Fuel to use in a Generator for emergencies

[Wolfala]

I recently got a Generac GP7500E 7.5 KW gasoline generator.



I know enough about airplane engines from ownership to be very dangerous, but generators is new territory.

The whole point of having the thing is so it can run when you need it to; with AVGAS its a no brainer because it has a shelf life of years. But the garbage we put in our cars - we'd be lucky if it lasted 3 weeks. I'm also not a fan of having to rebuild a carburator every 6 months because of the crap regular gas will put into it if you let it sit. So the question is this: for something that is going to be sitting standby for a very long time with runs every week to keep the parts lubricated, does it make sense from a maintenance standpoint to keep AVGAS in it for those purposes? And then when you need to run it for real you put the stuff with all the bad crap in it through it - and when yr done run the bad stuff out and put avgas back in for the storage period?

Simply put, I don't want to keep a lot of fuel in storage if it is going to go bad every couple of months and cause me a real maintenance headache down the line.

[Xtirp8r]

Use a fuel stabiliser. You can extend the useful life of a tank of petrol up to a year.

Also, keep the tank full. This stops condensation forming in the tank.

If your fuel has been sitting in the tank for a few months, drain out about a third and top up with fresh fuel. This will replace some of the volatiles that have evaporated.

Never use fuel with ethanol in it: you'll get phase separation after a while, causing a layer of water to sit at the bottom of the tank which attracts more ethanol. This mix is what goes first into your engine- basically a corrosion inducing degreaser.

Storing your generator dry is not good for it. It's best to keep all the gaskets and rubbers wet to stop shrinkage and cracking.

I can't see any problem with storing your generator with a tank full of avgas, though I'd be wary of running too much of it through it. Doesn't avgas still have lead in it?

[Wolfala]

I would use fuel with no ethanol if it were sold. But smog legislation has replaced mtbe with ethanol as the oxygenate.

[homersipes]

I have used Sea Foam in all of my tractors, lawn mowers etc, have also used StaBil all with the same results, carb rebuild.  That's a good idea with the AVGAS  The only carb I didn't rebuild was my snowmobile carb I usually do annually but didn't put but about 20 miles on it and it ran fine.  this gas now just SUCKS  although my generator has had the same crap gas in it for 2 years and she still starts in 3 pulls and runs fine not sure what the difference is in my tractor and the generator, almost same engine, but my tractor carb gets all sorts of nasty, and wont run, but the generator runs great

[MrRiplEy[H]]

You guys must have some weird gas down there. I always leave my lawn mower sitting in the garage with zero maintenance for the whole winter (8 months) and it spurts back to life like new with the gas left in the tank from previous year. Most I need to do is clean the spark plug once per summer

[Skuzzy]

If there are any local marinas in your area, check with them.  Many marinas sell ethanol free gasoline.

Ripley, the problem with blended fuel, is the ethanol separates from the gasoline, over time.  When you pull your lawnmower out to start it, you stir it up enough to not hamper operation.  That is more difficult to do with a generator.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

If there are any local marinas in your area, check with them.  Many marinas sell ethanol free gasoline.

Ripley, the problem with blended fuel, is the ethanol separates from the gasoline, over time.  When you pull your lawnmower out to start it, you stir it up enough to not hamper operation.  That is more difficult to do with a generator.

I was wondering more on the 'rebuilding carbs' comments...

[smoe]

I would recommend a siphon. When this unit is needed take some out of your vehicles tank for emergency.

[uptown]

Propane. .................... Natural gas for the non portable units.

[eagl]

If there are any local marinas in your area, check with them.  Many marinas sell ethanol free gasoline.

Ripley, the problem with blended fuel, is the ethanol separates from the gasoline, over time.  When you pull your lawnmower out to start it, you stir it up enough to not hamper operation.  That is more difficult to do with a generator.

Skuzzy beat me to it, with the marine fuel recommendation.  One issue is that it's usually illegal to sell marine fuel for non-boat purposes, so you have to have a boat owning friend fill up your container or otherwise convince the guy that its for that boat you have at home and want to use at an un-serviced lake wink wink.

Long-term, you could routinely swap out the fuel every few months by emptying your storage containers into your car and then driving to re-fill them.  That would remind you to test-run the generator every once in a while (while you're pumping gas from storage to your car, maybe even to run the pump used for the transfer), and you wouldn't be wasting anything or risking the fuel getting gummy or separating.

[SIK1]

Here in CA some places sell ethanol free fuel for lawn mowers and such things. You have to know where to go, and of course it costs you more because it's more expensive to not add the ethanol into the fuel. 

[homersipes]

this was my tractor carb 2 years ago from sitting over winter time, it would only run on full choke.


and yes the tank is clean, flush it out every spring.  now I have a plow for it so it gets used all year  this is what all the carbs look like, my Harley, snowblower, snowmobiles, etc  good idea with marina gas   they also sell a marine stabilizer that works well from what I have been told although it should I think its like $30 for a small bottle of it

[bmwgs]

Bunch of Ethanol Free Gas Stations, but it doesn't appear to be any in Connecticut.

http://pure-gas.org/extensions/map.html

Fred

[Zacherof]

Here in CA some places sell ethanol free fuel for lawn mowers and such things. You have to know where to go, and of course it costs you more because it's more expensive to not add the ethanol into the fuel. 

or high octane gas for
super cars
cuts grass like it's a light saber

[SIK1]

or high octane gas for
super cars
cuts grass like it's a light saber

High octane does not mean without ethanol.

this was my tractor carb 2 years ago from sitting over winter time, it would only run on full choke.
(Image removed from quote.)
(Image removed from quote.)
and yes the tank is clean, flush it out every spring.  now I have a plow for it so it gets used all year   this is what all the carbs look like, my Harley, snowblower, snowmobiles, etc  good idea with marina gas   they also sell a marine stabilizer that works well from what I have been told although it should I think its like $30 for a small bottle of it

Homer to help to keep that from happening to your carb. Run the engine until it dies from fuel starvation after you have drained the fuel tank.