Hurricane Irma

[BeeMaster2]

jim your oil sensor is triggering. disconnect the wire to the sensor or change the oil if old. that is whats shutting it down after a min or two. oil gets hot and the sensor triggers. very very common problem.


john

Thanks , I will try it in the morning.
Jim

[BeeMaster2]

Jim.  I had a mechanic, a good one, tell me to use AVGAS which has no ethanol.  It will not dissolve the soft parts of a carburetor like ethanol.  Also avgas is made to stay fresh for longer periods.  So that is what I use in my Generator.  After it has been running  awhile I use regular gas but always leave AVGAS in tank or drain all of the gas and run it until it runs out and quits.

Thanks, I run only real gas and empty the tank and then run the engine dry for storage. Most all of the engines that I do that to fire up on the first pull.
Jim

[BeeMaster2]

Yeah things that don't run for long periods of time are susceptible for plugging up.  I have had to clean the tank and replace hoses to keep the carb from plugging.  If the carb has screw jets it is easier because you can take them out and clean orfices.  Fixed jets there is not much you can do except try to blow them out with compressed air.
One thing you can try is fill up a pump oiler can with gas and when the engine starts to die squirt in gas at the carb venturi to keep it running.  Sometimes if you can keep it running long enough it will clear itself.  Good luck.
Many premium gas pumps do not have ethanol in the gas.

Thanks, I added the gas to the intake and it would briefly start.
I took the carb apart, there are no adjustment screws except the idle screw. I did clean the jet that bolts to the bottom of the carburetor and I cleaned the plastic jet, as much as possible, that is in the middle of the orifice.  Thay are the only jets that I could find.
Jim

[BeeMaster2]

Jim, I started what I thought was going to be a long process to get my generator back up and running. I replace the inline fuel filter and it cranked on the second pull. It still has a gas leak. I can fix it but I'll have to take off a few things to get to it. Good to know you're okay. I was in Ft Payne in north Alabama this past weekend. The hotels were packed out with Florida tags. You could look at folks and tell if they were from Florida. sad.

Thanks. Don't procrastinate on getting it fixed. Nothing worse than your family sitting in the dark, hot and sweaty waiting for you to get it fixed. 
Jim

[BeeMaster2]

I have a generator for the PTO of my tractor. I highly recommend it. I use the tractor all the time so I don't have crap clogging up from it sitting for long periods of time.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

How many KW is it?
One problem is that the tractor would make a mess of the yard. It was real soft from the nor'easter that hit before the storm hit, so was sinking in with sneakers on while putting up window coverings.
If I see one I may get one for hedge trimmers for clearing the bushes on the sides of my fire breaks.
Jim

[BeeMaster2]

Jim - Glad you and your family are OK.   Sorry to her about the property.  Hope things are working out  better and you've got the generator up and going.   Wishing you some good luck from here on out!   

My sister and her family weathered it out in North Port [gulf coast between Tampa and Naples]   They were lucky and didn't even lose power.  Scary.

Thanks Robin. I found that most of my trees have damage or are leaning. I called my agent and asked her what they cover for trees. She said they are not in the tre damage business. They only cover trees on my buildings or on the fence.
I remember my neighbor 8 pine trees being hit by lightning and his insurance paid for the removal. None of them were on a fence or near the house.
We are still on generator power. 
Jim

[BeeMaster2]

For big as it was Irma did much less damage than expected.  Thank God Jose danced around the Atlantic and didn't follow Irma or it would have been a different story.

With as much debris that is stacked up everywhere it would be even worse. Most streets are lined with logs and branches.
A meteorological friend of my wife's that she follows, early on was predicting/blogging that Irma would go up the west coast, I now saying that Jose will hit the mid states of the east coast. Look out SC.
Jim

[Acebird]

She said they are not in the tre damage business. They only cover trees on my buildings or on the fence.

That is what I hate about insurance companies.  It is not until you need it that you find out whether you have any coverage.  I will bet some of them don't even cover your house if it was damaged by a hurricane.  They have all kinds of excuses.

