I have a new Troy-bilt generator that holds 5 gallons (according to
web site) or 4.5 gallons (manual). Anyway, I put in one can (2 1/2
gallons ) and part of another can, same size. The fuel gauge shows
about 1/4 full. I am not experienced at filling gas cans and
probably did not get them full when I bought gas because I was afraid
I would overfill the containers and have a mess. But there still
should be more than 1/4 tank of gas in there. Anybody else have one
of these things? How accurate are the gauges usually? Just looking
"down" into the tank it looks like it's almost full.

On Jun 7, 3:36*pm, Dottie wrote:
I have a new Troy-bilt generator that holds 5 gallons (according to
web site) or 4.5 gallons (manual). *Anyway, I put in one can (2 1/2
gallons ) and part of another can, same size. *The fuel gauge shows
about 1/4 full. * I am not experienced at filling gas cans and
probably did not get them full when I bought gas because I was afraid
I would overfill the containers and have a mess. *But there still
should be more than 1/4 tank of gas in there. *Anybody else have one
of these things? *How accurate are the gauges usually? *Just looking
"down" into the tank it looks like it's almost full.

Maybe a bad gauge, look inside the tank. But if you are not going to
use it why are you filling it, gas goes bad, and I hope you have a
fuel shutoff valve and run it dry.

On Jun 7, 5:07 pm, ransley wrote:
On Jun 7, 3:36 pm, Dottie wrote:

I have a new Troy-bilt generator that holds 5 gallons (according to
web site) or 4.5 gallons (manual). Anyway, I put in one can (2 1/2
gallons ) and part of another can, same size. The fuel gauge shows
about 1/4 full. I am not experienced at filling gas cans and
probably did not get them full when I bought gas because I was afraid
I would overfill the containers and have a mess. But there still
should be more than 1/4 tank of gas in there. Anybody else have one
of these things? How accurate are the gauges usually? Just looking
"down" into the tank it looks like it's almost full.

Maybe a bad gauge, look inside the tank. But if you are not going to
use it why are you filling it, gas goes bad, and I hope you have a
fuel shutoff valve and run it dry.


I have STABIL .... which everyone assures me will keep the gas good
for a year. I was going to fill the tank now because I know the price
of gas is going up. I have a new siphon so I can move it to the lawn
mower if we get lucky and don't have a power outage. I probably
didn't get as much gas in there as I thought ... one of my neighbors
has experience with using generators so when he gets home maybe he can
figure out what is going on. Thanks though.

Dottie wrote:
On Jun 7, 5:07 pm, ransley wrote:
On Jun 7, 3:36 pm, Dottie wrote:

I have a new Troy-bilt generator that holds 5 gallons (according to
web site) or 4.5 gallons (manual). Anyway, I put in one can (2 1/2
gallons ) and part of another can, same size. The fuel gauge shows
about 1/4 full. I am not experienced at filling gas cans and
probably did not get them full when I bought gas because I was afraid
I would overfill the containers and have a mess. But there still
should be more than 1/4 tank of gas in there. Anybody else have one
of these things? How accurate are the gauges usually? Just looking
"down" into the tank it looks like it's almost full.
Maybe a bad gauge, look inside the tank. But if you are not going to
use it why are you filling it, gas goes bad, and I hope you have a
fuel shutoff valve and run it dry.


I have STABIL .... which everyone assures me will keep the gas good
for a year. I was going to fill the tank now because I know the price
of gas is going up. I have a new siphon so I can move it to the lawn
mower if we get lucky and don't have a power outage. I probably
didn't get as much gas in there as I thought ... one of my neighbors
has experience with using generators so when he gets home maybe he can
figure out what is going on. Thanks though.

Obviously bad gas gauge.

I keep my generator full, use Stabil and after 2 years, use gas in lawn
mowers. Oxidation is what causes gas to go bad so you are better off
not to have much air in the tank. Besides when power goes out, weather
is usually bad and you don't want to deal with potentially spilling gas.

Also every 2-3 months I crank up generator and run for a few minutes.

