Great tips! I’m a power lineman for a living. Whenever we work anywhere especially during storm restoration. First thing we do is listen for generators that are on. We check all wires down & any wires we are working on for voltage. We wear our rubber gloves whenever we touch any wire. If we find an unsafe condition we try to find the source of the back feed & pull their electric meter. Then tell the customer their equipment could have killed someone. I’ve only witnessed this two times in 37 years but it does happen. Thanks for mentioning this. This is why only a licensed electrician should be allowed to tap into your home’s power equipment.
I also use heavy duty extension cords, but I'm not super sure they are necessary. Houses with 15 amp circuits are wired with 14 gauge wire, but that's solid conductor and you are not supposed to load it above 12 amps continuously. My generator connections tend to have branches, so I choose heavy duty just to be safe.
Good move - I always prefer to air on the side of caution when using extension cords and a generator. It’s better to have slightly more capacity in an extension cord than you might need, to prevent any potential heating of the cord or a fire risk. It’s not that much more expensive to buy a lower gauge cord. Thanks for watching!
Another thing is to make sure you do oil changes on your generator, many are at the 20-30 hour mark and it matters. Generators aren’t cheap so be good to it. Also don’t forget to clean the air filter.
I have a GP2500i. If you over fill the gas tank the vent on the gas cap stops working and the engine will stop in a few min. You need to loosen the cap a little and let it run a few min to let the vent dry out. Maybe they have fixed this by now my gen is 3 years old. When you put relatively cold gas in a hot gen the gas will expand. So you need to leave space in the top of the tank for this.
Generally speaking it’s still unsafe to do that. It might work but you need to be very very careful of carbon monoxide buildup in the garage. It’s almost best to get a battery backup / solar generator like the Bluetti ac180 or ac200L and use that to run the fridge and a light or 2 during the actual hurricane and then immediately after the gale force winds start the generator with a table on top of it or some shelter to protect it from direct rain. Truthfully despite what some people do you shouid not operate the generator in direct drenching downpour rain or a hurricane - it’s just not safe or good for the unit. I hope that somewhat helps and thanks for watching!
@@kenlambert445 Just make sure there's good airflow. 1st, so it doesn't overheat (you'd be surprised how much heat they put out !). And 2nd, the CO detector may shut down your unit if it's too enclosed.
@@firstjohn3123 That's a great point. I planned to keep the front & exhaust side open, but concerned about wind blowing rain/snow inside. Maybe I can rig it up like a rainfly across the front and back.
Totally agree - ethanol is the worst! Unfortunately where I am we only have ethanol mixed fuel - there is no pure gasoline, so stabilizer is an absolute must. I also try to run only on propane as much as possible. Thanks for watching!
@@tm502010 there are stations that sell non ethanol containing gasoline in the last two cities that I have lived in. There should be somewhere that sells it because no one who knows about small engines puts ethanol in their small engines.
@@tm502010 High octane is best (least amount of alcohol), but otherwise simply add a dose of Stabil and you'll be fine. Then drain the system when stored to prevent varnish inside the engine. Generators should be at least cycled (turned over, even if not ran) once a month, and run every 6 months MINIMUM. Add a load as well, a few hundred watts.
@@73leo73 that’s a fair point but it depends how long of a run you need with the extension cord. Most people may need a 50-100’ cord depending on where they place the generator so I always try to be conservative and get a slightly more robust cord . Thanks for watching!
Hurricane Helene impactee here, just went through this, you want the generator far away from your dwelling place, that distance creates voltage drop, that distance is like an additional load, when you have bigger wire ie #10 it's like a lessor load, less heat. It wouldn't surprise me if a 100ft distance along with a space heater wouldn't trip a 15 amp gen breaker.
It actually is! I’d the exhaust points towards plastic siding it will melt it. The plastic folding table would be about a foot higher than the top of the generator and no exhaust points to the top so you’ll be totally fine! Thanks for watching!
Great tips! I’m a power lineman for a living. Whenever we work anywhere especially during storm restoration. First thing we do is listen for generators that are on. We check all wires down & any wires we are working on for voltage. We wear our rubber gloves whenever we touch any wire. If we find an unsafe condition we try to find the source of the back feed & pull their electric meter. Then tell the customer their equipment could have killed someone. I’ve only witnessed this two times in 37 years but it does happen.
Thanks for mentioning this. This is why only a licensed electrician should be allowed to tap into your home’s power equipment.
@@johnclyne6350 thank you and thank you for the info!
All good advise
Thank you and thanks for watching!
How about a video on quality extension cords and reels, best bang for your buck etc…. Black Friday coming up and both to use personally and for gifts!
That’s a great idea! I will definitely do something about them!
