Backup Generator

[Henry W]

Like SteveU wrote: Use the smallest possible approved fuel container. Seal it tight.

I like using two 2-1/2 gallon containers and rotate them weekly. Yea, I use lots of premix during mowing season.

During winter months I use a one gallon container.


Storage life is around 2 months with stabilizer. I only use 89 octane.

Henry

[mobile_bob]

i have never been a big fan of two stroke engine's save for the obvious reason of power to weight ratio
and it being very easy to pack around a light weight string trimmer than one with a 4 stroke engine on it.

at 50lbs the little gennie is pretty portable all in all,

however i would love to find a similar sized rig that was a 4 stroke, even if it weighed a few more lbs

one would think that such a thing ought to be possible, its hard to believe that the difference in weight
would even be an added 10lbs on such a small engine, but then again you probably can't get 2hp out of a 63cc
4stroker running at 3600rpm?

i dunno, even with the hassle of mixing fuel, i really like the little bugger and hope it holds up well.

i am thinking of getting another one just to put out on the patio and run as many hours as i possibly can and use it
under various loads just to see how long it would last.

it might be surprising just how long it would last, there is the one report of that fellow that has approx 2k hours on one

thats a hell of a lot of time for a sub hundred dollar generator in my opinion.

bob g

[flywheel]

Hey Bob - here you go. 

This is a 4 cycle engine, low oil shutdown, 1000 watts max, 2 recepticles, camo color, probably about 70 pounds, from a wholesale auction, can't even remember what I paid for it, had it for maybe 18 months or more, hell - it might not even run!
                             flywheel

[mobile_bob]

now thats neat!

only problem is the color, i would never be able to find the damn thing amongst the clutter in my garage!

cool

bob g

[flywheel]

The red and black terminals on the front panel are for battery charging - 12V DC, 8.3 amps.
                                                                                                                                                  flywheel

[LowGear]

Nice unit but can you imagine trying to find this thing on a fall camping trip?  In the dark?

I think most of us kinda like 4 cycle more but 2 cycle rules in some disciplines.  Remember what dogs 2 strokes were back in the 50s?

Casey

[wrightkiller]

http://willardssmallengines.com/shop/generators/powertrain-900-watt-camouflage-suitcase-generator.html

OUCH! 419.95

[flywheel]

Nice unit but can you imagine trying to find this thing on a fall camping trip?  In the dark?

I think most of us kinda like 4 cycle more but 2 cycle rules in some disciplines.  Remember what dogs 2 strokes were back in the 50s?

Casey

Yea but - they can't steal it if they can't find it, flywheel

[lowspeedlife]

http://willardssmallengines.com/shop/generators/powertrain-900-watt-camouflage-suitcase-generator.html

OUCH! 419.95

Come on, free shiping has got to be worth something.  

scott r.

[Henry W]

Jens,
once you start digging deeper on TCW oils you will see they were never made for Hi performance 2-stroke air cooled engines. Especialy a high performance chain saw that turns 13,500 RPM's like your Stihl. They run HOT!!! and they need premium fuel also when turning such high RPM,s. Line trimmers are a differant story though. Yes people used TCW based oils in them but read all owners manuals and they normaly have warnings not to use TCW based oils. Over time they will get damaged. A home owner might get away with it for 3 or 10 year because they might only put 20 hours a year on them.

When I pay over $400.00 for a professional line trimmer I will run what is recommended. And all my manuals say WARNING do not use TCW based oil. Both my line trimmers have at least 500 hours on them and they still run like new. the only things I do is grease them and change air filters. This is not the place to be cheap and run anything you find in them. Like I said I use at least 35 gallons of premix in them every year for 4 years and I have not had one failure with any of them I mentioned in an earlier reply. You can read about oils until you get to the point that you don't know what or who to believe. I think the Manufactures did enough R&D on thier products and should know something.
Take it as a good learning experiance. And do not run any more TCW based oils in your air cooled engines. TCW3 Based oils do not protect cylinders above 300 deg. F. Leave the TCW3 oils for the stock outboards. Oh and burn up that old TCW base oil. It is dated and does not protect outboards with todays gas.


What model Stihl saw you have? It can probably be fixed. New jug, piston, rings, wrist pin and clips and it should be good to go. The crank, rod and bearings is normaly not an issue on them if it is a professional model.

Henry

[mobile_bob]

think the camo gennie is high at 419 bucks

try this on for size!

http://willardssmallengines.com/shop/tecumseh/engines/horizontal-engines/page1.html

bob g

[flywheel]

Thats has to be a typo, $1000 would be plenty high for this engine.

I know I paid way less than $200 for the camo genny,  wouldn't have bought it if it was more.
                                                                                                                                                       flywheel

[BioHazard]

I have a lot of trouble buying the "don't use TCW-3 oil" arguement as long as you use the right ratio. Any bottle of TCW-3 oil you can find, of every brand, will say right on the back, to use it for air and water cooled engines alike, generally with pictures of outboards, lawmowers, and chainsaws. Maybe not in an expensive, 13,000 RPM saw...but this little 3600 RPM generator should handle it just fine. For the record, the manual only says to use "2 stroke oil", that's as specific as they get. I imagine whatever they use in china isn't nearly as good as TCW-3 oil.

Since I have the warranty I think I'm just going to use Mercury Quicksilver TCW-3 outboard oil exclusively, since I already have about 50 gallons for my boat. I'll take the head off after a few hundred hours and see if I can take some pics.

Bob - Honda has been making 4 cycle generators this size and much quieter for years and years...you'll just have to pay about 15 times more. 

[Henry W]

while we were on the topic of Premix a while back here are the cans I went with. They are the best new cans I have used. And the name fits them.

http://www.nospill.com/index.php

Henry

[Ronmar]

Most all 2 stroke problems I have enciuntered are operator related.  Poor fuel/oil mix, old fuel ect.  I have a lot of miles on the yamaha street 2strokes(R5B,RD350, RZ350) and dirtbikes.  I have never owned a 4stroke bike and have comlete confidence in the 2stroke engine.  Yes they have a few rules that must be followed, but if they are, their simpler design and HP to weight has always won my heart:).

At 3600 RPM, you probably wouldn't have to be too far over that 63CC didplacement to get 2HP in a 4stroke...  That little 2HP honda outboard does it with 57CC, but gets it's rating at 5500 RPM.  At 3600 RPM you could probably do it for under 100CC.