Running a generator to exercise it when there's shore power?

[trailernovice]

I'm a firm believer in the concept that the fastest way to make a machine deteriorate is to leave it sitting in the garage, unused, for an extended period (example my buddy had to have his whole fuel system on his motorcycle, tank & all, replaced, because it sat idle for so long that the water got in the system and rusted everything from the inside out)...

So, here's the issue...should we occasionally run our generator even if shore power is available, just to give the gennie a workout? if so, just standing alone, disconnected/under a full load (aircon) or under a light load/for how long?

thx

[Boon_Docker]

JimK-NY wrote:
If we need to "exercise" a generator to make sure it is still working, what other RV appliances should we exercise? Do we need to operate the stove, refrigerator, microwave, furnace, water heater and/or AC monthly?

Didn't the dealer tell you to do that at least once a week. Shame on them! I do mine daily when I'm camping. Keeps them in top shape.

[Grit_dog]

Some folks would argue that the sky is blue on a sunny day...
And adding hours to an infrequently used piece of equipment (if it was frequently used you wouldn’t feel the need to excercise it, right) is about the silliest argument for not doing it. And the math is off unless you have your RV for 150 years, lol.

[Matt_Colie]

JimK-NY wrote:
If we need to "exercise" a generator to make sure it is still working, what other RV appliances should we exercise? Do we need to operate the stove, refrigerator, microwave, furnace, water heater and/or AC monthly?

I like this idea a lot.
If we were to "exercise" the entire RV - Say 2~300 miles and a full over night at least once a month, then you could be very sure that it was ready when you want it to be. For those of us in the north, that means winterizing the potable system monthly, oil changes more often and driving over salted roads many more times than I like.

Small problem, that would have added close to 600 hours on the generator by now.

Maybe I'll stick with putting her to bed for the winter. Doing a proper fog job and disconnecting all the batteries.

Matt

[JimK-NY]

If we need to "exercise" a generator to make sure it is still working, what other RV appliances should we exercise? Do we need to operate the stove, refrigerator, microwave, furnace, water heater and/or AC monthly?

[robatthelake]

So my opinion for what it’s worth is to do whatever you personally feel is best for your particular wants and needs!
In my case I have a 1998 Rig with the originally installed generator which starts and runs perfectly whenever it’s been called upon ,
I do not have any particular schedule but do excercise it a few times each year! It’s an Onan product quiet diesel 7.5 Kw unit.



My next door neighbour installed a very expensive 20 Kw Generac unit in his house which runs on propane and is programmed to start up every Tuesday at 10 am and runs for 20 minutes! It is located inside a specially constructed shed but still is noisy !

So after only 7 years his Genset stopped working and was determined to be unrepairable! He replaced it with another Generac unit!

In that 7 years we experienced 3 power failures in our neighbourhood and only one was for more than a few hours!

Now maybe my comments don’t belong here and I know very little about generators but it seems to me running one every week is a tad excessive and must have contributed to the early failure !

[Veebyes]

I try to remember to run my home portable genny every month or so. It is a noisy cheap open frame type kept for hurricane loss of power backup.

If you are going to make noise, go big but make it as short duration as possible. Sometimes I will combine genny running with grass cutting. Sounds like I have two mowers on the go.

Wheel it outside. Start it up & plug in a couple of 1000w heaters to give it something to do.

[SDcampowneroper]

dieseltruckdriver wrote:

Grit dog wrote:

way2roll wrote:
I'd rather exercise my genny monthly and know it's going to work than find out I have a problem when I really need it. All this doom and gloom about problems it causes by those of us that exercise them monthly is gibberish. It doesn't take a ton of common sense to know that running any mechanical engine frequently is far better than not running it for long periods of time and there is far more evidence behind that than the few who claim running it too frequently causes more problems than it solves. Luckily there are very few people who fall into this category who offer such advice. That is not to say that a genny can't be stored for long periods if certain things are done, like draining it etc. But I'd much rather have a genny that's periodically exercised than one that sits dormant. That's usually the advice that engineers will offer and they don't all have a hidden agenda.

Truth.

Agreed.

. Wheres the harm? whats the consequence? When mfgr. builds in monthly auto start to exercise for a home propane unit, doesnt that have a n alert to genny users that if you need it on demand, you can depend on it.

[dieseltruckdriv]

Grit dog wrote:

way2roll wrote:
I'd rather exercise my genny monthly and know it's going to work than find out I have a problem when I really need it. All this doom and gloom about problems it causes by those of us that exercise them monthly is gibberish. It doesn't take a ton of common sense to know that running any mechanical engine frequently is far better than not running it for long periods of time and there is far more evidence behind that than the few who claim running it too frequently causes more problems than it solves. Luckily there are very few people who fall into this category who offer such advice. That is not to say that a genny can't be stored for long periods if certain things are done, like draining it etc. But I'd much rather have a genny that's periodically exercised than one that sits dormant. That's usually the advice that engineers will offer and they don't all have a hidden agenda.

