Need to get generator going after 5+ years

[MoreCowbellAz]

What's good for cleaning fuel tanks that have been stored for long periods of time? Not so much for rust, but for whatever really old file leaves behind.

I've had my Coleman Powermate 3250 generator stored in my garage for over 5 years, and I want to get it going again. It's been in my dry, warm garage (here in Phoenix) the whole time, but I was negligent by doing no storage prep. So my plan was to do an oil change, clean the carbs, and get rid of the old gas in the tank. I doubt the tank is rusted, but needs to be done to clean the fuel tank and lines? Rinse with clean fuel or something else?

Also, is 15w40 HDEO good for the Phoenix climate? Meaning rarely ever reaching freezing in the winter and hotter than heck in the summer. Or would a 5w30 sun be better for year round use?

 

[mech_tech]

What had worked for me, hose down the inside with brake cleaner and literally throw in a few rocks and start dancing the twist with it. After a few minutes of the neighbors staring, dump out the rocks and pour in a pretty strong mixture of CLR and let that soak for about an hour. Rinse out well and once again hose down with brake cleaner and you should be good to go. As for as fuel lines, replace them, the heat has surely damaged them by now. Either oil will suite your needs, the 10w-30 oils are a bit more popular on this site due to less of a tendency to shear. One thing to keep in mind is that some generators will lose their voltage in the power head and not want to begin creating power after sitting up for a while, but there is a trick to that problem if you do encounter it.

 

[linksep]

Get a flashlight and look in the tank, that will tell you how much cleaning you have to do. Agree with mech_tech, but I would say you can use nuts and bolts or small chain instead of rocks to scrub the inside of your tank (if needed). Be careful not to puncture an in-tank screen type fuel filter if that's what it has, or get yourself an inline small engine fuel filter for a couple bucks virtually anywhere (Wal-Mart, HD, Lowes, Menards, ACE, Tru-Value, etc.).

I would go for 10w40 or 15w40 for a generator in Phoenix. SAE 30 would probably be my second choice, __w30 might be a little thin when ambient is 105* and the generator is running heavily loaded.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

I've cleaned a number of older, neglected, rusty tanks with a handful of driveway gravel. Then strapped to the wheel of the tractor rear tire and go mow for an hour or so.

 

[Ducked]

I've heard electrolysis is effective, but havn't (yet) tried it.

Fill tank with dilute sodium bicarbonate.

Get a bit of steel (or better aluminium) cable and put it inside one those spiral cable tidy things (or improvise some other holy shroud for the cable which prevents it touching the side of the tank)

Connect a negative DC terminal to the tank

Connect a positive DC terminal to the cable and put the other end of it in the tank

Turn on DC supply (eg bat charger or PC power supply)

Occaisionally check to see if there's any cable left, and if there is, move it to another part of the tank.

 

[cat843]

Isopropyl alcohol will clean the tank just fine. Leave it in several days, but agitate it 2X a day.

Install a inline gas filter.

You may need to "excite" the generator, it may have lost that in storage. Look for the owners manual.

 

[gman2304]

Your plan in your OP sounds good to me. It might run fine, and you won't need to do anything else.

 

[ironman_gq]

I'd just clean the carb, drain any old gas in the tank and refill with fresh gas and some sea foam. Change the oil, air filter, spark plug and see what happens.

The engine should be just fine but the genset part of it might need a little maintenance if she's gone flat.

 

[boraticus]

Drain the old fuel, fill with fresh gas and make sure the fuel valve to the carb is open. Drain the carb and allow the fuel line from the tank to the carb to be recharged with fresh fuel. Only takes a couple of oz. of fuel to refresh both fuel line and carb.

Clean the spark plug, check the oil and fire it up. No need to go over the top for something like this.

I worked on an old Honda generator that had been buried under a collapsed building for ten years. All I did was as mentioned above and it fired right up.

 

[MoreCowbellAz]

I don't know anything about the genset/voltage maintenance issues, but then again I don't know generators. If I have a problem, I assume I'd know it because it wouldn't power anything, but it's fixable, correct? I'll research it in the meantime and take another look at the manual when I get home but I don't recall seeing anything in there related to that. If it is it may be just a slight mention, the owner manual is really bad. It doesn't get into any detail on anything, even changing the oil is not well described.

