Jim Dunmyer said the following to Alec Cameron on the subject of
HELP HOME GENERATOR (27 Jan 98  08:11:13)
 > I would not use a permanent point, 'cos if the house burned [for
 > what ever
 > reason] then the Insurance assessor or the Electric Light Co
 > inspector, might
 > report "unauthorised, non- complying alteration to house wiring".
 JD> I probably sound like a broken record, but if you have a standby
 JD> generator, it's imperative that you test it on a regular basis.
 JD> My
 JD> practice is to run the generator, with a 1500 watt heater plugged in,
 JD> for an hour or so, once per month. It has Sta-Bil in the gas and will
 JD> have the fuel turned over at least once every 6 months.
Turning over the fuel is a great idea. The first batch of fuel I used
during the ice storm blackout had been in the tank about 9 mths and was
really very poor performing. It was about 1/2 a tank so I had topped it
up from the fresh fuel batch but the engine still ran quite rough.
I read that old fuel tends to burn with a slightly different chemistry
so that it leaves a varnish type coating behind in the engine. That info
made a lot of sense when I experienced the rough running first hand.
Squirting some oil into the plug hole and turning the engine over once
to coat the piston wouldn't hurt either before actually starting it.
... Ice Storm of the Century refugee.
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