FanPost

N/S: Hurricane Season Approaching: Is Your Generator Alcohol Friendly?

I was recently blessed with the opportunity to test my generator. It has been running for the past 5 days ever since a tree fell on my house perfectly taking out the power connection. When it happened my first thought was, "where am I going to get cold beer?" Hey no problem, ran to the store. Picked up 4 bags of ice and 2 cases of beer. Once the essentials were out of the way I started thinking about food and entertainment. So I dragged the old generator out of the shed and wired it up to the house, which is pretty hard to do while holding a beer and a flashlight. But somehow I managed to get the job done.

When I shut it down to fill fuel tank on 3rd day it wouldn't start again. I cranked and cranked on it....nothing. Drank a beer, cranked some more. I bleed the fuel line, nothing. Drank a beer. Tested the spark plug, no fire. Changed the plug, nothing. Checked the oil, looks a little low but good. Cranked some more, nothing. Sprayed a little starting fluid into the carburetor. Cranked some more. As I sat back catching my breath and of course drinking another beer, my eyes fixated on the wires coming from the oil sensor. So I thought "Might as well try that." So I topped off the oil. It took a grand total of about 2 ounces before the oil was overflowing. The "son of a viking" generator started on first pull.

No problems for 2 days afterwords until 5am this morning when the "son of a viking" generator decided to stop. Checked the fuel, good. Checked the oil, GAAAAH. An oily substance with the consistency of water shot out of the fill cap. Only one thing to do in a situation like that, get a beer. After that I drained and changed the oil. Yes, the "son of a viking" generator is working again!

What is the moral to this story? Change your oil in your "son of a viking" generator before you need it. Oh, and get plenty of beer.

This FanPost was written by a reader and member of Canal Street Chronicles. It does not necessarily reflect the views of CSC and its staff or editors.

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