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For those with whole home standby generators...

Posted on 8/29/24 at 10:02 am
Posted by LSUTIGERTAILG8ER
Chance of Rain....NEVER!!
Member since Nov 2007
1850 posts
Posted on 8/29/24 at 10:02 am
do you pay for the annual maintenance program ?
why or why not?

new generac 24kw owner here.
I feel that maintaining oil/filter checks/changes, plugs, air filter, battery changes as needed would not be an issue.
I hesitate with the valve checks and if needed, adjustments.
Manual says after 25 hours and then every 400 after that.
Installer says that valves not adjusted, or incorrectly adjusted is the leading cause of motor failure and voided warranty potentially as Generac investigates pretty thoroughly any warranty claim with maintenance not performed by their guys. I'm trying to decide what I want to do.
Posted by cgrand
HAMMOND
Member since Oct 2009
43343 posts
Posted on 8/29/24 at 10:20 am to
it’s cheap, and I’ve got 2 dozen other things I have to maintain/service at my place so I pay it. Really just personal preference

if there was a mobile tractor service I’d use that too, YMMV
Posted by TheBoo
South to Louisiana
Member since Aug 2012
5124 posts
Posted on 8/29/24 at 10:45 am to
Be sure to read your warranty well. I'd imagine if you didn't get the certified tech to maintain your unit, anything you maintained yourself would probably be an easy out for Generac on providing any warranty coverage.
Posted by bluemoons
the marsh
Member since Oct 2012
5773 posts
Posted on 8/29/24 at 10:47 am to
quote:


it’s cheap, and I’ve got 2 dozen other things I have to maintain/service at my place so I pay it. Really just personal preference


Same and this. With our provider, we also get "priority" in the event it goes down during a storm. I think that probably means they'll just answer our phone call.
Posted by ruzil
Baton Rouge
Member since Feb 2012
17922 posts
Posted on 8/29/24 at 11:11 am to
quote:

Generac investigates pretty thoroughly any warranty claim with maintenance not performed by their guys.


You answered your own question.
Posted by dlmast87
Amish Country
Member since Dec 2007
1953 posts
Posted on 8/29/24 at 11:13 am to
I just pay our installer to do it. It's cheap enough and I don't want to mess with it.
Posted by jdavid1
Member since Jan 2014
2528 posts
Posted on 8/29/24 at 12:36 pm to
quote:

With our provider, we also get "priority" in the event it goes down during a storm. I think that probably means they'll just answer our phone call.


THIS.
Posted by Ziggy
Member since Oct 2007
21878 posts
Posted on 8/29/24 at 1:04 pm to
quote:

Same and this. With our provider, we also get "priority" in the event it goes down during a storm. I think that probably means they'll just answer our phone call.

Yep. Same here as well.
Posted by UpstairsComputer
Prairieville
Member since Jan 2017
1743 posts
Posted on 8/29/24 at 3:12 pm to

quote:

Same and this. With our provider, we also get "priority" in the event it goes down during a storm. I think that probably means they'll just answer our phone call.


Ditto this.

