Generator Care During Severe Weather: Check Your Oil

IT’S CRITICAL TO CHECK YOUR GENERATOR’S OIL EVERY 24 HOURS DURING CONTINUED USE.

With over 793,345 power outages across the United States (as of 2:19pm on 12/23/2022), we know a lot of you have your generators running to keep the holidays merry and bright.

To ensure your generator remains at optimal performance, be sure to check your oil every 24 hours.

Here’s a general “How To” list to guide you through the process but don’t hesitate to call our Account Managers for support if you need a little hand-holding:

Check your oil every 24 hours

Generators that are running for long periods of time need to have the oil checked every 24 hours of run time.

1.     Open the generator housing.

2.     Turn off the breaker (looks like a house breaker), which is located on the side of the generator. This will cause the lights/loads to shut off but the generator will continue to run.

3.     Locate the controller inside the generator and move the rocker to “RESET” or “OFF”. This will cause the generator to shut off.

4.     Locate the dipstick and check the oil level.

5.     If oil is needed, unscrew the oil fill cover.

6.     Add oil in slow increments (you don’t want to overfill) and fill to “FULL” mark on the dipstick as needed. 

7.     Replace dipstick and the oil cover.

8.     On the controller, reset the rocker to “AUTO” – this will cause the generator to start.

9.     Wait 10 seconds and turn on the breaker – this will cause the lights/loads to come back on.

10.  Close the generator housing.

In the event you have snow accumulation, be sure to keep your generator clear of snow for proper use: 

Watch Snow Accumulation

Make sure your generator is shoveled out when more than 12 inches of snow has accumulated. Most residential generators are air-cooled and must be able to intake and exhaust air from either side of the generator to operate properly.