In ,
Stormin Mormon typed:
:: You know, that's a thought. The crazy speed may
:: well be a problem with the governor. It's a good
:: idea to take the motor cover off, and clean that
:: all out.
::
:: I've read that typical consumer small engine is
:: designed for 200 hours. Running all day and all
:: night will wear them out fastly. I've found that an
:: hour of furnace before bed will get me through
:: till morning.
::
:: --
:: Christopher A. Young
:: Learn more about Jesus
:: www.lds.org
:: .
::
::
:: "jamesgangnc"
:: wrote in message news:1c5cab04-c824-45bb-9915-
::
:: You don't mention the brand or style specifics but many of
:: the basic
:: generators have a mechanical governor that controls rpm
:: which in turn
:: controls the frequency and voltage. They are often levers,
:: springs,
:: vanes, that sort of thing. I've had to clean and adjust
:: mine in the
:: past.
::
:: You know those basic generators don't have a particularly
:: long life
:: expectancy? Maybe you don't care and will just buy a new
:: one when
:: that one wears out. I run mine during the day but I shut
:: it down when
:: we go to bed. But I'm in NC and the house will usually
:: hold a
:: tolerable temp over night. And the firdge is ok because no
:: one is
:: opening it. It may start to get cold by morning but then
:: I'm up and
:: can run the generator and furnace.

Heck, I have one of those with a B&S engine & 5500 watts steady output max,
and broke the 200 hour mark during the great "Ice Storm of '98" alone. I run
it for about 20 minutes almost every weekend while I'm in my shop and use
the generac switch for isolation from the grid. It's got to be at nearly 800
hours by now counting the several times I've used it for emergency power,
portable power on a wagon, etc. etc. etc.. I know of many others around me
that are the same residential quality and none of them have quit due to
wearing out. One neghbor had to flash the generator part, but it's quick and
easy to do.
I don't know where that 200 hours of runtime comes from unless it means
unpacked and never gets any PM done to it. They're the same engines/systems
used for lawn tractors, mowers, all kinds of things and there's no such
warning on those either. I have one lawn tractor that the meter shows over
1,000 hours on it. It's a B&S engine too. As for the generator parts,
there's so little to them that there's almost nothing to wear out to speak
of. Having to flash it back into service isn't too unusual, but it's
normally not more than a half hour's time at the most to do it. I haven't
yet known one to need flashing more than once. That's what happens when you
never run them nor do any PM on them. PM is a lot cheaper and less
irritating than a break-down, which definitely can happen if you just store
it and forget it.

HTH,

Twayne`