How do you keep your generator ready for use? Fueled up with a fuel additive? Or empty with fuel nearby?

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

I keep mine fueled with a healthy dose of fuel stabilizer added. I also exercise it regularly. Don't just run it, load it down while it runs.

I keep my generator full with 91 octane gas with no ethanol. I add Sta-bil, start it up and then "choke" it to stall and turn off the gas when possible. I try to do that with all of my small engine equipment (both gas and 2-stroke) before storage.

BTW, That gas can next to it is full as well!

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paws for friendship

Filled with high test, seafoam as a stabilizer and carb cleaner.

"High test". You're showing your age there Bill!

Why high test?

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

Same here, starts right up all the time.

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Only difference Fool/Mule-ears

Hey, I used to work as a mechanic at a motorcycle dealership and we did quite a bit of work on various products, motorcycles, jet skis, generators, and atv's. Gas becomes a solid after time and will clog and then begin to consume a carburetor. Bikes will sit for long periods before they get used, weeks, months, even years. Sta-bil is popular especially with the boating crowd but am not sure how long this will prolong the life of the fuel. Gas tanks can however begin to rust if left empty for a long time. If the generator has a manual petcock I would suggest that you run the engine dry of gas by shutting off the petcock. Keep fuel in the tank but not in the carb. Keep some fresh gas handy. If you're like me the thing will sit for a long time till you need it, and you don't want to have to take the carb apart when you are sitting in the dark with the family. Fill the tank, run the engine dry, and if the gas in the tank sits for too long you drain it out, old gas has a specific nasty smell, you'll know it when you smell it.

I keep the tank about 1/8 full, with Stabil added to fuel. Run unit for 15 minutes every couple of months. I want it to start and run when trouble comes.............middle of the night...........cold stormy weather. I keep the fuel tank level low so all the gasoline can be run out. Stabil, Seafoam, or any other additive has a finite life, so I try to cycle it thru my machines. FWIW

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gone

Same as Grayfox does.

I keep the tank full with Stabil, I shut off the supply and let the carb and lines run dry. I've also installed a natural gas/propane adapter from US Carb. After it chokes out from shutting down the gas, I run it on natural gas for a few minutes. I run it every 8-10 weeks like this. I've got one of the Costco 8K Champions with remote start, ....

Generator Conversion Kits to Propane and Natural Gas.
NOT exactly what I have - http://www.costco.com/Champion-7500-...100126410.html

Eventually I'll be installing a 20K Generac units.

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Really? U saw it in Wikipedia?

i do what kozmic does and i run mine for about 30 min with 90 oct always keep them ready u just never know

Propane is the only way to go on a generator.

It never goes bad, and you don't have to worry about gas again.

Best advice I can give is even if you use gas with an additive- keep an extra carb on the shelf- never know when you might need it.

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Lost it all in a boat accident

Got rid of my gasoline powered, always having to look for a fuel source generator, and installed a propane unit.

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Sure you did

I keep gas in my generator with a fuel stabilizer added. I just ran it the other day with a load and charged the battery. I do that every other month or so. I've had that problem before when I had to free up a stuck carburetor float before I could use it. Now I shut off the fuel cock and let the gas burn out of the line and carburetor.
Also spare parts are handy to have. Last year I was at the hardware after an extended outage buying fuel filter, spark plug and air cleaner. Would have been handier to have parts at hand and lucky the store had power and was open.
Also good to have proper tools on hand. I found my old generator used reverse torx screws to hold the carburetor in place. Not a common tool to have and I now have a set of them.

For gas powered generators, or any other gas powered equipment as far as that goes, it's best not to let the fuel get too old, even with a fuel stabilizer.

Store it empty, run it 2 or 3 times a year, and replace the fuel in the cans annually. Put the stored fuel in your vehicles and buy fresh and add stabilizer.

The marine Stabil is more economical because you use only half as much as the regular Stabil for the same effect.

I keep mine connected to my LP tanks and it runs weekly for about 12 minutes. LUV IT................

Propane has to be delivered gas and diesel you can pick up. My propane tank is usually very low by the time they make their automatic delivery and when I call to have it topped off I never see them until they fell like delivering. I like a diesel, fuel is easy to get around here. Now I just need the money to buy one as their not cheap.

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Psalm 23:4

I keep my generator with only a couple tea cups of fuel in the tank. I generally run it once a month. With the onset of late fall / winter I stock up about 20 gallons of gasoline.

If the power goes out I fuel the generator up and plug it in. I have power restored in 5-10 minutes. I do agree that propane or better yet, natural gas is an option I will be looking into.

LTC

I keep Stabil in mine and run it on the first of every month for an 1/2 hour then top it off with fresh gas & stabil so the tank doesn't rust.

After Katrina and two weeks of not being able to even get out of the subdivision...out of gas, no phone, no electric. no water, blue tarp roof, etc., I said goodby to generators and hello to evacuating.

I am with the guys who say run it dry and keep rotating a fresh tank of non-ethanol gasoline with Sta-bil nearby. Gasoline in a tank turns to an expensive sticky gum after a while.

