My backup generator died 3 hours into a 2 day power outage

Last month we had a big storm roll through and the power went out around 8pm. I fired up my old generator I keep in the shed, and it ran fine for about 3 hours. Then it just sputtered and quit. Turns out the carburetor was all gunked up from sitting with old gas in it. I spent the rest of the night trying to clean it with a wire brush in the dark. Now I'm thinking about buying a new one, maybe a dual fuel model that runs on propane too. Has anyone else had a generator fail on them right when they needed it most?

2 comments

2 Comments

lisak2628d ago

Oh man, that's rough. I had a similar thing happen with my old generator during a big ice storm a few years back. It ran for about 45 minutes and then just died with a puff of smoke. Turned out I forgot to drain the gas from last season and the whole fuel line was basically varnish. I was out there in the freezing cold trying to get it to fire up while my wife was inside with a flashlight. Your generator failing at 3 hours is pretty impressive honestly, mine couldn't even manage that.

perez.willow28d ago

Yeah, the "puff of smoke" part really hit home for me. I used to think generators were pretty much bulletproof as long as you changed the oil now and then. But hearing how that old gas just turned everything to varnish in your fuel line, that changed my mind for sure. Now I drain mine dry after every season and run some cleaner through it, @lisak26. It's a pain but beats being the guy holding a flashlight while your wife glares at you.