I run mine quarterly for 20 minutes. Oil changes/maintenance based on manufacturer's recommendations. Maintenance things (plugs, oil, filters) to spare.

I've never cleared the fuel. Never had an issue.

Honestly? When I remember to. At minimum twice annually, in the spring and pre-winter. Chances are it will run more than that by actually needing it. I change the oil annually or by the 50 hour run time clock. I also run propane exclusively so less concern with fuel shenanigans.

I hope all my prepper homies are running magnetic dip/drain plugs. These little generators throw out a lot of metal shavings that you can trap on the magnet, wipe it off with a paper towel when you check or drain the oil. r/generator is pretty useful too.

Funny you say this. Over the years I've gotten good at cleaning generator carburetors. Every hurricane season I find myself rebuilding at least one friend or relatives carb...

I run mine monthly. I hook it up to the house and switch my sub-panel over to generator and run it for an hour. That power 3 fridges, a freezer, wood stove blower, septic pump, well pump and 2 sump pumps at a minimum.

Oil/filter gets changed every 50 hours of use. Air filter gets changed every 100 hours of use. And I've only run on propane so far. If SHTF I'll have the ability to run on gasoline but for now it is easier not to worry about gas line and carbs getting gummed up.

This is normal maintenance and should be done by anyone that owns a generator whether they prep or not.

Mine runs for 5 minutes every Wednesday. I change the oil every other year. Every few months, I will run the house off it as a test. Anywhere from 50-115% load for 30-60 minutes. It is diesel so no spark plugs or carb to get clogged. Gasoline generators are not something to rely on imo

Fuck You. Like I didn't have enough to do this week. You are right of course.

Had a 12KW diesel genset go bad on us during Helene and spent months after getting it going again.... It's a regular part of our AE system, but since we expanded our solar, it wasn't used much, barely at all.

That and the backup gas/propane 9KW genset as well as the smaller loaner ones are run at intervals while I'm PM'ing the battery bank. Putting PMs on a schedule is important.

And spares... the big China Diesel 12KW I had "some" spares for previously. Now we have greatly expanded that, 3 fuel pumps for example.

Main unit runs a monthly check. I'll charge batteries with it ramping up to full rated output then settling down to 50% and a cool off at the end. Fully automated.

Propane so none of the gas issues with getting gummed up.

Mine is a tri-fuel and I use natural gas so reduced power but no hassle with gasoline. I changed the oil about 3 weeks ago and have my monthly run in about a week from tomorrow.

Never ran gasoline through mine. Always run propane. I figured I’d run gas when I run out of propane and keep the gas jets clean and worry free.

Also ALWAYS RUN ETHANOL FREE GAS!!

Run mine yearly with zero issues. I keep 2 spark plugs and oil for when a change is needed. Has been fine like this for last 6 yrs.

Edit- for the clown to downvoted me sharing my experience. Look at it like this. From the time the manufacturer made the generator, boxed it up and shipped it across the planet on a boat, how many times did they run the generator? Zero. Which is why 1x a year is fine and why i keep extra oil, spark plugs and whatever else I may need to replace if it doesn't start up. The same items you would need if it didn't start up the second or 3rd time a year that you do it.

I ran it four days ago for a couple hours when the power went out. Previous to that, the week before when I fired it up just to make sure it would start (I did have to pop the air filter off and spray ether into the carb to get it going but it fired first pull after that). Previous to that, not for at least a year. I put StarBrite fuel treatment into it and it works like a charm.

Run mine at least twice a year but use it for real about 3-5 times a year during power outages. I live in eastern Canada and use it during hurricane season and I. The winter.

Mine gets run once or twice a month during camping season, then it the fall it gets an oil change, drained carburetor (and fuel tank) and a squirt of oil in the cylinder, then it sits in the garage for 6 or 7 months until next year.

It's 6 years old now and still runs fine and starts right up in the spring, so I'm pretty confident it's being exercised enough.

I run mine once a week for 10 minutes. The power company actually schedules a power outage for some sort of internal testing purposes once or twice a year. These outages usually last 3-4 hours

I changed the oil this past summer. In the coming summer I'll change the oil and the air filter and take a close look at the battery

it runs propane so I assume I don't have to worry about fuel line gumming up

I have enough generators I should probably have a sale during the next blackout.

All devoid of fluids and fogged with oil then bagged.

I run it for about 30min every 6 months, if I don't use it for anything. I have a larger one and small more portable with several oil changes, filters and the magnetic plug option. I let it run and cut the gas (switch) and let it suck up the rest and die on its own, so i don't have to fix it every time I need it.

I run mine every time I weld, I just like to run my welder with my generator.

Did you know it’s really supposed to be ran at 25-50% load for 20ish minutes then 5 minutes with no load once a month or at bare minimum quarterly?

People who read the manuals know things like that...

Monthly is kind of overkill for my situation, but I do run it quarterly and change the oil yearly. I have spare spark plugs and air filters if I need them.

Same with all of my engines. Chainsaws, lawnmowers, UTV, etc.

As an electrician, run 30 minutes under load each month. Change oil after first 50 hours and then probably not until the next 100 or so. Refer to manual

My little Briggs and Stratton has weathered months long boughts of no use without a problem.

I do service it, change oil after about 50 or so hours of use. New plug every other year. Carb cleaner. Store dry.

It’s about 10 years old.

Eh, I have a portable gasoline generator (Honda) that I run maybe 30-60 minutes 2x per year. I put a splash of fuel in it, then run it dry. Check the oil yearly. No issues so far!

If I had a whole-house generator, I would make sure whoever set it up has it configured to do the weekly test-fire.

I have one I bought in 2009 that’s never been out of the box.

Mine is hooked to my inverter which will kick it on once a week in exercise mode. I think a lot of bigger generators have that built in.

This is such a crucial reminder. It's easy to skip this maintenance, but it's make-or-break for the generator. I’m scheduling a checkup for mine this weekend.

I run my NG generator once a year. It always starts by the 2nd pull. NG has not residue that needs to be purged. I’ve started NG generators after sitting idle for 20+ years. No problems.

I suggest filling up with alkylate gasoline (low emission, Aspen, etc). This type is very clean and will not clog your carb/injectors, even if stored for long durations. I use it in my snow blower which is stored all summer. After priming it always starts on the first try. The exhaust is significantly less smelly with this type, and in a SHTF scenario you could just top off with regular gas and keep running.