Posted: 11/1/2012 3:01:30 PM EDT
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Well today I scored...kinda.... In my job i visit ALOT of jobsites and meet a TON of people well today it kinda payed off. I was leaving the site for the day and I was speaking to the superintendent and noticed a couple of generators sitting under his jobsite trailer, I casually asked "arn't you afraid of those things being stolen just sitting under there?" well the super went on to explain that both generators were broken...one a troy bilt was locked up solid and wouldn't crank...the second was a Gernerac XP8000E that ran but wouldn't produce electricity. I asked what his plans were for them and he said the dumpster eventually that they had already written them off and he just hadn't got around to throwing them out...well long story short guess who got the Generac for FREE....now i just need to see how much its going to cost me to have it fixxed...but for a generator that runs 2200ish dollars new I think I can work it out...this thing only has 96 hours on the meter....sorry for being so long winded I'm just excited...this is my first BIG score....sorta...
Will |
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congrats, thats a hell of a score...
doubt it'll cost more than a few bucks to fix it..with 96 hours, I'd get in touch with manufacturer and get it to a recognosed repair shop for possible warrenty work.. great find..hell, I'd of taken both..thinking even if the motor is messed up the generator part is valuable and maybe transferable to another motor unit??? just a thought CHEF |
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Take a corded electric drill, plug it in while the genset is running, with the drill in forward direction, pull the trigger and spin the chuck by hand a few times in the reverse direction and see if it excites the field. Be prepared to retract hand and fingers in a rapid fashion. Sometimes, this is all it takes. This is also why you exercise generators under load. A small electric heater, or the wife's hair dryer, whatever you have on hand. |
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Quoted:
Take a corded electric drill, plug it in while the genset is running, with the drill in forward direction, pull the trigger and spin the chuck by hand a few times in the reverse direction and see if it excites the field. Be prepared to retract hand and fingers in a rapid fashion. Sometimes, this is all it takes. This is also why you exercise generators under load. A small electric heater, or the wife's hair dryer, whatever you have on hand. Yup, flash the field. That was my first thought as well, costs nothing and I've seen it as a problem more than once. Once a month I fire every generator in the place up long enough to warm it up. I do this on my "project day"- a once a month day when I work in the garage all day on various projects. I use the juice I'm making to work on whatever I'm trying to get done that day so it's not just wasted. |
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should have taken the troybilt too...new engine or at least spare parts That was my thought as well. Maybe a cheap engine from Harbor Freight and the other generator could have been good to go. I know someone that has had good luck with one of their engines on a Craftsmans tiller. |
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Sorry...We work crazy hours and with the election and all I have had a very busy last couple of days. I tried the "Flashing" the generator and didn't seem to have any luck. I dropped it off at a local small engine repair shop who the owner is a friend of our family's and he had it apart this afternoon and is going to call me tomorrow about what the bill is going to be but he did mention that it wouldn't be over $300. For that price I think that I came out pretty good. The next step will be building a generator shelter and wiring in a transfer switch. After the derecho in july and not having power for a week this is going to be a godsend and ALOT of piece of mind.
Will |
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Sorry OP...Gotta disagree with you on this one.
