Some general propane/NG generator questions

I guess one nuke detonated high up could shut down a good share of the U.S. Wouldn't one have to have a huge supply of fuel on hand if that happens? I imagine it would take some time to get anything up and running again. I've heard Texas is on it's own as far as power goes.

That just means it worked the last time you tested it - and if you didn't test it for 6 months you'd still know it ran the last time you tested it. I've heard a LOT of noise about the permanently installed Generac air cooled units being total junk. Like not working 2 days after a test run, when the power goes out. And not lasting as long as a cheap Briggs and Stratton.

There's a lot of truth to that, but you'd better check carefully to make sure there is no HOA.

In Md. or maybe Central Md. or maybe Baltimore County, every new neighborhood where one person subdivides a parcel for housing must have an HOA. It doesn't have to meet or collect dues but there has to be one.

I have a tri-fuel Champion unit at the house and a dual fuel (propane and Gasoline) at the office. If you are going to test run them, run them long enough to get them fully warmed up and the battery replenished from starting - or better to just leave them sit. Properly stored, a Propane or NG powered unit should be OK sitting for several YEARS without starting, as long as the battery is properly maintained. A 440CC engine might be a bit challenging to start with the rope starter when cold and the fuel system not primed.

A gasoline unit would need the fuel freshened every once in a while. Store the unit dry and keep a supply of ethanol free fuel on hand - kept fresh by rotating into your road vehicle or other regularly used equipment..

The office unit has 2 30 lb propane bottles sitting waiting, and a 20 lb BarB Q tank with however much happens to be left in it at any time as a spare.

The home unit runs off NG, but I have the adaptor to also run off Propane if required and I generally have at least 1 20 lb tank on hand, as well as a few gallons of Gasoline for the lawnmower/snowblower etc which can be pressed into use if required.

I start them twice a year to test, and that's more than adequate

Chinese generators, too, I'll bet. (Most sold in USA and Canada are)

I've got a 6-year-old 16k Generac and never had a problem with it. Every summer we get a really nasty thunderstorm that knocks out power for 72 hours. Generac has saved the day every time.

That being said, I also had a power inlet installed so that I can easily attach a portable...if I ever need. ;-)

FWIW, back in the good-old-days (before deregulation), the power lines were cleared of trees and the power never went out. We didn't need no stinkin' generators.

It self started once a week fine. AFAIK, serviced regularly too, the guy wasn't cheap. As I said, if you look at reviews on Amazon, a lot of people complaining of similar failures, including new units right out of the box where they were defective and Generac made all kinds of excuses and would keep fixing it instead of swapping it out. I came to the conclusion I'd never buy one.

where they were defective and Generac made all kinds of excuses and would keep fixing it instead of swapping it out. I came to the conclusion I'd ne ver buy one.

I got rid of a generac 4000 watt portable. it had a sealed electronics box, that failed twice. it failed and cost a fortune. my best friend got intere sted, cut the sealed box open, removed the potting material. he added a sta ring switch, start engine, let it run a minute, then push this heavy butto n till the engine loaded up. it worked well, and i loaned it to a friend wh o needed it, he liked it so well i sold it to him., later he moved out of t he area

at that point it even with no load consumed too much gasolie per hour. the bigger the engine size / wattage, the more gasoline it uses, and at little to no load.....

Here, there have been 3 major power outages. All involved trees falling on the line.

It makes sense when "outages" is followed by "since 1998" as it should have been.

Per bob haller:

My vacationing days are over - but I take your point.... had not thought of that.

OTOH, when we did leave the house we learned to drain the water system before leaving. The lesson that taught us that was the #1 daughter's copper plumbing suddenly springing multiple pinhole leaks from something to do with the character of their water... they weren't away and it wasn't winter... but if they were away the house would have been nearly totaled.

But five days of freezing temps even without water in the system? I can't think anything good could come out of that.

Per Jack Stud:

I was "walking the lines" one winter after a major storm had cut power for many, many people. (everybody in the company who could be spared and who was willing got trained on how to "walk the lines" and spot problems after a storm).

One guy started ranting at me about how he had never, ever, in his whole life seen power outages like he saw when he moved here.

"Where did you live before coming here?"

"Saudi Arabia"

"Lotta trees in Saudi Arabia, are there?"

"Oh......."

Per Mark Lloyd:

I do that and, mainly for OCD reasons - but partially to help shed some light on a recurrent phenom reported in the EU2000 forum, I keep a log that includes the number of pulls needed to start.

Tests are more-or-less painless once one installs a petcock between fuel pump and carb. To test: chokes on, flip the petcocks on, pull the cords, choke off once a gennie starts, flip the petcocks off, and walk away.

I implied that I do it once per month, but it's really more like when I happen to be in the garden shed where the gennies live and I happen to think of it.

Do you believe using the petcock is better for the generator than shutting off the ignition? That's the way I've been shutting mine down.

If you shut off the fuel and let the engine die, it uses the gas out of the carborator. If the fuel is left in, it can evaporate and leave some 'gunk' behind. I have had to clean out my generator carborator 3 times in the past before I started cutting off the fuel and switching to the ethanol free gas.

So then I've been doing it right.

This is a Honda generator, but a different model. It's almost 7 years old. The manual says to stop it with the engine switch.

Later I added a propane conversion (that allows either fuel). The instructions with that say to stop it by cutting off the fuel.

Per Mark Lloyd:

It empties the carb's float bowl which, when left full too long, is a common source of problems with this particular make/model gennie as the gasoline undergoes some sort of change while sitting and gums things up.

Using the petcock runs the carburetor out of gas, reducing the likelihood of varnish and gum buildup during storage.

My two stroke ETQ says to remove the load, and shut it off with the rocker switch. I let it run dry a couple times, and now it's got a wicked piston rod knock.

Four stroke generators, probably OK to run em dry. Splash lubricated, after all.