Generators - Event Date: August 02 2006

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   I'm a new member, and this is my first post.  With hurricane season upon us again, we Floridians think about supplies for our generators.  One item you should have on hand is straight 30 weight oil for your generator (some require special oils, mine can take straight 30 wt.).  The owners manual says  to change the oil every 24 hrs of use (takes about a quart).  I have a Coleman generator that generates 5000 watts.  It's very noisy, and not very fuel efficient, but it does the job in a pinch.  It uses about 5 gal. of gas every 10 hours or so of use.  We had two hurricanes hit us in the last 2 years and both times we were without electricity for 5 days.  I made the mistake of using "old gas" that was leftover from the previous years storm, and almost seized the engine.  I was able to clean up the gunk by using fresh premium gas with stabil added to the gasoline.  Please remember to add stabil to your gas (avail at Wal Mart and auto parts stores).  If I knew about bird flu at the time I would have bought a Honda EU  2000, since they are so much more fuel efficient, and much less noisy.  Hope this helps anyone new to generators.   

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BobFMB Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List V.I.P. Member Joined: August 02 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 49	Post Options Post Reply Quote BobFMB Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Calendar Event: Generators Posted: August 02 2006 at 1:14pm
	I'm a new member, and this is my first post. With hurricane season upon us again, we Floridians think about supplies for our generators. One item you should have on hand is straight 30 weight oil for your generator (some require special oils, mine can take straight 30 wt.). The owners manual says to change the oil every 24 hrs of use (takes about a quart). I have a Coleman generator that generates 5000 watts. It's very noisy, and not very fuel efficient, but it does the job in a pinch. It uses about 5 gal. of gas every 10 hours or so of use. We had two hurricanes hit us in the last 2 years and both times we were without electricity for 5 days. I made the mistake of using "old gas" that was leftover from the previous years storm, and almost seized the engine. I was able to clean up the gunk by using fresh premium gas with stabil added to the gasoline. Please remember to add stabil to your gas (avail at Wal Mart and auto parts stores). If I knew about bird flu at the time I would have bought a Honda EU 2000, since they are so much more fuel efficient, and much less noisy. Hope this helps anyone new to generators.

Guests Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Guest Group	Post Options Post Reply Quote Guests Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: August 02 2006 at 2:00pm
	Bob, If your generator is fairly new, I would STRONGLY reccomend putting it on a diet of Mobil 1. It will give much more protection over those long runs. As for the noise, I think I can help with that too. Give me a day or two as I am very busy at the office. I'll post some pictures and explainations as to how I quieted mine down about 50%! And yes, Fresh gas, or protected with sta-bil is a must!

BobFMB Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List V.I.P. Member Joined: August 02 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 49	Post Options Post Reply Quote BobFMB Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: August 02 2006 at 2:10pm
	Thanks! I'd love to quiet down my coleman. Mobil 1 sounds fine to me. Is there a special weight, or is Mobil 1 all the same?

Guests Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Guest Group	Post Options Post Reply Quote Guests Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: August 03 2006 at 8:57am
	Synthetic oil is great. Also, I have been living off of my generator for two years at my retreat, and have found that spare parts are needed. Pull ropes, spark plugs, capacitor (dealer item) have even replaced a carburetor. IT DOES PAY, to have a spare generator, even a smaller one. I have the main one for large items, and if I just want to charge batteries or run a fan or two, I use the 1200 watt. One generator running a lot, does not last long. I go thru one a year. If BF or the middle east starts getting bad, I will buy one, maybe two extra gensets.

Guests Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Guest Group	Post Options Post Reply Quote Guests Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: August 03 2006 at 9:00am
	Use 30 weight Moble one. All synthetic oil is made the same, even the cheap stuff, it just has different additives. It does not break down like regular oil, and an oil change can last longer with less wear.

AVanarts Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Valued Member Joined: March 30 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 97	Post Options Post Reply Quote AVanarts Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: August 03 2006 at 10:33am
	Mountainwinds, you must have one heck of a fuel supply. I have one small generator that I plan to run for about 4 hours a day (2 in the AM and 2 in the PM) and am storing enough oil for about 300 hours worth of changes. I don't see how I can possibly store enough fuel to last that long, though.

