# Generator Not used Since Bought



## mstrlucky74 (Oct 29, 2012)

Bought this similar generator about 2 yeas ago brand new. All I did was unbox it and put it in my shed( not very well insulated shed, I'm in NY).....never started, never gassed etc. I've been thinking about it lately since it's never been used and saying to myself what if a couple more years go by and it's not needed? Can this thing jut sit unused and still work years and years later. Should I be doing something? Thank you.




https://www.homedepot.com/p/Briggs-...e-Powered-Portable-Generator-030592/203868441


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## motormonkey (Jul 10, 2016)

Brand new generators like that are usually shipped with no fuel in the fuel system, and no oil in the crankcase. The manuals that came with it, particularly the instructions for setting it up out of the box will tell you what you need to know about that. The manufacturer may have put some kind of preservative or rust/corrosion inhibitors in the crankcase and/or fuel system, but that would only be intended to protect it from rust/corrosion for a few months until it was sold and put into service. Eventually, unprotected metal will rust or corrode, especially if it's exposed to moisture. Wide temperature swings encourage moisture formation on metal parts.

If it were mine, here's what I would do. Service it up and get it running per the instructions. Put the correct type and amount of oil in the crankcase, put some ethanol free gas mixed with Sta-bil or Star-tron and a little oil in the fuel tank, and then run it a bit to get it up to temperature and get oil on all the inner parts of the engine. After running, drain all the gas from the tank, and then run the engine til it quits. Then it should be ready to store for a year or so, after which you should repeat the process.


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## jkingrph (Sep 18, 2017)

That pretty well sums up how I treat my Honda EB11000. It's about 15 years old now, but I have had to use it a few times. I did install a "T" fitting and valve in the gas line before the fuel filter so I could drain the tank. I use ethanol free gas, treat with one of the stablizers, usually Sta-Bil and add a little oil to the fuel, either Marvel Mystery oil, or outboard motor oil, so that the inside of my steel tank has a little oil present, so far no signs of corrosion, and coat the inside of carb and valves. It came with a factory fuel shut off to the Carb, so I can run it dry . I do store it with the tank topped off, at least no chance of condensation in it that way.

I may be a bit anal, but I use Mobil 1 in it, and change at least every two years even if not used. If not used I will take the oil filter off, drain it and reinstall, If I have to use it, even for a relatively few hours, I think the most I have had to run it was about 30 hours over the course of 4 days and something like that is very rare, I will change the oil and filter before putting it away. 

My biggest problem has been batteries, it seems as though the lawn mower type that fits properly do not last much over two years even with a maintainer attached. I did install a isolation switch to totally disconnect the battery from the generator and that did not help. The last time I researched and found a motorcycle type gel cell battery that's a tight fit, and installed it. That's probably been 18 months ago, and I just tried the generator a few weeks back and it started fine. I have on a couple of times had to use the recoil starter due to a dead battery, and while not exactly an easy pull it started fine, choke it and a couple of pulls with ignition off to get fuel flowing and engine primed, then ignition on and one last pull to start.


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## jimshoe (Oct 2, 2021)

motormonkey said:


> Brand new generators like that are usually shipped with no fuel in the fuel system, and no oil in the crankcase. The manuals that came with it, particularly the instructions for setting it up out of the box will tell you what you need to know about that. The manufacturer may have put some kind of preservative or rust/corrosion inhibitors in the crankcase and/or fuel system, but that would only be intended to protect it from rust/corrosion for a few months until it was sold and put into service. Eventually, unprotected metal will rust or corrode, especially if it's exposed to moisture. Wide temperature swings encourage moisture formation on metal parts.
> 
> If it were mine, here's what I would do. Service it up and get it running per the instructions. Put the correct type and amount of oil in the crankcase, put some ethanol free gas mixed with Sta-bil or Star-tron and a little oil in the fuel tank, and then run it a bit to get it up to temperature and get oil on all the inner parts of the engine. After running, drain all the gas from the tank, and then run the engine til it quits. Then it should be ready to store for a year or so, after which you should repeat the process.


After I got mine the instructions recommended you periodically run it to make sure its ready when needed. I live on the Gulf coast where there's lots of humidity. Ya gotta run these things periodically. I run it once a month for about 45min. I'm using the oil it came with (std 10/30) for the break-in. After 70hrs I plan on switching to synthetic.


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## iowagold (Jan 22, 2020)

run up to operating temps to get the moisture out of the crank case.
or you could just role it over by hand to the compression stroke.
that way the valves are closed and relaxed.
and use crc marine engine fogger.


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