Days on end without power...many of us got good use out of those generators after Hurricane Beryl. You may have discovered there are things you don’t know about keeping it running. KPRC 2′s Amy Davis answers your questions.
Why did my generator suddenly stop working?
If your generator suddenly stopped working or wouldn’t start up at all, you are not alone.
Vincent Upton with Upton Electrical joined an Ask Amy episode to help troubleshoot the most common generator issues.
Problem # 1 - random shut offs.
Upton says a big reason generator shut off after about 5-10 minutes could be a gas cap issue. You want to check to see if the cap is clogged. You might also have a bad fuel tank vent in the fuel cap.
Problem #2 - bad oil
Upton says a lot of people didn’t realize they needed to check or change the oil in their generator.
“The homeowner does need to be aware of how to, to at least change the oil. Because as you can see, what happened in the past few months, the, every generator company was just bogged down. They can’t get to everybody. Especially the oil changes. I do strongly recommend my customers understand how to at least change.”
Problem #3 - alarm glitch
“Just about every brand has alarms. It’ll shut down the generator if something is wrong. For instance, on a Generac, a lot of times it’s just a computer glitch. The homeowner needs to know and know and understand how to reset the alarms. There is a procedure you follow. It’s to reset the alarm and to restart the generator.”
When you are done using your generator you should run it until there is no more gas. You want the gas tank empty. When you are ready to store it, add a ‘stabilizer’ to the gas tank.
Vince also explained how to know what size generator to use and how you might be able to hook it up to your home gas line. See the full interview here.
“How big of a generator do I need?”
Vince says figuring out the right size generator for your home takes a little work.
Make a list of all appliances and devices you want to run. You will then need to check out the physical nameplate on each appliance. On your refrigerator, you’ll find it inside the door.
Fill in the starting wattage for each device and running watts for each.
The starting wattage may be labeled as “Lock Rotator Amps” or “LRA.”
The running watts will be labeled “minimum circuit amps.”
For example: Refrigerator = 700 w = starting wattage: 2,200 w
Box fan = 200 w = starting wattage: 350 w
Add up the total of running watts and add 2,200 (the highest running wattage will probably be your fridge or a portable AC unit)
Required starting wattage = all running wattages + highest starting wattage
Examples of watts and generators
Central AC - Minimum circuit amps x 240 volts x 125%
23.7 amps x 240 volts x 125% = 7,110 watt minimum “running watts”
Refrigerator - Amps x 120 volts x 125%
11.6 amps x 120 volts x 125% = 1,740 watts
7,110 watts + 1,740 watts = 8,850 “running watts”
9,000 “running watts” generator.
It is recommended to go with the next size generator from the calculated load.
WATCH: The full Ask Amy episode with Generator FAQ’s
RELATED: In the days after Beryl, KPRC 2′s newsroom was inundated with calls and emails from Houston area viewers reporting the generators meant to power their entire homes did not work during Hurricane Beryl.