Also, not saying I have other crap going on and I'd forget the service but I just took my truck to the shop at 22k miles for my 18k mile April scheduled maintenance. I'm generally very responsible, but if I screwed this up and didn't have power for 8 days with a whole house generator outside, I'd probably lose half of all my shite and only see my kids on weekends.
Posted by LSUTIGERTAILG8ER
Chance of Rain....NEVER!!
Member since Nov 2007
1850 posts
Posted on 8/29/24 at 3:51 pm to
I called today and enrolled. Yall helped convince me its worth it.
Posted by ksdolfan
Houma, La.
Member since Sep 2007
1621 posts
Posted on 8/29/24 at 4:05 pm to
Our is set to run every Saturday at 10am for 10-15 minutes. If I don't hear it I call. They come change the oil yearly in May. If we have any extended outage I call them to come change it again. It ran for almost a month after Ida and we changed the oil once a week. We've been having it for 12 years now and it still runs great.
Posted by Skeeterzx190
Ponchatoula
Member since Sep 2019
286 posts
Posted on 8/30/24 at 7:13 am to
I completely installed mine myself a few years ago. Planned on doing basic maintenance myself. It was not even broken in yet when ida hit. I changed oil and filters as recommended in manual but called someone to check the valves. Shortly after I realized that I can do all maintenance easily but I’d be paying for priority when issues occur during a natural disaster. The company I went with also sent out quite a few emails before and immediately after ida with updates and simple alarm codes the generators may have been showing. Something as simple as an alarm code that was basically an oil temp wire touching the filter shutting down the generator was fixed with a zip tie and email. So I figure the info and priority in time of need Is what I’m paying for
Posted by Daygo85
Member since Aug 2008
3081 posts
Posted on 8/30/24 at 7:43 am to
What is a ballpark price for annual maintenance?
Posted by Skeeterzx190
Ponchatoula
Member since Sep 2019
286 posts
Posted on 8/30/24 at 9:39 am to
I believe it’s $300-$350.
They do they regular maintenance such as oil and filters. Check to make sure it’s putting out what it should, check the valve settings, battery test, change spark plug and check wires. But after having some neighbors have issues with Cummins, Koehler, and generac I realized Im paying more for a quicker fix if something went wrong as compared to someone without a maintenance contract.
Posted by 1mic
Through the coulee
Member since Nov 2014
158 posts
Posted on 8/30/24 at 9:56 am to
I take care of the routine maintenance (oil, filters, batteries etc). I pay the installer to adjust the valves when required during the warranty period.
Posted by LSUTIGERTAILG8ER
Chance of Rain....NEVER!!
Member since Nov 2007
1850 posts
Posted on 8/30/24 at 10:02 am to
quote:

What is a ballpark price for annual maintenance?


New customer or "discounted" rate is $299/year.

they change oil, filter, plugs, air filter, check valves and adjust as needed, put new gaskets, check battery and recommend replacement as needed.
that price includes the Mobile Link app "upgraded" subscription ($50 value) that is also monitored by the company and provides notifications and other features the app doesn't offer otherwise.

Owner is still responsible for changing oil after first 25 hours break in (if happens before the first year)
Owner still must check/change oil/filter every 48 hours of consecutive usage, or every 200 hours.

When they come out, they have to change everything listed above, even if the owner had just changed it all 4 hours run time previously...

They keep all your maintenance records in case of a warranty claim.
They discount service calls if you use them for other issues.
The other "non discounted" rate is $349/year if you lapse a year and come back to them later.
Posted by bapple
Capital City
Member since Oct 2010
12133 posts
Posted on 8/30/24 at 4:39 pm to
I do my own maintenance and keep a post-it note with the list of outages and run times plus the date and hours I changed the oil last. I have extra oil, filter, spark plugs, and stepper motor on-hand. Also have the number of a Generac tech in case I need to talk to someone directly.

I will need to have the valves adjusted (almost to 50 hours) soon and might leave that up to a tech that has the tools to do it quickly. Otherwise I know I'm rolling the dice. So far so good for 3 years of use...

EDIT: here's a list of generic replacement parts I made recently:

LINK
This post was edited on 8/30/24 at 4:41 pm
Posted by billjamin
Houston
Member since Jun 2019
15079 posts
Posted on 8/30/24 at 11:18 pm to
quote:

do you pay for the annual maintenance program ? why or why not?

No. I do it myself. It’s really not that hard and I got a crash course in self repair during the last hurricane when mine got hit by lightning.

You can track it all in the app.
This post was edited on 8/30/24 at 11:19 pm
Posted by Lutcher Lad
South of the Mason-Dixon Line
Member since Sep 2009
6713 posts
Posted on 9/1/24 at 3:32 pm to
Kind of a damned if you do...damned if you don't situation. The 3 year manintenance program costs around $375 per year but they give you a little discount if you sign up and pay for 3 years at a time,
You get 2 maintenance visits per year to do routine check. Last routine check was done 2 days prior to my generator not shutting down when the power came back on situation. Called for tech to investigate and they foune a faulty relay at the transfer switch box. Part cost me $124 and the labor was around $225 cause he had to come back after the part came in. Took him 25 minutes from the time he drove up to the time he left but they still charged 2 whole hours.
Very aggravating when you think the warranty is good but it's basically for major shite. All that anger goes away when power goes out and my generac starts up, though!
Posted by F73ME
SE LA
Member since May 2018
903 posts
Posted on 9/5/24 at 7:08 am to
Who is everyone maintaining their generac through? I've got a maintenance contract coming up for renewal, just got a letter in the mail, and they want ~450 for it. HMC in Baton Rouge Area.
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