Had a backup generator fail during a power outage at a remote radio site last Tuesday

I was up at this mountain-top site doing a routine switch check on the VOR system. Power flickered and went out. Backup generator kicked on fine, then died after about 20 minutes. Turns out the fuel line had a crack from old age and was sucking air. Had to hike down to the truck for a patch kit. Anyone else deal with old fuel lines going bad on standby generators?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_kim26d ago

Buddy of mine had a similar thing happen with his backup generator at a hunting cabin. He smelled gas but figured it was just a spill, then it sputtered and died in like 15 minutes. Turned out the rubber line was all cracked from sitting in the sun for years. Now he wraps them in heat tape and checks them every season. You find a decent patch kit that works for that stuff?

richard_ramirez26d ago

Holy crap, you know what nobody talks about? The vapor lock that can happen when those cheap fuel filters get gummed up from old gas. I found that out the hard way during a power outage.