[Old fat bald guy]

If you do, please do yourself a favor and run it a little, power up a desk fan or trouble light....... if it's not running, fix it so it does run......... I just spent two hours at my sisters house getting hers running and being eaten by mosquitos because of bad gas, not being run for the last 4 years and general neglect even AFTER I told her to start it, run it, put Stabil in the fuel etc, etc when I should have been able to start it, plug it into the house and get home (insert "ramble, ramble, ramble" here)

TDW, your power out? I have power but I guess everything north of me and west of the main road, all the way out to Davison, is out

 

[jackie schmidt]

I have a 18 KW unit out back that runs off of Natural Gas. I got it after Hurricane Ike blew in and we were without power for about 14 days.

I honestly hope I never have to use it because of another Hurricane, but this is Houston............

 

[DougA]

My 1957 Farmall Electrall,PTO Diesel power,no problems.

 

[DZAUTO]

Yep, 5000w. Haven't used it for about 2yrs, but when we got the storms/tornados through central Okla a few weeks ago, I had it running full time for about 2days. It didn't do so well at first (old gas), but after getting freah gas added to the tank, it got much better. A 5000w generator WILL NOT run home air cond, elec oven (the cook top is gas), drier or my 220v compressor (which I unplugged), but it keep all the needed stuff powered. When we tried to use the microwave, it would kick the breaker on one leg of the generator. We have 3 refrigerator/freezers and it keep them powered. Throughout the rest of the house, we only turned on what we needed.
If you want to power the whole house, ESPECIALLY in the summer with air cond, don't even think about anything less than 12,-15,000w!

As a side note, it's hard to imagine what it was like 100+yrs ago when homes did not have running water, nor elec (used candles or oil lamps for light) and cooking was done on a wood stove or in the fireplace.
When the sun went down---------------IT WAS DARK--------------I would LOVE that!!! Today, EVERYONE has to have a yard light, can lights all the way around the house, driveway lights, etc, etc, etc!!! WHY? You can't ever see the stars anymore because of all the damn lights in the neighborhood!

 

[65 Skylark]

Thanks for the reminder. I usually get mine out and put just enough gas in it to run it for 15 minutes or so and let it run until it runs out of gas before putting it away again, which I haven't done yet this year. After all, this is Florida

 

[Andy's Auto Repair]

I own three. Two gas and an Onan diesel. I make a little side money at my shop with them. $60 gets an oil service, a plug, build the carb, replace the pull cord, and a gallon of gas. Last year I did around 40 of them.

In 2004 I was without power for 65 days straight, 2005 36 days. No power company executive lives on my street.

 

[animal69]

I just changed the fuel, oil, and spark plugs in both of mine last week. A very good reminder!
I start them every few months and always use Stabil in the fuel.

 

[Highway Star]

Good idea. I run mine (Homelite 6KW/gas) once a month, and keep the tank topped off with treated fuel. I run it and cut the fuel off so the lines and carb are dry afterwards.

 

[Georgia69]

Mine has a valve to shut off fuel flow, and a drain plug to drain the fuel bowl. If you close the valve and drain the fuel bowl after use, you generally won't have any problems getting one to crank after a long period of non-use.

I forget what brand mine is (Coleman maybe?) but it has a little Suburu engine with a Mikinui carb. It's been a real good generator.

 

[Old fat bald guy]

TDW, your power out? I have power but I guess everything north of me and west of the main road, all the way out to Davison, is out

Duh....... If TDW's power IS out I doubt he would be hangin' out in BR even if he has a generator (which he probably does, powered by a Shovel or Pan head Harley I would imagine)

 

[crazydavey]

in '82 I got my Mon and Dad a 4000 Honda generator when they lost power for a couple of weeks (I spent 37 years at Honda Motor Co so I had an in). Fortunately they never really had to use it again but is was there just in case. My Dad ran it off on on over the years but when he passed in '98 it just sat there. Fast forward 12 years later and I'm at my Mom's and thought geez I wonder if it still works....rolled it out...turned on the fuel....set the choke...pulled it a few times and it started right up like it always has (this was with the fuel that was in it)....amazing....I have a 2000 that I take to the track so it gets used often..one pull and it starts....you get what you pay for...