"Frank" frankdotlogullo@comcastperiodnet wrote in message
. ..
Dottie wrote:
On Jun 7, 5:07 pm, ransley wrote:
On Jun 7, 3:36 pm, Dottie wrote:

I have a new Troy-bilt generator that holds 5 gallons (according to
web site) or 4.5 gallons (manual). Anyway, I put in one can (2 1/2
gallons ) and part of another can, same size. The fuel gauge shows
about 1/4 full. I am not experienced at filling gas cans and
probably did not get them full when I bought gas because I was afraid
I would overfill the containers and have a mess. But there still
should be more than 1/4 tank of gas in there. Anybody else have one
of these things? How accurate are the gauges usually? Just looking
"down" into the tank it looks like it's almost full.
Maybe a bad gauge, look inside the tank. But if you are not going to
use it why are you filling it, gas goes bad, and I hope you have a
fuel shutoff valve and run it dry.


I have STABIL .... which everyone assures me will keep the gas good
for a year. I was going to fill the tank now because I know the price
of gas is going up. I have a new siphon so I can move it to the lawn
mower if we get lucky and don't have a power outage. I probably
didn't get as much gas in there as I thought ... one of my neighbors
has experience with using generators so when he gets home maybe he can
figure out what is going on. Thanks though.

Obviously bad gas gauge.

I keep my generator full, use Stabil and after 2 years, use gas in lawn
mowers. Oxidation is what causes gas to go bad so you are better off not
to have much air in the tank. Besides when power goes out, weather is
usually bad and you don't want to deal with potentially spilling gas.

Also every 2-3 months I crank up generator and run for a few minutes.

Maybe a dumb question, but if gas with Stabil starts to reach the 2-year
point and the generator is almost full of gas, how do you get rid of it?

Dottie,

How much did you pay for the gas? That should tell you how much gas you
had in the gas cans. Sounds like you bought around 5 gal of gas at about
$4/gal so you should have spent $20 or so. If you only bought 1/4 of a tank
you would have spent around $5.
I'd bet the fuel gauge is no good.

Dave M.

On Jun 7, 5:27*pm, "Dimitrios Paskoudniakis"
wrote:
"Frank" frankdotlogullo@comcastperiodnet wrote in message

. ..





Dottie wrote:
On Jun 7, 5:07 pm, ransley wrote:
On Jun 7, 3:36 pm, Dottie wrote:

I have a new Troy-bilt generator that holds 5 gallons (according to
web site) or 4.5 gallons (manual). *Anyway, I put in one can (2 1/2
gallons ) and part of another can, same size. *The fuel gauge shows
about 1/4 full. * I am not experienced at filling gas cans and
probably did not get them full when I bought gas because I was afraid
I would overfill the containers and have a mess. *But there still
should be more than 1/4 tank of gas in there. *Anybody else have one
of these things? *How accurate are the gauges usually? *Just looking
"down" into the tank it looks like it's almost full.
Maybe a bad gauge, look inside the tank. But if you are not going to
use it why are you filling it, gas goes bad, and I hope you have a
fuel shutoff valve and run it dry.

I have STABIL .... which everyone assures me will keep the gas good
for a year. *I was going to fill the tank now because I know the price
of gas is going up. *I have a new siphon so I can move it to the lawn
mower if we get lucky and don't have a power outage. *I probably
didn't get as much gas in there as I thought ... one of my neighbors
has experience with using generators so when he gets home maybe he can
figure out what is going on. *Thanks though.

Obviously bad gas gauge.

I keep my generator full, use Stabil and after 2 years, use gas in lawn
mowers. *Oxidation is what causes gas to go bad so you are better off not
to have much air in the tank. *Besides when power goes out, weather is
usually bad and you don't want to deal with potentially spilling gas.

Also every 2-3 months I crank up generator and run for a few minutes.

Maybe a dumb question, but if gas with Stabil starts to reach the 2-year
point and the generator is almost full of gas, how do you get rid of it?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Siphon it out and use in a lawnmower.

On Jun 7, 3:36*pm, Dottie wrote:
I have a new Troy-bilt generator that holds 5 gallons (according to
web site) or 4.5 gallons (manual). *Anyway, I put in one can (2 1/2
gallons ) and part of another can, same size. *The fuel gauge shows
about 1/4 full. * I am not experienced at filling gas cans and
probably did not get them full when I bought gas because I was afraid
I would overfill the containers and have a mess. *But there still
should be more than 1/4 tank of gas in there. *Anybody else have one
of these things? *How accurate are the gauges usually? *Just looking
"down" into the tank it looks like it's almost full.

