Folks, if you’re not in a fire hazard area, pull the spark arrestor on your generator ASAP. It makes a difference on small engines, big time.
Folks, if you’re not in a fire hazard area, pull the spark arrestor on your generator ASAP. It makes a difference on small engines, big time.
#RESIST
Tell me more....Originally Posted by LittleLebowski
I’ll do a pictorial tomorrow.
#RESIST
We just got out of an 82 hour outage in the same ice storm the @Spartan1980 is dealing with.
I have what I assume is the same 5500W Powermate with Yamaha. I bought it 12 or so years ago after a big storm at the old house and it has set with no fluids in my garage and had never been started. Our new house has underground power and has been fairly reliable, outages are usually in hours not days.
30 hours into this one I busted the generator out put oil in it and some gas and it pulled on the second pull. I’ve lost the manual and what I could find online was mainly about assembly and cord usage. It got put straight to work with no break in so hopefully it isn’t too damaged. I plan to change the oil at 10 hours for the first change.
We powered a fridge, freezer, lamp, charged phones and ran the heater blower one night. Temps were right around 32 and the house hovered at 55-60 so not too bad.
Once the electricians are back to a normal workload I’m getting a transfer switch installed ASAP. We are on a well and water was the only thing we were missing. If we’d had water I think we could have went weeks comfortably. I noticed someone mentioned some of the smaller generators not being able to handle a well pump so that may cause me to go shopping.
Sitting here unable to work because of high winds, and without power too. I'm writing this courtesy of a 100' extension cord running from one of my welders (which is also a 12KW gen) in through the front door and powering both my wireless router and my fridge.
I made the call this morning to price a manual transfer switch installation and a hookup from my welder's 220V outlet into my main panel. I'd have to kill some breakers to run the whole house, and currently unsure of whether my heat pump with electric backup strips can be run off the welder. I'm guessing I need to find a way to either kill the strips from coming on or switch them to propane instead.
Have a gas stove but an electric water heater. 220V well pump.
I used to want a whole-house generator, but I think I've decided it's just not worth the cost for now. Hopefully this installation will allow me to put one in one day without going backwards with different transfer switch, etc.
3500 Predator is running in my backyard. No load on it yet, just starting a break in on it. I'm impressed by how quiet it is.
Mine is a Model PM0645500 which was bought through Home Depot. I bought it in 2007 the day before the ice storm hit that year. These Yamaha engines are like granite, I seriously doubt you hurt yours not doing a breakin. I did the same and was running about a 30% load when I broke mine in. Check your air filter right now. I found that mine was disintegrating due to age when I noticed some of it on the ground below the air filter housing. That's the only "issue" I've had so far.
Mine is a PM0675700 I probably bought it at Home Depot. I had one less than a mile from the last house and was there ‘06-10. Thanks for the tip on the air filter. I still need to pull it out and drain the gas to “winterize” it again and will check the air filter then.
My Firman H08053 has a spark arrestor and it looks like an easy 2 bolts to remove. I will give this a shot, but not really sure how I can tell my generator is running faster/funnier than with it installed.
As a side note, my cheapo knock-off 2000w called a KIPOR is still running after 15 years. When it dies I will buy a Pred 3500W.
The spark arrestor needs periodic cleaning or it will indeed restrict the exhaust and weaken the engine.
#RESIST
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