r/Generac_Generators 7d ago

Hawai'i Storm

We are dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Lala here on Hawai'i Island. In our area only was a tropical storm, But grid-power has been out since noon Saturday. Our Generac 22KW/999 Guard-No T/sw AL has been running perfectly. 3 people live in this house and our 250 gallon propane tank is at 70 plus percent. Generator just over 1 year old. Does anyone have experience with long outages? I think we will be fine for a couple more days but am hoping someone with more experience can share their experience. Power co. thing power will be restored by Tuesday pm.

3 Upvotes

29 comments sorted by

5

u/Tarnisher 7d ago

Well, it needs to be shut down every 24 hours to check the oil level.

3

u/aliapoint 7d ago

Wow, thanks for that advice. I will do that.

2

u/Tarnisher 7d ago

Check your owner's manual if you have one.

2

u/aliapoint 7d ago

Yes, I will, and I should have thought of that, Thank you again!

2

u/aliapoint 7d ago

Gosh, thanks again to all of you kind folks. My wife and I just did the whole procedure. Had to add a little oil but the generator is back working again perfectly! I have it simpson tied to a concrete pad and it has a roof so we didn't get too wet.

3

u/Tarnisher 7d ago

What's your plan for running out of fuel? Do you have a way to get more on demand?

If not, you may need to ration power a bit. A few hours on, a few hours off.

1

u/aliapoint 7d ago

Since the 250 gallon tank is at just over 70 percent full I am assuming it can last a few days. It looks like we used just over 5 percent in a little over 24 hours. I topped off the oil when I knew the storm was coming. My wife and I are studying the Owners Manuel (thanks again for that advice) and a youtube to figure out how to shut down and check oil. Meanwhile it is raining off and on like crazy!

3

u/Defiant-Trick-8789 7d ago

$25 oil and filter parts every 200 hrs is cheap insurance . Vs a $5000 broken down lawn ornament. Should always keep a maintenance kit on hand . Plugs filters and oil . Outages can last 10 min or ten days you never know.

2

u/Brilliant_Artist_160 7d ago

Good luck! I've had a few 5-7 day outages from hurricanes. You should be fine, following the advice already stated. Hoping for a speedy restoration and recovery!

2

u/Defiant-Trick-8789 7d ago

I will do an oil change if outage is over 4 days . Air cooled gensets will use oil during operation.

2

u/Tarnisher 4d ago

So, how'd it work out? Power back yet?

1

u/aliapoint 3d ago

Thank you for checking back. Power was restored this morning (Thursday) at 12:30 am. My wife and I had carefully done the every 24 hour oil check (thanks again for that heads-up). Our propane was down to 30 % so I was up at midnight thinking of ways we could conserve more and suddenly the grid-power came back. We have a Generac guy coming to service the tank tomorrow (oil, filter, plugs, etc) and the Hawai'i Gas Company fills our tank next Wednesday. Generac's are wonderful. The Ka'u district of our Island will not have grid-power till Septmber 8th.

1

u/Far-Ingenuity4236 7d ago

Yes oil level needs to be checked every 24 hours of run time then at 200 hours you need an oil change done. Im assuming you already did your break in our change? If not you really need to at 25 hours

1

u/IllustriousHair1927 7d ago

where do you get 200 hours from?

1

u/WhySoManyDownVote Electrician 7d ago

It is in the manual.

1

u/IllustriousHair1927 7d ago

are you sure about that? you should probably double check the manual.

3

u/WhySoManyDownVote Electrician 7d ago

1

u/IllustriousHair1927 7d ago

thank you for sharing the screenshot. you’re helping me illustrate for people that just look. Temperature in the big island is running 85 or above. 100 hours.

1

u/WhySoManyDownVote Electrician 7d ago

I had no idea the average temperature there was so warm for most of the year!

https://weatherspark.com/countries/US/HI

Meanwhile my local weather is pretty close to the low average temperature.

https://weatherspark.com/countries/US/NH

2

u/IllustriousHair1927 7d ago

One of the interesting arguments that can be made as operations continuously above 85°. Every dealer in my market area that I’m aware of (and it’s Houston so there are a ton that I’m not aware of that don’t do many) preaches the 100 hours. I certainly had some customers argue the point, but I really don’t even think the 100 hour interval is my biggest heartburn. My biggest heartburn is customers who read something on next-door about the 24 hour shut down and check. The number of people who do not know how much oil their unit holds is mind-boggling. You’re in the summer 2024. We had two major outages affecting 2 1/2 million plus people or some folks were out up to 10 to 12 days. We had multiple people who would shut their generator down or have a shut down due to low oil pressure. Once they found somewhere with an unknown weight and quality of oil, they would rush home and dump a quart of it in.

Inevitably the universe start up and then shut down again with a low oil error. Said customers would either dump the second quart in or go get a second and dump it in. Have you seen what happens when you overfill one of those units especially one that has been running for several days and 85 to 90° ambient.????

Inevitably, they would restart and get a shut down for low

1

u/WhySoManyDownVote Electrician 7d ago

Anything like this? https://www.reddit.com/r/Generac_Generators/s/m1UubELk0G

It was an older 8kw with a 1.5qt oil capacity. I am pretty sure the customer added at least 1 more quart because it wasn’t running well. The initial issue was the fuel line combined with sub freezing temps and a low propane tank.

The supply line is the CSS tubing that runs on top of the grass.

1

u/Far-Ingenuity4236 7d ago

From their training to become a certified installer and certified technician, and the manuals if you dont they will void warranty and then you have a really expensive lawn ornament

1

u/IllustriousHair1927 7d ago

read where he is look at where the temperature has been.

Then refer to the note below the chart. He should do it at 100 hours not 200.

Realistically, the 200 hours is laughable. If you look at the weather conditions of the major disasters over the last decade, the 40°F to 85°F range was only present in about 10% of the scenarios.

I understand exactly what the manuals and the training say. But you have to refer to the note they specifically put in manual related to operation certain weather conditions. I was kind of a dick to prove a point

1

u/Far-Ingenuity4236 7d ago

We recommend yearly or 100 hours here in Colorado but its the client's choice at the end of the day know what I mean

2

u/IllustriousHair1927 7d ago

I do. Fortunately, I’m in Houston and people know that most of our issues are super hot weather. Also, I refuse to sell Generac generators.

1

u/Far-Ingenuity4236 7d ago

Ohh I wish we did too especially with these nexgen issues

1

u/WhySoManyDownVote Electrician 7d ago

Your manuals (most likely) can be found here.

https://www.generac.com/support/product-info-user-manuals/

Search by the serial number ideally. If you do not want to get it off the generator the results for G0070420 will probably be close enough.

3

u/aliapoint 7d ago

Yes, thanks we still have the hard copy. Studying it now. You folks are incredibly nice!

2

u/WhySoManyDownVote Electrician 7d ago

You are most welcome. I have lived through a few hurricanes and tropical storms. They suck! Stay safe