7 Things That Will Cause Your Emergency Power Generator to Fail When You Need it Most

When you purchased your emergency power generator, you intended for it to be there when you needed it most. The worst possible thing that can happen is the power goes out and your generator fails to work as designed. Know this; it happens! And when it does, it usually always occurs at the worst possible moments. Like in the middle of blizzard or during a snowstorm that has hindered everyone from traveling. In times like those, your generator has to be as dependable as the Rock of Gibraltar. Here's the good news; you can avoid those mishaps by addressing these common mistakes.

Mistake #1 - Using Cheap Gasoline

In this economy, the first reaction for most consumers is to go cheap. However, when it comes your emergency power generator, cheap is not the answer. Remember, you're taking about providing back up power in the event of a power outage. You cannot afford for your generator to run sporadically in such an event. Almost all high performance fuel-efficient generators are designed to burn unleaded gasoline with an octane rating of 86 or higher. Use anything less and you increase deposit build-up on the spark plugs, spark arrestors, valves and on the muffler. This of course decreases the life of the generator and its fuel efficiency.

Mistake #2 - Using Contaminated or Stale Gasoline

Contaminated gasoline and stale fuel are the culprits in many failed starts and in sporadic operating generators. Not only can they cause an emergency power generator to run inefficiently, they can also cause serious damage to parts and mechanisms. Never use contaminated or stale gasoline or a suspect oil/gas mixture.

Mistake #3 Giving Your Generator Too Much Time Off

Your emergency power generator should be run at least once a month when not in use. I advise people to simply mark their calendars "RUN GENERATOR" and on that day run your unit. This accomplishes a number of crucial things: it runs fresh gas through the carburetor, lubricates the engine by circulating oil, and if you have an electric starter, it recharges the battery. If you give your generator too much time off, it might not start because the battery has drained or the gas has become contaminated with water.

Mistake #4 - Storing Your Generator Improperly

Prior to storing your generator, check the storage location for exhaust/fume dangers, moisture and any other potential hazards. I could write a book about the times I've heard from generator users who attempted to start their generator during an outage only to find out that the unit was waterlogged, had deflated flat tires or some other damaged that affected it's performance. When it comes to storing your emergency power generator, take NO chances!

CONSUMER ALERT: Certain generators come with a fuel valve; make sure it's in the OFF position. If you leave it in the ON position, the gasoline could seep into the engine crankcase and dilute the engine oil, thus reducing the lubrication properties of the oil and causing severe engine damage.

Mistake #5 - Not Having Enough Fuel In Storage

This mistake leaves more people in the dark and cold than you can ever imagine. The purpose of having an emergency power generator is to provide back up power during an outage. But without fuel, your generator won't provide ANY power. A good percentage of people don't stockpile any fuel, let alone enough. The general rule of thumb is 24 to 32 gallons of fuel. This allows you enough latitude in the event that the outage lasts longer than anticipated.

Mistake #6 - Plugging Your Generator Directly Into a Wall Outlet

Never attempt to power your house by plugging your emergency power generator into any wall outlet. This practice, known as "back-feeding" is life threatening because it can potentially electrocute utility workers, family members and neighbors. What makes it catastrophic for homeowners is the fact that this procedure bypasses most or all of the built-in household circuit protection devices.

CONSUMER ALERT: improper connection of your generator could void your homeowner's insurance in case of damage, accident or injury.

Mistake #7 - Not Managing Your Wattage Usage

People not familiar with generators tend to falsely believe they can power their entire house with a 4500 watt generator. The trend is to just start plugging devices into the emergency power generator and wait to see what happens. The danger in this is that you could possibly damage the generator and lose power altogether. They key here is being an informed user; know the wattage limitations of your generator and never exceed them.

Welding Rods

In technical terms, welding rods are commonly known as filler metals. A welding rod is a metal that is used in the process of welding to fill a joint that has to be fixed. The process of welding is typically done by melting the work pieces and adding a filler material, which is often a welding rod, to form a pool of molten material that cools to become a strong joint.

Welding rods are also known as electrodes. They usually come in four types, which include covered welding rods used in metal arc welding. The welding rod coating mainly contains compounds such as rutile, calcium fluoride, cellulose, and iron powder. Rutile-coated rods give a good appearance to the weld and produce a good quality weld. Even stainless steel rods or electrodes are used extensively to weld steel work pieces with carbon steel work pieces.

On the other hand, bare welding electrodes are used in gas metal arc work. These electrodes contain various deoxidizing metals such as silicon, manganese, titanium, and aluminum, which help in preventing oxygen porosity. In addition, they also contain denitriding metals such as titanium and zirconium to avoid nitrogen porosity. These rods are typically available in diameters ranging from 0.7 mm to 2.4 mm. However, the diameter is greatly determined by the type of metal and the application. These welding electrodes are also used for gas tungsten arc welding.

Tubular welding rods, which are in a wired form, are used in flux-cored arc welding. These rods contain the alloys of mild and low alloy steel, stainless steel, and high nickel. Some are even made from wear-facing or surfacing alloys.

Welding fluxes are used in the process of submerged arc welding, where the process requires continuous supply of solid and tubular welding rods.

Furthermore, welding rods or electrodes can also be divided as "fast-fill" electrodes. These are designed and characterized to melt quickly, whereas the "fast freeze" welding rods are designed to solidify quickly. The intermediate electrodes are categorized as "fill-freeze" or "fast-follow" electrodes.

Using the proper welding rod is very crucial in the welding process as it is the chief factor that determines the nature of the joint.

Welding - A 20th Century Hot Invention

Welding is the joining of two pieces of metal, in most cases, by heat. Some examples of welded products are ships, aircraft, railroad equipment, automobiles, machinery, pipelines, bridges, home appliances, electric and electronic parts, toys, and artwork.

Welding as we know it today is largely a development of the 20th century. Until then most welding was forge welding. In this process two pieces of iron were heated in a forge to white heat and then hammered together. But only iron and some kinds of steel could be fused together by forge welding. When better and stronger types of steel were developed, a more efficient method than forge welding was needed to join them. By the end of the 19th century new techniques of welding had been worked out.

Today there are about 40 different welding processes. The most important are classified under the general headings of arc welding, gas welding, resistance welding, and brazing.

Engineers have discovered that many metals can be welded together without applying much heat or pressure if the surfaces of the metals are very clean. These processes are called solid state processes because the metals fuse without melting. Another new type of welding is electron beam welding.

Metals like molybdenum and tungsten, which are very heat resistant and must be protected from the atmosphere, are placed in a vacuum chamber and fused by a concentrated beam of electrons. Even the energy of light is used in welding. A beam of concentrated light from a laser contains enough energy to melt steel. Laser beams are already being used to weld small parts, and wider use is being studied.

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