Help with a generator

[LennG]

I have a portable generator which I bought about the time of Hurricane Sandy. It runs on gas and to be honest, I used it a couple of times since, but never changed the gas or emptied it.

So, is it safe to even try and run it now? Should I try and empty the gas and, if so, how, or just try and start it and see if it will run for a while. I can't say how much gas is in it right now.

What's the best way to proceed?

[MightyGiants]

Gasoline has a shelf life of about 6 months.  It can go a bit longer with fuel stabilizers

Small engines should always be run dry if you don't plan on using them for a period of months


If the fuel is as old as Super Storm Sandy it's just sludge.   The carburetor will need to rebuilt and cleaned by a small engine shop as the fuel evaporating out of it will have gunked everything over (if you didn't run the generator dry).   The oil also needs to be changed as well.   

[philo43]

I have a portable generator which I bought about the time of Hurricane Sandy. It runs on gas and to be honest, I used it a couple of times since, but never changed the gas or emptied it.

So, is it safe to even try and run it now? Should I try and empty the gas and, if so, how, or just try and start it and see if it will run for a while. I can't say how much gas is in it right now.

What's the best way to proceed?

It is safe to try and run it, but as Rich posted, drain all the gas - change the oil - use a snow blower 10w-30 oil (specially formatted for small engines - ideal for cold weather) - and change the spark plug.  Use nothing but non ethanol gas, cost more, but doesn't destroy the unit.

Try and start it after all that, if it starts, let it run for a 1/2 hour or so.  If it doesn't, then maybe the carburetor needs rebuilt.  In my 40 years plus experience, they only need to be rebuilt about 20% of the time.  If it does, at that point, it is usually a better option to buy a new one than pay approximately the same price to have the old one repaired.

Since ethanol, small engines are a major problem, most of the time it is more fiscally responsible to replace than repair - that's what the big 3 ( Husqvarna, MTD, John Deere - they make 80 - 90% of all these products under different brands - they use Briggs and Stratton , Kohler and Honda engines) of small engine products want.

For 15 or 20 bucks, you can try the steps I suggested, before spending 300 - 400 to repair.

It has gotten to the same level as appliances.

[MightyGiants]

If you follow Philo's advice, I would suggest:


1) It better start-up easily.  I view a generator as a piece of emergency equipment.  That means it needs to start up right away and with minimal effort (you don't want to be struggling with it during a storm/disaster

2) The engine should run well.  If you use agenerator with an engine that is running poorly you  could potentially damage the electoral equipment you plug into it

3) I get my snow blow serviced ever couple of years (includes a carburetor service) and it's much less than $300 to $400


I have a generator.  I went propane so I don't have the issues with gasoline.   Even with that, I take it out once or twice a year and run it for awhile because as I said this is emergency equipment and it will do you no good if it doesn't start when you need it. 

[LennG]

Thanks for the advice guys. The generator wasn't expensive, maybe about $250-$300 so I will not spend a lot of money on rebuilding anything.

I am having my garage rebuilt, so the generator is buried among many other things in my back yard, but when I can get to it, I'll try and start it.

Let's say the gas tank is almost empty, would filling it with new gas help at all?

[Ed Vette]

Lenn, as Rich said the carb needs to be cleaned. The oil should be changed but you have to use a certain grade. I just had mine serviced and the spark plug, a quart of oil and fuel filter was just $15. The labor for that and the carb cleaning was about $80. Tell them to leave it dry.

The problem with the old gas is that although it may start it won't continue to run for more than a few minutes. Always use Premium on small engines and put stabilizer in it. Even then it won't last more than a couple months.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

[Blue4Life]

Lenn, as Rich said the carb needs to be cleaned. The oil should be changed but you have to use a certain grade. I just had mine serviced and the spark plug, a quart of oil and fuel filter was just $15. The labor for that and the carb cleaning was about $80. Tell them to leave it dry.

The problem with the old gas is that although it may start it won't continue to run for more than a few minutes. Always use Premium on small engines and put stabilizer in it. Even then it won't last more than a couple months.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

I don't disagree in general, but my experience had been different with my generator, about ten years old, never serviced. Well, other than changing oil, filter and spark plug by myself on occasions.

It's a 10HP  Briggs & Stratton portable generator, 10KW, electric/coil start with battery, connected to the house with a manual transfer switch. We use it when utility power is down for a longer time period, mainly for the heat, hot water, fridge, etc. That had been the case once during its lifetime, when ran continuously for close to two days. Other than that, it is turned on every two weeks for 10-15 minutes and on occasions, to trim the bushes in the back. This generator does have a shutoff valve, that always used to get rid of the fuel in the carburetor.

Most of the times there is 15 gallons of fuel available, with fuel stabilizer added, generally refreshed just before winter season starts, or in another word yearly. The backup fuel is in my pickup truck's 30 gallons tank, came handy only once.

The generator still starts and runs just fine without rebuilding/replacing the carburetor. That's probably due to having and using the fuel shutoff valve all the times...