 500 gal. propane tank buried. Ran the house on it, including AC for 10 days after Irma and 8 days after Ian. I'm happy with my investment.

Next door neighbor has a similar setup. Very happy with it.

[funnyjim014]

If it bothers you, buy a new one. Keep the old one handy and serviced tho. Seems the newer equipment just don't last like the older stuff

[Ickisrulz]

I appreciate the replies, but I still don't have any idea of what can go wrong with the actual power head. Like I said, I know the engine runs and runs well. It's just the electronics that I wonder about.

I also have a Predator 3500 that I purchased for use with our travel trailer. This inverter generator is a serviceable backup, but cannot power circuits through our transfer switch as it only makes 120 volts.

I doubt we will ever put in a whole house system as we just don't lose power that often or for that long.

I have no interest in a dual fuel generator as we are not hooked up to natural gas and I don't want to mess around with propane tanks (especially during power outages). Non-ethanol gasoline is plentiful here and I can handle adding fuel stabilizer and rotating the gas.

I will just stay with what I have right now and see what happens.

[Kosh75287]

Giving credit where due, I think Don Verna's idea of getting a separate generator that can run on other fuel (assuming no current availability problems) is worth considering. Obviously, it's a major monetary investment, but the consequences of NOT having this kind of flexibility may be costly beyond merely monetary concerns.

[uscra112]

There's no wear parts in the generator (actually alternator) head. Nothing to worry about there. I'd have a carb rebuild kit for the engine in stock. Use Stabil in the gas, and try like the dickens to avoid gas adulterated with ethanol. Change the oil once a year regardless. (Short "test" runs tend to build up water in the crankcase.) Have a couple of spare spark plugs on hand, and the correct wrench for them. Use a tiny dab of Nevr-Seize on the threads so they will extract easily when the time comes (and it will - if the engine is hard starting at some point, pulling the plug will be your most valuable diagnostic.)

FWIW I've got a rototiller with a B&S engine on it that's over 50 years old. Starts easily and runs fine.

A little secret about modern small engines: even Honda generators have plastic camshafts in them.

[MrWolf]

Giving credit where due, I think Don Verna's idea of getting a separate generator that can run on other fuel (assuming no current availability problems) is worth considering. Obviously, it's a major monetary investment, but the consequences of NOT having this kind of flexibility may be costly beyond merely monetary concerns.

They sell the tri fuel carburetor kits for the generators and they are not that expensive. Just a thought. I havecone but never got around to installing it as I had put in the whole house generator.

[sukivel]

I appreciate the replies, but I still don't have any idea of what can go wrong with the actual power head. Like I said, I know the engine runs and runs well. It's just the electronics that I wonder about.

I also have a Predator 3500 that I purchased for use with our travel trailer. This inverter generator is a serviceable backup, but cannot power circuits through our transfer switch as it only makes 120 volts.

I doubt we will ever put in a whole house system as we just don't lose power that often or for that long.

I have no interest in a dual fuel generator as we are not hooked up to natural gas and I don't want to mess around with propane tanks (especially during power outages). Non-ethanol gasoline is plentiful here and I can handle adding fuel stabilizer and rotating the gas.

I will just stay with what I have right now and see what happens.

You won’t know anything about the alternator until you test the windings with a Megger. I would not be concerned about that at all. The older models are usually stronger than the newer models and if it has lasted this long the insulation on the windings is probably good.

In that older model the electronics should be minimal, which is good. Generators really don’t need much electronics at all, just extra for the bells and whistles.

Again, if it works good now, just take good care of it. What I do with mine is run it every once in a while and shut it off by closing the pet cock and running the carb dry on fuel. A couple times a year I transfer my house load onto it for 5-10 minutes.


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[uscra112]

In that old B&S generator there aren't any electronics at all. Only possible failure mode would be insulation breakdown in the windings, the probability of which is vanishingly small.

Unlike these new "inverter" generators which generate AC, then rectify it to DC to charge a battery, then reconvert the DC back to AC via an inverter. Which may or may not put out a waveform that complex electronics like TVs and computers can digest.

The only advantage being that the engine can idle down when there's not much load, reducing noise and saving gas. OK until a transistor fails. May not happen often, but it it does you're toast.

Always run your engine long enough for it to reach full operating temperature and stay there long enough to evaporate any moisture in the crankcase. Half an hour at least.

[Messy bear]

In that old B&S generator there aren't any electronics at all. Only possible failure mode would be insulation breakdown in the windings, the probability of which is vanishingly small.

Unlike these new "inverter" generators which generate AC, then rectify it to DC to charge a battery, then reconvert the DC back to AC via an inverter. Which may or may not put out a waveform that complex electronics like TVs and computers can digest.

The only advantage being that the engine can idle down when there's not much load, reducing noise and saving gas. OK until a transistor fails. May not happen often, but it it does you're toast.

