re: Generac generator crapping out

Any idea if there is a general alternative oil filter for Generac standby units? Generac part #070185E, curious in case I can’t find any locally. Figure there has to be another brand that’ll work.

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did that price inlcude the pad or no?

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Not sure but I would assume no.

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but in general yea electric side is getting overloaded. which leads to the stepping motor running the engine at the highest rpms it can and then in turn burning oil faster than expected.

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Almost all of these home generators are producing power with a alternator. To maintain the 60 Hertz line frequency required by everything in your home the engine must run at 3600 rpm. The stepper motor is part of a throttle feedback loop that maintains 3600 rpm regardless of load. At no time does the engine run at a higher or lower RPM. There are a few home units with a gearbox allowing the engine to run at a lower 1800rpm. Investor generators can run at any RPM because the 60hertz AC voltage is derived electronically from the generator DC output. Generac produced some full house inverter units , but they were expensive, didn’t sell, and were discontinued.

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Holy shite

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Thats downright dangerous and I'm surprised they don't catch on fire frequently. I would definitely be building a whole new cover for mine, with built in forced airflow.

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yea thats why i was laughing when people were trying to tell me that you shouldnt open the box etc

im like yea well frick what the manual says...i know for a fact that teh older 20kw and the newer 22kw and 24kw glow after very little run time.

im an engineer on industrial side too and man there is no mechanism for them to force air flow. there are vents but its not nearly enough to disapate the heat. thats why i said got to shut them down and as much as possible pull off the sides and put a fan on them.

the enclosures on the generacs are essentially just insulated metal boxes and these things are not made for our climates. only way to really cool them is let them shut down.

thats why i mentioned the oil having to be changed so often. all of that shite is based off of temps much further north.

some on here think im angry or something...anything but. i just dont want people going through what we did after laura and to share the knowledge we learned from the 4-6 weeks without power.

also i hate how everyone has unrealstic expectations for these things.

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Almost all of these home generators are producing power with a alternator. To maintain the 60 Hertz line frequency required by everything in your home the engine must run at 3600 rpm. The stepper motor is part of a throttle feedback loop that maintains 3600 rpm regardless of load. At no time does the engine run at a higher or lower RPM. There are a few home units with a gearbox allowing the engine to run at a lower 1800rpm. Investor generators can run at any RPM because the 60hertz AC voltage is derived electronically from the generator DC output. Generac produced some full house inverter units , but they were expensive, didn’t sell, and were discontinued.

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ok so explain why i can stand over the generator, have someone put more load on it, watch the stepping motor adjust and here the motor ramp up?

i understand exactly what you are saying and agree that prolyl how its supposed to work, but i have personally watched and listened to it ramp the engine. that goes for the 20kw with the older style stepping motor and the new 22kw with the new stainless stepping motor.

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So what am I hearing when my Generac 17kw sounds like it's revs up every time the AC cycles on?

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you are hearing exactly what i described, the motor ramping after the stepping motor sense the load and adjust the output to match.

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We keep 1,000 gallons at work at all times. It would be super easy for me to get it. Not to mention, It is really easy to get diesel right now compared to gas.

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if you have the money then get a kubota if they have one large enough for you. or get a cummins diesel.

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glad he got you hooked up. napa and other stores sell the spark plugs, oil, oil filters too. just different brands.

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Yup. Thanks. Trying to help my family in Houma, may run down there tomorrow to change oil on their unit just hoping somewhere in Metairie/Nola is open and has filter and maybe some oil.

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This is bullshite.

I can walk outside right now and put my hand on the top or side of the housing and they are warm, not even hot.

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not the housing....inside on the generator itself.