Help with portable whole house generator.

[Scott Clausen]

When I had an outage about 20 years ago that was forecast to last a week. I pick up whatever I could find at Lowes, brought it home and wired it into a empty 220V breaker. I turned off the main and back fed the house. I never gave it a thought as to whether it would "fry" anything. It later rusted up being stored in a damp location. If I had to do it again I would get one installed to run on natural gas. My local power utility buried all the lines in my neighborhood so I am hoping I can forgo the generator expense. For those that must use gas I recommend they find a non ethanol source and use fuel stabilizer treatment. It also helps to turn off the fuel valve and run it till it stops.

[Tom M King]

My maintenance regimen consists of keeping a spare carb close by the generator, running non-ethanol in it, and running all the gas out at the end of a use. It does get stored in a building. Last use was after Hurricane Isabel, and I can't even remember when that was. Time before that was Hurricane Fran.

[michael langman]

I stopped putting gas in the generator a few years back. If the power goes out I will fill the 5 gallons and use it. I got tired of draining gas every spring.

My generator is 26 years old, a homelite 4400 watt with the 8hp Brigg engine. I replaced the carburetor and fuel lines about 2 years ago for the first time. I have used the generator probably in 10 power outages, and do not run it unless the power goes out.

I use ethenol gas and add 1 ounce of seafoam, 1/2 ounce of marvel mystery oil and the usual amount of stabil to all of my gas in all of my equipment.

When I have to use the generator I put a 3 second burst of starter fluid itno the top end after removing the spark plug. It turns the engine over MUCH easier and usually starts on the second pull. Don't need a battery backup.