With the hurricane season approaching, it is important to make sure your generator is ready to handle your living load. So generator maintenance before the hurricane season also matters. If your generator has been in storage for quite a number of months or years, you may have trouble starting it up. With the help of the 4 tips below, you will bring your generator back to life.

Tip 1 Carburetor

Firstly, you should turn the valve off and run out the fuel that remains in the carburetor and fuel line to make sure there will be no fuel left in the carb.
Because after a long period of storage, the ethanol in the fuel can actually separate moisture or water droplets in the bottom of the carburetor, preventing your generator from running properly.

Tip 2 Fuel and Oil

Secondly, you need to disconnect the fuel line from the carburetor and then drain out all the old fuel from the tank. What you need to do next is to reconnect the fuel line and add new fuel to the generator. It is better to put some fuel stabilizer in the fuel tank to elongate the lifespan of the fuel.
And you also have to drain the old oil out and put new oil in the generator.

Tip 3 Spark Plug

Additionally, the spark plug should also be taken into consideration, just do not forget to replace it with a new one. When you tighten up the spark plug, do not over-tighten it, you just need to tighten it with common sense.

Tip 4 Air Filter

You should check the air filter and make sure it is nice and clear. If it is dusty, just brush it or replace it.

Test Run

After finishing all the tips above mentioned, you’d better check if it can run properly. Before starting it up, you need to make sure the fuel valve is in the on position and run it outside in order to avoid carbon monoxide exposure. If it does not start, you may need to replace the carburetor. For carburetor replacement, you can look through: Step-by-Step Carburetor Replacement on Generators.

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