[BeeMaster2]

jim your oil sensor is triggering. disconnect the wire to the sensor or change the oil if old. that is whats shutting it down after a min or two. oil gets hot and the sensor triggers. very very common problem.


john

Thanks , I will try it in the morning.
Jim,

John,
Yesterday I added 2 ounces of Sea Foam to the oil on that generator.  I had it already so I thought I would try it. It says to use one ounce per quart of oil but I wanted to clean out the gunk in the sensor. I then shook the entire generator and pulled the starting cord to mix it in some more. It fired right up. I let it run for a while to prove it would run and stopped it and restarted it again. Then I drained the oil and replaced it with Mobile One synthetic oil. I drained all of the gas out of the tank and ran it until it ran dry to prep it for storage. Then I did the same thing with my other generator including changing the oil.
Thanks for the help.
Jim

[little john]

She said they are not in the tre damage business. They only cover trees on my buildings or on the fence.

That is what I hate about insurance companies.  It is not until you need it that you find out whether you have any coverage.  I will bet some of them don't even cover your house if it was damaged by a hurricane.  They have all kinds of excuses.

Coming from a non-hurricane country, that's one of the questions I wanted to ask - "Do insurance companies cover hurricane damage ?" - but I thought the timing might be insensitive. There was a really good film: "The Man who Sued God" based on that exact story-line - that Acts of God are 'wriggle-out of paying' exclusion clauses in insurance contracts.

I've used a cup-full of acetone in a gallon of petrol (gasoline) a few times to dissolve the varnish build-up in carburettors, but it's important that the mix is run through and not allowed to sit in the carb for any length of time, as it can cause swelling of O rings, which can then pop out of position.

Good luck with the clear-up Jim - at least you won't be short of firewood for a while <wry smile>.
'best,
LJ

[tycrnp]

Coming from a non-hurricane country, that's one of the questions I wanted to ask - "Do insurance companies cover hurricane damage ?" - but I thought the timing might be insensitive. There was a really good film: "The Man who Sued God" based on that exact story-line - that Acts of God are 'wriggle-out of paying' exclusion clauses in insurance contracts.

[/quote]

Insurance companies are tricky.  Here in Florida we have "basic" insurance that covers fire, etc.  Then we pay extra for "hurricane" coverage, and more for "flood" insurance.  When we lost so much in Ivan (like many others), insurance companies were arguing with home owners about water damage - was it from rain vs rising water....very frustrating.  It just seems like they try to 'wriggle-out of paying' whenever possible.   

[BeeMaster2]

She said they are not in the tre damage business. They only cover trees on my buildings or on the fence.

That is what I hate about insurance companies.  It is not until you need it that you find out whether you have any coverage.  I will bet some of them don't even cover your house if it was damaged by a hurricane.  They have all kinds of excuses.

Coming from a non-hurricane country, that's one of the questions I wanted to ask - "Do insurance companies cover hurricane damage ?" - but I thought the timing might be insensitive. There was a really good film: "The Man who Sued God" based on that exact story-line - that Acts of God are 'wriggle-out of paying' exclusion clauses in insurance contracts.

I've used a cup-full of acetone in a gallon of petrol (gasoline) a few times to dissolve the varnish build-up in carburettors, but it's important that the mix is run through and not allowed to sit in the carb for any length of time, as it can cause swelling of O rings, which can then pop out of position.

Good luck with the clear-up Jim - at least you won't be short of firewood for a while <wry smile>.
'best,
LJ

I had the insulation adjusters here yesterday. They seemed very easy to work with. Marked every thing that was damaged and said that they would be back in their office, in Alabama, in a couple of days and they will let me know what the total coverage is.
I will let you know.
Jim

[Acebird]

It just seems like they try to 'wriggle-out of paying' whenever possible.   

Word of advice.  Those that hire a private adjuster make out better than those that let the insurance adjuster tell you what you will get.  That includes what you have to pay the private adjuster.

[tycrnp]

Word of advice.  Those that hire a private adjuster make out better than those that let the insurance adjuster tell you what you will get.  That includes what you have to pay the private adjuster.

I didn't realize this was an option.  Hopefully I wont ever need another adjuster.  Thanks!