Servicing My Generator for Winter

[Rider7767]

I made a little video of me servicing my 3500 Predator Inverter Generator for winter. Did the oil, air filter, battery, and drained the fuel. I hope you enjoy. https://youtu.be/Qag3nH1H6lE

[Rider7767]

azrving wrote:
Harbor freight replied and said that theirs is an approved style. Next time I service my Honda, just out of curiosity I will look at the muffler to see if it's stamped into the steel. Dirt bikes, atv etc have it printed into the muffler. With the number of fires in the last years it seems like an issue that is worth covering our tails on.

The Park Rangers were checking last year. I would bet it will be standard operating procedure from now on.

[azrving]

Harbor freight replied and said that theirs is an approved style. Next time I service my Honda, just out of curiosity I will look at the muffler to see if it's stamped into the steel. Dirt bikes, atv etc have it printed into the muffler. With the number of fires in the last years it seems like an issue that is worth covering our tails on.

[ctilsie242]

You will be able to tell if it has a spark screen or not, especially when starting.

[westend]

I'd assume that it is difficult to find a small equipment engine without a spark arresting screen on the muffler. All of them I had hands on in the past year were fitted with a screen.

[Rider7767]

azrving wrote:
Harbor freight responded and said that theirs is approved.

Good to know. Thank you for looking into that.

[azrving]

Harbor freight responded and said that theirs is approved.

[Rider7767]

azrving wrote:
I emailed Champion(3200 remote start), Harbor Freight(Predator 3500), and Honda to ask if they are USFS approved. So far Wesley at Honda Power Equipment has responded and said the Honda EU3000IS is USFS approved.

Last trip camping in The Smoky Mountain National Park, The Ranger at Elkmont camp ground said my Predator was fine. He said they just looked for a screen over the exit of the muffler. Here is a link to a bunch of boring stuff about arresters. Does not give a lot of details on small engines other than a screen. I'm not sure the rangers would know the difference anyway.
https://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/programs/fire/spark/faq.html#M&L

[azrving]

I emailed Champion(3200 remote start), Harbor Freight(Predator 3500), and Honda to ask if they are USFS approved. So far Wesley at Honda Power Equipment has responded and said the Honda EU3000IS is USFS approved.

[Rider7767]

The one in my video does have an arrestor. I am not sure about all of them.

[azrving]

You guys get too excited about different color gennys.:) I bought a dirt cheap Champion and it worked great for the money and the time frame I needed it. I recommend Champion and even Predator to people I talk to because they have good reviews. Why would someone who may not need to use a generator a lot buy a Yamaha or Honda. My son needs a 3000+ to run his AC occasionally when on vacation so I told him look at Champ or Predator. He said he read on an RV forum that they dont have USFS approved spark arrestors and he wants a remote start so he may have to look at a Champ. I told him to get the Predator model number the next time he goes to HF.

I know my Champ had a screen in the end of the exhaust outlet and they call it an arrestor in the parts breakdown but when I looked at the manual it said this:

A spark arrestor may be required. The operator
should contact local fire agencies for laws or
regulations relating to fire prevention requirements.

So I couldn't swear that the Champ had an approved arrestor so if he looks at a 3200 Champ inverter we'll be sure it's USFS approved. Motorcycles and atv say it right on the muffler.

Do the Predators have a spark arrestor?

[Rider7767]

SidecarFlip wrote:
My only comment on your video that at least in my experience isn't completely correct is.. Placing a battery on a concrete floor. That applied to rubber cased batteries, not plastic cased batteries. Plastic cased batteries are not impacted by concrete floors at all....and valve adjustment is so easy on these small genny's, I check mine everytime I service my genny, lawnmowers and pressure washer too. Only takes a second to do.

Good video though.

Thank you for the constructive input. It is refreshing.

[Rider7767]

azrving wrote:

SidecarFlip wrote:

Dave H M wrote:
Ummmm Rider, you made two big mistakes on this here board.

1. You bought a HF genny

2. You aren't gonna run it every thirty days under load.

:W

I thought it was a good vid. Almost identical to the way I put the Champ to bed a couple of years ago. I am gonna get it out of storage and crank it up today in preparation for our winter departure. We will see what happens and i will report back later on.

On this board, if you son't spend the big wad on a Honda, you are a second class citizen because the Honda is the best you can get and no other comes close (hogwash).

Myself, I prefer being a 'second class citizen' with my Champ and having some extra jingle in my pocket...

Good video btw. I'd have bought the Pred instead but it wasn't available when I bought the Champ.

Although I have noticed that more Honda owners do know what the h33l they are talking about and actually know how to use a feeler gauge and WHY. 🙂

denigrating people and more sarcasm. Even better.

[Rider7767]

wa8yxm wrote:
Gee. on my ONAN I treat it the same Summer or Winter (Save for the fuel blend) That is 1/2 hour (minimum) every month under load (about 3,000 watts)

Last time was as I drove from SENECA to Lunch (Exactly 30 minutes) day before yesterday with two space heaters running all out (Space heaters have special outlets just for them) Was exactly 30 minutes. It was COLD out for this part of the country NEEDED the heat.

Still do (But have shore power).

I see no problem with that at all, but if you want to put it away for the winter and not mess with it again, I do exactly what I preach in this video. My generator may go 6 months without being started.

[wa8yxm]

Gee. on my ONAN I treat it the same Summer or Winter (Save for the fuel blend) That is 1/2 hour (minimum) every month under load (about 3,000 watts)

Last time was as I drove from SENECA to Lunch (Exactly 30 minutes) day before yesterday with two space heaters running all out (Space heaters have special outlets just for them) Was exactly 30 minutes. It was COLD out for this part of the country NEEDED the heat.

Still do (But have shore power).