Do you exercise your generator in the winter?

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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?