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Generator storage.

highland145

highland145

Lifer
Bought a new Generac 5500. Thought I'd leave it in the shop (un conditioned), no oil, no gas until I needed it which could be a long time. Then I'm told moisture can still condense in the engine a ruin it. And that I need to turn it over every now and then.

Should I just put the oil in and a little gas and run it every couple of months or leave like I have it, no oil/gas?

Thanks.
 
Moisture is going to condense in the crankcase whether there is oil in it or not. It will also condense in the gas tank whether there is gas in it or not. It's all dependent on the dew point. Myself, I would oil it and gas it if for nothing else other to start it and make sure it runs properly, etc. The extra bonus is that you will get oil circulated around coating everything for the time being.

I leave gas and oil in mine year-round. We have a lot of power failures here and I never know when I'll need it. I have started putting synthetic oil in it and leaving it in for three to four years versus changing it and the filter yearly. It really seemed like a waste. I also keep the gas tank full when it's not being used. Less surface area for condensation in the tank. I change the gas out twice a year if it doesn't get run out. Usually in the fall and the spring and I put what I drained out into one of the cars. I also have never used fuel stabilizer at all. Never in any piece of gasoline powered equipment I own and I have never had one single issue. On the generator I have learned to turn off the petcock and let it run until it dies of its own accord. Leaving fuel in the carb means I'm going to have to remove it and clean it. It's a chore on the generator as it's buried kind of deep.

Opinions vary widely on this type of stuff so be ready for someone with a complete different viewpoint.
 
Personally, I'd think you'd want to at least fire it up and ensure it does indeed work. Nothing worse than getting to a point where you need it and it doesn't function properly, esp. the elect. output.

That said, keep the gas tank full of treated gas, Stabil one of the leading gas stabilizers out there, but others equally as good are out there, too....Seafoam comes to mind. A full tank greatly decreases condensation problems. The oil should be fine, esp. if you run it once a month or two. Just run it till hot.

Keep track of your oil level. Most, if not all, generators use/burn oil and most have a low oil cutoff. I know our Kubota generator has both a low oil indicator and low oil shutoff.
 
Thanks, guys. Yeah, if it doesn't work out of the box I'm hosed anyway. Better to have to crank it every couple of months. Good idea on the full tank.

Last power outage we had was ~7 years ago but I could have paid for 2/3 of the generator with the food we lost in the fridge/deep freezer.

Bought a line conditioner, at the suggestion from my bro, because of the electronics in the fridge.


edit: Had to have been more that 7 years because I've been in my office 8.
 
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Boy, I wish...

The power goes out here if it's windy, sunny, storming, clear, calm, snowing, or any kind of weather and there is always weather of some kind. We're getting ready to leave the end of the month to spend three months out of state. My wife was wondering if we were going to have lamp timers for when we'll be gone. I told her there would be a power failure before we hit the Ohio border and the timers would be all screwed up.

Has it got electric start? They won't fire until there is oil pressure and that can take 10 or more pulls on the recoil starter. I've got a battery tender attached to mine and the battery in it now is from 2004 and still going strong.
 
boomerang said:
Boy, I wish...

The power goes out here if it's windy, sunny, storming, clear, calm, snowing, or any kind of weather and there is always weather of some kind. We're getting ready to leave the end of the month to spend three months out of state. My wife was wondering if we were going to have lamp timers for when we'll be gone. I told her there would be a power failure before we hit the Ohio border and the timers would be all screwed up.

Has it got electric start? They won't fire until there is oil pressure and that can take 10 or more pulls on the recoil starter. I've got a battery tender attached to mine and the battery in it now is from 2004 and still going strong.
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Whether you like it or not.....😱

3 months...PM me your address, I'll come check on your stuff.....yes....your... stuff.

Serious, 3 months? 1%er???

Nope, pull it, pull it, baby.😀 And she said....


😀

Got fresh non ethanol gas and was going to fire it up tonight. And I don't have a long funnel to fill the oil....Good to know, right?
 
I store a generator by removing all fluids. Take out spark plug and put a few drops of oil in the hole. Drain carb float. disconect fuel hose and stick it in a can of kerosene. Slowly hand crank over a couple revolutions. Oil coats the cylinder wall and kerosene goes into the carb.

Can stay like that for at least two years. That's the longest I've had between needing to use the genny.
 
monkeydelmagico said:
I store a generator by removing all fluids. Take out spark plug and put a few drops of oil in the hole. Drain carb float. disconect fuel hose and stick it in a can of kerosene. Slowly hand crank over a couple revolutions. Oil coats the cylinder wall and kerosene goes into the carb.

Can stay like that for at least two years. That's the longest I've had between needing to use the genny.
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Why kerosene?
 
Running on my generator now - day three. Ice storm came through. There is a pole with the top snapped off at the neighbors that affects probably three homes so we are low priority. I expect we'll be another five days with no power. A standby generator is looking better and better...
 
I work for a State Agency. We have back up generators at each location. They get tested / run once a month (we switch off from external to internal power for an hour or two).

Bottom line: If you have it, you really should know if it will work when you need it. There's really no way to be sure unless you use it periodically. Like someone earlier had said, a full tank gets less condensation compared to an empty tank. I like to keep a few gallons of gas on hand. I usually cycle it through my lawn equipment in order to be sure it's less than a year old.
 
boomerang said:
Running on my generator now - day three. Ice storm came through. There is a pole with the top snapped off at the neighbors that affects probably three homes so we are low priority. I expect we'll be another five days with no power. A standby generator is looking better and better...
Click to expand...

Ouch, we lost it for 14 hours on Sunday but that was it. Where are you at in MI?
 
Ortonville. Traveling on 75 right now and it looks like whole a different world. The trees out my way are all coated with ice and now snow on top of the ice
 
Thanks, guys. Had to get a long funnel to fill the oil so I just ran it tonight. 1st pull start, tested the plugs and then ran it dry. I've got fresh kerosene and may do that after Christmas.

Boomer, guess you won't be golfing with bummer any time soon.
 
boomerang said:
Ortonville. Traveling on 75 right now and it looks like whole a different world. The trees out my way are all coated with ice and now snow on top of the ice
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Howdy neighbor. I'm in Rochester Hills and was just at the edge of the outage map really. North got hit hard, I know Lake Orion is still out as well.

BTW, almost bought a house in downtown Ortonville (Church St) years ago, but the drive was too much.
 
iamwiz82 said:
Howdy neighbor. I'm in Rochester Hills and was just at the edge of the outage map really. North got hit hard, I know Lake Orion is still out as well.

BTW, almost bought a house in downtown Ortonville (Church St) years ago, but the drive was too much.
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Howdy back at ya. Be glad you didn't move here. Still no power. We're going to seriously consider moving to an area that has a more reliable means of power delivery when we return in the spring.
 
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