What is the typical lifespan of a portable generator that has received decent maintenance (at least one oil change per season)? Post up a realistic estimate of the number of hours/years that your generator has lasted and what type of load it pulls.
I have a three year old champion 3500/4000 that has been flawless until lately. I believe that the generator has about 500 hours on it. I run Mobil 1 full synthetic in the generator and have changed it at least every 100 hours. Year 1 with the genny It ran 6 150watt hps. year 2 it ran 4 250 watt hps and 4 150 watt hps. Year 3 it currently runs 4 400 watt hps and 4 250 watt hps, so 2600 total watts. 2 separate trips this year the generator has cut off while running with the lights fully warmed up. It did not stumble or anything it cut off like the switch was flipped. When it done this it repeated itself the rest of the night after running only a few minutes. After the first trip that it done this I changed the oil and it stopped doing it until this last weekend. It done it again saturday night during a tournament 3 times (ran fine all night before to scout :headbang
. I checked the oil and it was between the low and full mark on the stick but I topped it off with fresh oil for safe measure. after topping it off it ran fine the rest of the night. Im thinking either the low oil sensor is very sensitive or the sensor is failing. I may remove the sensor altogether and just make sure that I check the oil before every trip.
I have considered replacing the generator with two inverter gennies but I hate to buy a new one if mine still has 80% life left in it. So how long has your generators lasted???
I have a three year old champion 3500/4000 that has been flawless until lately. I believe that the generator has about 500 hours on it. I run Mobil 1 full synthetic in the generator and have changed it at least every 100 hours. Year 1 with the genny It ran 6 150watt hps. year 2 it ran 4 250 watt hps and 4 150 watt hps. Year 3 it currently runs 4 400 watt hps and 4 250 watt hps, so 2600 total watts. 2 separate trips this year the generator has cut off while running with the lights fully warmed up. It did not stumble or anything it cut off like the switch was flipped. When it done this it repeated itself the rest of the night after running only a few minutes. After the first trip that it done this I changed the oil and it stopped doing it until this last weekend. It done it again saturday night during a tournament 3 times (ran fine all night before to scout :headbang
I have considered replacing the generator with two inverter gennies but I hate to buy a new one if mine still has 80% life left in it. So how long has your generators lasted???