You’ve probably heard the guy who said he’d bring his generator to Field Day and then at the last moment reported, ‘It won’t start.’ Likely either he left the gas in there too long and it fouled the carburetor or it’s an old one used for many years and the spark plug is dirty. Oil lasts a long time, especially the new synthetic type, but it’s a good idea to change it once in a while. I try to change mine every year.
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Shown here is the three hundred dollar generator from Harbor Freight (currently $500 including Bidenflation), a 3kW model with both 240 and 12 Volt outlets in addition to 120 VAC. (Pull start.)
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The hardest part of changing the oil is tipping the generator to pour it out the fill hole and having a wide enough pan to catch all the drips. It’s also a trick to put the oil back in because the fill hole is kind of under the control panel – have to tip the generator again.
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Did you ever think there might be a problem shutting down the generator and whether it might make a difference whether you disconnected the load first? This notice (above) says it’ll damage the generator if the load remains.
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Just plug all the radios and Astron power supplies in one side and all the lights and fans the other. Not according to this warning sticker. You’re supposed to at least make an attempt to balance the loads on the 2 phases of 120 outlets. Hint: You can see the problem by monitoring the 2 phases of 120 (a Voltmeter on both sides of output) and then loading one side a lot more than the other. How to do that? Plug a 9 Amp vacuum cleaner in one side and measure the voltage on the other. (Your old Kenwood 520 might not like 142 VAC input.)
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So you’ve changed the oil and ready to run. Might want to change the gas too as it gets ‘old’ after a few months. At least use up last year’s gas before topping it up with fresh. And never put that alcohol fuel in these small engines. They’re cheap and don’t necessarily use the newer alcohol resistant gaskets like in your car. There’s another problem. Alcohol fuel will absorb a little water condensate. Plain 100% gas won’t absorb the water and as a result your generator won’t run right. Cough, cough. Pour the old 100% gas in your car gas tank (where you have the 10% alcohol fuel).
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Here’s the problem changing oil (yellow screw cap beneath generator control panel). Two people or a balancing act, one hand tipping the gen up, and the other pouring oil. Oops. Spilled some on the garage floor.
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Here’s the situation with an unbalanced load on the Harbor Freight generator, a 9 Amp canister vacuum drawing 6A while ‘idling’ (without a hand over the nozzle), about 700 Watts worth, and the ‘other side’ goes to 124 VAC, not so bad (122 V load voltage).
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The AC frequency changed from 62 cps to 61 cps under load.
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Good luck on Field Day.