Winter Generator running

codgerbill · 11-26-2008, 07:21 AM

I have winterized the coach (Emptied water & holding tanks, blown out water lines and added pink stuff to the traps) as well as put the jacks down to take some weight of the wheels. I will start the coach and run it on the road for maby 30-60 minutes once a month but I am wondering what one could do to load the generator? Water tank is empty, refrigerator is empty and temp will be below what the minimum for the heat pump to operate. The hair dryer in the bathroom pulls a decent load but I dont think running it for any length of time would be good. How much load would one need to give it a good workout during the layoff period? My system is a 30amp system with a 5.5KW onan.

codgerbill · 11-26-2008, 07:21 AM

I have winterized the coach (Emptied water & holding tanks, blown out water lines and added pink stuff to the traps) as well as put the jacks down to take some weight of the wheels. I will start the coach and run it on the road for maby 30-60 minutes once a month but I am wondering what one could do to load the generator? Water tank is empty, refrigerator is empty and temp will be below what the minimum for the heat pump to operate. The hair dryer in the bathroom pulls a decent load but I dont think running it for any length of time would be good. How much load would one need to give it a good workout during the layoff period? My system is a 30amp system with a 5.5KW onan.

LazyDog · 11-26-2008, 08:04 AM

Hi Codgerbill
What I normally do is keep a 'tupperware' bowel of water in the Microwave. Between 'exercises' the water is frozen solid and so while going through the paces I run the generator/microwave and thaw the ice back to water. The microwave exerts a significant draw and seems to do the trick.
This should work for you too!

PeteB · 11-26-2008, 08:09 AM

I have a 7.5 kw generator and will plug in a 1500W heater and run it for an hour to exercise.

The normal recommendation is for 1/2 the max load for one hour.

Pete

SRT · 11-26-2008, 08:46 AM

Since my motor home resides in its own garage, the generator doesn't get started in the winter. Before it gets put away for the winter I've put Sta-Bil in the gas and run the generator for 20-25 minutes under load. Next March when we head south (springs are long up here) the generator will get used. I've done this for a number of years with no problems. Have over 300 hours on the generator.

thmdamit · 11-26-2008, 10:03 AM

I run my heat pump or electric heater

codgerbill · 11-26-2008, 01:30 PM

Thanks for the responses guys. The tupperware sounds like a great idea amd I think maby its time to look into a portable heater too. I wish we had the climate here in Michigan to run the heat pump in the winter too. My thought was to run the gen set and the coach in the winter to keep the batterys up and stuff. In the spring I will take the coach in to have everything serviced.

David K · 11-26-2008, 02:48 PM

I also run an electric heater when exercising the generator. Puts enough of a load on it to make it "work" for the hour to get rid of the excess moisture.

becks · 11-26-2008, 03:48 PM

I run my genny one hour each month duing the Minnesota winter. I to use a 1500 watt oil filled electric heater. My coach is blocked up with very little weight on the tires. Gas tank full with stabil added and engine oil changed. Three phase chargers for chassis and coach batteries that I plug in every five to seven days all winter long. Coach will not be started until end of March or first of April. Tires are also covered. It sits on a concrete slab next to my house with wood under tires. Five more years until retirement and then I can forget about this routine. I can't wait.

steelheadbluesman · 11-26-2008, 04:19 PM

I had a discussion years ago with a very sharp Onan tech, who advised me to always exercise my 5 KW genset at about half its rated output, for about thirty minutes each month. I have since confirmed this with other sources. So, after a few minutes of warm-up with no load (very important, he said), I fire up enough appliances to use roughly 2500 watts. I don't want to run the microwave for 30 minutes, so I use a small space heater, 1500 watts and turn on a few things like TVs, fridge, or whatever to get another 1000 watts. You can get a list online of the wattage used by all your appliances, and figure out a regular routine that works for you. Hope this helps a little

blacktie.shooter · 12-02-2008, 02:37 PM

I see all of this dialogue about exercising my generator in the wintertime. One RV tech told me to warm up the gen, then turn on both a/c units. (Doesn't sound like a day at the beach.) No one has ever explained "why" to me. What am I risking if I don't do that?

Thanks for any knowledgeable help I can get.