Thanks for watching!
Most RV supply places have good stuff, all the way to 50A cables.
I also use heavy duty extension cords, but I'm not super sure they are necessary. Houses with 15 amp circuits are wired with 14 gauge wire, but that's solid conductor and you are not supposed to load it above 12 amps continuously. My generator connections tend to have branches, so I choose heavy duty just to be safe.
Good move - I always prefer to air on the side of caution when using extension cords and a generator. It’s better to have slightly more capacity in an extension cord than you might need, to prevent any potential heating of the cord or a fire risk. It’s not that much more expensive to buy a lower gauge cord.
Thanks for watching!
Great video
Thanks and thanks for watching!!
Another thing is to make sure you do oil changes on your generator, many are at the 20-30 hour mark and it matters. Generators aren’t cheap so be good to it. Also don’t forget to clean the air filter.
Well said! Oil is cheap engines are expensive! Small engines need frequent oil changes.
Thanks for watching!
In the words of a great mechanic (scotty kilmer), oil is cheap. Engines aren't.
@@dgunearthed7859 well said!
I have a GP2500i. If you over fill the gas tank the vent on the gas cap stops working and the engine will stop in a few min. You need to loosen the cap a little and let it run a few min to let the vent dry out. Maybe they have fixed this by now my gen is 3 years old. When you put relatively cold gas in a hot gen the gas will expand. So you need to leave space in the top of the tank for this.
That’s great info to know!!! Thank you for sharing and thanks for watching!
During a hurricane it is raining and high winds (would blow a table away).
Could you run it in the garage with the large door open?
Generally speaking it’s still unsafe to do that. It might work but you need to be very very careful of carbon monoxide buildup in the garage. It’s almost best to get a battery backup / solar generator like the Bluetti ac180 or ac200L and use that to run the fridge and a light or 2 during the actual hurricane and then immediately after the gale force winds start the generator with a table on top of it or some shelter to protect it from direct rain. Truthfully despite what some people do you shouid not operate the generator in direct drenching downpour rain or a hurricane - it’s just not safe or good for the unit.
I hope that somewhat helps and thanks for watching!
I found an old, large folding dog cage for free. I'll put my generator inside that with a tarp over it to protect it from rain and snow outside.
Great idea!
@@kenlambert445 Just make sure there's good airflow. 1st, so it doesn't overheat (you'd be surprised how much heat they put out !). And 2nd, the CO detector may shut down your unit if it's too enclosed.
@@firstjohn3123 That's a great point. I planned to keep the front & exhaust side open, but concerned about wind blowing rain/snow inside. Maybe I can rig it up like a rainfly across the front and back.
Don’t put ethanol gas in your small engines.
Totally agree - ethanol is the worst! Unfortunately where I am we only have ethanol mixed fuel - there is no pure gasoline, so stabilizer is an absolute must. I also try to run only on propane as much as possible.
Thanks for watching!
What else is there? Nothing else is sold in America.
@@tm502010 there are stations that sell non ethanol containing gasoline in the last two cities that I have lived in. There should be somewhere that sells it because no one who knows about small engines puts ethanol in their small engines.
@@tm502010 High octane is best (least amount of alcohol), but otherwise simply add a dose of Stabil and you'll be fine. Then drain the system when stored to prevent varnish inside the engine.
Generators should be at least cycled (turned over, even if not ran) once a month, and run every 6 months MINIMUM. Add a load as well, a few hundred watts.
Most electronic devices are already on. The switch is only connected to the microprocessor that tells it to start up. So you can get an ark anyway.
Good point. Thanks for watching!
Justrite Fuel cans
Thanks for watching!
A #14 cord will easily handle the load of a toaster, hair drier or space heater. #10 cord is way over kill.
@@73leo73 that’s a fair point but it depends how long of a run you need with the extension cord. Most people may need a 50-100’ cord depending on where they place the generator so I always try to be conservative and get a slightly more robust cord .
Thanks for watching!
Hurricane Helene impactee here, just went through this, you want the generator far away from your dwelling place, that distance creates voltage drop, that distance is like an additional load, when you have bigger wire ie #10 it's like a lessor load, less heat. It wouldn't surprise me if a 100ft distance along with a space heater wouldn't trip a 15 amp gen breaker.
I only use 10 gauge. I prefer to be extra safe
Ah yes keep the generator away form the plastic siding of the house but putting a plastic table over top is totally fine. BRUH.
It actually is! I’d the exhaust points towards plastic siding it will melt it. The plastic folding table would be about a foot higher than the top of the generator and no exhaust points to the top so you’ll be totally fine!
Thanks for watching!
Bad fuel will kill you 😂
Hahah this is true! Thanks for watching!