If you're a construction inspector, like your screen name implies, we have an ethical obligation not to take free shit from the job site. I'm a construction inspector/resident engineer too. Whether the gen set works or not, your contractor just gained influence with you for letting you take it. Whether you realise it or not, you owe him one now. Even if it was for scrap value, you shouldn't have taken it. I've worked from NC to NY and influence is gained in many different ways from a contractor. Those free tickets to a game that he and his wife can't go to....that set of anchor bolts that he doesn't need but that you can use to bolt down that new safe you got....that pile of copper in the lay down yard....an old gen set. Fuck, on job I once found an envelope of cash in my truck and immediately called my boss to deal with it, we ended up donating it since the contractor denied it 10 ways from Sunday. In my company, and as far as I'm concerned OUR profession, that is a major breech of ethics. You should have left it where you saw it. Even if he offered to load it up for you. Just my opinion. ETA: elaborated and removed something for PERSEC. |
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Quoted:
Sorry OP...Gotta disagree with you on this one. If you're a construction inspector, like your screen name implies, we have an ethical obligation not to take free shit from the job site. I'm a construction inspector/resident engineer too. Whether the gen set works or not, your contractor just gained influence with you for letting you take it. Whether you realise it or not, you owe him one now. Even if it was for scrap value, you shouldn't have taken it. I've worked from NC to NY and influence is gained in many different ways from a contractor. Those free tickets to a game that he and his wife can't go to....that set of anchor bolts that he doesn't need but that you can use to bolt down that new safe you got....that pile of copper in the lay down yard....an old gen set. Fuck, on job I once found an envelope of cash in my truck and immediately called my boss to deal with it, we ended up donating it since the contractor denied it 10 ways from Sunday. In my company, and as far as I'm concerned OUR profession, that is a major breech of ethics. You should have left it where you saw it. Even if he offered to load it up for you. Just my opinion. ETA: elaborated and removed something for PERSEC. Wow!!!! Never had my ethics called into question before especially when you really don't even know why I was on the job in the first place.... But if you must know every little detail, I was working for the contractor in an internal review capacity, This particular contractor ( I should have clarified the super on the job is also the OWNER of the company) has contracted myself and my partners ( I'm part owners in my firm) to do suprise reviews of his different crews like an internal QA/QC program, as he unlike 75% of the contractors in the world actuallys cares about the quality of his work and what his companys name is attached to...I see the point that you were trying to make however I find it awefully short sided that you think I was on the take ....there are people who would do that however you have no I dea who I am what I have or havn't done in my life or on my jobs so I think that you should just think before typing..... Will |
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My appologies to you Will. The details that you left out do change things tremendously and I really can't fault you for leaving them out since who would expect another inspector to be here in the SF forum. Our job isn't that common and those circumstances even less so.
A contractor paying your firm for QA/QC is an extremely rare thing and they must be a top shelf outfit. It's been forever sicne I've worked with one of those. Perhaps I've gotten too jaded since working in NY, a lot of people in the industry here seem to be on the take in one way or another. Congrats on your score and sorry to derail your thread. Quoted:
Quoted:
Sorry OP...Gotta disagree with you on this one. If you're a construction inspector, like your screen name implies, we have an ethical obligation not to take free shit from the job site. I'm a construction inspector/resident engineer too. Whether the gen set works or not, your contractor just gained influence with you for letting you take it. Whether you realise it or not, you owe him one now. Even if it was for scrap value, you shouldn't have taken it. I've worked from NC to NY and influence is gained in many different ways from a contractor. Those free tickets to a game that he and his wife can't go to....that set of anchor bolts that he doesn't need but that you can use to bolt down that new safe you got....that pile of copper in the lay down yard....an old gen set. Fuck, on job I once found an envelope of cash in my truck and immediately called my boss to deal with it, we ended up donating it since the contractor denied it 10 ways from Sunday. In my company, and as far as I'm concerned OUR profession, that is a major breech of ethics. You should have left it where you saw it. Even if he offered to load it up for you. Just my opinion. ETA: elaborated and removed something for PERSEC. Wow!!!! Never had my ethics called into question before especially when you really don't even know why I was on the job in the first place.... But if you must know every little detail, I was working for the contractor in an internal review capacity, This particular contractor ( I should have clarified the super on the job is also the OWNER of the company) has contracted myself and my partners ( I'm part owners in my firm) to do suprise reviews of his different crews like an internal QA/QC program, as he unlike 75% of the contractors in the world actuallys cares about the quality of his work and what his companys name is attached to...I see the point that you were trying to make however I find it awefully short sided that you think I was on the take ....there are people who would do that however you have no I dea who I am what I have or havn't done in my life or on my jobs so I think that you should just think before typing..... Will |
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I once had a 5kW PinCor given to me with a locked up Briggs and Scrap'em engine. I took the head off it, dumped about 4 oz. of AT fluid on top of the piston and promptly forgot about it for most of the winter. Next spring I found it with the trans fluid gone (it did what it was supposed to do and loosened up a stuck piston) and proceeded to whack the piston with a leather mallet.. The piston broke free, so I bolted the head back down, added fuel, and yanked the rope. Started right up...
We used it for most of the spring and summer until I got far enough along to install the electric panel. ON the last day we ran it, the con rod broke, so I bought a milsurp 20 HP rig.. most air cooled engines sieze b/c they burn their lube oil when run hot. Sometimes yo free them up and have them run fine, sometimes they will run like shit. Either way, the price is right.. Ops |