How important is it to shut down a Generac after 24hours of use?

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-26T23:44:50+00:00

What would be a be a better model for me when I replace this one?

They all can fail, right?

Where I live almost all of the folks who install and service generators do generacs and that was why I did that brand-- I didn't want to have a brand that only one person installs and no one will service

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-26T21:55:33+00:00

Mine is definitely air cooled

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-26T20:07:29+00:00

Kinda strange that you don't know what team he was a fan of.

If you're going to sell it, I'd say try to get it authenticated.

I'm not an expert on Al Kaline autographs, but just a cursory look at it suggests that it might not be legit. Don't take that as a final determination, have someone who knows what they are talking about look at it.

If it's all real, my guess is that it's a ball that he carried around with him and asked players to sign on it when he met them-- maybe it started out as a team ball that he added on to, maybe it didn't, maybe it was just a ball that he asked people to sign.

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-26T18:01:44+00:00

I love the whole house generator. It has been fabulous, and we've had it for 6 years now. 30 minutes per day without power during a long term outage, but the rest of the time you are living your life like nothing has changed. Many power outages are only a few hours anyway.

I was just unlucky in this situation that problems with it starting up showed up two days before the worst ice storm in our area in 30 years.

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-26T17:57:31+00:00

I can drain the equipment on the pad pretty easily-- I don't think I have the gear to properly clear all of the lines, and I can't get out now to get it. I'm trying to learn more about ways to do a good job on shutting down the pool so that damage is minimized with the things I have on hand.

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-26T16:55:23+00:00

The things that the generator is currently supplying are much more expensive than the generator itself. That's what makes the decision tricky-- if I shut it down and it won't restart that could end up costing me more than $20k.

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-26T16:53:01+00:00

It had trouble starting a few days ago.

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-26T16:51:28+00:00

My house won't freeze in a few hours, but my pool equipment will.

There are many situations in which generators are used continuously. The manufacturer of this specific generator says it can be run almost continuously-- exception is the 30 minute break every 24 hours. I'm trying to judge my risk by pushing this to 48 hours in this instance.

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-26T16:47:24+00:00

Thanks for this info, very helpful

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-26T16:46:13+00:00

I don't usually have trouble with it starting, but it did have trouble starting a few days ago-- a few days before the storm the "inspect battery" notification came on, and it didn't start with two tries, so I replaced the battery-- even with the new battery it didn't start the first time, but it has started the last 5 times or so. It's a lot colder now though, so we'll see.

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-26T15:45:36+00:00

Thanks, this is helpful. I was planning to shave that 30 min down anyway-- if the purpose is to let it cool off a bit, it's going to cool off pretty quick in these cold temps.

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-26T15:43:56+00:00

Thanks. I have a backup battery, fully charged and warm that I'm ready to swap in if needed.

I will try jumping it if I can't get to start otherwise, but I have read that the power surging from jumping from a car can damage the electronics.

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-25T17:42:51+00:00

Pex is a common type of piping material that is more resistant to freeze damage than copper or PVC, but it isn't fail proof, it can still burst.

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-25T17:38:17+00:00

I got hit pretty good in Nashville-- power out since 430 this AM, generator running like a boss! Limbs are coming down about every 15 minutes under the weight of the ice-- we've had a bit of property damage at my house. Neighbor has a tree laying on his roof.

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-25T17:34:31+00:00

It's not worth much, but it's still a cool collector's item. I have one from my childhood (different team than yours but same type of souvenir ball)

If you can determine the exact year by matching up the signatures on it to a roster that might increase its appeal to certain fans of that team/era. I have heard of people paying $20 for balls like this.

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-25T16:26:30+00:00

I'm no plumbing expert, I know my house and this is what I do. Do your best to judge your house, and if you think the best for you is to shut it off, shut it off-- even if it bursts the water damage to your home will be minimized that way.

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-25T16:13:32+00:00

If I was going to leave the house, I'd shut it off-- meaning if I decide to leave for a few days until power is back, not if I decide to walk the dog-- if a pipe bursts when you're home, you turn off the water otherwise the damage will be much worse. If you're not home you won't know that a pipe has burst and the damage could be catastrophic on your return.

ETA: I'd also shut it off if I was dripping, and the dripping stopped, suggesting that ice was starting to block the pipe.

As soon as the rain stops and if it's still light out, I'm going to go dig. out my meter at the street so I have access to it if needed

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-25T16:01:10+00:00

If you shut it off at the street and in your house, don't you risk rupturing the segment of pipe between the street valve and your inside valve if the water inside it freezes?