 

[Stickman]

That's the beauty of these new whole-house natural gas gens. Mine's set to run a 20 minute exercise every Saturday at 9am. I'm usually home and know it fires up and sounds healthy. After losing power for 8 days, we made sure that never happens again. I just have to manually exercise the transfer switch to make sure that's working. My BOL down the road... not so lucky. He has 5 gallon pails of gas (no stabil) and when he needs the gen, usually has trouble starting.
Good advice to make sure and run it at least once a month...

 

[Andy's Auto Repair]

in '82 I got my Mon and Dad a 4000 Honda generator when they lost power for a couple of weeks (I spent 37 years at Honda Motor Co so I had an in). Fortunately they never really had to use it again but is was there just in case. My Dad ran it off on on over the years but when he passed in '98 it just sat there. Fast forward 12 years later and I'm at my Mom's and thought geez I wonder if it still works....rolled it out...turned on the fuel....set the choke...pulled it a few times and it started right up like it always has (this was with the fuel that was in it)....amazing....I have a 2000 that I take to the track so it gets used often..one pull and it starts....you get what you pay for...

Davey, I rock a Honda 3800 and a Honda 5000. Not Honda powered. Made by Honda. At least three times the price without a hookup:thumbsup:, but worth every penney. Neither sits as I use both when we take the toy hauler out for the weekend. But years ago before my CO went all woodsey on me, I would just run it out of gas, change the oil, and let it sit.

 

[Matt Smith]

I own three. Two gas and an Onan diesel. I make a little side money at my shop with them. $60 gets an oil service, a plug, build the carb, replace the pull cord, and a gallon of gas. Last year I did around 40 of them.

In 2004 I was without power for 65 days straight, 2005 36 days. No power company executive lives on my street.

Hurricane season sucks :sad:

 

[rkd]

Yep, got three. A 5kw for storms, a 1kw for the track, and a 1250 w at the other house for storms. Ran all three last year, only one of three so far this year. I put stabil in and thats my story and I am sticking to it!

Good reminder.

 

[czeto]

I have the inverter EU 3000I Honda that runs on anything, natural gas, gasoline, or propane. I only need enough juice to power the fridge, furnace, and TV. It is quiet and light so I can take anywhere if needed.

 

[SebJr]

naaaa, I just hook up to one of these and bring it home when necessary, Had the house built with switchgear 14 yrs ago and up until couple yrs back never needed one.

 

[Shane 69 Hugger]

I own 1 or so...

I service a bunch.

Right now I can put my eye on 5 of em. I'm sitting here next to them.

I and another E-4 were the main Gen mechs in Habbaniyah in 05-06. Ran 19 grids, over 50,000 amps, every week I was there I amassed over 100 manhours. Not 1 week was below 100 man hours.

I had a FGWilson make it to the 20,000 hour mark. I emailed them and they were elated. Thats with MINIMAL servicing. Belts, oil, coolant, batteries. All ya gotta do is change the oil and keep it clean. My gens ran 24/7 with a shut down for a 55 gal oil change every other week.

 

[O'Man]

If you do, please do yourself a favor and run it a little, power up a desk fan or trouble light....... if it's not running, fix it so it does run......... I just spent two hours at my sisters house getting hers running and being eaten by mosquitos because of bad gas, not being run for the last 4 years and general neglect even AFTER I told her to start it, run it, put Stabil in the fuel etc, etc when I should have been able to start it, plug it into the house and get home (insert "ramble, ramble, ramble" here)

TDW, your power out? I have power but I guess everything north of me and west of the main road, all the way out to Davison, is out

I run my Honda EB 5000 once a month under load. I put a SMALL amount of new gas in the tank before the run up. I burn as much as possible out then shut the spigot off and let it run dry. I have a piece of masking tape on the gas tank.."Last Run Date nn-nn-nnnn" so I don't forget. Same process on my motorcycle. The carbs on small engines are terribly sensitive to this S---T gas we are forced to use

 

[TDW]

Duh....... If TDW's power IS out I doubt he would be hangin' out in BR even if he has a generator (which he probably does, powered by a Shovel or Pan head Harley I would imagine)

Generac 1000 EXL. Not a Harley engine, but it is a V-Twin. Koehler cast iron. I lost power last night around 8, came back on around 9 this morning. I didn't fire the generator up until this morning. Had to make coffee.