Especially at remote sites where power lines are subject to falling ice, falling trees, and yes, even sometimes falling power poles themselves, a generator is a great insurance policy. That is, if it’ll start, and if it’ll keep running when it’s needed.
If your generator gives you trouble, assuming the battery’s OK, the culprit is likely to be the gasoline, or the diesel fuel. Let’s take those two fuels in order.
Gasoline spoils with age. Sure, top tier gasolines have really good additives, like Techron for Chevron gas and Shell’s V-Power Nitro Plus. Still, stored gasoline does go bad over time.
If the gas in your generator’s tank contains ethanol, you may be in trouble. Gasoline with ethanol can deteriorate in just 3 to 6 months due to evaporation of some of its chemistry, and due to oxidation. Plus, ethanol can absorb water right out of the air! Gasoline without ethanol is typically good for a full 6 months. With a good gasoline stabilizer like Stabil and sealed storage containers you can typically get up to three years of storage life.
Diesel fuel is different and has its own storage problems. If you can keep it free from water and water vapor, it can last from 6 to 12 months. Even at that, it’s best to treat diesel fuel with biocides and stabilizers. Believe it or not, tiny microorganisms can take up residence in diesel fuel. Bacteria and fungi are just waiting to move in and grow in the bottom of your diesel tank where a little bit of water in the bottom meets the stored diesel fuel.
Of course you replace the fuel and air filters in your generator at the appropriate intervals, don’t you. And then there’s the generator’s oil. Oil can become stale even if the number of hours your generator runs is really small. Exercising your generator – running it under a load – is an important part of generator maintenance. If your generator has an automatic “exerciser,” that’s a plus – but if it runs without a load on it you’re not really testing it under real-world conditions.
Back to the generator’s oil. Modern synthetic oils have much greater “lubricity” than older oils, and can make your generator run cooler, more smoothly, and start more easily. Check with your generator’s manufacturer and follow their guidance about oil. If a synthetic is right for your generator, it’ll be a “slick” deal! Here’s to staying on the air when the lights go out! Here’s to more power for you!!