Potentially Dangerous Generator Failure
This spring, bought a 1200 Watt Firman generator from Home Depot in Canada. It seemed like a good deal -- $249 plus tax, delivered right to the house, with a three year warranty. On the second o...
Forum Discussion
Reddog1 wrote:
Sometimes I just shake my head at our buying habits. We typically limit our research on sales hype, make our purchase based on the prettiest product at the lowest price. If we have a problem with the item we squeal like a pig stuck under a gate. I am amazed at how inexpensively stuff is manufactured today. Even more amazed at how little is touched by human hands.
The OP's experience should be a lesson for us all. When running something like a generator for the first time, always fuel it in an open area with the fuel valve closed. A little fuel will be enough to see if the valve leaks. Open the valve and insure there are no fuel leaks in the rest of the system. At this point you might even start it and run that bit of fuel. The odds are if you have a safety issue you will know with a 1/2 cup of gasoline. I am sure most of you know this already.
Along those lines, I may be the odd duck but, when I buy any and I mean ANY mechanical device, generator, automobile, truck, chainsaw or whatever, first thing I do is read the manual front to back (yes I read the manual that came with my TC as well..) and after reading it, I adhere strictly to the factory recommended break in procedure. In the case of my Champ, that entailed running it under load for a few hours and then changing the initial oil fill and checking the unit for any loose fasteners or apparent defects, which, I did in my driveway, at home, not at some campsite in the boonies.
After the factory recommended break in (I loaded it with a 1500 watt heat gun btw), changed the oil, inspected the unit with the panels removed, checked for anything loose and when all looked good, replaced the panels and put it in my TC and of course I adhere to the manufacturers service intervals. I do that with everything mechaincal and I can say (knock on wood) I rarely have an issue.
Having said that, I sometimes wonder how many people actually bother to read the owners manual or even adhere to the factory recommended service intervals. The factory knows better than you as the end user. They built it.
Mass produced anything can have issues, some readily apparent and some not so readily apparent, but myself, I would never just buy something (like a genny), put oil and gas in it and take it camping without first performing the factory recommended break in and inspection prior to it's intended use.
Besides, proper initial care goes a long way to insuring a long life of the purchase.