I'm actually looking forward to getting it going again, poor old girl has been sitting neglected for years. I don't like things just left to deteriorate.

Thanks for

 

[bubbatime]

The cheapest easiest way to remove tank rust is to fill the tank up with apple cider vinegar. The stuff is cheap, amazing and the tank will come out looking new after a 48 hour soak.

Replace the fuel line and fuel filter. If no fuel filter, ADD ONE. The tank will have sediment that you dont want going to your carb.

For oil, in Phoenix, you want a 40 weight or 50 weight oil. Definitely not 5W30. 15W40 is a good choice.

 

[4wheeldog]

If there is no rust visible with use of a flashlight, I would put acetone (About 25% of the tank capacity) in the tank and let it sit, maybe agitate it a couple of times. Drain, follow with alcohol, drain and fill with fresh gas.

Most of the problem will be varnish in the lower parts of the tank, left when the volatiles evaporated off. Once you get it running well, a dose of Techron with each subsequent fueling, for awhile, will keep any bits you missed in suspension.

The carb will be the critical part to clean. Take you time, and have more spray carb cleaner on hand than you think you need.

 

[tmorris1]

I would go with what the OP said to start with. It will most likely start and run fine with fresh fuel. He said he didn't think the tank was rusty so I don't know how this got to putting rocks and nuts in a tank to clean it when it is probably clean as a whistle.

Drain the gas and oil, refill with fresh, and giver heck.

 

[pocketchange]

I'd bet there isn't anything in the tank due to evaporation. Drain it if there is and add fresh fuel, change the oil and spin it over (by hand) without the plug. If the valves are not stuck, put in the plug and see what happens.

Keep it simple, cross your fingers and see what happens. pc

 

[bubbatime]

Originally Posted By: tmorris1
He said he didn't think the tank was rusty so I don't know how this got to putting rocks and nuts in a tank to clean it when it is probably clean as a whistle.

Drain the gas and oil, refill with fresh, and giver heck.


Not in my experience. Generators that sit for 5 years, have EMPTY tanks due to evaporation. Whats left behind is a rusty/varnished mess, and does need a thorough cleaning. We won't know until the op chimes in.

 

[MoreCowbellAz]

I'll unpack that corner of my garage and take a peek in the fuel tank tonight. I won't have time to really get into it until then weekend, which is why I'm trying to get prepared in the meantime.

This generator spent it's whole life running tire warmers for my race bike, and I have to admit aside from changing the oil it was an out of sight out of mind deal for me. A good cleaning will make us both feel a lot better.

I'll report back.

 

[Lubener]

Use a handful of hex nuts and water.

 

[MoreCowbellAz]

Well so far so good, took a look in the fuel tank with a flashlight and saw liquid fuel, fairly clear, and no rust other than some flakes on the bottom. Saw no active rusting areas unless it's on the roof of the tank where I can't see. Honestly I expected to see everything turned to jelly, or completely dried and crusty but not to be.

I think my plan will be to give the fuel tank and lines a good rinse, clean the carbs, and see if it fires up. If that goes well I'll do a little more refurb, hoses, plug, etc. Hopefully it'll be just that simple, that would be a nice surprise.

 

[linksep]

Originally Posted By: MoreCowbellAz
Well so far so good, took a look in the fuel tank with a flashlight and saw liquid fuel, fairly clear, and no rust other than some flakes on the bottom. Saw no active rusting areas unless it's on the roof of the tank where I can't see. Honestly I expected to see everything turned to jelly, or completely dried and crusty but not to be.

I think my plan will be to give the fuel tank and lines a good rinse, clean the carbs, and see if it fires up. If that goes well I'll do a little more refurb, hoses, plug, etc. Hopefully it'll be just that simple, that would be a nice surprise.


Good news. Drain the tank, pour old garbage into your wife's vehicle (when she has 3/4 tank or more). Install a $3 inline fuel filter, change oil to SAE 30 or 10w40 or 15w40 or 20w50, refuel with fresh non-oxygenated gas (if available in your area) and see if it starts. Re-energize magnetic field as needed, see youtube for instructions.

 

[MoreCowbellAz]

I'm not sure what I'll do with the gas. I'll have another gallon of bad gas to add to it once I drain a dirt bike I want to sell now that the riding season is upon us here. So once I do that I'll need to dispose of a couple gallons or really really bad gas.

You can tell the weather has broken here finally, project time!