Do you exercise your generator in the winter?

[AndyW]

How many of you exercise your generator monthly during the winter? Obviously this only applies to those who have to winterize and store your unit...

I bought my first RV right at the end of the season last year, and figured I'd winterize the engine and generator the same way I've done every other gasoline engine I've owned (including, ironically, generators). Fill the fuel tank, add fuel stabilizer, run for 30 minutes, park it, then pull the batteries to store indoors. In spring, charge and re-install the batteries, start, and run until warm. Never had a problem leaving something sit unused for up to 6 months with this approach.

Now every time I read that generators are supposed to be run every month I feel that I'm not taking proper care of my stuff. Unnecessary cold starts in the dead of winter can't be the best for engine longevity either. What does everyone else do?

[pnichols]

I exercise our Class C RV's built-in Onan generator every month with a load. HOWEVER ... not for the reasons mentioned earlier in this discussion.

I exercise it to check and make sure it's probably still gonna work - so I'm not surprised on a camping trip at our first drycamping site with a non-working generator. The same reasoning holds true regarding our backup portable generator, the refrigerator, the cooktop, the furnace, the water pump, the lighting systems, and the RV's battery charging system. I run all of these occasionally between trips to help eliminate camping trip surprises.

Our camping trips are too special to have to turn around and come home, or look for on the road (expensive) repairs ... when things fail.

[JNorton]

I believe it depends on where you live. I'm in west Michigan. Not too humid. I don't use stabilizers though I do top off the fuel tank. In the winter my rig is in the middle of a filed. I disconnect the batteries. In the spring I reconnect the batteries and start the rig up. 8 years it always starts. I replace my batteries every 5 years or so. My motor cycle is the same. Lawn mower, snow blower etc. Modern gas engine have electronic ignition and throw a very hot spark. A generator Achilles heel is the brushes / slip ring. If moisture is not a problem they'll work. Look at your cars alternator same thing just smaller. Exercising an emergency piece of equipment is a good thing. My stuff is not emergency equipment. They all work. Remember I'm talking about 6 month storage not years. Just my opinion. John

[EMD360]

Well, it is posts like these that make me run out and exercise the darned Onan generator, about which I have no complaints. Also ran the RV engine for an hour to recharge the battery. If I didn't have the cover on it, I would have taken it somewhere today...Gorgeous day, sunny in the 60's in January, in Colorado. Weather makes us just want to hop in and drive away.
I suppose I have exercised it about once a month during breaks of warmer weather. I am loving having a good quality cover over it though. The wind here is gale force but the cover is doing fine. It flaps but doesn't look like it is scratching anywhere.

[dennislanier]

Bobbo wrote:
See page 9 of this ONAN manual

ONAN User Manual

Owner's manual?? Are you kidding me?? Who reads an owner's manual? LOL

[RambleOnNW]

If you have a natural gas standby generator for home backup, such as a Generac, they periodically automatically start up. A Generac will run 12 minutes per week while in standby.

We run both our Onan and Honda generators regularly. Both are run per the manual requirements. The Honda must be run to keep the starting battery charged.

This is the first place I have ever heard of people deliberately not exercising their generators regularly.

[JaxDad]

Bobbo wrote:
. OH, and for what it is worth, NOT exercising the ONAN will void the warranty.

I think I suggested that the concept of monthly exercise might be more likely the result of lawyers and bean counters than anything else.

[Bobbo]

JaxDad wrote:
Ok, as painfully as this is getting, let me make my point one last, and clearly, time.

Lots of companies make generators. Big companies, little companies, old companies and new companies.

Every one of those companies generators share two things; 1) they are powered by an internal combustion engine, and, 2) they have slip rings and contacts and such in the electrical side of them.

I cannot find ANY other company other than Onan that says they need to be 'exercised' on a monthly, or ANY, basis, yet they are remarkably similar in construction, both in regards to the engine and generator.

Am I the only one who thinks this is not because Onan just knows way more than every other manufacturer out there? Hello? McFly?

It is just that, personally, I don't think you know as much about ONAN generators as ONAN does. You can repeat yourself as many times as you wish. The manual says what the manual says. If you wish to dispute the ONAN manual, I suggest you contact ONAN. They are the only ones who can change their recommendations.