Catmando Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List advanced Member Joined: July 27 2006 Status: Offline Points: 19	Post Options Post Reply Quote Catmando Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: August 03 2006 at 11:30am
	I have a Tri Gas carb. NG, Propane or Gasoline. I plan on using NG as long as it holds out.

Guests Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Guest Group	Post Options Post Reply Quote Guests Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: August 03 2006 at 11:35am
	AVanarts, I only run one to two hours a day, maybe four to six on weekends or days off. I mainly use it to charge my batteries and run my larger fans on hot days. My place is all 12 volt except the A/C and well pump. Small fans, TV, lights are 12 volt. Fridge, cookstove and heat is propane. For my laptop, I charge when generator is running, or hook to inverter. This was my hunting/weekend place and moved here a while back to pay off some debts. After BF and the problem in the Middle East is past, I will be moving back to town. PS I have 300 gallons stored and can store up to 800.

AVanarts Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Valued Member Joined: March 30 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 97	Post Options Post Reply Quote AVanarts Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: August 03 2006 at 12:06pm
	I have a tri gas carb on the way, (at least they said it would ship this week) and plan on doing like Catmando - NG as long as it holds out. Then I will have 30 or 40 gallons of gasoline. If it gets bad enough that I go through my gas, I think my propane will be too valuable for heat and cooking to use for electricity. I'm planning on 4 hours per day to keep the fridge and freezer cold and to give my batteries a boost.

richard eugene Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Valued Member Joined: August 04 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 7	Post Options Post Reply Quote richard eugene Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: August 04 2006 at 11:34pm
	propane is the way to go. With a liquid withdrawal hose you can get propane from any tank, when all the gas and diesel has turned to gel.

woffman Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Valued Member Joined: January 04 2006 Status: Offline Points: 31	Post Options Post Reply Quote woffman Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: August 11 2006 at 5:22pm
	Make sure you break the generator in on regular oil. Synthetic oil will not break an engine in. I used regular 30 weight for the first 2 oil changes and now use synthetic oil. Look into a product called pri-g. It says it will even refresh old Gas.

just in case Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Valued Member Joined: August 27 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1	Post Options Post Reply Quote just in case Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: August 27 2006 at 1:04pm
	how much gas are people storing and how, thanks

700renegade Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Valued Member Joined: August 07 2006 Status: Offline Points: 38	Post Options Post Reply Quote 700renegade Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: August 27 2006 at 10:07pm
	900 gallons diesel and 300 gasoline. 300 of the diesel is in a standard overhead tank like found on any farm ( like my hobby farm). This is used for my tractors and skid steer routinely. I have now added two 300 gallon totes of diesel and one of gasoline. diesel is stabilized w/ Pri-ocide, Pri-d and anti-gel. Gasoline has Pri-G added. I'll rotate out gas in spring if not used. Diesel can keep for years and years if you keep up w/ the biocide. You can get the poly totes at a lot of chemical mixing plants. they are about 40" x 48" x 40" tall and stack up nicely w/ a forklift. I cover mine w/ a dark tarp in the shed to keep as much light out as possible and to keep prying eyes away. If there ever is a fire in that shed stand back! I have a gas generator, diesel generator and PTO pwered generator. planning to run the 8hp diesel in a SHTF scenario - at least till someone finds out I have it and someone else wins the gun fight. That's my biggest worry. I'm all prepared for a years worth of offgrid electric and I can't even run the darn thing for fear of someone hearing it!

AVanarts Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Valued Member Joined: March 30 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 97	Post Options Post Reply Quote AVanarts Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: September 01 2006 at 3:41pm
	My tri gas adapter arrived today, but the tach/hour meter I also ordered weren't included in the shipment. This company isn't good at returning e-mails, but I guess I'll send one anywah to see if/when they plan to ship the meter. These small generators need to run right at 3600 RPM to generate at 60 Hz, so a tach of some sort is needed when switching between fuels.

Pookey Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Valued Member Joined: July 20 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 79	Post Options Post Reply Quote Pookey Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: September 05 2006 at 6:37am
	AVanarts, I also bought a tri-fuel conversion last spring, probably from the same company. On my shipment, they shorted me a 1/2" coupling. I emailed them with no response and finally called them. They said they were out of stock. I finally received the coupling out of the blue about a month later. I get the feeling that they are a small Mom & Pop company even though they have a good web site.