Stabil, dream on, if gas gets to the carb and it dries out it gums up
the carb, the day you need it it might not start. Plus gas gets weak
over time noticably at 1 yr, some of the volitile vapors evaporate
directly through plastic. Best is keep it empty and keep gas in a can
and cycle it into the car at 6 mo. Syphon it, run it dry.

"Dottie" wrote in message
...
On Jun 7, 5:07 pm, ransley wrote:
On Jun 7, 3:36 pm, Dottie wrote:

I have a new Troy-bilt generator that holds 5 gallons (according to
web site) or 4.5 gallons (manual). Anyway, I put in one can (2 1/2
gallons ) and part of another can, same size. The fuel gauge shows
about 1/4 full. I am not experienced at filling gas cans and
probably did not get them full when I bought gas because I was afraid
I would overfill the containers and have a mess. But there still
should be more than 1/4 tank of gas in there. Anybody else have one
of these things? How accurate are the gauges usually? Just looking
"down" into the tank it looks like it's almost full.

Maybe a bad gauge, look inside the tank. But if you are not going to
use it why are you filling it, gas goes bad, and I hope you have a
fuel shutoff valve and run it dry.


I have STABIL .... which everyone assures me will keep the gas good
for a year.

Everyone is wrong. I use it also.
I start my generator every month. It gets harder each month to start, and
after six months I empty it out and fill with fresh. It probably would
start eventually after a year, but it is just too hard.

In article ,
frankdotlogullo@comcastperiodnet (Frank) says...

Oxidation is what causes gas to go bad so you are better off
not to have much air in the tank.

Gas goes bad for a lot of reasons. Sta-Bil is an antibacterial agent
that keeps goo from growing in condensate. The ubiquitous E10 gasoline
they sell nowadays separates into ethanol and gasoline, and has a
tendency not to run. It also is worse about growing goo than straight
gasoline. Volatile fractions will evaporate out of the gasoline over
time, resulting in very hard starting in cold weather. Gasoline sold in
the winter has more volatile fractions than gasoline sold in the summer.

Save your money on Sta-Bil, and just pour left over gasoline into your
car every six months.

Never store engines with gasoline in the tank. Small engine carburetors
are open to the air. Gasoline will evaporate out of the carburetor,
leaving gum deposits that will prevent the carburetor from operating.
Run the generator empty, then drain the last few drops out of the
carburetor bowl. Remove the spark plug, squirt a couple tablespoons of
light oil (3-in-1, not WD-40) into the cylinder, rotate the cylinder
several times to distribute the oil, and replace the spark plug. Bag
the exhaust and air cleaner with plastic and rubber bands to keep bugs
out of the engine. If it has run enough to build up acid in the oil,
change the oil. If you have a dry location, store it in the same
shipping container it came in. If you have damp or humid conditions,
bag the generator in plastic with 5 lbs of activated silica gel
desiccant.

--
For email, replace firstnamelastinitial
with my first name and last initial.

On Jun 8, 4:25*pm, "Ted" wrote:
"Dottie" wrote in message

...





On Jun 7, 5:07 pm, ransley wrote:
On Jun 7, 3:36 pm, Dottie wrote:

I have a new Troy-bilt generator that holds 5 gallons (according to
web site) or 4.5 gallons (manual). *Anyway, I put in one can (2 1/2
gallons ) and part of another can, same size. *The fuel gauge shows
about 1/4 full. * I am not experienced at filling gas cans and
probably did not get them full when I bought gas because I was afraid
I would overfill the containers and have a mess. *But there still
should be more than 1/4 tank of gas in there. *Anybody else have one
of these things? *How accurate are the gauges usually? *Just looking
"down" into the tank it looks like it's almost full.

Maybe a bad gauge, look inside the tank. But if you are not going to
use it why are you filling it, gas goes bad, and I hope you have a
fuel shutoff valve and run it dry.

I have STABIL .... which everyone assures me will keep the gas good
for a year.

Everyone is wrong. *I use it also.
I start my generator every month. *It gets harder each month to start, and
after six months I empty it out and fill with fresh. *It probably would
start eventually after a year, but it is just too hard.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Everybody is wrong, not true, you only need to start a gen every 6
months and hook up a load to keep the field magnatized. Why waste time
emptying it or risking varnishing the carb up, best is leave it empty,
and only test with enough gas for the test.