Winterizing gen?

Question

Now that the hurricane has passed and I am hoping not to need the eu2000 or yam ef2800 any time soon, wondering the best way to store it for what may be a year or two or three.

The Honda has a a tube and screw at the bottom of the bowl for draining. Is that good enough or do I need to loosen the larger nut and bowl to get all the fuel out?

A friend said the best way to empty the fuel is to spray ether into air intake to keep the motor running to fully use up all fuel in the carb before storing.

I also pull the plugs and drizzle a teaspoon of clean motor oil into the cylinder and then pull the cord several times to lubricate it for longer term storage.

Thoughts?

saltidawg · Answer

tealboy wrote:Now that the hurricane has passed and I am hoping not to need the eu2000 or yam ef2800 any time soon, wondering the best way to store it for what may be a year or two or three.  ...I see you are from Orlando.  Is this post not the absolute definition of "optimism?"

tealboy · Answer

SaltiDawg wrote:tealboy wrote:Now that the hurricane has passed and I am hoping not to need the eu2000 or yam ef2800 any time soon, wondering the best way to store it for what may be a year or two or three.  ...I see you are from Orlando.  Is this post not the absolute definition of "optimism?"Lol. Trying. I did the same for hurricane Charlie in 2004 for which I ran a Honda eu3000 for 7 days and then 2 weeks later got hit with hurricane jean and two more weeks after that, hurricane Francis. Then went 12 years w no hurricane until last year w Mathew and now Irma.

pigman1 · Answer

We have a number of small engines around the farm from leaf blowers to chainsaws to 20,000 gal per hour pumps and when we're done with them for some time, we run them for a few minutes to get them up to temp, shut down and empty fuel tank completely. Then we run again until they die from fuel exhaustion. That's it. Cap the fuel tank and put it away. We'll go a year or a lot longer and have no problem restarting when we add FRESH fuel the next time we need them.

2oldman · Answer

Do what the owner's manual says.

theoldwizard1 · Answer

The best storage procedure to do for a generator that MIGHT have to be used in a hurry is :

Start and run up to temp
Shut off the fuel and let the motor die
If the gas in the tank is not fresh, empty it and fill with fresh fuel

A generator should be started and run with a load every 1-3 months and then follow the above shutdown procedure. I have been doing this religiously on my 5kW unit for years. It always starts the first or second pull and it has ALWAYS used E10 (ethanol) gas.

A quick shot of fogging oil after the fuel is shut off (but before the engine has died) is not a bad idea.

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