Or would you prefer me to say "I am posting the manual again" and give you the link another time? I don't think repeating arguments gives them any greater value.

I do believe that it is time this thread was closed. The OP's question has been answered. It has devolved into some of us quoting the manual, and some of us saying the company does not know what it is talking about.

OH, and for what it is worth, NOT exercising the ONAN will void the warranty.

[Butch50]

Well it isn't only Onan that wants the generator exercised regularly. I use to be the Operations Manager of a big data center and we had 7 huge Cat engine ran generators. Each one came on semi low boy trailer. Then they were mounted on concrete platforms and that was their new home. They were enclosed and you would open the doors and walk right into the area where all of the mechanicals were at. There were 2 doors on it, one towards the front and one towards the rear. These were used for backup power. We also had a huge load box that could be hooked to any of the generators. These generators were fired up and ran once every week. Ever one of them without fail. If they weren't then my Building Supervisor would let me know of the problem and also call in repair to get them fixed. We had a maintenance agreement with a local company that within 2 hours of us calling them they would have a repairmen on site to fix it.

[The_Logans]

Well, I also have a Honda Generator (wish that's what was in the motorhome)...

This is what Honda recommends...

"Run your generator at least once a month.
Running, or exercising, your generator regularly helps to insure it will start when you really need it. It lubricates the engine by circulating oil, runs fresh gas through the carburetor, and works to recharge the battery. This keeps the generator ready to go when the power goes out".

If someone doubts the veracity of that statement from Honda, here is the link:

http://powerequipment.honda.com/generators/generator-operation

[JaxDad]

Ok, as painfully as this is getting, let me make my point one last, and clearly, time.

Lots of companies make generators. Big companies, little companies, old companies and new companies.

Every one of those companies generators share two things; 1) they are powered by an internal combustion engine, and, 2) they have slip rings and contacts and such in the electrical side of them.

I cannot find ANY other company other than Onan that says they need to be 'exercised' on a monthly, or ANY, basis, yet they are remarkably similar in construction, both in regards to the engine and generator.

Am I the only one who thinks this is not because Onan just knows way more than every other manufacturer out there? Hello? McFly?

[mlts22]

One can always fog the generator, and Onan actually makes OnaGard Storage Fogging Spray which allows the genset to be stored for six months without needing to be spun up every so often.

As for what I do, every year, I do the usual maintenance, then every 3-4 weeks, run a load on the genset.

When I move to a rig with an Onan generator, pretty much the same thing -- run the Onan genset while on the road so both the engine and the generator get run and run well.

[Bobbo]

OK, I hereby modify my previous post to remove the term "windings" and insert the term "slip rings and contacts."

That has no impact, whatsoever, on ONAN's recommendations. I even posted a PDF version of their manual with the monthly recommendation on page 9. I can't do more than quote the manufacturer.

Your repeated reference to or quoting of the Honda manual only has bearing if the generator in question is a Honda, which I sincerely doubt. While the OP did not specify the make of his generator, it is FAR more likely to be an ONAN than a Honda.

[JaxDad]

Bobbo wrote:
They also don't have the generator windings that corrode and short out. Apples and oranges. That is why you run the generator under at least 50% load. You need to make sure the GENERATOR part is working, not just the engine that runs it.

As I stated earlier, Onan is the ONLY generator manufacturer I can find that says a generator needs to be 'exercised' during storage.

My Honda EM6500SX manual says this is what is required for storage for "1 year or more";

"Fill with fresh gasoline and add gasoline stabilizer*.
Drain the carburetor float bowl (see page 64).
Drain the fuel sediment cup (see page 56).
Remove the spark plug.
Put a teaspoon of engine oil into the cylinder.
Turn the engine slowly with the pull rope to distribute the oil.
Reinstall the spark plug.
Change the engine oil (see page 48).
After removal from storage, drain the stored gasoline into a suitable container, and fill with fresh gasoline before starting."


BTW, windings are sealed in epoxy, it's the slip rings and contacts that corrode, even the Onan manual says so.

[Bobbo]

They also don't have the generator (remove "windings", insert "slip rings and contacts") that corrode and short out. Apples and oranges. That is why you run the generator under at least 50% load. You need to make sure the GENERATOR part is working, not just the engine that runs it.