When I bought my Honda Inverter {generator with a fancy name so more people buy them} they advised I keep a product called Startron in the tank. They also recommended I run some Seafoam thru it about every third tank or so. More often if it sits a lot. Startron is the only additive approved by Honda or at least it was. Mine has electric start too and I trickle charge the battery every other month to keep it up.
As far as propane "never going bad"...sorry, it has it's problems too. The oil they add to it to give it that stink so you can detect a leak eventually pukes up the pressure regulator diaphragm and it wont start.

what do ya do when u run out of propane? i like gas can get anywhere car boat during Andrew we could pump it from the tank in the ground at the local gas station he propane is good also just saying my 2 cents

I make sure my natural gas bill is paid on time so they don't shut it off.

This will be the second winter for my 14 Kw Generac standby unit that runs on NG. Same fuzzy warm feeling as a stockpile of ammo.

I don't care if FEMA never shows up.

I was told by my equipment dealer guru to run high test in everything. So far I've had no problems with anything.

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Lou

Well I bought my Honda 2000 EU in Dec, 1999, and I operate it at least 30 minutes every month. I change oil and plugs every year usually near Thanksgiving time cause that is when I have the time. I also only use high test gasoline. My generator starts on the second pull of the rope every time for the last 13 plus years. I also take it hunting and camping with me. I would say if you do or did buy a generator then make sure to use it monthly. My brother has a Honda 1000 he hardly ever uses it but he always drains the fuel, runs it dry, and keeps fresh fuel nearby.

I spent 25 years as a mechanic for my city. Part of my job was keeping all our emergency generators running. We had everything from small units that could be hand carried up to 1200 cubic inch diesel monsters. I know a little about the subject.

To begin with, generators are a short term solution. Generally for a few hours up to maybe a week. Two weeks at the most. Resupply of fuel will be your biggest concern. Don't waste it by running the unit when not necessary.

Determine what absolutely needs to be run. Sure its nice to have a unit big enough to run your whole house. But do you really need to? The bigger the load, the higher the fuel comsumption. BTW: you'll probably become very popular with all your friends an neighbors.
Refrigerator and freezer to begin with. Certianly don't want your food supply spoiling. But even those don't need constant power. They can stay cool for a long time by themselves. Run the unit for one hour out of every four to maintain temperature. Check them every couple of hours and adjust the schedule as needed. Anything more than that is a waste fo fuel.
If its winter, heat would be nice. This is the only circumstance I can think of where running the generator 24/7 would be necessary.
Keeping up with the news is a good idea. But depending on the nature of the outage, TV and the internet may not be working either. A simple battery powered radio works for me.
Of course you will need a few lights in the rooms you're actually using. But not every light in the house.
In short, power only what you really need. Turn the generator off when you can for as long as you can. Even under a light load, as long as that engine is running, its burning fuel. You may not know how long the outage will last.

Some thoughts about fuel options:
Natural Gas: the absolute worst choice because you have no control over it. For a simple outage it'll work fine. However, in a real disaster such as tornado, flood, earthquake, etc, trees get up rooted and buildings damaged. Gas mains rupture and the valves are closed to control fires. Your generator may not run because someone, somewhere else has cut off your fuel supply.
Propane: Fine as long as the fuel holds out, but difficult to resupply if you run out.
Diesel: a pretty good choice and resupply should be fairly easy. The drawbacks are that diesel engines are heavy and generally too large to be truely portable. The smallest diesel units I've encountered were three cylinder industrial engines and you ain't gonna just pick 'em up and move them if you need to. Also, due to their size, most diesel generators have a much higher output than the average person really needs.
If you want to power the whole house, a small stationary diesel unit would be a good choice. However the biggest and most common mistake people make with diesel generators is getting too small of a fuel tank. This thing is going to burn alot of fuel. I highly recommend a minimum tank size of 50 gallons.
Gasoline: The best all around choice for the average home owner. I recommend a portable unit in the 5000 to 8,000 Watt range with at least a 5 gallon fuel tank. Most are set up to run about 12-16 hours at 3/4 output on a full tank of gas. With this you can run the fridge, freezer, a few lights and heat if needed. That's all I need to get by on.
Another good thing is that its just a simple lawn mower engine. Most of us can fix one with just a few hand tools if need be.

Of course these are just my own thoughts and opinions. YMMV.

I use stabil and regular 87 octane gas. My generator's tank is plastic, so I'm not worried about rust. I only put in about two gallons at a time when it's setting. I run it a couple times a year with a couple space heaters for a load. After running it I shut off the gas valve and let it die. I drain the tank and put in another two gallons fresh. The old gas goes into my old Ford tractor. I usually try to keep around 20 gallons of stabiled gas that I rotate pretty regular. So far, so good.

I just run drop cords to my refrigerators, sump pump and freezers and have cut and installed a heavy plug on my furnace supply wire.

I also try to keep spark plugs for all my small engines and I do have a can of ether if stuff doesn't want to start.

Hmm. I just got a 7000 watt gasoline generator. I keep 24 gallons of stabilized gasoline in my garage. I figure on running it at 50% load, or less, and running it half time, or less. I figure the gasoline I have on hand will last 4 to 6 days.

I got my Tri-fuel Generator Conversion Kit from Century Fuel Products at Gas To Propane Conversion Kits For Generators. It was cheap and good quality. I could run on propane, natural gas and still on gasoline. Running on an alternative fuel is so much better than gasoline.

Followed the link and understand how it works. Curious as to if it works. I know operating works trucks running dual fuel CNG and gasoline developed timing issues due to different burn rates. Never knew if it was a result of the fuels or perhaps maintenance issues.