In article ,
"jack" wrote:

question on 3 year old generator (self-starter, battery equipped) stored
unused for 3 years
....
anything else that I am not asking, but should ask ?

Are you considering buying this thing, or you already own it?

Could be a bear to get running again, could have issues making power as
well. If you are considering buying it, consider those things very
carefully and calibrate your offer low enough.

If you already own it, nothing to do but look it over for mouse & wasp
nests (removing those and replacing any chewed wires), change the oil,
try putting a little gas in, and see if you can get it to go. Perhaps
put some oil (a small spoonful or less) down the spark plug hole(s)
first to help with the likely pitting and flash rust and certain lack of
adequate lubrication as you start up there. If you can't get it to go,
take off the carburetor and clean it. If you get it running, see if it
makes power - if not, you may have to flash the generator. Letting stuff
sit without much more through preparation than "draining the gas" is a
recipe for trouble when you go to start up again.

If looking for "how to do it right" both fuel stabilizer and running all
your equipment with gasoline or diesel engines for an hour once a month
is good. Yes, it uses some fuel - but much less costly than the time,
parts and frustration you may go through if you don't. You can get away
with less often, you may shoot yourself in the foot if you do it for
less time (things need to get hot enough for long enough to boil off any
accumulated water). Local climate may well affect what you can get away
with (dry desert obviously will have less issues with condensate in the
oil than wet/humid areas.)

3-6 months at a very bare minimum. Personally I consider 6 months much
too long.

If intentionally arranging for long term storage, the first best option
is sell the thing and avoid storing it. If not that, then a much more
through preparation of the engine helps - running all gas out of it,
oiling the cylinders, changing and perhaps overfilling the crankcase
oil, covering intake and exhaust with aluminum foil - with a subsequent
need to undo all those things at the far end of storage. Generator
excitation loss is not something you can prevent, so about all you can
do to help with that if the thing cannot be run regularly is to document
how to fix it ahead of time, and include that in the unstoring
instructions - then make sure those don't get eaten by mice.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by