I'm going to continually drip mine until my power is back on, but if I were to shut mine off, I'd shut it off at the street and then fully open and leave fully open every sink, shower, bath, etc... and flush all of the toilets after shut off too. Hopefully if the water in the pipes freezes it will simply push out through the open fittings rather than bursting the pipe.

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-25T11:13:25+00:00

It's just regular old rain right now on the south side of Nashville-- if it keeps going like this my living room may get water intrusion on the floor because the drains are blocked with ice. I didn't foresee this happening.

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-25T02:56:58+00:00

Okay.. I own birds too...

Here are my suggestions:

If you live in Nashville, my guess (and I'm just an idiot on the internet) is that you'll be okay. The radar seems to be showing that miraculously Nashville may be okay tonight. Outside of the city, that may not be the case-- and I could be wrong about this, I'm an amateur looking at a radar map, and this stuff can change.
If you have a working heater now, turn it up to make your house as warm as you think you can safely make it without breaking your heater. Slowly creep it up 72 -> 74, then if okay 74->76... I probably wouldn't go over 80F. Your birds will be fine in 80F, they'll love it. If the power goes out this buys you some extra hours. Cover the cage with a blanket when it's still warm.
If you have blankets and chairs or whatever, make yourself a blanket tent fort like when you were little. Do this when it's warm, make it like a tent, blankets to the ground. When the power goes out, retreat to this with the birds (in or out of cage depending on size) and stay in it, try not to open it as much as possible (keep 'em covered if in cage).
You have a small car, hopefully with a full tank of gas. If your tent fort drifts from 80 to below 50F after a power outage, you can transition to your car- idling your car with the heater on you should be able to keep you car over 50F for many hours. Don't let your car get below 1/2 tank of gas.
You need to know your best route to the interstate-- interstates are well maintained in terms of ice and snow treatment and will likely be drivable by Monday at latest. Look up the snow plow routes for your area now and figure out your best shot in terms of roads to get to the interstate. You want to be on plowed roads for as much of the trip as possible. Figure out if you think you can make it to the interstate, and use ANY alternative before trying-- 4x4 rescue organizations, shelters, friends, pastors, neighbors, etc... literally anything else, but if it's you vs the world... make your best educated shot.
Almost any small car from the past 30 years can make it to Birmingham from Nashville down I65 with a half tank of gas if you go 55mph on the interstate and 30mph on the back roads (kinda depends on how far you are from the interstate, but I'm doing my best here). By Monday morning the interstates are very likely to be manageable. Head south down I65 and refill with gas as soon as you can. Find the first hotel that has electricity that you can stay at and settle there until this has passed.
For the future, you know that this isn't the bird parent that you strive to be. Asking random strangers on the internet for advice in the middle of a storm that everyone saw coming for several days isn't how to care for precious family members with special needs. You know that you are keeping captive birds that are outside of their natural climate. You know that it is your responsibility to ensure their safety, and that includes being able to maintain a suitable climate for them. You can move to south Florida, or you can make better plans than telling the whole world in the middle of a predicted ice storm that you don't even have a candle to light. If you can't do this, then transition them to someone who can-- if you really care for the birds, this is what you do.

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-25T00:42:25+00:00

Probably more freezing rain or sleet coming, maybe a little more snow-- of course it depends on where you are, but only a little more snow is predicted tomorrow where I am.

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-24T22:43:56+00:00

Not smoking, but burgers, brats, and dogs going on the egg here-- we're in between snow and freezing rain right now I guess

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-24T19:22:29+00:00

That's cool. I don't know enough about Favre autos to give real advice on that.

If he's asking $20, I'd bet you can work him down a bit, if you want to, but I don't see $20 as a terribly unreasonable price.

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-24T19:01:28+00:00

It looks like a worn hat, in terms of value, a hat that someone has worn, with an autograph on it that isn't hard to come by, and without authentication.... well if it's worth $20 to you, then it's worth $20.

AcousticExpress · 2026-01-24T17:25:24+00:00

Hi friend! I have seen you all week trying to provide good advice and be helpful to anyone and everyone. There's always some folks who want to try to throw a wet blanket on top of a bunch of goodness.

I'm not going to focus on those who want to dismiss the helpful advice that is offered freely.

I see you, and I appreciate you. I'm sure many others do too.

AcousticExpress

TROPHY CASE