Always run your engine long enough for it to reach full operating temperature and stay there long enough to evaporate any moisture in the crankcase. Half an hour at least.

Good advice about run time. Does no good to run something briefly and shut off. More wear and damage done there than if you wouldn’t run it. Unless it gets hot, it just puts water and acid into crankcase and cylinder. Drain carb as was mentioned but loosen plug or bowl nut if possible so you get all gas out. Carb stays clean that way and will start with fresh gas from tank. Gas stays in better condition in larger reservoir than small carb bowl.

[uscra112]

When I was running a Honda shop in Boston in the '70s, we saw the damage guys would do over the winter by starting their bikes and then shutting them off too soon. I even wrote a handbook about storing bikes thru the winter, and it helped a little, but we still did a land-office business in April and May fixing the winter's damage.

It sometimes got ferociously expensive. The water accumulation in the mufflers of a year-old 750 Four would rot them out so that you'd have to replace them all by midsummer. It's not so bad now, but back then there was often a fair amount of sulphur in gas, and that combined with the water made H2SO4 - battery acid. Acid would also accumulate in the crankcase oil.

[Moleman-]

While I have a rudimentary idea on how a generator works, I don't know what can go wrong with the power head over time that's why I am asking. I have confidence in the engine.

Look up your model online to see what if any brushes and AVR (voltage regulator) it takes. Those are two of the common things that crap out on them.

[15meter]

My portable generator was purchased during the Big East Coast Blackout in the early 2000's. Total run time is probably under 300 hours.

I rarely go with out power, I can go for a year or two without even hooking it up to run the house. Longest I've ran it was about 72 hours and that was a dozen years ago.

Every year I pull it out and run it for about a 1/2 a gallon worth of runtime. Put in a half a gallon, fire it up and let it run dry. Never worried about the ethanol, any engine designed in the last 40 years was designed for ethanol.

Change oil every other year. Time to start putting a tag on it with date of last oil change, can't remember from one year to the next if I changed the oil anymore. Geezerville ain't for the faint of heart.

Time to do it before the snow flies around here. Pretty sure this generator will out last me.

But it does stay in my heated work shop. It sits under my bench, it takes me more time to clean off the dust once a year than anything else.

If what you have was mine, I keep it and spend the money on more important things, wife, daughter, nephews and their kids, guns, ammo, reloading and casting stuff, iceboats, motorcycles and maybe a beer or two

[uscra112]

........any engine designed in the last 40 years was designed for ethanol.

Tell that one to the army of Stihl chainsaw and string trimmer owners!

[15meter]

Tell that one to the army of Stihl chainsaw and string trimmer owners!

I've got a 10 year old Stihl chainsaw that fires up and runs fine, I run it out of gas before snow sets in because I don't typically use it in the winter. Mooched a buddy's for years before, that ran unleaded gas for years only thing that stopped it from running for Kevin was the lowlife that stole it.

Is there an issue that I'm unaware of? Or am I just lucky and my chainsaw is living on borrowed time?

[farmbif]

I'm not sure about automobiles but none of the generator, lawn mower or other small engine manufacturers have designed products for ethanol gas. let any power equipment sit for extended period like 6 months or more and your going to find crud in the carburetor, usually white chunks of goo and water damage if it was put up with ethanol gas in it.
any and all small engine powered equipment is best off if you run it dry of gas with ethanol in it and then run it with pure gas or even that canned VP gas though it before storing it for unknown periods of time.
they may have put piton rings and gas lines that ethanol won't turn into goo but the ethanol pulls in moisture and corrodes aluminum and steel carburetors. ive seen ethanol gas damage in just about everything from antique cast iron tractor carburetors to new Honda gx series engines and everything in-between.

[uscra112]

I've got a 10 year old Stihl chainsaw that fires up and runs fine, I run it out of gas before snow sets in because I don't typically use it in the winter. Mooched a buddy's for years before, that ran unleaded gas for years only thing that stopped it from running for Kevin was the lowlife that stole it.
Is there an issue that I'm unaware of? Or am I just lucky and my chainsaw is living on borrowed time?

You're taking the proper prophylactic measures. Stihl fuel hoses start to rot when exposed to ethanol, and shed little particles which plug up the carb jets. Due to my developing handicap, one of my strimmers didn't get run dry for the 2018/19 winter, and the carb diaphragm went bad almost as soon as it was fired up in the spring. Stihl's price for a rebuild kit so closely approached the price of a new trimmer that now I have two complete trimmers. (Found out later that you can buy a complete carb assembly on Amazon for under $20. Friend in Idaho who owns the same model just changes out the carb for a new one every spring. I'm told that some Stihl owners replace the rubber fuel line with vinyl, which also doesn't last but doesn't shed muck into the carb.

[megasupermagnum]

Forget Vinyl. Get Tygon line, which is a type of PVC. It holds up to ethanol welll enough. Any parts store that isn't worthless has Tygon.

[uscra112]

Tygon is actually what I meant. Brain fade.