David K · 12-02-2008, 03:20 PM

While this may not be totally correct, it may explain your question about why to turn on the air conditioners. What the tech was saying was to let the generator warm up -- oil is flowing, operating temp is up, etc, etc. Then when you turn on the air conditioners, you are adding a load to the generator so the armatures will start working to produce the electrical current at a higher amperage. This causes the armatures in the generator to warm up --- actually get hot which in turn drives out any residue moisture which can and will build up in the generator due to "non use." The goal is to exercise the motor as well as warming up the armature and getting rid of the moisture which will shorten the life of your generator.

Instead of turning on the air conditioner, I have two plug in heaters that I run to "load" the generator and bring it up to load that way.

Hope this "non technical" explanation helps.

Ding-a-ling · 12-02-2008, 03:40 PM

At a Cummins/Onan seminar I attended the presenter stated they hardly ever see a generator with high-hour usage in for repair. He said, generaly, if a generator was in need of repair it was one that had only a few hours on the hourmeter.

TXiceman · 12-02-2008, 04:03 PM

No reason to run the A/C in the winter. Just run a couple of the 1500 watt space heaters. That way you at least get to stay warm.

You run the generator at about 1/2 load to let the winding warm up and drive any moisture out of the insulation. By letting the generator set for long periods, the winding will pick up moisture and deteriorate. Another way to keep the winding from absorbing moisture is to Place a light bulb in the generator, but this would require some expertise to get into the windings.

Lots of larger industrial motors and generators have a space heater built into the windings which are energized any time the motor is not operating to keep the winding dry.

ken

Jeanne M. · 12-03-2008, 07:56 AM

This is a very good subject and great time to ask my question.

As the daughter, sister and ex-wife of mechanics, I understand the 'load' issue of generators. However, I've never been quite sure of how long to run it. I've always run it about 30 minutes around the first of every month with the a/c on (we're in So-Cal so it works for us). Does anyone here know if that's long enough or should I do more...or if less is ok.

Thanks a bunch!

TXiceman · 12-03-2008, 08:49 AM

Some say 30 minutes, some say 1 hour. I always ran mine fro at least 30 minutes with about 3000 wats laod as a minimum. Never had any problems.

ken

dirko · 12-03-2008, 08:55 AM

Hi Ho: The only hesitation I have about running the genertor in the winter is that like most of you I use 30 weight oil in the Onan 5500. This is great for when it is warm, but is almost like tar when it is cold. I could change to 10/30 oil, but would have to change back in the spring with almost no hours on the oil.

What do the rest of you do? I hate starting the generator with heavy oil and essentially no lubrication for the first minute or so.

Dirk

FrontRangeRVer · 12-03-2008, 09:03 AM

I rarely run mine in the Winter here.....I just make sure it has Stabil run through it in the Fall, so it doesn't get gummed up in the Winter.....starts fine in the Spring.

If we lived somewhere where it gets above freezing for 3 months, I might exercise it more.

blacktie.shooter · 12-03-2008, 11:48 AM

Dave, Frank & Ken - Great info, thanks very much.

Dirk - I just spoke to my local Onan service center (you know, when all else fails, try the instructions - duh!) they said 15W40. I understand why you use 10W30 in the winter, not clear why you are using 30wt. in the summer. Isn't that the whole point of multi-viscosity oils, same one year around?

Ken & Jeanne - another recommendation I ran across; they said to run the gen for two hours at half load, that it was actually better than two one hour shots.

Just passing on what I found, guys, thanks for all your help.

dirko · 12-03-2008, 02:06 PM

Hi Ho Ken: Thanks for the lookup work. I have used various weights of oil in gas and diesel engines (also in the airplane) and have researched which weight gives the best performance (i.e. protection) for both liquid and air cooled engines. The answer is that straight 30 wt. is best for warm weather use. 15w/40 is a good comopromise for varying (changing) weather, but doesn't protect as well as straight 30 wt. especially when the temperatures go above 100 deg. as it often does in southern Utah and Nevada.

For winter 10w/30 works or 5w/30 for stuff in Wyoming where the temperatures are often less than -30 deg. F.

The worst oil in existence is 10w/40. I don't even know why the stuff is still made. I wouldn't use it for anything.

Oh, by the way it isn't true that the last number on multigrade oils make them equivalent to single weight oil of that grade.

Anyway, that was my long answer to a short (good) question.

Happy hollidays, Dirk