dpb wrote:

Old and not too bright wrote:
We have a maintenance contract provided by the seller. Every 6
months, the tech changes oil, oil filter, spark plugs, and air filter;
checks the sealed battery, battery charger, output voltage, output
frequency, and connections.

The service has been unreliable inasmuch as it always requires me to
call them to remind them that the service is overdue. This has
happened right from the beginning in 2005. They're always late.

But I've been afraid to fuss because, who else would perform these
services? I'm too old and wouldn't have a clue about the electrical
checks anyway. Do you think that an electrician would perform these
tasks, or is the changing of oil, plugs, filters beneath them? Yellow
pages advertises electricians who work with generators, but I think
that this refers to inside work on the generator's circuit breaker box
when needed.

Well, if as long as they come even if called and do what is needed is
that really completely unacceptable? Granted, ought to be automagic but
if it gets the job done is the easy way out.

If you really want to look for a change, try giving one of those outfits
a call and ask; certainly nobody here can guess what any one there would
be willing to do.

I'd wonder unless this genset is running a lot that the mechanical
maintenance isn't far more frequent than needed other than the
operational checks; there would seem to be almost no actual hours on
most standby generators in six months. If it's other than standby of
course, that's something else.

--

I would agree that the maintenance seems a bit excessive time wise, once
a year should be quite sufficient for a gaseous fueled standby unit
accumulating few hours beyond weekly or monthly exercise cycles. If the
area has frequent power outages causing the unit to accumulate operating
hours at a fair rate, six months might be reasonable.

As for the service performed, a couple quarts of oil, a filter and a
spark plug are perhaps $20, so it makes sense to just change them
proactively vs. try to keep track of engine hours and schedule a return
visit when you think the unit may have accumulated enough operating
hours to be at the next service interval.