Truth.

Agreed.

[Cummins12V98]

enblethen wrote:
I disconnect from shore power while test running genset. You must test run under load.

Simply turn off the breaker and start gen. Let it warm up a bit then turn on AC or something to place a load on it.

[Grit_dog]

way2roll wrote:
I'd rather exercise my genny monthly and know it's going to work than find out I have a problem when I really need it. All this doom and gloom about problems it causes by those of us that exercise them monthly is gibberish. It doesn't take a ton of common sense to know that running any mechanical engine frequently is far better than not running it for long periods of time and there is far more evidence behind that than the few who claim running it too frequently causes more problems than it solves. Luckily there are very few people who fall into this category who offer such advice. That is not to say that a genny can't be stored for long periods if certain things are done, like draining it etc. But I'd much rather have a genny that's periodically exercised than one that sits dormant. That's usually the advice that engineers will offer and they don't all have a hidden agenda.

Truth.

[way2roll]

I'd rather exercise my genny monthly and know it's going to work than find out I have a problem when I really need it. All this doom and gloom about problems it causes by those of us that exercise them monthly is gibberish. It doesn't take a ton of common sense to know that running any mechanical engine frequently is far better than not running it for long periods of time and there is far more evidence behind that than the few who claim running it too frequently causes more problems than it solves. Luckily there are very few people who fall into this category who offer such advice. That is not to say that a genny can't be stored for long periods if certain things are done, like draining it etc. But I'd much rather have a genny that's periodically exercised than one that sits dormant. That's usually the advice that engineers will offer and they don't all have a hidden agenda.

[Matt_Colie]

Do you know why the Onan Manual suggests that you start and run the APU one a month? There are two very real reasons and neither has anything to do with the health of the machine.

Reason 1 - The manual was copied from a WWII edition and the techincal writer that got the job doesn't have any experience with engines and generators and such.

Reason 2 - It was written by the people that sell the parts that will need replacing sooner with this practice.

The thing about drying out the windings is most of a century out of date. The varnish that the windings are coated with in recent (last 50) years is not at all hydroscopic.

Running the machine too much is a poor substitute for draining the fuel system. Learn to do this and you will never have trouble with the carburetor again. That is unless it is so old it is not compatible with current crapahol sold as motorfuel. You can have any small engine shop swap in fuel line and carburetor parts that are.

Matt

[valhalla360]

DrewE wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

Obviously, shore power needs to be disconnected unless the generator has a means of syncing with the shore power (small generators we are discussing won't)

Any RV with a built-in generator will have a transfer switching arrangement of some sort which will disconnect the shore power when the generator is supplying power, and vice-versa, so they are not interconnected. Usually it's an automatic transfer switch, but sometimes it's simply having a power outlet connected to the generator that the shore power cord is plugged into.

It is not necessary to disconnect shore power when using the generator, though some do out of an abundance--perhaps overabundance--of caution. It is wise to avoid having the transfer switch operate under any (significant) load, so turning off air conditioning, electric heat, etc. before starting or stopping the generator is highly recommended.

The OP didn't indicate if the generator was built in. Unless there is something wonky set up where you can get both connected and feeding power at the same time, it's usually hard to do...hence my use of the term "obviously".

That said, there are some systems (uncommon) that can sync and merge power from two sources. Most are inverters not generators.

[Grit_dog]

valhalla360 wrote:
As long as you put them to bed properly, no reason to be concerned letting it sit for months.

In fact starting once a month is likely doing damage. That's long enough for the oil to drain off all the internal surfaces. Until oil gets pumped back up to the surfaces, you are getting accelerated wear. I would prefer to keep that to a minimum.

First statement, absolutely.
Second statement, not so much. If starting a (insert any ICE engine powered device or vehicle) effects enough wear to be detrimental to the lifespan of the (insert engine here), then the engines that actually get used regularly or semi regularly would certainly come to an early demise.

OP, if propane, maybe worry about it a couple times a year to prevent any theoretical loss of residual magnetism (which I haven't ever experienced, but understand the theory).
If gasoline powered, it's good to run gas through them, again, every couple months if running on older, ethanol content and/or untreated fuel. If fuel is treated or of sufficient quality, then the benefit is only to keep the magnets excited (theoretically).

Or to simplify it, it never hurts to exercise mechanical or ICE equipment periodically.